Presidencies and provinces of British India

1612–1947 British directly-ruled administrative divisions in India

"British India" redirects here. For the history of the British Empire on the Indian subcontinent, see British Raj. For the British East India Company's rule in India, see Company rule in India. For other uses, see British India (disambiguation).

For the modern states, see States and union territories of India.

Overall territorial control of British India. Muscat and Oman in light green were under partial control, while Somaliland and Malaya were ruled by British India for only a few years. Aden was separated in 1937. British India in 1880: This map incorporates the provinces of British India, the Princely States and the legally non-Indian Crown Colony of Ceylon.

The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another, they existed between 1612 and 1947, conventionally divided into three historical periods:

* Between 1612 and 1757, the East India Company set up "factories" (trading posts) in several locations, mostly in coastal India, with the consent of the Mughal emperors, Maratha Empire or local rulers. Its rivals were the merchant trading companies of Portugal, Denmark, the Netherlands, and France. By the mid-18th century three Presidency towns: Madras, Bombay and Calcutta, had grown in size.
* During the period of Company rule in India, 1757–1858, the Company gradually acquired sovereignty over large parts of India, now called "Presidencies". However, it also increasingly came under British government oversight, in effect sharing sovereignty with the Crown. At the same time, it gradually lost its mercantile privileges.
* Following the Indian Rebellion of 1857 the company's remaining powers were transferred to the Crown. Under the British Raj (1858–1947), administrative boundaries were extended to include a few other British-administered regions, such as Upper Burma. Increasingly, however, the unwieldy presidencies were broken up into "Provinces".[1]

"British India" did not include the many princely states which continued to be ruled by Indian princes, though by the 19th century under British suzerainty—their defence, foreign relations, and communications relinquished to British authority and their internal rule closely monitored.[2] At the time of Indian Independence, in 1947, there were officially 565 princely states, a few being very large although most were very small. They comprised a quarter of the population of the British Raj and two fifths of its land area, with the provinces comprising the remainders.[3]

## British in India (1608–1947)

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Fort William, Calcutta, the capital of the Bengal Presidency in British India 1735.

In 1608, the Mughal Emperor Jahangir issued a royal farman to the East India Company to establish a small trading settlement at Surat (now in the state of Gujarat), and this became the company's first headquarters town. It was followed in 1611 by a permanent factory at Machilipatnam on the Coromandel Coast, and in 1612 the company joined other already established European trading companies in Bengal in trade.[4] The defeat of the company by 1690 in the Anglo-Mughal war resulted in temporary destabilization.[5] However, the power of the Mughal Empire declined from 1707, first at the hands of the Marathas and later due to invasion from Persia (1739) and Afghanistan (1761); after the East India Company's victories at the Battle of Plassey (1757), and Battle of Buxar (1764)—both within the Bengal Presidency established in 1765—and the abolition of local rule (Nizamat) in Bengal in 1793, the company gradually began to formally expand its territories across India.[6] By the mid-19th century, and after the three Anglo-Maratha Wars and the four Anglo-Mysore Wars, the East India Company had become the paramount political and military power in south Asia, its territory held in trust for the British Crown.[7]

Company rule in Bengal (after 1793) was terminated by the Government of India Act 1858, following the events of the Bengal Rebellion of 1857.[7] Henceforth known as British India, it was thereafter directly ruled as a colonial possession of the United Kingdom, and India was officially known after 1876 as the Indian Empire.[8] India was divided into British India, regions that were directly administered by the British, with acts established and passed in the British parliament,[9] and the princely states,[10] ruled by local rulers of different ethnic backgrounds. These rulers were allowed a measure of internal autonomy in exchange for recognition of 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.[11] In addition, there were Portuguese and French exclaves in India. Independence from British rule was achieved in 1947 with the formation of two nations, the Dominions of India and Pakistan, the latter including East Bengal, present-day Bangladesh.

