Presidencies and provinces of British India

The Provinces of India, earlier Presidencies of British India and

still earlier, Presidency towns, were the administrative divisions Colonial India
of British governance in India. 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
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. Imperial entities of India
During the period of Company rule in India, 1757–1858,
the Company gradually acquired sovereignty over large Dutch India 1605–
parts of India, now called "Presidencies". However, it 1825
also increasingly came under British government
Danish India 1620–
oversight, in effect sharing sovereignty with the Crown.
At the same time, it gradually lost its mercantile 1869
privileges. French India 1668–
Following the Indian Rebellion of 1857 the Company's 1954
remaining powers were transferred to the Crown. Under
the British Raj (1858–1947), administrative boundaries
were extended to include a few other British- Portuguese India
(1505–1961)
administered regions, such as Upper Burma.
Increasingly, however, the unwieldy presidencies were Casa da Índia 1434–
broken up into "Provinces".[1] 1833
Portuguese East India 1628–
Company 1633
Contents
British India (1793–1947) British India
Administration under the Company (1793–1858) (1612–1947)
The presidencies East India Company 1612–
The new provinces 1757

Administration under the Crown (1858–1947) Company rule in India 1757–

Historical background 1858
Regulation provinces British Raj 1858–
Major provinces 1947
Minor provinces British rule in Burma 1824–
Aden 1948
Partition and independence (1947) Princely states 1721–
See also 1949
Notes Partition of India 1947
References
Further reading
External links

British India (1793–1947)

In 1608, Mughal authorities allowed the English 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 A mezzotint engraving of Fort
established European trading companies in Bengal in trade. [2] William, Calcutta, the capital of the
Bengal Presidency in British India
However, the power of the Mughal Empire declined from 1707, first
1735.
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.[3] By the mid-19th century, and after
the three Anglo-Maratha 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.[4] Location of the British Empire (British India and
the princely states) in the world
Company rule in Bengal (after 1793) was terminated by the
Government of India Act 1858, following the events of the
Bengal Rebellion of 1857.[4] 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.[5] India
was divided into British India, regions that were directly administered by the British, with Acts established and
passed in British Parliament,[6] and the Princely States,[7] 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.[8] 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 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.[6] 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.[9]

Administration under the Company (1793–1858)

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.[10] The company
rented a small trading outpost in Madras in 1639.[10][10] 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.[10]

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.[10] Almost a half-century later, after
Mughal Emperor Aurengzeb forced the Company out of Hooghly for its tax evasion, Job Charnock purchased
three small villages, later renamed Calcutta, in 1686, making it the Company's new headquarters.[10] 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.[11]

The presidencies

The Indian The Indian The presidency The presidency

peninsula in 1700, peninsula in 1760, town of Madras in a town of Bombay
showing the Mughal three years after the 1908 map. Madras (shown here in a
Empire and the Battle of Plassey, was established as 1908 map) was
European trading showing the Fort St. George in established in 1684.
settlements. Maratha Empire and 1640.
other prominent
political states.

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.[12] 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 and Bihar beginning from 1772 as per the treaty signed in 1765.[12] By
1773, the Company obtained the Nizāmat of Bengal (the "exercise of criminal jurisdiction") and thereby full
sovereignty of the expanded Bengal Presidency.[12] 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.[13]

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.[13] 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.[14]

Map of India in Map of India in Map of India in Map of India in

1765. 1795. 1805. 1823.

Map of India in Map of India in Map of India in Expansion of British

1837. 1848. 1857. Bengal and Burma.

The new provinces

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 (statute 3 and 4, William IV, cap. 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 (statute 5
and 6, William IV, cap. 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.[15]

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 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-Kekri: ceded by Sindhia of Gwalior in 1818 at the conclusion of the Third
Anglo-Maratha War.
Coorg: 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: 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 annexed in 1856 and governed thereafter until 1905 as a Chief Commissionership, as a
part of North-Western Provinces and Oudh.
 North-Western Punjab annexed in Oudh annexed in
Provinces, 1849. 1856.
constituted in 1836
from erstwhile
Ceded and
Conquered
Provinces.

Administration under the Crown (1858–1947)

Historical background

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.[16] The
same two kinds of management applied for districts. Thus Ganjam and Vizagapatam were non-regulation
districts.[17] Non-Regulation Provinces included:

Ajmir Province (Ajmer-Merwara)

Cis-Sutlej states
Saugor and Nerbudda Territories
North-East Frontier (Assam)
Cooch Behar
South-West Frontier (Chota Nagpur)
Jhansi Province
Kumaon Province
 British India in 1880: The Indian Empire The Indian Empire The Indian Empire
this map in 1893 after the in 1907 during the in 1915 after the
incorporates the annexation of Upper partition of Bengal reunification of
Provinces of British Burma and (1905–1912). Bengal, the creation
India, the Princely incorporation of of the new province
States and the Baluchistan. of Bihar and Orissa,
legally non-Indian and the re-
Crown Colony of establishment of
Ceylon. Assam.

