This article is about the specific polity British India and therefore only includes events related to its territory and not to its possessions or colonies. If you are interested in the possession, this is the link to the article about the nation which includes all possessions as well as all the different incarnations of the nation.
If you are looking for the page with the statistics about this polity you can find it here:All Statistics
Following the Indian Rebellion of 1857, the Government of India Act 1858 led to the British Crown assuming direct control of India in the form of the new British Raj. It controlled directly or indirectly (through Princely States) the territories of modern-day India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. For a period the British Raj also included Burma, but it was later organized as a separate colony.
Establishment
August 1858: After the Indian Rebellion of 1857, the rule of the British East India Company was transferred to the Crown in the person of Queen Victoria.
Chronology
Interactive Chronologies with maps are available in the section Changes Navigation
Was a war fought between British India and Bhutan from 1864 to 1865.
1.1.Treaty of Sinchula
Was the treaty that ended the Bhutan War. Under the terms of the Treaty, signed 11 November 1865, Bhutan ceded territories in the Assam Duars and Bengal Duars, as well as the 83 km² of territory of Dewangiri in southeastern Bhutan to British India.
November 1865: Under the terms of the Treaty of Sinchula, signed 11 November 1865, Bhutan ceded territories in the Assam Duars and Bengal Duars, as well as the 83 km² of territory of Dewangiri in southeastern Bhutan.
Were a series of wars fought by the British East India Company in the Indian Subcontinent that resulted in the British conquest and colonial rule of the region.
2.1.Anglo-Burmese Wars
Were a series of wars between the British Empire and the Konbaung dynasty of Burma. After the third and last war, Burma was annexed to British India.
2.1.1.Third Anglo-Burmese War
Was the last of a series of wars between the British Empire and the Konbaung dynasty of Burma. Burma was annexed to British India.
2.1.1.1.British annexion of Burma
Annexion of the Konbaung Dynasty of Burma by British India after the Third Anglo-Burmese War.
November 1885: The British, led by General Sir Harry Prendergast, annexed the remaining territories of the Konbaung dynasty in Burma during the Third Anglo-Burmese War in 1885. This was in response to the growing influence of French Indochina in the region.
2.2.Anglo-Afghan Wars
Were three wars in which the British Empire tried to extend its influence in modern-day Afghanistan.
2.2.1.Second Anglo-Afghan War
Was a war between Afghanistan and the British Empire. At the end of the war, Afghanistan became a British protectorate.
2.2.1.1.First British Invasion
Was the British invasion of Afghanistan at the beginning of the Second Anglo-Afghan War.
2.2.1.1.1.Treaty of Gandamak
Was signed on 26 May 1879 to officially end the first phase of the Second Anglo-Afghan War. Under the treaty, the Afghan Emir, Mohammad Yaqub Khan, ceded various frontier areas to the British Raj and the country became a British protectorate.
May 1879: A peace treaty was signed on 26 May 1879 to officially end the first phase of the Second Anglo-Afghan War. Under its terms, the Afghan Emir, Mohammad Yaqub Khan, ceded various frontier areas to the British Raj, including Quetta, Pishin, Harnai, Sibi, Kurram, and Khyber, while retaining sovereignty over the rest of Afghanistan.
2.2.2.Third Anglo-Afghan War
Was a conflict that began in 1919 when the Emirate of Afghanistan invaded British India.
May 1919: An Uprising took place in Peshwar with the support of Afghan forces.
May 1919: The inhabitants of Peshawar complied and by dawn on 8 May the situation in the city was under control and the threat of an uprising abated.
Was a British military expedition against the princely states of Hunza and Nagar in the Gilgit Agency.
January 1892: At the end of the 19th century the troops of the British Empire tried to consolidate their control over the tribal areas of the north-east of the Raj, encountering some resistance especially in the principalities of Hunza and Nagar. In 1891, Colonel Algernon George Arnold Durand was therefore sent to Nagar and Hunza which, following the battle of Nilt Nagar, were occupied.
