British India

British India comprised the territories in the Indian subcontinent governed directly by British authorities, first through the East India Company and later the British Crown. It excluded princely states, which retained their rulers under British paramountcy.

East India Company: An English trading company that acquired territorial power in India and governed large areas until 1858. It administered much of British India before the Crown took direct control.
Battle of Plassey: A 1757 battle in Bengal that established the East India Company's political dominance there. Its outcome opened the way to Company rule in Bengal.
Princely state: An Indian state ruled by a hereditary monarch under British paramountcy rather than direct British administration. Princely states were outside British India despite British political control.
Indian Rebellion of 1857: A widespread uprising against East India Company rule that began among soldiers in 1857. The rebellion prompted the transfer from Company government to Crown rule.
British Raj: The period of direct British Crown rule in India from 1858 to 1947. It names the Crown-governed phase of British India.
Battle of Buxar: A 1764 battle in which the East India Company defeated the Mughal emperor and allied rulers. The victory strengthened Company power in northern India.
British paramountcy: The system through which Britain claimed supreme authority over princely states while leaving their rulers in place. It defined Britain's relationship with territories excluded from direct administration.
Permanent Settlement: A 1793 land-revenue arrangement that fixed the tax demand on Bengal's zamindars and made it hereditary. It altered landholding and revenue collection in a major region of British India.
Government of India Act 1858: A British law that transferred the East India Company's government of India to the Crown. It formally ended company rule over British India.
Diwani of Bengal: The East India Company's 1765 grant to collect revenue in Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa. Revenue rights gave the Company a durable base for territorial government.

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