Regulation provinces
Central Provinces: Created in 1861 from Nagpur Province and the Saugor and Nerbudda
Territories. Berar administered since 1903, 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 Province: 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 Bombay Presidency Bengal Presidency

shown in an 1880 in an 1880 map. in 1880.
map.
 An 1880 map of 1908 map of Central Beluchistan, shown Baluchistan in 1908:
Central Provinces. Provinces and as an independent the Districts and
The province had Berar. Berar was kingdom along with Agencies of British
been constituted in included in 1903. Afghanistan and Baluchistan are
1861. Turkestan, in an shown alongside the
1880 map. 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.
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.
Panth-Piploda: made a province in 1942, from territories ceded by a native ruler.

Major provinces

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):[18] 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.
A map of the British Indian Empire 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.
 Province of British Area (in thousands of Population (in millions of Chief Administrative
India[18] square miles) inhabitants) Officer
Burma 170 9 Lieutenant-Governor
Bengal 151 75 Lieutenant-Governor
Madras 142 38 Governor-in-Council
Bombay 123 19 Governor-in-Council
United Provinces 107 48 Lieutenant-Governor
Central Provinces and
104 13 Chief Commissioner
Berar
Punjab 97 20 Lieutenant-Governor
Assam 49 6 Chief Commissioner

Minor provinces

In addition, there were a few provinces that were administered by a Chief Commissioner:[19]

Population (in
Minor Area (in thousands thousands of
Province[19] of square miles) inhabitants) Chief Administrative Officer
North-West
Frontier 16 2,125 Chief Commissioner
Province
British British Political Agent in Baluchistan served
46 308
Baluchistan as ex officio Chief Commissioner
British Resident in Mysore served as ex
Coorg 1.6 181
officio Chief Commissioner
British Political Agent in Rajputana served as
Ajmer-Merwara 2.7 477
ex officio Chief Commissioner
Andaman and
3 25 Chief Commissioner
Nicobar Islands

Aden
As the Settlement of Aden, a dependency of Bombay Presidency from 1839 to 1932; becomes
a Chief Commissioner's province in 1932; separated from India and made the Crown Colony of
Aden in 1937.

Partition and independence (1947)

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 British India into the Dominion of India and Dominion of Pakistan, 11 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, 3 (Baluchistan, North-West
Frontier and Sindh) joined Pakistan, and 3 (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
British rule in Burma
Danish India
Dutch India
French India
Indian Princely States annexed by the British
Maratha Empire
Mughal Empire
Sikh Empire
Salute state
Historiography of the British Empire

Notes
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. Imperial Gazetteer of India vol. II 1908, pp. 452–472
3. Imperial Gazetteer of India vol. II 1908, pp. 473–487
4. Imperial Gazetteer of India vol. II 1908, pp. 488–514
 5. Imperial Gazetteer of India vol. II 1908, pp. 514–530
6. Imperial Gazetteer of India vol. IV 1908, pp. 46–57
7. Imperial Gazetteer of India vol. IV 1908, pp. 58–103
8. Imperial Gazetteer of India vol. IV 1908, pp. 59–61
9. Imperial Gazetteer of India vol. IV 1908, pp. 104–125
10. Imperial Gazetteer of India vol. IV 1908, p. 6
11. Imperial Gazetteer of India vol. IV 1908, p. 7
12. Imperial Gazetteer of India vol. IV 1908, p. 9
13. Imperial Gazetteer of India vol. IV 1908, p. 10
14. Imperial Gazetteer of India vol. IV 1908, p. 11
15. Imperial Gazetteer of India, vol. V, 1908
16. "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" " (https://archive.or
g/stream/landsystemsofbri01badeuoft/landsystemsofbri01badeuoft_djvu.txt). archive.org.
17. Geography of India (https://archive.org/stream/geographyofindia00adtf/geographyofindia00adtf
_djvu.txt) 1870
18. Imperial Gazetteer of India vol. IV 1908, p. 46
19. Imperial Gazetteer of India vol. IV 1908, p. 56

References
The Imperial Gazetteer of India (26 vol, 1908–31), highly detailed description of all of India in
1901. online edition (http://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/gazetteer/)
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), The Indian Empire, Economic (Chapter X: Famine,
pp. 475–502), 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
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
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 (http://oll.libertyfund.org/?option=
com_staticxt&staticfile=show.php%3Ftitle=1867). London: Baldwin, Cradock, and Joy, 3rd
edition, 1826.
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 (https://books.google.com/boo
ks?id=Es6x4u_g19UC). ISBN 9780313322808.
Riddick, John F. (1998). Who Was Who in British India.
Sarkar, Sumit (1983). Modern India: 1885–1947 (https://archive.org/details/modernindia188510
0sark). Delhi: Macmillan India Ltd. Pp. xiv, 486. ISBN 0-333-90425-7.
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
Statistical abstracts relating to British India, from 1840 to 1920 (http://dsal.uchicago.edu/statistic
s/) at uchicago.edu
Digital Colonial Documents (India) Homepage (http://arrow.latrobe.edu.au/store/3/4/5/5/2/publi
c/index.htm) 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 (http://digital.lib.uh.edu/cdm4/browse.php?CISOROOT=%2Fp15195col
l29)
Coins of British India (http://coinindia.com/index-british.html)

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