The term British India also applied to Burma (now Myanmar) for a shorter time period: beginning in 1824, a small part of Burma, and by 1886, almost two thirds of Burma had been made part of British India.[9] This arrangement lasted until 1937, when Burma was reorganized 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 extended as far as the frontiers of Persia in the west; Afghanistan in the northwest; Nepal in the north, Tibet in the northeast; and China, French Indochina and Siam in the east. It also included the Aden Province in the Arabian Peninsula.[12]

## Administration under the East India Company (1793–1858)

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Main article: Company rule in India

The East India Company, which was incorporated on 31 December 1600, established trade relations with Indian rulers in Masulipatam on the east coast in 1611 and Surat on the west coast in 1612.[13] The company rented a small trading outpost in Madras in 1639.[13] 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.[13]

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.[13] Almost a half-century later, after Mughal Emperor Aurengzeb forced the company out of Hooghly for its tax evasion, Job Charnock was tenant of three small villages, later renamed Calcutta, in 1686, making it the company's new headquarters.[13] By the mid-18th century, the three principal trading settlements including factories and forts, were then called the Madras Presidency (or the Presidency of Fort St. George), the Bombay Presidency, and the Bengal Presidency (or the Presidency of Fort William)—each administered by a governor.[14]

### The presidencies

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* The Indian peninsula in 1700, showing the Mughal Empire and the European trading settlements.

* The Indian peninsula in 1760, three years after the Battle of Plassey, showing the Maratha Empire and other prominent political states.

* The presidency town of Madras in a 1908 map. Madras was established as Fort St. George in 1640.

* The presidency town of Bombay (shown here in a 1908 map) was established in 1684.

* The presidency town of Calcutta (shown here in a 1908 map) was established in 1690 as Fort William.

* Madras Presidency: established 1640.
* Bombay Presidency: East India Company's headquarters moved from Surat to Bombay (Mumbai) in 1687.
* Bengal Presidency: established 1690.

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.[15] 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, Jharkhand and Bihar beginning from 1772 as per the treaty signed in 1765.[15] By 1773, the Company obtained the Nizāmat of Bengal (the "exercise of criminal jurisdiction") and thereby full sovereignty of the expanded Bengal Presidency.[15] 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.[16]

Portions of the Kingdom of Mysore were annexed to the Madras Presidency after the Third Anglo-Mysore War ended in 1792. Next, in 1799, after the defeat of Tipu Sultan in the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War more of his territory was annexed to the Madras Presidency.[16] 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.[17]

* Map of India in 1765.

* Map of India in 1795.

* Map of India in 1805.

* Map of India in 1823.

* Map of India in 1837.

* Map of India in 1848.

* Map of India in 1857.

* Expansion of British Bengal and Burma.

### The new provinces

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By 1851, the East India Company's vast and growing holdings across the sub-continent were still grouped into just four main territories:

* Bengal Presidency with its capital at Calcutta
* Bombay Presidency with its capital at Bombay
* Madras Presidency with its capital at Madras
* North-Western Provinces with the seat of the lieutenant-governor at Agra. The original seat of government was at Allahabad, then at Agra from 1834 to 1868. In 1833, an act of the British Parliament, the Government of India Act 1833 (3 & 4 Will. 4. c. 85) promulgated the elevation the Ceded and Conquered Provinces to the new Presidency of Agra, and the appointment of a new governor for the latter, but the plan was never carried out. In 1835 another act of Parliament, the India (North-West Provinces) Act 1835 (5 & 6 Will. 4. c. 52) renamed the region the North-Western Provinces, this time to be administered by a lieutenant-governor, the first of whom, Sir Charles Metcalfe, would be appointed in 1836.[18]

By the time of the Indian Rebellion of 1857, and the end of Company rule, the developments could be summarised as follows:

* Bombay Presidency: expanded after the Anglo-Maratha Wars.
* Madras Presidency: expanded in the mid-to-late 18th century Carnatic Wars and Anglo-Mysore Wars.
* Bengal Presidency: expanded after the battles of Plassey (1757) and Buxar (1764), and after the Second and Third Anglo-Maratha Wars.
* Penang: became a residency within the Bengal Presidency in 1786, the fourth presidency of India in 1805, part of the presidency of the Straits Settlements until 1830, again part of a residency within the Bengal Presidency when the Straits Settlements became so, and finally separated from British India in 1867.
* Ceded and Conquered Provinces: established in 1802 within the Bengal Presidency. Proposed to be renamed the Presidency of Agra under a governor in 1835, but proposal not implemented.
* Ajmer-Merwara: ceded by Sindhia of Gwalior in 1818 at the conclusion of the Third Anglo-Maratha War.
* Coorg Province: Annexed in 1834.
* North-Western Provinces: established as a lieutenant-governorship in 1836 from the erstwhile Ceded and Conquered Provinces.
* Sind: annexed to the Bombay Presidency in 1843.
* Punjab Province: Established in 1849 from territories captured in the First and Second Anglo-Sikh Wars.
* Nagpur Province: Created in 1853 from the princely state of Nagpur, seized by the doctrine of lapse. Merged into the Central Provinces in 1861.
* Oudh State annexed in 1856 and governed thereafter until 1905 as a chief commissionership, as a part of North-Western Provinces and Oudh.

