Lord Welleslly came to India as Governor-General in 1798 A.D. He wanted to spread the British empire in India. He adopted a number of methods of fulfil this objective and captured many Indian states.

In short, he used following methods to spread the British empire in India:

1. Through Wars: Lord Welleslly defeated Tipu Sultan in fourth Mysore war in 1799 A.D. and captured lot of his territory. He also defeated Marathas in 1802 A.D. and captured Delhi, Agra, Cuttock, Balasor, Bharoch, Buftdelkhand to spread British empire. Wellesley also captured Indore, which was the capital to Maratha king Jaswant Rao Holker.

2. Through Subsidiary Alliance: Welleslly also adopted the policy of Subsidiary Alliance to spread the British Empire. It was made between the company and native rulers. The company promised to give military help to the rulers who entered into subsidiary alliances with it in case of any internal or external trouble. But in that case local ruler was not allowed to make war or any treaty with any ruler without the permission of the company.

First of all, this alliance was accepted by Nizam of Hyderabad in 1798 A.D. Even he gave some of his areas to the British. After Nizam, this alliance was also accepted by Nawab of Awadh. Even he gave area of Ruhelkhand and Doab of Ganga-Yamuna to the British for the expanses of military which was kept in its state.

3. Through Pensions: Wellesley gave pension to King of Surat- in 1800 A.D. and included Surat in the British empire. Nawab of Karnataka died in 1801 A.D. He fixed pension for his son and included his state in the British empire.

In this way Lord Welleslly expanded the British empire, to a great deal, in India.