← All questionsGS1 · 2013 · History ·Dalhousie as Founder of Modern India
MAINS 2013
GS1
10 marks

In many ways, Lord Dalhousie was the founder of modern India. Elaborate.

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7 min
200 words
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What the examiner wants

Elaborate the reforms of Dalhousie (1848-56) that laid modern India's foundations, with their imperial limits.

ElaborateAnswer exactly what the question asks.

Demand-wise check

  1. 1Communication: first railway Bombay-Thane 1853, telegraph lines, Post Office Act 1854 with uniform postage≈35 words
  2. 2Administration: Public Works Department, unified central control, annexations making a compact territory≈35 words
  3. 3Education and social: Wood's Despatch 1854; groundwork for Widow Remarriage Act 1856≈35 words
  4. 4Critique: Doctrine of Lapse (Satara, Jhansi, Nagpur), Awadh annexation 1856; reforms served colonial interests and fed 1857≈35 words

Open in about 30 words and close in about 30.

Answer plan

ContextRailways, telegraph, postAdministration and PWDEducation/socialAnnexationsBalanced conclusion

Where marks usually go

  • Only praise, ignoring lapse and its role in 1857
  • Mixing up Dalhousie's measures with Bentinck's or Canning's

Draw this

  • Three-column table: reform, year, long-term impact

Value addition

  • FactIndia's first passenger train ran from Bombay to Thane on 16 April 1853.Indian Railways history
  • PolicyDalhousie's Railway Minute of 1853 set out a trunk-line plan linking the presidencies.Dalhousie's Minute, 1853

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