* North-Western Provinces, constituted in 1836 from erstwhile Ceded and Conquered Provinces.

* Punjab annexed in 1849.

* Oudh annexed in 1856.

## Administration under the Crown (1858–1947)

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Main article: British Raj

### Historical background

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The British Raj began with the idea of the presidencies as the centres of government. Until 1834, when a General Legislative Council was formed, each presidency under its governor and council was empowered to enact a code of so-called 'regulations' for its government. Therefore, any territory or province that was added by conquest or treaty to a presidency came under the existing regulations of the corresponding presidency. However, in the case of provinces that were acquired but were not annexed to any of the three presidencies, their official staff could be provided as the governor-general pleased, and was not governed by the existing regulations of the Bengal, Madras, or Bombay presidencies. Such provinces became known as 'non-regulation provinces' and up to 1833 no provision for a legislative power existed in such places.[19] The same two kinds of management applied for districts. Thus Ganjam and Vizagapatam were non-regulation districts.[20] Non-regulation provinces included:

* Ajmer Province (Ajmer-Merwara)
* Cis-Sutlej states
* Saugor and Nerbudda Territories
* North-East Frontier (Assam)
* Cooch Behar state
* South-West Frontier (Chota Nagpur)
* Jhansi State
* Kumaon Province

* The British Raj in 1893 after the annexation of Upper Burma and incorporation of Baluchistan.

* The British Raj in 1907 during the partition of Bengal (1905–1912).

* The British Raj in 1915 after the reunification of Bengal, the creation of the new province of Bihar and Orissa, and the re-establishment of Assam.

### Regulation provinces

[edit]

* Central Provinces: Created in 1861 from Nagpur Province and the Saugor and Nerbudda Territories. Berar was added to the province in 1903, and was renamed the Central Provinces and Berar in 1936.
* 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 as the North-East Frontier non-regulation province. Incorporated into the new province of Eastern Bengal and Assam in 1905. Re-established as a province in 1912.
* Andaman and Nicobar Islands: established as a province in 1875.
* Baluchistan: Organised into a province in 1887.

* Madras Presidency shown in an 1880 map.

* Bombay Presidency in an 1880 map.

* Bengal Presidency in 1880.

* An 1880 map of Central Provinces. The province had been constituted in 1861.

* 1908 map of Central Provinces and Berar. Berar was included in 1903.

* Beluchistan, shown as an independent kingdom along with Afghanistan and Turkestan, in an 1880 map.

* Baluchistan in 1908: the Districts and Agencies of British Baluchistan are shown alongside the States, mostly: Kalat.

* North-West Frontier Province: created in 1901 from the north-western districts of Punjab Province.
* Eastern Bengal and Assam: created in 1905 upon the partition of Bengal, together with the former province of Assam. Re-merged with Bengal in 1912, with north-eastern part re-established as the province of Assam.
* Bihar and Orissa: separated from Bengal in 1912. Renamed Bihar in 1936 when Orissa became a separate province.
* Delhi: Separated from Punjab in 1912, when it became the capital of British India.
* Panth Piploda: made a province in 1928, previously administered by the Malwa Agency.
* Orissa: Separate province by carving out certain portions from the Bihar-Orissa Province and the Madras Province in 1936.
* Sind: Separated from Bombay in 1936.

### Major provinces

[edit]

A map of the British Raj in 1909 during the partition of Bengal (1905–1911), showing British India in two shades of pink (coral and pale) and the princely states in yellow.

