In this article, we discuss in Ring Fence Policy for various competitive exams such as UPSC, SSC, etc...
Warren Hastings became the Governor-General of Bengal in the British East India Company in 1773.
At that time there were 3 Major Powers in India. Their names were the Nizams of Mysore, Marthas, and Hyderabad.
Apart from this, there was also a threat of Afghan Invaders on India. In such a situation, the company made a policy to protect its borders. The name of this policy was Policy of Ring Fence.
According to this policy, the border of the British East India Company should not be touched by any major military power.
According to the ring fence policy, if you are in danger from any state, then there should be a buffer zone between it and you.
You should never attempt to annex this buffer state. That means there should be a military state between him and your military state.
If you try to annex that buffer state, your boundary will touch with that Major Military Power. But this situation can happen only when your opponent captures that buffer state.
This situation does not happen, so the ring-fence policy says that you should keep this buffer state by giving military support in advance.
You should protect your neighbor's borders as this will protect your own territory. There is no harm in this because the living, food and other expenses of the British Forces had to be borne by that buffer state itself.
The British East India Company had two advantages in this -
1. The British East India Company had its own territory safeguard.
2. The British East India Company could build a bigger army at the expense of another state.
If you can create more such buffer states around your territory, then it will be called ring fence.
Later, the subsidiary alliance formed by Lord Wellesley was a comprehensive version of this ring fence policy.
Bengal was occupied by the British East India Company and they were under the threat of Afghan Indras, so they kept Awadh as a buffer state. Here the expenses of all the British Troops were used in Awadh.
Warren Hastings' ring fence policy also appears in the Anglo Mysore War.
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