Consider the following statements regarding the British policy in Awadh immediately after its annexation in 1856:
- 1.The taluqdars were dispossessed of their estates but allowed to retain their arms and forts.
- 2.A Summary Revenue Settlement was made in 1856 assuming that the taluqdars were outsiders.
- 3.The British believed in taking revenue directly from the peasants by removing the taluqdars.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Answer & explanation
Answer: (a) 2 and 3 only
The British would not tolerate the taluqdars' armed power: right after annexation they were disarmed and their forts pulled down, so statement 1 is wrong. The Summary Settlement of 1856 treated the taluqdars as interlopers and removed them wherever it could, aiming to settle land directly with those who tilled it.
- ✗ 1. The taluqdars were not left their arms and forts; they were disarmed and their forts destroyed immediately after annexation.
- ✓ 2. The first British revenue settlement, the Summary Settlement of 1856, assumed the taluqdars were interlopers who had seized land by force and fraud, with no lasting stake in it.
- ✓ 3. Revenue officers expected that removing the taluqdars would let them settle land with the actual owners of the soil, cutting exploitation of peasants while raising the state's revenue.
Remember · Awadh 1856: taluqdars disarmed, forts destroyed; Summary Settlement called them interlopers and cut their share of villages from 67 to 38 per cent.
📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 12 Themes in Indian History, Part III, Ch 2 (practise this chapter) · Class 12 Themes in Indian History, Part III, Ch 2 (practise this chapter) · Class 12 Themes in Indian History, Part III, Ch 2 (practise this chapter)
Sources
- NCERT Class 12 · Themes in Indian History, Part III, Chapter 2 “Immediately after the annexation, the taluqdars were disarmed and their forts destroyed.”
- NCERT Class 12 · Themes in Indian History, Part III, Chapter 2 “the first British revenue settlement, known as the Summary Settlement of 1856, was based on the assumption that the taluqdars were interlopers with no permanent stakes in land”
- NCERT Class 12 · Themes in Indian History, Part III, Chapter 2 “British land revenue officers believed that by removing taluqdars they would be able to settle the land with the actual owners of the soil”
Question and answer: UPSC's provisional GS Paper I (2026, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). ·