British Raj
1858–1947 British colonial rule on the Indian subcontinent / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The British Raj (/rɑːdʒ/ RAHJ; from Hindi rāj, 'kingdom', 'realm', 'state', or 'empire')[11][lower-alpha 1] was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent;[13] it is also called Crown rule in India,[14] or Direct rule in India,[15] and lasted from 1858 to 1947.[16] The region under British control was commonly called India in contemporaneous usage and included areas directly administered by the United Kingdom, which were collectively called British India, and areas ruled by indigenous rulers, but under British paramountcy, called the princely states. The region was sometimes called the Indian Empire, though not officially.[17]
India | |
|---|---|
| 1858–1947 | |
Political subdivisions of the British Raj, commonly India, in 1909, showing British India in two shades of pink and the Princely states in yellow | |
 The British Raj in relation to the British Empire in 1909 | |
| Status | Imperial political structure (comprising British India[lower-alpha 1] and the Princely States.[lower-alpha 2]).[2] |
| Capital | Calcutta[3][lower-alpha 3] (1858–1911) New Delhi (1911/1931[lower-alpha 4]–1947) |
| Official languages | English was the language of government correspondence. In the law courts and government officials work, in addition to English everywhere, Urdu was given official status in large parts of northern India, as were vernaculars elsewhere.[5][6][7][8][9][10] |
| Government | British Colonial Government |
| Queen/Queen-Empress/King-Emperor | |
• 1858–1876 (Queen); 1876–1901 (Queen Empress) | Victoria |
• 1901–1910 | Edward VII |
• 1910–1936 | George V |
• 1936 | Edward VIII |
• 1936–1947 | George VI |
| Viceroy | |
• 1858–1862 (first) | Charles Canning |
• 1947 (last) | Louis Mountbatten |
| Secretary of State | |
• 1858–1859 (first) | Edward Stanley |
• 1947 (last) | William Hare |
| Legislature | Imperial Legislative Council |
| History | |
| 10 May 1857 | |
| 2 August 1858 | |
| 18 July 1947 | |
| 14 and 15 August 1947 | |
| Currency | Indian rupee |
| |
As India, it was a founding member of the League of Nations, a participating nation in the Summer Olympics in 1900, 1920, 1928, 1932, and 1936, and a founding member of the United Nations in San Francisco in 1945.[18]
This system of governance was instituted on 28 June 1858, when, after the Indian Rebellion of 1857, the rule of the East India Company was transferred to the Crown in the person of Queen Victoria[19] (who, in 1876, was proclaimed Empress of India). It lasted until 1947, when the British Raj was partitioned into two sovereign dominion states: Union of India (later the Republic of India) and Pakistan (later the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the People's Republic of Bangladesh). At the inception of the Raj in 1858, Lower Burma was already a part of British India; Upper Burma was added in 1886, and the resulting union, Burma, was administered as an autonomous province until 1937, when it became a separate British colony, gaining its own independence in 1948. It was renamed Myanmar in 1989. The Chief Commissioner's Province of Aden was also at the inception of the British Raj part of British India. It also became a separate colony in 1937.