Q. Who of the following refused to allow the adopted son of Lakshmi Bai to succeed to the throne after the death of her husband and subsequently annexed the State?
(a) Lord Canning
(b) Lord William Bentinck
(c) Lord Dalhousie
(d) Lord Wellesley
Ans: (c) Lord Dalhousie
Explanation: The person who refused to allow the adopted son of Lakshmi Bai to succeed to the throne after the death of her husband and subsequently annexed the state was (c) Lord Dalhousie.
Lord Dalhousie, whose full name was James Andrew Broun-Ramsay, was the Governor-General of India from 1848 to 1856. He was known for his aggressive policies of annexation and the implementation of the Doctrine of Lapse. After the death of Lakshmi Bai’s husband, Raja Gangadhar Rao, Lord Dalhousie refused to recognize the adopted son as the legitimate heir and used the Doctrine of Lapse to annex the state of Jhansi in 1854. This act of annexation was one of the many instances where Lord Dalhousie implemented the Doctrine of Lapse to bring various Indian states under British control.
