In short
Who colonized India?
Britain. The English East India Company took political control from 1757 and the British Crown ruled directly from 1858 until independence and partition on 15 August 1947. Portugal held Goa until 1961 and France held Pondicherry until 1954.
India was not colonised by a state at first but by a chartered company with its own army. The English East India Company won the revenue rights of Bengal in 1757 and spent a century converting tax collection into territorial government, until the rebellion of 1857 forced London to take the machinery over directly.
Reference
Who ruled India, and when
- 1526–1757
- Mughal Empire and successor states
- 1757–1858
- English East India Company — From the Battle of Plassey to the Crown takeover
- 1858–1947
- British Crown (the Raj)
- since 1947
- Republic of India
At a glance
Key facts
- Colonising powers
- Britain, Portugal, France
- Independence
- 15 August 1947
- Duration of British rule
- 190 years, counting from 1757
- Share of world GDP
- About 24% in 1700; about 4% by 1950
- Famine deaths under British rule
- Tens of millions across the 1769–1943 famines
Chronology
Key dates
1757
Battle of Plassey; the East India Company takes Bengal's revenue.
1770
Great Bengal famine kills an estimated ten million under Company revenue policy.
1857–58
The Indian Rebellion; the Crown assumes direct rule.
1919
Amritsar (Jallianwala Bagh) massacre.
1943
Bengal famine kills roughly three million while grain is exported.
1947
Independence and partition; up to two million die in the population transfer.
Context
What the record shows
The economic record is the part most often left out of school curricula. India supplied roughly a quarter of world manufacturing output at the start of the eighteenth century and about two percent by independence, while famine mortality under Company and Crown administration ran into the tens of millions.
Questions
Frequently asked
- How long did Britain rule India?
- Roughly 190 years — from the East India Company's seizure of Bengal revenue in 1757 to independence in 1947, with 89 of those years under direct Crown rule after 1858.
- Did anyone colonise India besides Britain?
- Yes. Portugal held Goa, Daman and Diu from 1510 until India annexed them in 1961, and France held Pondicherry and four other enclaves until 1954. Britain was the power that ruled the subcontinent as a whole.
- When did India gain independence?
- 15 August 1947, alongside the partition of the subcontinent into India and Pakistan.
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