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Written by the Remaking Britain team. First published December 2025.

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Empire, imperialism and Indian independence

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Often referred to as the ‘Jewel in the Crown’, India occupied a unique place in Britain’s Empire. Initially administered by the East India Company until 1857, the period after Britain assumed direct rule is known as the British Raj (1858–1947). During this period there was Indian resistance to the East India Company and British rule, but resistance was often shut down by force. In Britain, India was presented exotically as a land of riches and maharajas. These assumptions were challenged by Indians in Britain, who travelled to Britain in increasing numbers after the 1830s.

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The East India Company and Indians in Britain in the early 19th century

The English East India Company was founded at the end of 1600, and its primary purpose was a trading company. It expanded rapidly between 1660 and 1700, and in the late 18th century began to colonise the Indian subcontinent.

In 1757, the East India Company (EIC) defeated the Nawab (equivalent to prince) of Bengal at the Battle of Plassey. Following this victory, the EIC annexed land from Bengal and began to build its army in India. The EIC began to take over the administration of large parts of India, with British communities established around Bombay (now Mumbai), Calcutta (now Kolkata) and Madras (now Chennai). The EIC forced Indian rulers to pay for its troops or otherwise seized their land and rapidly expanded its reach across India between 1783 and 1818. The EIC exploited the labour and resources of people in the Indian subcontinent for profit. From the mid-1830s the EIC introduced new land and tax systems, with civil law and administration and higher education all modelled on English lines.

With the growth of the EIC in India, British administrators, educators and lawyers took up jobs in India. During the 17th and 18th century, the EIC encouraged employees to closely engage with Indian culture and languages, and to intermarry. This created dual-heritage families in India. Some Indian wives accompanied their husbands back to Britain. William Palmer (1740–1816) rose through the ranks of the East India Company to the role of military secretary to the governor-general, Warren Hastings (1732–1818). Palmer married Begum Fyze Baksh (?–1828), a member of the royal family of Oudh. Their descendent Edward Palmer eventually founded Veeraswamy’s restaurant.

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Held by British Library. Shelfmark: Foster 597. Public Domain

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Portrait of the Palmer family by Johann Zoffany, 1785

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Portrait of the Palmer family by Johann Zoffany, 1785

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With this movement and travel between Britain and India, Indians also increasingly travelled on return ships to Britain and made their lives in Britain. For example, William Hickey was a lawyer who worked in Calcutta (now Kolkata). In 1808, he brought 13-year-old Munnoo to Beaconsfield as a servant. Munnoo converted to Christianity in 1809 and took on the name William Munnew. He married Anne in around 1813 and in around 1820 they moved to Richmond, Surrey. They had two children, who were called Anne and William.

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Held by National Portrait Gallery. Shelfmark: NPG 3249. Usage terms: © National Portrait Gallery, London.

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Munnoo (William Munnoo or Munnew); William Hickey, by William Thomas, oil on canvas, 1819

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Munnoo (William Munnoo or Munnew); William Hickey, by William Thomas, oil on canvas, 1819

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Published under a Creative Commons licence

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Crown control of India

In 1858, following rebellions in India in 1857 against EIC rule, the British Crown took over control of India from the East India Company. The governance of India was now directly under the control of Parliament. A proclamation announcing these changes was issued on 1 November 1858, addressed to ‘the princes, chiefs and people of India’. The East India Company was formally dissolved by an Act of Parliament in 1874.

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Held by British Library. Shelfmark: MSS EUR D 620. Public Domain.

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Proclamation announcing the transference of the government of India to the British Crown, 1858

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Proclamation announcing the transference of the government of India to the British Crown, 1858

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First page of Queen Victoria's 1858 Proclamation, headed with the British royal coat of arms, followed by printed text and a handwritten note

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As India was so large and the number of British colonial officials was relatively small, the British relied on princes and Indians known as ‘collaborators’ who were loyal to the empire, but rebellions continued after 1857.

Queen Victoria as Empress of India and Adbul Karim

In 1876 Queen Victoria took on the role of Empress of India. On 1 January 1877, a lavish celebration was held in Delhi to mark this occasion, highlighting the grandeur and importance of India as an imperial possession. Indians were involved in further celebrations of Queen Victoria’s reign. To celebrate her Golden Jubilee in 1887, Indian princes were invited to attend the ceremony at Westminster Abbey and dinner at Buckingham Palace. An Indian cavalry also escorted Victoria on her jubilee.

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Held by British Library. Shelfmark: LOU.F63. Public Domain.

