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The Doctrine of Lapse was an annexation
Annexation

Annexation is the legal incorporation of some territory into another geo-political entity . Usually, it is implied that the territory and population being annexed is the smaller, more peripheral, and weaker of the two merging entities....
 policy devised by Lord Dalhousie, who was the Governor General of India
India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
 between 1848 and 1856. According to the Doctrine, any princely state
Principality

A principality is a monarchy feudatory or sovereign state, ruled or reigned over by a monarch with the title of prince or princess, or a monarch with another title within the generic use of the term prince....
 or territory under the direct influence (paramountcy) of the British East India Company
British East India Company

The East India Company was an early England joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the Indies, but that ended up trading with the Indian subcontinent and China....
 (the dominant imperial
Imperialism

Imperialism has two meanings; one describing an action and the other describing an attitude.#Action: Imperialism is the practice of extending the power, control or rule by one country over areas outside its borders....
 power in the subcontinent
Indian subcontinent

The Indian subcontinent is a large section of the Asian continent consisting of the land lying substantially on the Indian Plate. The subcontinent includes parts of various countries in South Asia, including those on the continental crust , an Island#Continental islands country on the continental shelf , and an Island#Oceanic islands countr...
), as a vassal state under the British Subsidiary System, would automatically be annexed if the ruler was either "manifestly incompetent or died without a direct heir".






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The Doctrine of Lapse was an annexation
Annexation

Annexation is the legal incorporation of some territory into another geo-political entity . Usually, it is implied that the territory and population being annexed is the smaller, more peripheral, and weaker of the two merging entities....
 policy devised by Lord Dalhousie, who was the Governor General of India
India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
 between 1848 and 1856. According to the Doctrine, any princely state
Principality

A principality is a monarchy feudatory or sovereign state, ruled or reigned over by a monarch with the title of prince or princess, or a monarch with another title within the generic use of the term prince....
 or territory under the direct influence (paramountcy) of the British East India Company
British East India Company

The East India Company was an early England joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the Indies, but that ended up trading with the Indian subcontinent and China....
 (the dominant imperial
Imperialism

Imperialism has two meanings; one describing an action and the other describing an attitude.#Action: Imperialism is the practice of extending the power, control or rule by one country over areas outside its borders....
 power in the subcontinent
Indian subcontinent

The Indian subcontinent is a large section of the Asian continent consisting of the land lying substantially on the Indian Plate. The subcontinent includes parts of various countries in South Asia, including those on the continental crust , an Island#Continental islands country on the continental shelf , and an Island#Oceanic islands countr...
), as a vassal state under the British Subsidiary System, would automatically be annexed if the ruler was either "manifestly incompetent or died without a direct heir". The latter supplanted the long-established right of an Indian sovereign without an heir to choose a successor. In addition, the British decided whether potential rulers were competent enough. The doctrine and its application were widely regarded by Indians as illegitimate.

At the time of its adoption, the Company had absolute, imperial administrative jurisdiction over many regions spread over the subcontinent. The company took over the princely states of Satara
Satara

Satara is a town located in the Satara District of Maharashtra states and territories of India of India. The name is derived from the seven hills surrounding the town....
 (1848), Jaitpur and Sambalpur
Sambalpur

Sambalpur is a city, municipality in the western region of Orissa. It is the headquarters of Sambalpur District. Sambalpur derives its name from that of the Goddess Samaleswari; an incarnation of Shakti, who is regarded as the reigning deity of the region....
 (1849), Nagpur
Nagpur

Nagpur is the largest city in central India and second capital of the States and territories of India of Maharashtra. It is headquarter of Nagpur district and Nagpur division and is third largest city by population of Maharashtra....
 and Jhansi
Jhansi

Jhansi is a city of Uttar Pradesh state of northern India. Jhansi is a major road and rail junction, and is the administrative seat of Jhansi District and Jhansi Division....
 (1854) and Awadh
Awadh

For the Oudh tree, see agarwood.Awadh , also known in various British historical texts as Oudh, Oundh, or Oude, is a region in the centre of the modern Indian states and territories of India of Uttar Pradesh, which was before Independence Day known as the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh....
 (Oudh) (1856) using this Doctrine. The Company added about four million pounds sterling to its annual revenue by use of this legal doctrine.

With the increasing power of the East India Company, discontent simmered amongst many sections of Indian society and the largely indigenous armed forces; these rallied behind the deposed dynasties during the Indian rebellion of 1857
Indian Rebellion of 1857

The Indian Rebellion of 1857 began as a mutiny of sepoys of British Honourable East India Company's army on 10 May 1857, in the town of Meerut, and soon erupted into other mutinies and civilian rebellions largely in the Upper Gangetic Plains moist deciduous forests and central India, with the major hostilities confined to present-day Uttar Pr...
 (known by British as the Sepoy Mutiny
Sepoy Mutiny

Sepoy Mutiny may refer to:*Indian Rebellion of 1857*1915 Singapore Mutiny*Vellore Mutiny...
 of 1857). Following the rebellion, in 1858, the new British Viceroy
Viceroy

A viceroy is a royal official who governs a country or province in the name of and as representative of the monarch. The term derives from the Latin prefix vice-, meaning "in the place of" and the French word roi, meaning king....
 of India, whose rule replaced that of the British East India Company, renounced the doctrine.