British raj

British Raj

The British Raj (/rɑːdʒ/; from rāj, literally, "rule" in Sanskrit and Hindustani) was the rule by the British Crown in the Indian subcontinent from 1858 to 1947. The rule is also called Crown rule in India, or direct rule in India. 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 tutelage or paramountcy, called the princely states. The region was sometimes called the Indian Empire, though not officially.

Etymology

The term "Raj" is derived from the Sanskrit word "Rāja" which means "King" or "Ruler". The term "British Raj" refers to the period of British rule over the Indian subcontinent, or present-day India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar, from 1858 to 1947.

Related Terms

• British Empire: An extensive group of states, ruled over by the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries.
• Indian Rebellion of 1857: A major, but ultimately unsuccessful, uprising in India in 1857–58 against the rule of the British East India Company.
• Partition of India: The division of British India in 1947 which accompanied the creation of two independent dominions, India and Pakistan.
• Indian National Congress: A broadly based political party in India, founded in 1885. It was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Empire in Asia and Africa.
• British East India Company: An early English joint-stock company, formed for pursuing trade with the East Indies but ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China.

This WikiMD.org article is a stub. You can help make it a full article.