Pointout the main features of the subsidiary system.
- Any Indian ruler who entered into the subsidiary alliance with the British had to maintain a contingent of British troops in his territory. It was commanded by a British Officer. The Indian state was called “the protected state” and the British hereinafter was referred to as ‘the paramount power’. It was the duty of the British to safeguard that state from externa) aggression and to help its ruler maintain internal peace. The protected state should give some money or give part of its territory to the British to support the subsidiary force.
- The protected state should act off its connection with European powers other than the English and with the French in particular. The state was also forbidden to have any political contact even with other Indian powers without the permission of the British.
- The ruler of the protected state should keep a British Resident at his court and disband his own army. He should not employ .Europeans in his service without the sanction of the paramount power.
- The paramount power should not interface in the internal affairs of the protected state.