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The British Raj (/ r ɑː dʒ / RAHJ; from Hindustani rāj, 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') [10] was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent, [11] lasting from 1858 to 1947. [12] It is also called Crown rule in India , [ 13 ] or Direct rule in India . [ 14 ]
The province of Burma in the eastern region of the Indian Empire had been made a separate colony in 1937 and became independent in 1948. The East India Company was an English and later British joint-stock company. [1] It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with Mughal India and the East Indies, and later with Qing China.
To counter the expected violence, the British Raj government had formed a 50,000-strong Indian Boundary Force. When the violence began, the Force proved ineffectual. Most units, which had been recruited locally, had stronger ties to one or other of Punjab's three religious' groups, rendering them unable to maintain neutrality under stress. [28]
Aspects of Indian civilisation, administration, culture, and religion spread to much of Asia, which led to the establishment of Indianised kingdoms in the region, forming Greater India. [ 6 ] [ 5 ] The most significant event between the 7th and 11th centuries was the Tripartite struggle centred on Kannauj .
The period also saw the French vie with the British for control of the Carnatic—a contest in which the British would eventually prevail as British commander Sir Eyre Coote decisively defeated the French under the Comte de Lally at the Battle of Wandiwash in 1760, a watershed in Indian history as it cemented British supremacy in South Asia. [37]
In the middle of the 18th century, the French and the British East India company initiated a protracted struggle for military control of South India. The period was marked by shifting alliances between the two East India companies and the local powers, mercenary armies employed by all sides, and general anarchy in South India.
The 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War, a Cold War episode resulting in East Pakistan's secession, [29] was the most recent instance of a new nation being formed in the region. South Asia has a total area of 5.2 million sq.km (2 million sq.mi), which is 10% of the Asian continent. [30]
The British government introduced the railway to Bengal in 1854. [93] Several rail companies were established in Bengal during the 19th century, including the Eastern Bengal Railway and Assam Bengal Railway. The largest seaport in British Bengal was the Port of Calcutta, one of the busiest ports in the erstwhile British Empire.