Britisk imperialisme i Indien

In the late 16th century, English Queen Elizabeth I granted British explorers a license to explore new lands and claim territories in the name of the English royal family. It marked the beginning of the British Empire, which initially covered colonies in North America and the Caribbean, but later spread to Africa, India and Asia.

In the period from 1815-1914, the British Empire enjoyed its heyday, also known as the Pax Britannica, because the empire had eliminated its major competitors worldwide and thus enjoyed a period of relative peace and great economic success.

India became an independent country in 1947. Until then, India had been a colony under Britain for almost 100 years. India's prehistory as a British Crown Colony has played an important role in India's recent history, shaped by men like Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru. Although India today is the world's largest democracy and is establishing itself as one of the world economy's most important players, the country is nonetheless plagued by major social problems and a strained relationship with neighboring Pakistan.

In 1757, there were battles between the British and the French over Bengal, which the British won. It formed the economic basis for the British in the following decades to expand and conquer the rest of the Indian kingdoms that were still under the symbolic supremacy of the Mughal Empire. In 1857, the British crushed the last great Indian revolt and thus became the only remaining power on the Indian subcontinent. That same year, the British state took control of India. Unlike earlier great empires such as the Delhi Sultanate and the Mughal Empire, the British proved able to control a much larger part of the Indian subcontinent.