【单选题】

According to the passage, Anderson's theory explains the longevity of British colonial authority in India because the British
A．(A) offered great flexibility and authority to the local elites with whom they were obliged to negotiate

B．(B) felt a great temptation to act unilaterally and exercise military authority of their Indian possessions
C．(C) became more deeply enmeshed in the politics of the Indian subcontinent than was strategically appropriate
D．(D) managed to convince the local elites that submission to the British would be economically advantageous for all parties
E．(E) resisted successfully the attempts of local power brokers to revise the terms of their negotiations