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):[21] During the partition of Bengal (1905–1912), a new lieutenant-governor's province of Eastern Bengal and Assam existed. In 1912, the partition was partially reversed, with the eastern and western halves of Bengal re-united and the province of Assam re-established; a new lieutenant-governor's province of Bihar and Orissa was also created.

Province of British India[21] | Area (in thousands of square miles) | Population | Chief administrative officer

|
|
|

Burma | 170 | 9,000,000 | Lieutenant-Governor
Bengal | 151 | 75,000,000 | Lieutenant-Governor
Madras | 142 | 38,000,000 | Governor-in-Council
Bombay | 123 | 19,000,000 | Governor-in-Council
United Provinces | 107 | 48,000,000 | Lieutenant-Governor
Central Provinces and Berar | 104 | 13,000,000 | Chief Commissioner
Punjab | 138 | 20,000,000 | Lieutenant-Governor
Assam | 49 | 6,000,000 | Chief Commissioner

### Minor provinces

[edit]

In addition, there were a few provinces that were administered by a chief commissioner:[22]

Minor Province[22] | Area (in thousands of square miles) | Population | Chief administrative officer

|
|
|

North-West Frontier Province | 16 | 2,125,000 | Chief Commissioner
Baluchistan | 46 | 308,000 | British political agent in Baluchistan served as ex officio Chief Commissioner
Coorg | 1.6 | 181,000 | British Resident in Mysore served as ex officio Chief Commissioner
Ajmer-Merwara | 2.7 | 477,000 | British political agent in Rajputana served as ex officio Chief Commissioner
Andaman and Nicobar Islands | 3 | 25,000 | Chief Commissioner

### Aden

[edit]

* As the Settlement of Aden, a dependency of the Bombay Presidency from 1839 to 1932; became a chief commissioner's province in 1932; separated from India and made the Crown Colony of Aden in 1937.

## Partition and independence (1947)

[edit]

At the time of independence in 1947, British India had 17 provinces:

* Ajmer-Merwara
* Andaman and Nicobar Islands
* Assam
* Baluchistan
* Bengal
* Bihar
* Bombay
* Central Provinces and Berar
* Coorg
* Delhi
* Madras
* North-West Frontier
* Orissa
* Panth Piploda
* Punjab
* Sind
* United Provinces

Upon the Partition of India into the Dominion of India and Dominion of Pakistan, eleven provinces (Ajmer-Merwara-Kekri, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Bihar, Bombay, Central Provinces and Berar, Coorg, Delhi, Madras, Panth Piploda, Orissa, and the United Provinces) joined India, three (Baluchistan, North-West Frontier and Sindh) joined Pakistan, and three (Punjab, Bengal and Assam) 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 Bengal, was renamed East Pakistan in 1956 and became the independent nation of Bangladesh in 1971.

## See also

[edit]

* Britons in India
* East India Company (disambiguation)
* British rule in Burma
* British North America
* Colonial India
* Danish India
* Dutch India
* French India
* Flags of British India
* Portuguese India
* Historiography of the British Empire
* Indian princely states annexed by the British
* Maratha Empire
* Mughal Empire
* Salute state
* Sikh Empire

## Citations

[edit]

