1. Battle of Plassey Battle of Plassey was the most decisive war that marked the initiation of British rule in India for the next two centuries. Battle of Plassey or Palashi took place between British East India Company and Nawabs of Bengal and his French allies. The battle occurred on June 23, 1757 at Palashi of Murshidabad District, on the bank of Bhagirathi River. Murshidabad. Siraj-Ud-Daulah. The French East India Company also sent a small army to join Nawabs force against the British .The army commander Mirzafar of Siraj Ud Daulah`s side betrayed in the battle of Plassey and thereby the whole force of Nawab collapsed and as a consequence, the entire province of Bengal came under British. Thus Plassey earns its importance in Indian history as a key factor leading to the ascendance of British rule in India. The Battle of Plassey, also named as Battle of Palashi,

2. Tipu Sultan (20 November 1750 4 May 1799), also known as the Tiger of Mysore, was the ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore from 1782 to 1799, and a scholar, soldier and poet. Tipu was the eldest son of Sultan Hyder Ali of Mysore and his wife Fatima Fakhr-un-Nisa, a daughter of Mir Muin-ud-Din, governor of Kadapa. Tipu promoted a more widespread use of Hindustani language in southern India. Tipu introduced a number of administrative innovations, including the introduction of a new coinage, new Mauludi lunisolar calendar[and new land revenue system, and initiated the growth of Mysore silk industry . Tipu expanded the iron-cased Mysorean rockets which he deployed in his resistance against military advances of the British. 3. Tipu engaged in expansionist attacks against his neighbors. His treatment of his conquered non-Muslim subjects and British prisoners of war is controversial. He remained an implacable enemy of the British East India Company, bringing them into renewed conflict with an attack on British- allied Travancore in 1789. In the Third Anglo-Mysore War, Tipu was forced into a humiliating treaty, losing a number of previously conquered territories, including Malabar and Mangalore. He sent embassies to foreign states, including the Ottoman Empire, Afghanistan and France, in an attempt to rally opposition to the British. In the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War, the combined forces of the British East India Company and the Nizam of Hyderabad defeated Tipu and he was killed on 4 May 1799, while defending his fort of Srirangapatna. 4. The First Anglo-Maratha War (17751782) was the first of three Anglo-Maratha wars fought between the British East India Company and Maratha Empire in India. The war began with the Treaty of Surat and ended with the Treaty of Saibai. The Battle of Delhi took place on 11 September 1803 during the Second Anglo-Maratha War, between British troops under General Lake, and Marathas of Scindia's army under General Louis Bourquin. The battle was fought at Patparganj, right across Yamuna River from Humayun's Tomb, also giving the battle its local name. The Third Anglo-Maratha War (18171818] was the final and decisive conflict between the British East India Company and the Maratha Empire in India. The war left the Company in control of most of India. It began with an invasion of the Maratha territory by 110,400 British East India Company troops, 5. The Doctrine of Lapse was an annexation policy purportedly devised by Lord Dalhousie, who was the Governor General for the East India Company in India between 1848 and 1856. According to the Doctrine, any princely state or territory under the direct influence (paramountcy) of the British East India Company (the dominant imperial power in the subcontinent), 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 (1848), Jaitpur and Sambalpur (1849), Nagpur and Jhansi (1854), Tanjore and Arcot (1855) and Awadh (Oudh, 1856, with the reason that the ruler was not ruling properly) using this doctrine. The Company added about four million pounds sterling to its annual revenue by use of this doctrine. 6. The doctrine of subsidiary alliance was introduced by Marquess Wellesley, British Governor-General in India from 1798 to 1805. Early in his governorship Wellesley adopted a policy of non-intervention in the princely states, but he later adopted the policy of forming subsidiary alliances. This policy was to play a major role in British expansion in India. The main principles of a subsidiary alliance were: 1]: An Indian ruler entering into a subsidiary alliance with the British had to accept British forces within his territory and also agreed to pay for their maintenance. 2]: The ruler would accept a British Resident in his state. 3]: An Indian ruler who entered into a subsidiary alliance would not enter into any further alliance with any other power, nor would he declare war against any power without the permission of the British. 4]:The ruler would not employ any Europeans other than the British, and if he were already doing so, he would dismiss them. 7. 5]:In case of a conflict with any other state, he would agree the resolution decided upon by the British. 6]:The ruler would acknowledge the East India Company as the paramount power in India. 7]:In return for the ruler accepting its conditions, the Company undertook to protect the state from external dangers and internal disorders. 8]:If the Indian rulers failed to make the payments required by the alliance, then part of their territory was to be taken away as a penalty. 8. Colonial rule in India brought in some new ideas of administration and reform but its power rested on its military strength. Traditional Army: The Mughal army was mainly composed of cavalry (sawars: trained soldiers on horseback) and infantry, that is, paidal (foot) soldiers. They were given training in archery ( teer-andazi) and the use of the sword. The cavalry dominated the army and the Mughal state did not feel the need to have a large professionally trained infantry. The rural areas had a large number of armed peasants and the local zamindars often supplied the Mughals with paidal soldiers. Professional Soldiers: A change occurred in the eighteenth century when Mughal successor states like Awadh and Banaras started recruiting peasants into their armies and training them as professional soldiers. The East India Company adopted the same method when it began recruitment for its own army, which came to be known as the sepoy army (from the Indian word sipahi, meaning soldier). 9. As warfare technology changed from the 1820s, the cavalry requirements of the Companys army declined. This is because the British empire was fighting in Burma, Afghanistan and Egypt where soldiers were armed with muskets and matchlocks. The soldiers of the Companys army had to keep pace with changing military requirements and its infantry regiments now became more important. In the early nineteenth century the British began to develop a uniform military culture. Soldiers were increasingly subjected to European-style training, drill and discipline that regulated their life far more than before. Often this created problems since caste and community feelings were ignored in building a force of 10. The East India Company started as a trading company. To further its trading interest the company started to interfere in local politics and later on took control of local administration. Ultimately through various social, political and administrative changes the company took full control over 63 percent of the Indian territory and 78 percent of the population. Remaining part was under indirect control of the East India Company.