British Raj
Pakistan, 1858–1947. Draft, not yet reviewed
The British Raj was the period of rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent, lasting from 1858 to 1947. The system was instituted on 28 June 1858, when, after the Indian Rebellion of 1857, the rule of the East India Company was transferred to the Crown in the person of Queen Victoria. It lasted until 1947, when it was partitioned into two sovereign dominion states, the Union of India and the Dominion of Pakistan.
Seat of power: Kolkata
Rulers
Charles Canning, 1st Earl Canning
Governor-General of India, 1856–1862
He was the first Viceroy of India after the transfer of power from the East India Company to the Crown of Queen Victoria in 1858. Canning was very firm during the rebellion but after that he focused on reconciliation and reconstruction rather than retribution and issued a clemency proclamation. He established the first three modern universities in India, the University of Calcutta, University of Madras and University of Bombay.
Portrait of Charles Canning, 1st Earl Canning: John Jabez Edwin Mayall, Public domain, file
Thomas Baring, 1st Earl of Northbrook
Governor-General of India, 1872–1876
He was an energetic reformer who was dedicated to upgrading the quality of government in the British Raj. He reduced taxes and overcame bureaucratic obstacles in an effort to reduce both starvation and widespread social unrest.
Portrait of Thomas Baring, 1st Earl of Northbrook: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, file
Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton
Governor-General of India, 1876–1880
During his time as Viceroy, Queen Victoria was proclaimed Empress of India. His tenure was controversial for its ruthlessness in both domestic and foreign affairs, especially for his handling of the Great Famine of 1876 to 1878 and the Second Anglo-Afghan War.
- Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton (Wikipedia)
- Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton (Wikidata)
Portrait of Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton: Nadar, Public domain, file
George Robinson, 1st Marquess of Ripon
Governor-General of India, 1880–1884
He introduced the Ilbert Bill, which would have granted Indians more legal rights, including the right of Indian judges to judge Europeans in court. In 1882 he repealed the controversial Vernacular Press Act 1878 passed by Lytton.
Portrait of George Robinson, 1st Marquess of Ripon: London Stereoscopic & Photographic Company, Public domain, file
.jpg){kind=link}
Frederick Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, 1st Marquess of Dufferin and Ava
Governor-General of India, 1884–1888
The Indian National Congress was founded during his term in 1885, and he laid the foundations for the modern Indian Army by establishing the Imperial Service Corps, officered by Indians. His tenure also saw the annexation of Upper Burma in 1886, after many years of simmering warfare and British interventions in Burmese politics.
- Frederick Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, 1st Marquess of Dufferin and Ava (Wikipedia)
- Frederick Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, 1st Marquess of Dufferin and Ava (Wikidata)
Portrait of Frederick Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, 1st Marquess of Dufferin and Ava: The Notman studio, Ottawa William J. Topley, proprietor, Public domain, file
Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne
Governor-General of India, 1888–1894
He worked to reform the army, police, local government and the mint. There was an Anglo-Manipur War in 1890 in which Manipur was subjugated. His attempt in 1893 to curtail trial by jury was overruled by home government.
- Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne (Wikipedia)
- Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne (Wikidata)
Portrait of Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne: William James Topley, Public domain, file
Victor Bruce, 9th Earl of Elgin
Governor-General of India, 1894–1899
His viceroyalty was not a particularly notable one. During his time as Viceroy, the Indian famine of 1896 to 1897 occurred. Elgin reportedly admitted that up to 4.5 million people died, while other estimates put the death toll at 11 million.
Portrait of Victor Bruce, 9th Earl of Elgin: Bourne & Shepherd, Public domain, file
George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston
Governor-General of India, 1899–1905
During his tenure, he pursued a number of reforms of the British administration, attempted to address the British maltreatment of Indians, undertook the restoration of the Taj Mahal, and sent a British expedition to Tibet to counter Russian ambitions. He put the Partition of Bengal into effect on 16 October 1905, creating the new province of Eastern Bengal and Assam. Unable to secure the backing of the government in London, he resigned later that year and returned to England.
- George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston (Wikipedia)
- George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston (Wikidata)
Portrait of George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston: George Grantham Bain Collection (Library of Congress), Public domain, file
Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 4th Earl of Minto
Governor-General of India, 1905–1910
One of the most significant reforms during his tenure was the Indian Councils Act 1909, commonly known as the Morley-Minto Reforms. The reforms aimed to introduce a limited form of self-governance by expanding the legislative councils and allowing for greater Indian representation.
- Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 4th Earl of Minto (Wikipedia)
- Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 4th Earl of Minto (Wikidata)
Portrait of Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 4th Earl of Minto: Unidentified photographer, Public domain, file
Charles Hardinge, 1st Baron Hardinge of Penshurst
Governor-General of India, 1910–1916
His tenure was a memorable one and included the visit of King George V and the Delhi Durbar of 1911, as well as the move of the capital from Calcutta to New Delhi in 1911.
- Charles Hardinge, 1st Baron Hardinge of Penshurst (Wikipedia)
- Charles Hardinge, 1st Baron Hardinge of Penshurst (Wikidata)
Portrait of Charles Hardinge, 1st Baron Hardinge of Penshurst: Unknown author, Public domain, file
Frederic Thesiger, 1st Viscount Chelmsford
Governor-General of India, 1916–1921
Together with the Secretary of State for India, Edwin Samuel Montagu, he oversaw the implementation of the Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms, which gave greater authority to local Indian representative bodies. Chelmsford passed repressive anti-terrorism laws to widespread opposition from Indian reformists. The laws sparked unrest in the Punjab, culminating in the implementation of martial law in the region and the Amritsar Massacre by General Reginald Dyer on 13 April 1919.
- Frederic Thesiger, 1st Viscount Chelmsford (Wikipedia)
- Frederic Thesiger, 1st Viscount Chelmsford (Wikidata)
Portrait of Frederic Thesiger, 1st Viscount Chelmsford: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, file
Rufus Isaacs, 1st Marquess of Reading
Governor-General of India, 1921–1926
Reading preferred a conciliatory policy: he was determined to implement the provisions of the Government of India Act 1919 and opposed racial discrimination. However, he ended up using force on several occasions: in 1921 he ordered the suppression of the Malabar rebellion, and in 1922 he put down Sikh unrest in the Punjab. In 1922 he also had Gandhi arrested for sedition.
Portrait of Rufus Isaacs, 1st Marquess of Reading: Walton Adams, Public domain, file
Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax
Governor-General of India, 1926–1931
He was more sympathetic to Indians than his predecessors had been, although he had no compunctions about signing death warrants when he thought them justified. In November 1927 the composition of the Simon Commission was announced, and all the leading Indian parties, including the Indian National Congress, boycotted it.
Portrait of Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax: Yousuf Karsh, CC BY-SA 3.0 nl, file
Freeman Freeman-Thomas, 1st Marquess of Willingdon
Governor-General of India, 1931–1936
He imprisoned Gandhi and outlawed the Congress. In total, he imprisoned 80,000 Indian activists. The Lloyd Barrage across the mouth of the Indus River was commissioned by his hand, with £20 million put into its construction.
- Freeman Freeman-Thomas, 1st Marquess of Willingdon (Wikipedia)
- Freeman Freeman-Thomas, 1st Marquess of Willingdon (Wikidata)
Portrait of Freeman Freeman-Thomas, 1st Marquess of Willingdon: Henry Walter Barnett, Public domain, file
Victor Hope, 2nd Marquess of Linlithgow
Governor-General of India, 1936–1943
He implemented the plans for local self-government embodied in the Government of India Act 1935, which led to provincial governments led by the Congress Party in five of the eleven provinces of British India. He suppressed the disturbances of the Quit India Movement and arrested the Congress leaders. Some historians have partly blamed him for the Bengal famine of 1943, which resulted in three million deaths.
- Victor Hope, 2nd Marquess of Linlithgow (Wikipedia)
- Victor Hope, 2nd Marquess of Linlithgow (Wikidata)
Portrait of Victor Hope, 2nd Marquess of Linlithgow: Bassano Ltd, Public domain, file
Culture
- The British Raj extended over almost all present-day India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar, except for small holdings by other European nations such as Goa (Portugal) and Pondicherry (France).
- Railways, roads, canals and bridges were rapidly built in India, and telegraph links were established so that raw materials such as cotton could be transported.
- The latter half of the 19th century saw an increase in the number of large-scale famines in India. These famines were particularly severe, cumulatively causing deaths in the tens of millions.
Picture
The Lahore Museum, founded in 1865, moved to its present building on The Mall in 1894, during the British colonial period.
Image: Guilhem Vellut, CC BY-SA 2.0, file
Sources
Text adapted from the Wikipedia articles listed as sources, CC BY-SA 4.0.