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The claim of paramountcy-1. From the early nineteenth century the Company pursued an aggressive policy of territorial expansion. Under Lord Hastings (GovernorGeneral from 1813 to 1823) a new policy of "paramountcy" was initiated.
2. The company claimed that its authority was paramount or supreme, hence its power was greater than that of Indian states. In order to protect its interests it was justified in annexing or threatening to annex any Indian kingdom.
3. This process, however, did not go unchallanged. For example, when the British tried to annex the small state of Kitoor (in Karnataka today), Rani Channamma took to arms and led an anti-British resistance movement. She was arrested in 1824 and died in prison in 1829.
4. In the late 1830s the East India Company became worried about Russia. It imagined that Russia might expand acorss Asia and enter India from the north-west. Driven by this fear, the British now wanted to secure their control over the north-west.
5. They fought a prolonged war with Afghanistan between 1838 and 1842 and established indirect Company rule there, Sind was taken over in 1843. Next in line was Punjab. But the presence of Maharaja Ranjit Singh held back the Company. After his death in 1839, two prolonged wars were fought with the Sikh kingdom. Ultimately, in 1849, Punjab was annexed.