Dalhousie

The Governor-General of India who annexed princely states wholesale under the "Doctrine of Lapse" and built the first railway.

Life

Scottish nobleman

Dalhousie was a Scottish nobleman who became Governor-General of India at thirty-five (1848–1856), one of the youngest ever to hold the post.

Doctrine of Lapse

He waged the Second Anglo-Sikh War and annexed the Punjab, then annexed Lower Burma; applying the "Doctrine of Lapse," he annexed princely states such as Satara, Jhansi and Nagpur, and in 1856 annexed Awadh on grounds of misgovernment. He built India's first railway and established the telegraph and a unified postal system, and is called one of the "fathers of modern India."

Railways and telegraph

His aggressive annexations provoked bitter resentment among princes and soldiers, and the Great Rebellion of 1857 broke out the year after he left office. He died in 1860.

Legacy

Dalhousie drove the modernization of India's transportation and communications, but his annexation policy was a major cause of the Great Rebellion of 1857.

Did you know? During his tenure he brought India's roads, railways and telegraphs under a single Public Works Department, an institution that survived until after Indian independence.

Key dates

• 1848Became Governor-General of India
• 1849Annexation of the Punjab
• 1852Annexed Lower Burma
• 1853First railway opened
• 1856Annexed Awadh; left office
• 1860Died