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 17th to the middle of the 18th 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 ..."
2. ^ Copland, Ian (21–27 February 2004). "Princely States and the Raj: Review of Sovereign Spheres: Princes, Education and Empire in Colonial India by Manu Bhagavan". Economic and Political Weekly. 39 (8): 807–809\. JSTOR 4414671. Archived from the original on 4 August 2021. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
3. ^ S. H. Steinberg, ed. (1949), "India", The Statesman's Year-Book: Statistical and Historical Annual of the States of the World for the Year 1949, Macmillan and Co, p. 122, ISBN 9780230270787, archived from the original on 17 March 2024, retrieved 20 June 2022 `{{citation}}`: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
4. ^ Imperial Gazetteer of India vol. II 1908, pp. 452–472
5. ^ Farooqui, Amar (7 May 2023). "When Mughals stopped East India Company's Chittagong invasion, siege on Bombay". ThePrint. Retrieved 23 January 2025.
6. ^ Imperial Gazetteer of India vol. II 1908, pp. 473–487
7. ^ a b Imperial Gazetteer of India vol. II 1908, pp. 488–514
8. ^ Imperial Gazetteer of India vol. II 1908, pp. 514–530
9. ^ a b Imperial Gazetteer of India vol. IV 1908, pp. 46–57
10. ^ Imperial Gazetteer of India vol. IV 1908, pp. 58–103
11. ^ Imperial Gazetteer of India vol. IV 1908, pp. 59–61
12. ^ Imperial Gazetteer of India vol. IV 1908, pp. 104–125
13. ^ a b c d e Imperial Gazetteer of India vol. IV 1908, p. 6
14. ^ Imperial Gazetteer of India vol. IV 1908, p. 7
15. ^ a b c Imperial Gazetteer of India vol. IV 1908, p. 9
16. ^ a b Imperial Gazetteer of India vol. IV 1908, p. 10
17. ^ Imperial Gazetteer of India vol. IV 1908, p. 11
18. ^ Imperial Gazetteer of India, vol. V, 1908
19. ^ "Full text of "The land systems of British India : being a manual of the land-tenures and of the systems of land-revenue administration prevalent in the several provinces"". archive.org. 1892.
20. ^ Geography of India 1870
21. ^ a b Imperial Gazetteer of India vol. IV 1908, p. 46
22. ^ a b Imperial Gazetteer of India vol. IV 1908, p. 56

## References

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* The Imperial Gazetteer of India (26 vol, 1908–31), highly detailed description of all of India in 1901. online edition
* 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 (1908), "Chapter X: Famine", The Indian Empire, Economic, 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, pp. 475–502
* Imperial Gazetteer of India vol. IV (1908), 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

## Further reading

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* Bandyopadhyay, Sekhar (2004). From Plassey to Partition: A History of Modern India. New Delhi and London: Orient Longmans. Pp. xx, 548. ISBN 81-250-2596-0.
* Brown, Judith M. (1994) [First published 1985]. Modern India: The Origins of an Asian Democracy (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press. Pp. xiii, 474. ISBN 0-19-873113-2.
* Copland, Ian (2001). India 1885–1947: The Unmaking of an Empire (Seminar Studies in History Series). Harlow and London: Pearson Longmans. Pp. 160. ISBN 0-582-38173-8.
* Harrington, Jack (2010). Sir John Malcolm and the Creation of British India. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-230-10885-1.
* Judd, Dennis (2004). The Lion and the Tiger: The Rise and Fall of the British Raj, 1600–1947. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. Pp. xiii, 280. ISBN 0-19-280358-1.
* Majumdar, R. C.; Raychaudhuri, H. C.; Datta, Kalikinkar (1950). An Advanced History of India. London: Macmillan and Company Limited. 2nd edition. Pp. xiii, 1122, 7 maps, 5 coloured maps.
* Markovits, Claude, ed. (2005). A History of Modern India 1480–1950 (Anthem South Asian Studies). Anthem Press. Pp. 607. ISBN 1-84331-152-6.
* Metcalf, Barbara; Metcalf, Thomas R. (2006). A Concise History of Modern India (Cambridge Concise Histories). Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press. Pp. xxxiii, 372. ISBN 0-521-68225-8..
* Mill, James (1820). The History of British India, in six volumes. London: Baldwin, Cradock, and Joy, 3rd edition, 1826. Archived from the original on 14 April 2021. Retrieved 12 December 2008.
* Peers, Douglas M. (2006). India under Colonial Rule 1700–1885. Harlow and London: Pearson Longmans. Pp. xvi, 163. ISBN 0-582-31738-X.
* Riddick, John F. (2006). The history of British India: a chronology. Praeger. ISBN 9780313322808. Archived from the original on 23 September 2023. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
* Riddick, John F. (1998). Who Was Who in British India.
* Sarkar, Sumit (1983). Modern India: 1885–1947. Delhi: Macmillan India Ltd. Pp. xiv, 486. ISBN 0-333-90425-7.
* Seymour, William. "The Indian States under the British Crown" History Today. (Dec 1967), Vol. 17 Issue 12, pp 819–827 online; covers 1858 to 1947.
* Smith, Vincent A. (1921). India in the British Period: Being Part III of the Oxford History of India. Oxford: At the Clarendon Press. 2nd edition. Pp. xxiv, 316 (469–784).
* Spear, Percival (1990) [First published 1965]. A History of India, Volume 2: From the sixteenth century to the twentieth century. New Delhi and London: Penguin Books. Pp. 298. ISBN 0-14-013836-6.

