Subdivisions of British India explained

For administrative purposes, British India was divided into the following administrative divisions:

Main administrative divisions

• Provinces of British India
• Presidencies of British India
• Divisions of British India
• Districts of British India

Political units

While British India did administratively not include the princely states, which remained nominally outside the British Raj,^[1] under the administration of their own rulers, the relationship of the British with these states was managed by:

• Agencies of British India
• Residencies of British India

Still, the British authorities recurred to the doctrine of lapse when they decided to interfere in the internal matters of a princely state.^[2]

See also

• Territorial evolution of the British Empire

Notes and References

1. Great Britain India Office. The Imperial Gazetteer of India. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1908.
2. William Cooke Taylor, A Popular History of British India