Indian Empire

Lahore railway station in the far west, towards the borders with Afghanistan, was in constant fear of attack. It was designed by William Brunton like a mediaeval castle with massive walls, gun-slits, and heavy iron sliding doors.

The British Indian Empire in 1940.

The Indian Empire (or British India or the British Raj) was a subcontinental empire governed by Great Britain until it was granted independence on 15 August 1947. Queen Victoria of Great Britain and Ireland became Empress of India in 1877; the last King-Emperor was His Majesty George VI.

The total area of the Indian Empire was 1,575,187 square miles and its population, taken from the 1931 census, was 338,178,632. Males exceeded females by over 10 millions. Between the 1921 and 1931 censuses the population had grown by nearly 32.5 millions or 10.6 percent. It was said that "British rule may at least claim the credit of having mastered the terrible famines and epidemics of earlier times."

The Empire was made up of 16 major provinces and minor areas subject to direct British rule from Calcutta (from 1911, Delhi) under a Viceroy, plus those States governed by Princes (Maharahas, Nawabs, Nizams, Rajas, etc.) but nevertheless subject to overall British sovereignty.

The British constructed in India the world's largest railway network of some 43,000 miles, as well as all its ports, harbours and their infrastructures; the roads, fresh water, electricity (including hydro-electric), sewage, drainage, and all manner of other things necessary for a modern State to function.

Sources

• Keay, John, The Honourable Company: A History of the English East India Company, Harper-Collins, London, 1991, ISBN: 0-00-217515-0
• James, Lawrence, Raj: The Making and Unmaking of British India, Little, Brown & Co., London, 1997, ISBN: 0-316-64072-7