Sikhism of British Raj

British Raj or British India, officially the British Indian Empire , and internationally and contemporaneously, India , was the term used synonymously for the region, the rule, and the period, from 1858 to 1947, of the British Empire on the Indian subcontinent. The region included areas directly administered by the United Kingdom (contemporaneously, "British India") as well as the princely states ruled by individual rulers under the paramountcy of the British Crown. The princely states, which had all entered into treaty arrangements with the British Crown, were allowed a degree of local autonomy in exchange for accepting protection and complete representation in international affairs by Great Britain. The British Indian Empire included the regions of present-day India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, and, in addition, at various times, Aden (from 1858 to 1937), Lower Burma (from 1858 to 1937), Upper Burma (from 1886 to 1937), British Somaliland (briefly from 1884 to 1898), and Singapore (briefly from 1858 to 1867). British India had some ties with British possessions in the Middle East; the Indian rupee served as the currency in many parts of that region. What is now Iraq was, immediately after World War I, administered by the India Office of the British government.

The Indian Empire, which issued its own passports, was commonly referred to as India both in the region and internationally. As India , it was a founding member of the League of Nations, and a member nation of the Summer Olympics in 1900, 1920, 1928, 1932 and 1936.

Among other countries in the region, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), which was ceded to the United Kingdom in 1802 under the Treaty of Amiens , was a British Crown Colony , but not part of British India. The kingdoms of Nepal and Bhutan although having been in conflict with, had both subsequently signed treaties with Great Britain, and were recognized as independent states and not part of the British Raj. The Kingdom of Sikkim was established as a princely state after the Anglo-Sikkimese Treaty of 1861, however, the issue of sovereignty was left undefined. The Maldive Islands were a British protectorate from 1867 to 1965, but not part of British India.

The system of governance lasted from 1858, when the rule of the British East India Company was transferred to the Crown in the person of Queen Victoria (and who, in 1877, was proclaimed Empress of India), until 1947, when the British Indian Empire was partitioned into two sovereign states, the Union of India (later the Republic of India) and the Dominion of Pakistan (later the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the People's Republic of Bangladesh ). As for Burma, following civil unrest and riots from 1935-1937, it was separated from India to form a separate crown colony, whilst still using the Indian rupee as its currency. Burma received Independence from the UK in 1948 as the Union of Burma .