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Indian Empire, British India and the Raj

In short:

• Indian Empire: (1876–1947) Official name for the collection of territories ruled by the British monarch in his right as the embodiment of the Crown of India, styled as the Emperor of India (and represented by the Governor-General of India) with the Government of India, consisting of British India under direct Crown rule and the many princely states of varying sizes under the suzerainty (indirect rule) of the Crown. Also called the Empire of India.
  (Existing from 1858 to 1947. De facto began on 1 November 1858. De jure on 1 May 1876. Proclamation of the Indian Empire happened on 1 January 1877.)
  • British Indian Empire: (1757–1947) An informal empire of [the presidencies of] British India along with its dependencies (protectorates, subsidiary alliances, paramountcy). Sometimes also used to refer to the Indian Empire, however it also includes territories not claimed by Britain as a part of the Indian Empire, such as the Persian gulf states.
    (Existing from 1757—Bengal Subah becoming a puppet state after the Battle of Plassey—to 1947)
  • India: Common name of the Indian Empire and the official short name used in British and Indian legislation.
• British India: (See Interpretation Act 1889)
  • 1612–1813: Territories directly ruled by the East India Company, which also functioned as the de facto sovereign of British India.
  • 1813–1858: Territories directly ruled by the East India Company, but under the sovereignty of the British Crown.
  • 1858–1947: Territories directly ruled by the Crown through the Governor-General of India.

• British Raj or simply the Raj: Literally meaning, "British rule" from Hindi/Hindustani, an informal term refering to the 'Crown rule in India'^[1], 'period of Crown rule in India'^[2] and sometimes the 'British autocracy in India'^[3] in the Government of India and the Civil Services. Any other definitions which might be claimed are unsourced - No reliable source explicitly defines the Raj to be that, which is required by Wikipedia.

Other important terms

Administratively, the Indian Empire was divided into provinces, agencies and residencies. Provinces consisted of both British and princely territory, while agencies and residencies consisted only of states.

• Provinces of India: A province was an administrative division of the Indian Empire, administered by a Governor and his Council (or before 1921, also a Lieutenant Governor). Many provinces also had some princely states within them, whose relations with the provincial government were managed by various British Residents, Political Agents, and minor Agents.
  • Chief Commissioner's Province: A minor province directly administered by the Government of India through a sole Chief Commissioner.
• Agencies and residencies: An agency was a group of Indian states within the Indian Empire, to which an Agent to the Governor-General of India was stationed to manage the relations between the Supreme Government of India and the constituent states. Agencies were also divided into smaller sub-agencies and sub-residencies.
  
  A residency consisted of usually a single very large and important state in the Empire, along with sometimes a few smaller neighbouring states, to which a Resident was appointed. Residencies could either be directly placed under the Supreme Government or within an Agency. Residents were however appointed outside of the Indian Empire too, such as Afghanistan and the Persian Gulf, which were included in the informal "British Indian Empire", but not within the officially claimed "Indian Empire".

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The Indian Empire was divided into two types of territory — British India, the territory directly ruled by the Crown and the Indian states and territory, indirectly ruled by the Crown through Indian princes under the Crown's suzerainty.

• British India: (See above.) British India was the territory of the Indian Empire which was directly ruled by the Crown.
• States of the Indian Empire: Officially called an Indian state, also called a native state or princely state, a state was a self governing entity of the Indian Empire, ruled over by a hereditary Indian prince under the suzerainty of the Crown. Administratively, they were placed within Provinces, Agencies or Residencies.