## External links

[edit]

* Cahoon, Ben. "Provinces of British India". WorldStatesmen.org. Archived from the original on 14 November 2022. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
* Statistical abstracts relating to British India, from 1840 to 1920 at uchicago.edu
* Digital Colonial Documents (India) Homepage at latrobe.edu.au
* Collection of early 20th century photographs of the cities of Bombay, Calcutta, and Madras with other interesting Indian locations from the magazine, India Illustrated, at the University of Houston Digital Library
* Coins of British India

* v
* t
* e

Presidencies and provinces of British India

Italics = areas outside present-day India and Pakistan

Presidencies|

* Agra Presidency
* Bengal Presidency
* Bombay Presidency
* Madras Presidency
* Presidency of Coromandel and Bengal Settlements
* Straits Settlements Presidency (at Penang)
* Western Presidency (Surat Presidency)

Provinces|

* Aden Province (associated, in Yemen, Arabia)
* Agra Province
* Ajmer-Merwara
* Andaman and Nicobar Islands
* Assam Province
* Baluchistan
* Bengal Province
* Berar Province
* Bihar and Orissa Province
* Bihar Province
* (Upper) Burma
* Central Provinces
* Central Provinces and Berar
* Coorg Province
* Delhi Province
* Eastern Bengal and Assam
* Lower Burma
* Nagpur Province
* North-West Frontier Province
* North-Western Provinces
* Orissa Province
* Panth-Piploda Province
* Punjab Province
* Sind Province
* United Provinces of Agra and Oudh
* United Provinces of British India
* United Provinces

* Agencies of British India
* British Empire in India
* British rule in Burma
* Districts of British India
* Divisions of British India
* List of princely states of British India (alphabetical)
* Residencies of British India
* Subdivisions of British India
* Territorial evolution of the British Empire

* v
* t
* e

Districts of British India

Districts in the
Madras Presidency|

* Ceded Districts
* Chingleput District
* Coimbatore District
* Godavari District
* Madura District
* Malabar District
* North Arcot
* South Arcot District
* South Canara
* Tanjore District
* Tinnevely District
* Trichinopoly District
* Vizagapatam District

Districts in the
Bengal Presidency|

* 24 Parganas
* Bardhaman district
* Backergunge District
* Bassein District
* Champaran District
* Garo Hills district
* Jungle Mahals
* Jungle Terry
* Khasi and Jaintia Hills
* Lushai Hills District
* Manbhum District
* Midnapore district
* Naga Hills District
* Santal Parganas district
* Shahabad district
* Singhbhum District
* Tipperah District

Districts in the
Bombay Presidency|

* East Khandesh
* Kaladgi District
* Khandesh District
* Upper Sind Frontier District
* West Khandesh

Other districts|

* Bhilsa District
* Chanderi District
* Delhi District
* Ellichpur District
* Garhwal District
* Hazara District (NW Frontier)
* Isagarh District
* Kumaon District
* Lyallpur District
* Merwara District
* Montgomery District
* Muhamdi District
* Nimar District
* North Bareilly District
* Quetta-Pishin District
* Shahpur District
* Sironj District
* Thal-Chotiali
* Wun District
* Peshawar District (NW Frontier)

Post independence
historical districts|

* Bangalore District
* Imphal District
* West Dinajpur district

* Subdivisions of British India
* Divisions of British India
* Presidencies and provinces of British India
* British Empire in India

* v
* t
* e

Former British Empire and Current British Overseas Territories

Legend
Former territory
Current territory
*Current Commonwealth realm
†Current member of the Commonwealth of Nations

Europe

* Akrotiri and Dhekelia since 1960 (before as part of Cyprus)
* Corsica 1794–1796
* †Cyprus 1878–1960
* Gibraltar since 1713
* Heligoland 1807–1890
* Ionian Islands 1809–1864
* Lordship of Ireland 1177–1542
* Kingdom of Ireland 1542–1800 (integrated into the UK)
* Free State 1921–1931
* †Malta
* Protectorate 1800–1813
* Colony 1813–1964
* Minorca 1708–1757, 1763–1782 and 1798–1802