The Durand Line was established in 1893 as the international border between India and the Emirate of Afghanistan by Mortimer Durand, a British diplomat of the Indian Civil Service, and Abdur Rahman Khan, the Afghan Emir.
November 1893: The British in 1893 forced Afghanistan to consent to the Durand Line and annexed a third of Afghanistan.
Was a British military campaign against the Kabul Khel, a Waziri tribe in Pakistan that had rebelled.
January 1897: Kabul Khel, who had then been in a state of rebellion since 1896.
November 1902: In 1902, the British launched an expedition against the Kabul Khel (a Waziri tribe in Pakistan), who had then been in a state of rebellion since 1896. Troops under the command of Major-General Egerton began their invasion of Kabul Khel tribal territory from Thal, Idak and Barganatu. British forces advanced with ease, capturing Gumatti.
November 1902: With the Kabul Khel having been pacified, British forces withdrew on the 25th, ending the expedition.
A period (1839-1949) of foregin interventions in China resulting in the occupation, conquest or lease of large territories by foregin countries.
6.1.British expedition to Tibet
Was a British military invasion of Tibet, at the time part of Qing China.
January 1909: After Chinese and Tibetan Authorities had finished to pay indemnities to the British, the Chumbi Valley was given back to Tibet.
6.1.1.Treaty of Lhasa
Was the treaty that ended the British invasion of Tibiet.
September 1904: The Treaty of Lhasa ended the British expedition to Tibet, ceding the Chumbi Valley to Great Britain. Following the treaty, British forces evacuated the remaining occupied territories of Tibet.
Was a global conflict that lasted from 1939 to 1945 (it started sooner in certain regions) between the Axis Powers (mainly Germany, Japan and Italy) and the Allies (mainly the Soviet Union, the U.S.A., the U.K., China and France). It was the war with more fatalities in history. The war in Asia began when Japan invaded China on July 7, 1937. The war in Europe began when Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. The war ended with the complete defeat of the Axis powers, which were occupied by the Allies.
7.1.World War II (Asia & Pacific)
Was the East Asian, South Asian and Pacific theatre of World War II.
7.1.1.Japanese conquest of Burma
Was a Japanese military campaign against British Burma that resulted in the Japanese occupation of the region.
7.1.2.Burma Campaign
Was the battle between the Japanese and British forces in Burma, during World War II.
7.1.2.1.Operation U-Go
Was the Japanese offensive launched in March 1944 against forces of the British Empire in the northeast Indian regions of Manipur and the Naga Hills.
March 1944: Japanese advance up to Imphal.
April 1944: Japanese advance up to Kohima.
June 1944: Battle of Kohima. The Japanese, reduced in many cases to a rabble, fell back to the Chindwin.
July 1944: The Battle of Imphal took place in the region around the city of Imphal, the capital of the state of Manipur in northeast India from March until July 1944. The Japanese, reduced in many cases to a rabble, fell back to the Chindwin.
7.1.3.Japanese Surrender (World War II)
Were the evacuation of the Japanese forces from occupied territories after the formal surrender of the Empire of Japan.
August 1945: After the dropping of Atomic Bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan accepts the Allied unconditional surrender terms (14 August 1945). Japanese forces leave occupied territories.
7.2.World War II (Middle Eastern Theatre)
Was the Middle Eastern theatre of World War II.
7.2.1.Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran
Was the joint invasion of the neutral Imperial State of Iran by the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union in August 1941.
7.2.1.1.Partition of Iran
Iran was partitioned between Britain and the Soviet Union after the the Anglo-Soviet invasion, with the Soviets stationed in northern Iran and the British south of Hamadan and Qazvin.
October 1941: The Allies withdrew from Tehran on 17 October and Iran was partitioned between Britain and the Soviet Union, with the Soviets stationed in northern Iran and the British south of Hamadan and Qazvin.
Was the partition of British India in two independent entities: India (with a Hindu majority) and Pakistan (with a Muslim majority). This included the several princely states that were dependent on the British Colony.
