UPSC Prelims 2026 Question:

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?

Explanation: 

After the annexation of Awadh in 1856 by Lord Dalhousie on the grounds of “misgovernment,” the British  introduced major administrative and revenue changes that deeply disturbed the existing social order.

• The British carried out the Summary Revenue Settlement of 1856, which assumed that the taluqdars  were merely “outsiders” or interlopers who had usurped the rights of village proprietors during the  Nawabi period. Therefore, the British attempted to bypass them in revenue administration. So, statement  2 is correct. 
• The British policy was to collect land revenue directly from village zamindars and peasants by  removing the taluqdars from their intermediary role. As a result, thousands of villages were taken away  from taluqdari control. So, statement 3 is correct.
  
• Although the taluqdars were dispossessed of large parts of their estates, the British policy did not permit  them to freely retain their armed power and forts in the long run. British actions weakened their  military and political authority, and this dispossession became one of the major causes of resentment  leading to the Revolt of 1857 in Awadh. So, statement 1 is not correct.

Therefore, option (1) is the correct answer.