British Raj

The British Raj was the period from 1858 to 1947 when India was ruled directly by the British Crown, rather than by the East India Company.

• “Raj” means rule or government. During this period, India’s highest British official was the Viceroy, who represented the British monarch.
• The change began after the Great Rebellion of 1857. Britain ended the East India Company’s political power because the Company’s policies had helped create widespread anger and revolt.
• Under the Raj, British officials controlled major decisions about laws, the army, taxes, trade, and foreign relations. Indian princes could continue ruling some princely states, but they remained under British authority.
• Britain built railways, telegraph lines, and ports, but these were largely designed to strengthen control, move troops quickly, and transport raw materials such as cotton and tea for British industries.
• The British reorganised the Indian Army after 1857 so that soldiers from different regions and communities would be less able to unite in another large rebellion.
• The Raj lasted until Indian independence in 1947. It became the period against which later nationalists organised their struggle for self-rule.