Regarding the 'Subsidiary Alliance' system introduced by Lord Wellesley (1798–1805), which of the following statements is INCORRECT?

Correct — A. The stem asks for the INCORRECT statement, and (a) reverses one of the alliance's terms.

A subsidiary ally had to expel all other Europeans from his state and could not employ them in his civil or military service. There was no exception for Europeans at peace with the British, so the ruler was not free to hire them at all.

Why the others are wrong

• (b)
  If the ruler failed to make payments for the maintenance of the British force, a portion of his territory was ceded as a penalty. — A genuine term, so not the answer. NCERT's Class 8 history text says that if a ruler failed to pay for the subsidiary forces, part of his territory was taken as penalty. Awadh lost over half its territory this way in 1801.
• (c)
  The Indian ruler was required to disband his own military and maintain a permanent British contingent within his territory. — A genuine term. Under the alliance, NCERT says, Indian rulers were not allowed independent armed forces. The Company protected them instead, and they paid for the subsidiary forces it maintained.
• (d)
  The British promised not to interfere in the internal administrative affairs of the allied state. — True of the treaty, so not the answer. Internal administration formally stayed with the ruler. In practice the Company's Residents interfered, trying to decide successions and appointments, but the question asks about the terms.

The subsidiary alliance let the East India Company control Indian states without annexing them outright.

Under Richard Wellesley, Governor-General from 1798 to 1805, an allied ruler gave up his own army, paid for a Company force, kept a British Resident at his capital and expelled all other Europeans.

If payments fell behind, territory was taken instead. That is how the Nawab of Awadh lost over half his territory in 1801.

Key facts

• Richard Wellesley was Governor-General from 1798 to 1805.
• The Nizam of Hyderabad was the first ruler to accept a well-defined subsidiary alliance, in 1798.
• In 1801 the Nawab of Awadh was forced to cede over half his territory for failing to pay for the subsidiary forces.
• An allied ruler had to expel other Europeans and could not employ them in civil or military service.

Common traps

• Marking statement (d) as the incorrect one because the Company interfered in practice, when the question tests the treaty's terms.
• Accepting the 'not in active conflict with the British' qualifier in (a) because it sounds like a reasonable diplomatic limit.

No directly related past PYQ was found.