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Depiction of Abdul Karim with Queen Victoria at her desk,  Illustration magazine, 1901

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Depiction of Abdul Karim with Queen Victoria at her desk,  Illustration magazine, 1901

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Magazine cover featuring Queen Victoria sat at a desk writing, and Abdul Karim standing next to the desk holding papers

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In 1887, within days of the Golden Jubilee celebrations, Abdul Karim (1862–1909) and several other Indian servants arrived at the Royal Household. The 24-year-old was described by Victoria as ‘tall with fine serious countenance’. Karim, born to a Muslim family in Agra, had previously worked as a clerk. Queen Victoria favoured him, promoting him first to the position of munshi, her teacher of Hindustani, and in 1894 to the post of ‘Indian secretary’, his role being to assist with her ‘boxes’ (containing official papers) and correspondences. Karim was rewarded with titles and cottages on the grounds of Royal palaces; Victoria even had his portrait painted. Karim's rise within the household caused controversy from government officials, but Queen Victoria supported him in all cases. The closer they became, the more the court tried to drive them apart, fearing that he had access to political papers and would pose a threat to the state. Members of the court led several attempts to malign Karim’s character, as the letter by Sir Henry Ponsonby (1825–1895), Victoria’s private secretary, shows. Victoria defended Karim, accusing the court of ‘race prejudice’. After Queen Victoria’s death in 1901, Karim was sent back to India, and his papers were burnt. No further royal servants from India were appointed.

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Held by British Library. Shelfmark: Mss Eur F84/126a.

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Letter about Abdul Karim from Lord Ponsonby, 27 April 1897

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Letter about Abdul Karim from Lord Ponsonby, 27 April 1897

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Crown Copyright: This material has been published under an Open Government Licence.

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Victoria’s son, King Edward VII, had his coronation in 1902 and was also proclaimed Emperor of India. Indian princes attended the coronation in London, including the Maharaja of Jaipur and the Maharaja of Bikaner. Celebrations were also held in India, known as the Delhi Durbar or the Imperial Durbar, from 29 December 1902 to 10 January 1903. Sarath Kumar Ghosh, a student at Cambridge, was one of many Indians who were keen to be involved in the celebrations, writing to the King in 1902 with a request to be appointed the official writer (or chronicler) of the Durbar.

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Held by British Library. Shelfmark: IOR/L/PJ/6/610; File 1670A.

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A letter from Sarath Kumar Ghosh to King Edward VII, regarding the upcoming proclamation of the King as Emperor of India, 12 August 1902

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A letter from Sarath Kumar Ghosh to King Edward VII, regarding the upcoming proclamation of the King as Emperor of India, 12 August 1902

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Crown Copyright: This material has been published under an Open Government Licence.

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Colonial and imperial exhibitions

Several exhibitions were held in Britain to celebrate the wealth and power of the Empire and to promote imperial propaganda to the British public. They featured materials and people from the Indian subcontinent. In 1886, the Colonial and Indian Exhibition held in South Kensington, London, was dominated by an Indian Court which took up roughly one third of the exhibition space. The exhibition included art, architecture, economic goods and textiles, as well as a display of 'native artisans' – 34 men from Agra demonstrating various crafts and professions, from sweetmeat maker to potter to carpet weaver. These men were in fact inmates from Agra Jail who had arrived in Britain on 20 April 1886 with Dr J W Tyler, the jail superintendent. They were all invited to a reception at Windsor Castle to meet Queen Victoria in July 1886.

In 1895, the Empire of India Exhibition was held at Earl’s Court, London. Once again, alongside material goods, the exhibition included ‘native craftsmen’ from India. The display of people as exhibits played into exoticising stereotypes about people from the Indian subcontinent and was an example of the ‘paternalism’ of Empire where Indians were given very little voice but were silent display objects. A follow up, the 1896 India and Ceylon Exhibition, included a Bombay Theatre of Varieties with performers such as a yogi (yoga practitioner).

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Held by British Library. Shelfmark: Photo 888(46). Public Domain

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Photograph of a yogi from the Bombay Theatre of Varieties at the India and Ceylon Exhibition, 1896

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Photograph of a yogi from the Bombay Theatre of Varieties at the India and Ceylon Exhibition, 1896

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While these exhibitions concentrated on the wealth of Empire, Indian intellectuals such as Dadabhai Naoroji (1825–1917) highlighted the drain of wealth from India. Naoroji gave a lecture in London in 1867 which explained that the Empire was draining capital wealth from India and that Indians were seeing little to no economic or political benefit from the Empire.

