The Doctrine of Lapse was an annexation policy devised by Lord Dalhousie, who was the Governor General of India between 1848 and 1856. According to the Doctrine, any princely state or territory under the direct influence (paramountcy) of the British East India Company (the dominant imperial power in the subcontinent), as a vassal state under the British Subsidiary System, would automatically be annexed, if the ruler did not have a natural heir to the throne.

At the time of its adoption, the Company had absolute, imperial administrative jurisdiction over many regions spread over the subcontinent. The company took over the princely states of Satara (1848), Jaitpur and Sambalpur (1849), Nagpur and Jhansi (1854) and Awadh (Oudh) (1856) using the Doctrine. With its increasing influence, discontent simmered amongst many sections of the society and the largely indigenous armed forces, who rallied behind the deposed dynasties, during the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857.