The British East India Company established its control through Lord Dalhousie's policy.
Assertion (A): The Doctrine of Lapse was implemented to expand British territories.
Reason (R): It allowed the British to annex states with no direct male heir.
Choose the correct option:

Correct option is A

The correct answer is (a) Both (A) and (R) are true and (R) is the correct explanation of (A)

Explanation:

• The Doctrine of Lapse was an annexation policy applied by Lord Dalhousie, the Governor-General of India (1848–1856).
• According to this policy, any princely state under the direct or indirect control of the East India Company where the ruler did not have a legal male heir would be annexed.
• It explicitly prohibited the long-standing Indian custom of adopted sons inheriting the throne.
• Its implementation led to the annexation of several states like Satara, Sambalpur, Jhansi, and Nagpur.

Information Booster:

• Satara was the first state to be annexed under this doctrine in 1848.
• This policy was one of the major political causes of the Revolt of 1857.

Additional Knowledge:

(A) is false (Option c)

• Incorrect because the expansionist nature of the Doctrine of Lapse is a verified historical fact.

So the correct answer is (a)