British India
British India is a term that was used to describe regions of India under British rule. The regions included those governed by the British East India Company during the period 1765 to 1857 and those directly administered by British government India Office during the period 1858 to 1947. The British Parliament's Interpretation Act 1889, define the term as follows:
The expression British India shall mean all territories and places within Her Majesty's dominions which are for the time being governed by Her Majesty through the Governor-General of India, or through any Governor or other officer subordinate to the Governor-General of India. The expression India shall mean British India together with any territories of an Native Prince or Chief under the suzerainty of Her Majesty, exercised through the Governor-General of India, or through any Governor or other officer subordinate to the Governor-General of India.[1][2]
It is important to notice that the definition of 'British India' excludes the Indian Princely States.
Indian Empire
The British Indian Empire, usually referred to while it existed as the Indian Empire or just India, came into being when Queen Victoria was proclaimed Empress of India on 1 May, 1876. This Empire consisted of British India together with the princely states. Suzerainty over several hundred such self-governing states, including some large ones such as Bahawalpur, Hyderabad, Mysore, Travancore, Jaipur and Kashmir and Jammu, was exercised in the name of the British Crown by the government of British India under the Viceroy of India, with many small princely states being dependent on the provincial governments of British India.[3][4]
A distinction between "dominion" and "suzerainty" was supplied by the jurisdiction of the courts: the law of British India rested on the laws enacted by the British Parliament and on the legislative powers those laws vested in the local and central governments of British India, while the courts of the Princely States existed under the authority of the rulers.[3]
End of British India
British India came to an end when the Indian Independence Act 1947 brought about the Partition of India, with effect from 15 August 1947, creating two fully independent successor states as dominions within the British Empire and Commonwealth of Nations, the Union of India and the Dominion of Pakistan. The Act received the Royal Assent on July 18, 1947. However, King George VI did not give up the title of Emperor of India until 22 June 1948. His delay was to do with the fact that he continued as King of India until that dominion became a republic on 26 January 1950 and as King of Pakistan until his death in 1952, when he was succeeded as Queen of Pakistan by his daughter Elizabeth II. She reigned until the creation of the Republic of Pakistan in 1956.
See also
- India
- Colonial India
- Company rule in India
- India Office
- List of Indian Princely States
- Partition of India
- British Empire
- British Raj
References
- ^ 52 & 53 Vict. cap. 63, sec. 18)
- ^ Imperial Gazetteer of India, volume IV (1907 edition) pp. 59-60
- ^ a b Imperial Gazetteer of India, volume IV (1907 edition) p. 60
- ^ Indian Princely States at uq.net.au