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This article is about the geographical area in South Asia that was known as "British India". For usage, see British Empire in India. For the band see British India (band).
A Mezzotint engraving of Fort St. William, Calcutta, which formed the Bengal Presidency in British India 1735.

Provinces of India, collectively British India, were the administrative units of the British Empire in India. Together, they consisted of territory on the Indian subcontinent that was under the tenancy or the sovereignty of either the English East India Company or the British Crown between 1612 and 1947. The term "British India" has also been used secondarily as a shortened form for "the British nation in India."1

Contents

British India
Colonial India
Portuguese India 1510–1961
Dutch India 1605–1825
Danish India 1696–1869
French India 1759–1954
British Empire in India
East India Company 1612–1757
Company rule in India 1757–1857
British Raj 1858–1947
British rule in Burma 1826–1948
British India 1612–1947
Princely states 1765–1947
Partition of India 1947
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The East India Company established its first permanent factory in India in 1612. For the next century and a half the Company functioned primarily as a trading company, establishing trading posts with the permission of the Mughal emperor of India and competing for business with other European trading companies.2 However, following the decline of the Mughal Empire in 1707 and after the East India Company's victory at the Battle of Plassey in 1757, the Company gradually began to formally administer its expanding dominions.3 By the mid-19th century, the East India Company had become the paramount political and military power on the subcontinent, its territory held in trust for the British Crown.4

Company rule in India, however, ended in 1858 following the events of the Indian rebellion of 1857.4 India was thereafter directly ruled by the British Crown as a colony of the United Kingdom, and officially known after 1876 as the Empire of India.5 India consisted of regions referred to as British India that were directly administered by the British,6 and other regions, the Princely States,7 that were ruled by Indian rulers. These rulers were allowed a measure of internal autonomy in exchange for British suzerainty. British India constituted a significant portion of India both in area and population; in 1910, for example, it covered approximately 54% of the area and included over 77% of the population.8 In addition, there were Portuguese and French exclaves in India. Independence from British rule was achieved in 1947 with the formation of the Dominions of India and Pakistan, the latter also including present-day Bangladesh.

The term British India also applied to Burma (present-day Myanmar) for a shorter time period: starting in 1824, a small part of Burma, and by 1886, almost two thirds of Burma had come under British India.6 This arrangement lasted until 1937, when Burma commenced being administered as a separate British colony. British India did not apply to other countries in the region, such as Sri Lanka (then Ceylon), which was a British Crown Colony, or the Maldive Islands, which were a British protectorate. At its greatest extent, in the early 20th-century, the territory of British India (shown in the second map in two shades of pink) extended as far as the frontiers of Persia in the west; Afghanistan in the northwest; Tibet in the northeast; and China, French Indo-China and Siam in the east. It also included the Colony of Aden in the Arabian Peninsula.9

Evolution of the Provinces

The provincial governments were headed by Governors, Lieutenant-governors, High Commissioners, Commissioners, or Administrators appointed by the Governor-general of India.

Established by the East India Company (1600–1765)

European coastal trading settlements in India, 1501–1739.

The East India Company, which was incorporated on December 31, 1600, established trade relations with Indian rulers in Masulipatam on the east coast in 1611 and Surat on the west coast in 1612.10 The company rented a trading outpost in Madras in 1639.10 The company rented a trading outpost in Madras in 1639.10 Bombay, which was ceded to the British Crown by Portugal as part of the wedding dowry of Catherine of Braganza in 1661, was in turn granted to the East India Company to be held in trust for the Crown.10

Meanwhile, in eastern India, after obtaining permission from the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan to trade with Bengal, the Company established its first factory at Hoogly in 1640.10 Almost a half-century later, after Emperor Aurengzeb forced the Company out of Hooghly, Calcutta was founded by Job Charnock in 1686.10 By the mid-eighteenth century the three principal trading settlements, now called the Madras Presidency (or the Presidency of Fort St. George), the Bombay Presidency, and the Bengal Presidency (or the Presidency of Fort William) were each administered by a Governor.11

Established or expanded during Company rule in India (1765–1858)

