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History vocabulary · Empires, States and Rulers

Indirect rule

Meaning in history, with examples

nounCommon term

In history, indirect rule means: Imperial administration exercised through local rulers or institutions operating under an outside power's authority.

In Turkish: dolaylı yönetim

How it is used

Distinguish local participation in administration from independent control over policy.

Example sentences

  1. Under indirect rule, the administration collected taxes through recognized chiefs.

    Local intermediaries perform tasks for an imperial authority.

  2. The archive shows how indirect rule altered the powers of village leaders.

    The arrangement could reshape local institutions rather than preserve them intact.

Common collocations

  • a system of indirect rule
  • colonial indirect rule
  • colonialismThe policy or practice of a state taking control of other territories and peoples, settling or ruling them, and using their land and resources for its own benefit.
  • empireA large state or group of territories and peoples ruled by a single supreme authority, often an emperor or sultan, and usually built through conquest.

More terms: Empires, States and Rulers

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