The British established themselves as a paramount power through different methods. First of all it systematically established political control over a vast territory of the country. But in order to be a paramount power the Company had to proceed in different ways.

This new attitude of the Company is discernible particularly after 1818, when the major portion of the Indian territories was to come under the British dominion. With a view to establishing itself as a paramount power, after 1818, the native states were simply taken over by proclamations.

Another method that the Company followed was to belittle the prestige of the Mughal Emperor. All this was a prelude to the extinction of the seat of the Mughal Empire.