Lord Minto I
Also called: Gilbert Elliot, 1st Earl of Minto · Topic: Europeans in India and the Rise of Company Rule · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
Lord Minto I (Gilbert Elliot, 1st Earl of Minto) was Governor-General from 1807 to 1813. In those years the British feared that France, under Napoleon, might join with Russia and attack India from the north-west. To guard against this, Minto sent diplomatic missions to Persia, Afghanistan and Punjab to win them over as friends.
Example
Minto's envoy Charles Metcalfe signed the Treaty of Amritsar with Ranjit Singh in 1809. Under it, Ranjit Singh agreed not to expand south of the river Sutlej. This made the Sutlej the boundary between the Sikh kingdom and British territory.
Don't confuse with
- Lord Minto II: he was Viceroy from 1905 to 1910. He is linked with the Morley-Minto Reforms of 1909, which brought in separate electorates (seats where only Muslims voted for Muslim candidates).
Related concepts
- Divide and rule
- Dastak
- Black Hole of Calcutta
- Siraj-ud-daulah
- Robert Clive
- Battle of Plassey
- Mir Jafar
- Mir Qasim
- Battle of Buxar 1764
- Treaty of Allahabad 1765