Dalhousie, James Andrew Broun Ramsay, 1st Marquis and 10th Earl

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Dalhousie, James Andrew Broun Ramsay, 1st Marquis and 10th Earl (1812–60). Born at Dalhousie castle, Scotland, he was the son of a commander-in-chief of the Indian army. Politically he was a Peelite and, after serving at the Board of Trade from 1843–5, was appointed governor-general of India in 1848. His period in office was distinguished by its aggressive westernization, which contributed to the Indian mutiny of 1857. He extended the boundaries of British India, annexing the Punjab (1849) and Pegu in Burma (1852) and declaring a doctrine of ‘lapse’ to acquire princely states which failed to produce heirs. He centralized authority within the East India Company state, providing it with a modern system of record-keeping, reporting, and decision-making. He promoted the building of roads, railways, and ports, the extension of western education, and the development of colonial commerce. He resigned exhausted in 1856, the victim of overwork and ill-health.

David Anthony Washbrook

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James Andrew Broun Ramsay 1st marquess of Dalhousie

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