Africa

* Basutoland (†Lesotho) 1868–1966
* Bechuanaland (†Botswana) 1884–1966
* Cameroons13 1919–1961
* Cape Colony 1795–1803
* Cape of Good Hope 1806–1910
* Central Africa 1891–1907
* East Africa 1895–1920
* Egypt 1882–1922
* †The Gambia 1816–1965
* Gold Coast (†Ghana) 1874–1957
* †Kenya 1920–1963
* Lagos 1862–1906
* Madeira 1807–1808
* †Mauritius 1810–1968
* Natal 1856–1910
* Niger Coast 1884–1900
* †Nigeria 1914–1960
* Northern Nigeria 1900–1914
* Northern Rhodesia15 1924–1964
* Nyasaland 1891–1964
* Orange River 1900–1910
* †Seychelles 1903–1976
* †Sierra Leone 1792–1961
* Somaliland 1884–1960
* †South Africa 1910–1931
* South-West Africa12 1915–1931
* Southern Rhodesia14 1923–1965 and 1979–1980
* Southern Nigeria 1900–1914
* †Swaziland 1893–1968
* Sudan 1899–1956
* Tanganyika13 1922–1961
* Transvaal 1900–1910
* †Uganda 1890–1962
* Zanzibar 1890–1963
* Zululand 1887–1897

* 12Now †Namibia
* 13League of Nations mandate. British Cameroons is now part of †Cameroon and Nigeria, while Tanganyika is part of †Tanzania.
* 14Self-governing Southern Rhodesia unilaterally declared independence in 1965 (as Rhodesia) and continued as an unrecognised state until the 1979 Lancaster House Agreement. After recognised independence in 1980, Zimbabwe was a member of the Commonwealth until it withdrew in 2003.
* 15Now †Zambia

Asia

* Aden Colony 1839–1967
* Afghanistan 1839–1842
* Protectorate 1879–1919
* Bencoolen 1685–1824
* Banka and Billiton 1812–1824
* Bengal 1757–1947
* Bhutan (protectorate) 1907–1949
* Borneo 1874–1963
* British Indian Ocean Territory since 1965 (before as part of Mauritius and Seychelles)26
* Burma 1824–1948
* †Brunei 1888–1984
* †Ceylon 1795–1948
* †Cyprus 1878–1960
* Hong Kong 1841–1997
* †India18 1858–1947
* Java 1811–1816
* Kuwait 1918–1961
* Labuan 1848–1946
* Malaya 1819–1826
* Federated States 1895–1946
* Unfederated States 1885–1946
* Union 1946–1948
* Federation 1948–1957
* Malacca 1824–1946
* Crown Colony 1946–1957
* †Maldives 1796–1965
* Manila and Cavite 1762–1764
* Mesopotamia19 1920–1932
* Muscat and Oman 1891–1971
* North Borneo 1882–1963
* Crown Colony 1946–1963
* Padang 1781–1784 and 1795–1819
* Palestine19 1923–1948
* Penang 1786–1946
* Crown Colony 1946–1957
* Pulo Condore 1702–1705
* Sarawak 1841–1946
* Crown Colony 1946–1963
* †Singapore 1946–1963
* South Vietnam 1945–1946
* Straits Settlements 1826–1946
* Transjordan 1921–1946
* Trucial States 1892–1971
* Weihai 1898–1930

* 18Now †India, †Pakistan and †Bangladesh
* 19League of Nations mandate. Iraq's mandate was not enacted and replaced by the Anglo-Iraqi Treaty
* 26Legitimacy of territorial establishment disputed