July 1947: The accession to the Indian Union was signed by the Maharaja of Bikaner on 7 August 1947.
August 1947: Mysore joined the Indian Union on 9 August 1947.
August 1947: The Khanate of Kalat was briefly independent from 12 August 1947.
August 1947: Accession of Tripura State to India.
August 1947: Ballabhgarh acceded India.
August 1947: The Dominion of Pakistan was an independent federal dominion in South Asia that was established in August 1947 as a result of the Pakistan Movement, which led to the Partition of British India along religious lines in order to create a separate country for British Indian Muslims. The country encompassed actual Pakistan and Bangladesh.
August 1947: Accession to India. The Indian Independence Act came into being on 15 August.
August 1947: In 1947 the British Indian Empire was partitioned into two independent dominions, a Hindu-majority Dominion of India and a Muslim-majority Dominion of Pakistan.
January 1859: Amb State officially founded in 1858 by British government recognition.
January 1859: After a crushing defeat in the war of 1857-1858, the last Mughal, Bahadur Shah Zafar, was deposed by the British East India Company and exiled in 1858.
January 1860: Annexation of Tulsipur by British India.
January 1861: In 1860 some parts of western Terai, known as Naya Muluk ("new country") were restored to Nepal.
January 1866: The chiefs of Chhuikhadan were originally under the Bhonsles of Nagpur, the first Chief being Mahant Rup Das in 1750. However, after defeat of Marathas, they were recognized by British as feudatory chiefs in 1865 conferring the title and sanad to Mahant Laxman Das.
January 1870: In 1869 the Nicobar Islands were made part of British India.
October 1879: British submission of Khonoma and the Naga Hills.
January 1891: In December 1890 the British government took over Makrai State under the doctrine of lapse owing to bad administration.
January 1893: The Karenni States were recognized as tributary to British Burma in 1892, when their rulers agreed to accept a stipend from the British government.
October 1894: Final Boundary Treaty for the Siam-Burma border between Thailand and Britain.
January 1895: Expansion of the Russian Empire by 1894 (based on maps).
January 1895: Boundary treaty between Great Britain and China in 1894.
January 1896: Due to the remoteness of the relatively inaccessible mountain country, Mizoram remained outside the focus of world politics for a long time and the population lived in small tribal communities without forming larger state associations. After the Chin-Lushai Expedition, the Mizo tribes submitted completely. The Mizo Hills formally became part of British India in 1895.
February 1897: After China relinquished jurisdiction, Kokang came under British protection.
January 1902: Dir was a small Muslim princely state in a subsidiary alliance with British India within the Northwest Frontier Province.
July 1914: Britain and independent Tibet signed an agreement (Simla Agreement) in 1913 to settle their border issues.
January 1938: The British separated Burma Province from British India in 1937 and granted the colony a new constitution.
Disestablishment
July 1947: The accession to the Indian Union was signed by the Maharaja of Bikaner on 7 August 1947.
August 1947: Mysore joined the Indian Union on 9 August 1947.
August 1947: The Khanate of Kalat was briefly independent from 12 August 1947.
August 1947: Accession of Tripura State to India.
August 1947: The Dominion of Pakistan was an independent federal dominion in South Asia that was established in August 1947 as a result of the Pakistan Movement, which led to the Partition of British India along religious lines in order to create a separate country for British Indian Muslims. The country encompassed actual Pakistan and Bangladesh.
August 1947: Accession to India. The Indian Independence Act came into being on 15 August.
August 1947: Ballabhgarh acceded India.
August 1947: In 1947 the British Indian Empire was partitioned into two independent dominions, a Hindu-majority Dominion of India and a Muslim-majority Dominion of Pakistan.
Selected Sources
Indian independence Act. Retrieved on March, 24th 2024 on https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1947/30/pdfs/ukpga_19470030_en.pdf
Williams, M.H. (1989): United States army in World War II - Special Studies - Chronology 1941-1945, p.185
Williams, M.H. (1989): United States army in World War II - Special Studies - Chronology 1941-1945, p.551
British India