Anti-colonialism and Home Rule for India

Across the 19th century, anti-colonial organising and activity gathered pace in Britain and India. In 1885, the Indian National Congress held its first meeting in Bombay (now Mumbai). Congress, as it is known, was a political party that was interested in reform of the political structures in India that saw British Crown control over Indians. They wanted more political representation by Indians and eventually became one of the major parties calling for Indian independence. The Home Rule for India League set up in 1916 by Annie Besant (1847– 1933) was modelled on the Irish Home Rule League and was renamed the India League in 1928. The India League was an important campaigning body in Britain for Indian independence. Sarojini Naidu (1879–1949) was president of the 1925 session of Congress. She was a poet and politician, who worked with Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1869–1948) and was a vocal supporter of Indian independence. She recited a poem, ‘Awake (to India)’ at the Indian National Congress, in Bombay (now Mumbai), in December 1915.

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Held by British Library. Shelfmark: 1CS0092386. Public Domain

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Sarojini Naidu reciting her poem 'Awake (Invocation to India, Her Children Speak)', 1931

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Sarojini Naidu reciting her poem 'Awake (Invocation to India, Her Children Speak)', 1931

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Political negotiations and the Round Table Conferences

Sarojini Naidu’s poem ‘Awake (Invocation to India, Her Children Speak)’ was recorded in Britain in circa December 1931. Across 1930 to 1932, three Round Table Conferences were held in London between Indian and British representatives to discuss the political future of India. Naidu and M K Gandhi attended these alongside Indian princes and politicians. King-Emperor George V inaugurated the first Round Table Conference in the Royal Gallery of the Palace of Westminster. The recommendations of the Conferences led to the 1935 Government of India Act, which partially reorganised the political structures of British India and introduced direct elections.

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Held by British Library. Shelfmark: P1524. We have been unable to locate the copyright holder. Please contact copyright@bl.uk with any information you have regarding this item.

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Cartoon of the Indian Round Table Conference, 1931

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Cartoon of the Indian Round Table Conference, 1931

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Partition and independence: end of Empire?

Indian nationalists continued to campaign for Indian independence after 1935. The India League, which was based in Britain, continued to engage with meetings and collaborations to lobby British politicians and the British public for their support. V K Krishna Menon (1896–1974) was the driving force behind the India League and by the 1940s it had branches in the East End of London and the Midlands. Dhani Prem (1904–1979) was a member of the Birmingham Indian Association and the Midlands India League, with connections to the Birmingham Borough Labour Party and Indian Workers’ Association. These political connections were important in acting as a link between Britain’s growing South Asian communities who were campaigning for their own rights within Britain and the ongoing struggle for independence from the British Empire. By 1942, with the Second World War ongoing, the hypocrisies of fighting German imperialism became stark for Indians. The ‘Quit India’ movement in India and the activities of campaigners in Britain added to the urgency of the fight for independence.

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Held by British Library. Shelfmark: IOR/L/I/1/890. Public Domain

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Poster advertising an India League public meeting at Stratford Road Schools, Sparkbrook, Birmingham, 1942

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Poster advertising an India League public meeting at Stratford Road Schools, Sparkbrook, Birmingham, 1942

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On midnight of 14/15 August 1947, India and Pakistan were partitioned and became independent of British rule. While the British Crown no longer had direct control over these countries, both India and Pakistan became, and continue to be, members of the British Commonwealth. Bangladesh, which was originally part of Pakistan, is also a member of the Commonwealth. The Empire had a deep, lasting effect on South Asia, and on Britain. Memories of the ‘Jewel in the Crown’ shaped British culture and society after 1947, and the histories of Empire have influenced writers, politicians and plays such as The Empress by Tanika Gupta.

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2J66R9M © Donald Cooper / Alamy Stock Photo. Except as otherwise permitted by your national copyright laws this material may not be copied or distributed further.

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Photograph of Rani (played by Anneika Rose) and Hari (played by Ray Panthaki) in the 2013 RSC production of The Empress

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Photograph of Rani (played by Anneika Rose) and Hari (played by Ray Panthaki) in the 2013 RSC production of The Empress

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Photograph of actors playing Rani and Hari in The Empress, sat together on top of luggage trunks and looking upwards, smiling

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The text in this article is available under a Creative Commons License.

Credit: Remaking Britain team (Rehana Ahmed, Aleena Din, Sumita Mukherjee, Susheila Nasta, Maya Parmar, Florian Stadtler, Rozina Visram).

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