When did the British Empire exist?

The British Empire existed 1757–1858. On this map it is drawn 1757–1858.

How large was the British Empire?

At its greatest extent drawn on this map, the British Empire covered about 4.3 million km². That is the largest area the border data gives it across the years it is drawn, not necessarily its greatest extent in history.

South Asia · Mughals and successors

British Empire

Chartered corporate colonial regime under growing Crown… · 1757–1858

The East India Company, founded in 1600, established factories at Masulipatnam (1611), Surat (1612), Madras (1640), Bombay (1668) and Calcutta (1690s). Political rule began with Clive's victory over Siraj ud-Daulah at Plassey (23 June 1757), was consolidated at Buxar (1764), and was legitimised when Emperor Shah Alam II granted the Company the diwani (revenue rights) of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa in 1765.

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Type: Chartered corporate colonial regime under growing Crown oversight
Existed: 1757–1858
Shown on the map: 1757–1858
Peak area: by 1858 about 1.94 million km² directly governed, with subsidiary-alliance princely states covering much of the rest of the roughly 4.3 million km² of British South Asia at peak.
Region: South Asia

Origins and founding

Capitals and territory

Calcutta was the capital of Company India, with subordinate presidencies at Madras and Bombay. Expansion proceeded by outright annexation — the North-Western Provinces (1801), Delhi (1803), Assam (1828), Sindh (1843), Punjab (1849), Berar (1853), Awadh (1856) — and by subsidiary alliances with princes, whose territories accounted for two-thirds of India in the early 19th century. The Anglo-Mysore (1767–1799) and Anglo-Maratha wars (1772–1818) removed all serious Indian rivals south of the Sutlej.

Major rulers and key events

Warren Hastings, first Governor-General (1773–1785), survived impeachment; Cornwallis introduced the Permanent Settlement (1793); Wellesley (1798–1805) imposed the subsidiary alliance system and defeated Tipu Sultan; Hastings (1813–1823) finished the Marathas and fought the Anglo-Nepalese War; Bentinck abolished sati (1829); Dalhousie (1848–1856) wielded the doctrine of lapse, annexing Satara, Jhansi, Nagpur and Awadh. The Indian Rebellion of 1857, driven partly by sepoy grievances in the Bengal Army, ended Company rule: the Government of India Act 1858 transferred power to the Crown.

Government, economy and culture

Parliament progressively subordinated the Company (Regulating Act 1773, Pitt's India Act 1784, Charter Acts 1813 and 1833). Revenue extraction — zamindari Permanent Settlement in Bengal, ryotwari in the south — provided half of government income but deepened rural distress; the Bengal famine of 1770 killed perhaps a third of the presidency's population. The 1830s–50s brought Anglicisation, English education, railways (from 1850), telegraph (1851) and post.

Decline and end

The 1857 rebellion exposed the moral and military bankruptcy of company rule; on 1 November 1858 Queen Victoria's proclamation inaugurated the British Raj.

Legacy and significance

Company rule created the territorial and administrative skeleton of modern India, Pakistan and Bangladesh while extracting Bengal's wealth to finance Britain's industrial and global primacy — the archetype of corporate colonialism.

Common questions

What was the British Empire?: The East India Company, founded in 1600, established factories at Masulipatnam (1611), Surat (1612), Madras (1640), Bombay (1668) and Calcutta (1690s). Political rule began with Clive's victory over Siraj ud-Daulah at Plassey (23 June 1757), was consolidated at Buxar (1764), and was legitimised when Emperor Shah Alam II granted the Company the diwani (revenue rights) of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa in 1765.
When did the British Empire exist?: The British Empire existed 1757–1858. On this map it is drawn 1757–1858.
How large was the British Empire?: At its greatest extent drawn on this map, the British Empire covered about 4.3 million km². That is the largest area the border data gives it across the years it is drawn, not necessarily its greatest extent in history.
Where was the British Empire?: Calcutta was the capital of Company India, with subordinate presidencies at Madras and Bombay. Expansion proceeded by outright annexation — the North-Western Provinces (1801), Delhi (1803), Assam (1828), Sindh (1843), Punjab (1849), Berar (1853), Awadh (1856) — and by subsidiary alliances with princes, whose territories accounted for two-thirds of India in the early 19th century.
Who ruled the British Empire?: Warren Hastings, first Governor-General (1773–1785), survived impeachment; Cornwallis introduced the Permanent Settlement (1793); Wellesley (1798–1805) imposed the subsidiary alliance system and defeated Tipu Sultan; Hastings (1813–1823) finished the Marathas and fought the Anglo-Nepalese War; Bentinck abolished sati (1829); Dalhousie (1848–1856) wielded the doctrine of lapse, annexing Satara, Jhansi, Nagpur and Awadh.
How did the British Empire end?: The 1857 rebellion exposed the moral and military bankruptcy of company rule; on 1 November 1858 Queen Victoria's proclamation inaugurated the British Raj.
How was the British Empire governed?: Parliament progressively subordinated the Company (Regulating Act 1773, Pitt's India Act 1784, Charter Acts 1813 and 1833).
Why does the British Empire still matter?: Company rule created the territorial and administrative skeleton of modern India, Pakistan and Bangladesh while extracting Bengal's wealth to finance Britain's industrial and global primacy — the archetype of corporate colonialism.

Sources

Every source below was consulted while writing this entry.

Wikipedia: Company rule in India en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Company_rule_in_India

This entry was written from the sources above and last updated 10 September 2026.

This entry was researched and drafted with AI from the sources above, and has not been reviewed by a historian. How entries are made

Text available under CC BY-SA 4.0: reuse it with a credit to The World Through Time and a link to this page. Passages drawing on the Wikipedia articles listed above are also licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 by their contributors.

Border geometry for the map itself comes from Cliopatria v0.12 (Seshat Global History Databank, CC-BY-4.0).

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