A map of the Indian subcontinent showing British Expansion between 1805 and 1910.
A 1909 map of the Madras Presidency, southern portion. The presidency was greatly expanded during Company rule in India

After Robert Clive's victory in the Battle of Plassey in 1757, the puppet government of a new Nawab of Bengal, was maintained by the East India Company.12 However, after the invasion of Bengal by the Nawab of Oudh in 1764 and his subsequent defeat in the Battle of Buxar, the Company obtained the Diwani of Bengal, which included the right to administer and collect land-revenue (land tax) in Bengal, the region of present-day Bangladesh, West Bengal, Orissa and Bihar.12 In 1772, the Company also obtained the Nizāmat of Bengal (the "exercise of criminal jurisdiction") and thereby full sovereignty of the expanded Bengal Presidency.12 During the period, 1773 to 1785, very little changed; the only exceptions were the addition of the dominions of the Raja of Banares to the western boundary of the Bengal Presidency, and the addition of Salsette Island to the Bombay Presidency.13

Next, in 1799, after the defeat of Tipu Sultan in the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War a large part of his territory was annexed to the Madras Presidency.13 In 1801, Carnatic, which had been under the suzerainty of the Company, began to be directly administered by it as a part of the Madras Presidency.14

Established or expanded during the British Raj (1858–1947)

A 1909 map of the Central Provinces and Berar, showing the districts, divisions, and princely states under the authority of the province, as well as the 1905 changes to the eastern boundary. The province was created in the early years of the British Raj.
  • Central Provinces: Created in 1861 from Nagpur Province and the Saugor and Nerbudda Territories. renamed the Central Provinces and Berar in 1903.
  • Burma: Lower Burma annexed 1852, established as a province in 1862, Upper Burma incorporated in 1886. Separated from British India in 1937 to become administered independently by the newly established British Government Burma Office.
  • Assam: separated from Bengal in 1874.
  • Andaman and Nicobar Islands: established as a province in 1875.
  • Baluchistan: Organized into a province in 1887.
  • North-West Frontier Province: created in 1901 from the north-western districts of Punjab Province.
  • East Bengal: separated from Bengal from 1905. Re-merged with Bengal in 1912
  • Bihar and Orissa: separated from Bengal in 1912. Renamed Bihar in 1935 when Orissa became a separate province.
  • Delhi: Separated from Punjab in 1912, when it became the capital of British India.
  • Aden: separated from Bombay Presidency to become province of India in 1932; separated from India and made the Crown Colony of Aden in 1937.
  • Orissa: Separated from Bihar in 1935.
  • Sindh: Separated from Bombay in 1935.
  • Panth-Piploda: made a province in 1942, from territories ceded by a native ruler.

Provinces of India in 1909

Major Provinces

At the turn of the 20th century, British India consisted of eight provinces that were administered either by a Governor or a Lieutenant-Governor. The following table lists their areas and populations (but does not include those of the dependent Native States):15 During the partition of Bengal (1905–1911), a new province, Assam and East Bengal was created as a Lieutenant-Governorship. In 1911, East Bengal was reunited with Bengal, and the new provinces in the east became: Assam, Bengal, Bihar and Orissa.15

Province of British India15 Area (in thousands of square miles) Population (in millions of inhabitants) Chief Administrative Officer
Burma 170 9 Lieutenant-Governor
Bengal (including present-day Bangladesh, West Bengal, Bihar and Orissa) 151 75 Lieutenant-Governor
Madras 142 38 Governor-in-Council
Bombay 123 19 Governor-in-Council
United Provinces (present-day Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand) 107 48 Lieutenant-Governor
Central Provinces (including Berar) 104 13 Chief Commissioner
Punjab 97 20 Lieutenant-Governor
Assam 49 6 Chief Commissioner

Minor Provinces

In addition, there were a few minor provinces that were administered by a Chief Commissioner:16

Minor Province16 Area (in thousands of square miles) Population (in thousands of inhabitants) Chief Administrative Officer
North West Frontier Province 16 2,125 Chief Commissioner
British Baluchistan (British and Administered territory) 46 308 British Political Agent in Baluchistan served as ex-officio Chief Commissioner
Coorg 1.6 181 British Resident in Mysore served as ex-officio Chief Commissioner
Ajmer-Merwara 2.7 477 British Political Agent in Rajputana served as ex-officio Chief Commissioner
Andaman and Nicobar Islands 3 25 Chief Commissioner

Provinces at independence, 1947

A map of the British Indian Empire in 1909, showing British India in two shades of pink (coral and pale) and the princely states in yellow.

