The kingdom annexed by the British in 1856 on the pretext of misgovernance was __________.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → Awadh
Awadh was formally annexed to the British Empire in 1856; Nawab Wajid Ali Shah was dethroned and exiled to Calcutta on the plea that the region was being misgoverned.
NCERT (2026-27): “2.1 ‘A cherry that will drop into our mouth one day’ … In 1851 Governor General Lord Dalhousie described the kingdom of Awadh as ‘a cherry that will drop into our mouth one day’. Five years later, in 1856, the kingdom was formally annexed to the British Empire. The conquest happened in stages.… 2.2 ‘The life was gone out of the body’ … Lord Dalhousie’s annexations created disaffection in all the areas and principalities that were annexed but nowhere more so than in the kingdom of Awadh in the heart of North India. Here, Nawab Wajid Ali Shah was dethroned and exiled to Calcutta on the plea that the region was being misgoverned. The British government also wrongly assumed that Wajid Ali Shah was an unpopular ruler.…” |