North America

* Anguilla since 1650
* *Antigua 1632–1860
* *Antigua and Barbuda 1860–1981
* †*Bahamas 1670–1973
* †Barbados 1624–1966
* Bay Islands 1643–1860
* †*Belize 1871–1981
* Bermuda since 1619
* British Arctic Territories 16th c.–1880
* British Columbia 1858–1866
* 1866–1871
* Cape Breton Island 1754–1820
* †Dominica 1763–1978
* East Florida 1763–1783
* †*Grenada 1762–1974
* †*Canada
* Lower 1791–1841
* Upper 1791–1841
* Province 1841–1867
* Dominion 1867–1931
* Carolina 1663–1712
* Cayman Islands since 1670
* Columbia District/Oregon Country 1818–1846
* Connecticut 1636–1776
* Delaware 1701–1776
* East Jersey 1674–1702
* Georgia 1733–1776
* †*Jamaica 1655–1962
* Leeward Islands 1671–1816, 1833–1960
* Massachusetts Bay 1629–1691
* Province, 1691–1776
* Maryland 1632–1776
* Montserrat since 1632
* Mosquito Coast 1655–1860
* Nevis 1628–1983
* New Albion 1579
* New Brunswick 1784–1867
* New England 1686–1689
* New Hampshire 1680–1776
* New Haven 1637–1662
* New Jersey 1665–1674 and 1702–1776
* New York 1664–1776
* Newfoundland 1907–1949
* Newfoundland and Labrador 1583–1907
* North Carolina 1712–1776
* North-Western Territory 1859–1870
* Nova Scotia 1713–1867
* Paulet affair 1843
* Prince Edward Island 1763–1873
* Pennsylvania 1681–1776
* Plymouth 1620–1691
* Quebec 1763–1791* Queen Charlotte Islands 1853–1863
* Rhode Island 1636–1776
* Rupert's Land 1670–1870
* Saint Croix 1625–1650
* Saint Kitts 1623–1983
* †*Saint Kitts and Nevis 1882–1983
* †*Saint Lucia 1605–1979
* †*Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 1627–1979
* Saybrook 1635–1644
* South Carolina 1712–1776
* Stickeen 1862–1863
* †Trinidad and Tobago 1889–1962
* Turks and Caicos Islands since 1799
* Vancouver Island 1849–1866
* Virgin Islands since 1666
* Virginia 1607–1776
* West Florida 1763–1783
* West Indies Federation 1958–1962
* Associated States 1967–1983
* West Jersey 1674–1702
* Windward Islands 1833–1960

South America

* Providence Island 1631–1641
* Willoughbyland 1651–1667
* Saint Andrew and Providence Islands4 1670–1688
* †Guiana 1831–1966

* 4Now a department of Colombia

Oceania

* New South Wales 1788–1901
* Van Diemen's Land/Tasmania 1803–1901
* Auckland Islands20 1807–1863
* New Hebrides21 1824–1980
* Queensland 1824–1901
* Swan River/Western Australia 1829–1901
* South Australia 1836–1901
* Pitcairn Islands since 1838
* New Zealand 1841–1907
* North Australia 1846–1847
* Victoria 1851–1901
* †Fiji 1874–1970
* Western Pacific Territories 1877–1976
* Papua 1884–1902
* Rarotonga/Cook Islands20 1888–1901
* Union Islands20 1889–1948
* Gilbert and Ellice Islands22 1892–1979
* †*Solomon Islands 1893–1978
* †Tonga 1900–1970
* Niue20 1900–1974
* †*Australia 1901–1942
* †*New Zealand 1907–1947
* †Samoa 1914–1962
* †Nauru 1919–1942 and 1945–1968

* 20Now part of the †Realm of New Zealand
* 21Now †Vanuatu
* 22Now †Kiribati and †*Tuvalu

Antarctica and the South Atlantic

* Saint Helena23 since 1658
* Ascension Island23 since 1815
* Tristan da Cunha23 since 1816
* Falkland Islands5 since 1833
* †Australian Antarctic Territory (transferred to the Commonwealth of Australia) 1841–1933
* †Ross Dependency (transferred to the Realm of New Zealand) 1841–1947
* British Antarctic Territory24 since 1908
* South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands25 since 1908

* 5Occupied by Argentina during the Falklands War of April–June 1982.
* 23Since 2009 part of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha; Ascension Island (1922–) and Tristan da Cunha (1938–) were previously dependencies of Saint Helena.
* 24Claimed in 1908; territory formed 1962; overlaps portions of Argentine and Chilean claims, borders not enforced but claim not renounced under the Antarctic Treaty.
* 25Claimed in 1908; territory formed 1985

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