At Independence in 1947, British India had seventeen provinces:

Upon the Partition of India into Union of India and Dominion of Pakistan, twelve provinces (Ajmer-Merwara-Kekri, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Assam, Bihar, Bombay, Central Provinces and Berar, Coorg, Delhi, Madras, Panth-Piploda, Orissa, and the United Provinces) became provinces within India, three (Baluchistan, North-West Frontier, and Sindh) within Pakistan, and two (Bengal and Punjab) were partitioned between India and Pakistan.

In 1950, after the new Indian Constitution was adopted, the provinces in India were replaced by redrawn states and union territories. Pakistan, however, retained its five provinces, one of which, East Pakistan became the independent nation of Bangladesh in 1971.

Further reading

Notes

  1. ^ Imperial Gazetteer of India vol. IV 1908, p. 5 Quote: "The history of British India falls ... into three periods. From the beginning of the seventeenth to the middle of the eighteenth century the East India Company is a trading corporation, existing on the sufferance of the native powers, and in rivalry with the merchant companies of Holland and France. During the next century the Company acquires and consolidates its dominion, shares its sovereignty in increasing proportions with the Crown, and gradually loses its mercantile privileges and functions. After the Mutiny of 1857, the remaining powers of the Company are transferred to the Crown ..." (p. 5)
  2. ^ Imperial Gazetteer of India vol. II 1908, pp. 452-472
  3. ^ Imperial Gazetteer of India vol. II 1908, pp. 473-487
  4. ^ a b Imperial Gazetteer of India vol. II 1908, pp. 488-514
  5. ^ Imperial Gazetteer of India vol. II 1908, pp. 514-530
  6. ^ a b Imperial Gazetteer of India vol. IV 1908, pp. 46-57
  7. ^ Imperial Gazetteer of India vol. IV 1908, pp. 58-103
  8. ^ Imperial Gazetteer of India vol. IV 1908, pp. 59-61
  9. ^ Imperial Gazetteer of India vol. IV 1908, pp. 104-125
  10. ^ a b c d e f Imperial Gazetteer of India vol. IV 1907, p. 6
  11. ^ Imperial Gazetteer of India vol. IV 1907, p. 7
  12. ^ a b c Imperial Gazetteer of India vol. IV 1907, p. 9
  13. ^ a b Imperial Gazetteer of India vol. IV 1907, p. 10
  14. ^ Imperial Gazetteer of India vol. IV 1907, p. 11
  15. ^ a b c Imperial Gazetteer of India vol. IV 1907, p. 46
  16. ^ a b Imperial Gazetteer of India vol. IV 1907, p. 56

References

  • Imperial Gazetteer of India vol. II (1908), The Indian Empire, Historical, Published under the authority of His Majesty's Secretary of State for India in Council, Oxford at the Clarendon Press. Pp. xxxv, 1 map, 573.
  • Imperial Gazetteer of India vol. III (1907), The Indian Empire, Economic (Chapter X: Famine, pp. 475–502, Published under the authority of His Majesty's Secretary of State for India in Council, Oxford at the Clarendon Press. Pp. xxxvi, 1 map, 520.
  • Imperial Gazetteer of India vol. IV (1907), The Indian Empire, Administrative, Published under the authority of His Majesty's Secretary of State for India in Council, Oxford at the Clarendon Press. Pp. xxx, 1 map, 552.
  • Imperial Gazetteer of India vol. II (1908), The Indian Empire, Historical, Published under the authority of His Majesty's Secretary of State for India in Council, Oxford at the Clarendon Press. Pp. xxxv, 1 map, 573.

See also
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