British Raj

The British Raj is an informal term for the British colonial administration of most of the Indian subcontinent, or present-day India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, also included from 1886 was Burma. It lasted from 1858, when the rule of the British East India Company was transferred to the Crown, until 1947, when British India was partitioned into two states, India and Pakistan, each of which was granted full independence. Although Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) is on the Indian subcontinent, it is not counted part of the Raj, as it was ruled as a Crown Colony from London rather than by the Viceroy of India as a part of the Indian Empire. On the other hand, Burma, though not part of the subcontinent, was administered along with the Raj until the 1930s.

Provinces

At the time of independence, British India consisted of the following provinces:

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• Ajmer-Merwara-Kekri
• Assam
• Baluchistan
• Bengal
• Bihar
• Bombay Province - Bombay
• Central Provinces and Berar
• Delhi Province - Delhi
• Madras Province - Madras
• North-West Frontier Province
• Panth-Piploda
• Orissa
• Punjab
• Sindh
• United Provinces (Agra and Oudh)

There were also several hundred Princely States, under British protection but ruled by native rulers. Among the most notable of these were Jaipur, Hyderabad, Mysore, and Jammu and Kashmir.

Related Topics:
Princely States - Jaipur - Hyderabad - Mysore - Jammu and Kashmir

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