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Glossary Terms
| Term (EN) | Definition | Exam Relevance |
|---|---|---|
| Doctrine of Lapse | Dalhousie's policy: states with no natural male heir revert to British sovereignty; adopted heirs excluded | Direct exam question — Jhansi, Nagpur, Satara examples |
| Drain of Wealth | Dadabhai Naoroji's concept: annual net transfer of India's wealth to Britain through Home Charges | Core economic critique of British rule |
| Diwani | Revenue collection rights; EIC received Diwani of Bengal-Bihar-Orissa in 1765 | Foundation of British economic power in India |
| Dyarchy | Government of India Act 1919: provincial subjects split into "reserved" (British control) and "transferred" (Indian ministers) | Constitutional reform — Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms |
| Home Charges | Payments made by India to Britain for civil/military pensions, India Office costs, debt interest | Components of Drain of Wealth theory |
| Indian Civil Service (ICS) | The elite bureaucracy that governed British India; exams from 1853 (London only until 1922) | Predecessor of IAS — administrative unification instrument |
| Mahalwari | Land revenue settled with village communities (mahals) collectively; NW Provinces | One of three British revenue systems — contrasted with Permanent and Ryotwari |
| Paramountcy | British declaration of supreme political authority over all Indian rulers — replaced sovereignty with subordination | Context for Subsidiary Alliance and Doctrine of Lapse |
| Permanent Settlement | Fixed land revenue with zamindars forever; 1793; Bengal-Bihar-Orissa | One of three British revenue systems; created zamindar class |
| Resident | British political agent stationed at Indian rulers' courts under Subsidiary Alliance | Symbol of British indirect control over nominally independent states |
| Ryotwari | Direct revenue settlement with individual cultivators (ryots); Madras and Bombay | One of three British revenue systems; Munro, 1820 |
| Sati Regulation | Regulation XVII of 1829 (Bentinck) abolished the practice of widow immolation | Social reform legislation — connects to socio-religious reform topic |
| Subsidiary Alliance | Wellesley's 1798 system: Indian rulers maintain British troops at own cost; British Resident at court | Political consolidation instrument; led to financial ruin of states |
| Swadeshi Movement | Boycott of British goods and promotion of Indian products; triggered by 1905 Partition of Bengal | Political response to British economic/political policy |
| Telegraph | Electric telegraph network introduced with railways under Dalhousie; connected administrative centres | Infrastructure of administrative unification |
| Ilbert Bill | 1883 draft legislation by Viceroy Ripon's law member Ilbert allowing Indian district magistrates to try European British subjects; withdrawn after violent European opposition | Exposed racial double standards; galvanised Indian political opinion; contributed to founding of INC |
| Vernacular Press Act | 1878 act (Lytton) imposing censorship on Indian-language newspapers while exempting English-language press — repealed by Ripon 1882 | Colonial press policy; example of racial discrimination in law |
| Wood's Despatch | 1854 education dispatch by Charles Wood: recommended universities in Bombay, Madras, Calcutta; English-medium higher education with Indian-language primary schools | Foundation of British India's university system; colonial education policy |
| Zamindari | Hereditary landholding class created/reinforced by Permanent Settlement (1793) as revenue intermediaries; extracted rent from actual cultivators | Agrarian structure of British India; contrasted with Ryotwari direct settlement |
| White Mutiny | 1809 protest by European soldiers of EIC against transfer to crown's service; also refers to the 1883 European agitation against the Ilbert Bill | Context for racial tensions in colonial administration |