Indian Empire

American  

noun

1. British India and the Indian states ruled by Indian princes but under indirect British control: dissolved in 1947 and absorbed into India and Pakistan.

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Indian Empire British  

noun

1. British India and the Indian states under indirect British control, which gained independence as India and Pakistan in 1947

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Etymology

Origin of Indian Empire

First recorded in 1840–50

Example Sentences

Maps showing the full reach of the Indian Empire were only published in top secrecy, and the Arabian territories were left off public documents to avoid provoking the Ottomans or later the Saudis.

From BBC • Jun. 21, 2025

The story of the couple provides a window into cultural hybridity during the high noon of the British Indian Empire.

From BBC • Aug. 20, 2019

Russia wanted access to the Indian Ocean through Afghanistan, while Britain wanted control of the land in order to protect the northern borders of its Indian Empire.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2012

Is not the Indian Empire on a brink?

From Time Magazine Archive

Hardly even in 1857 was our Indian Empire in a position of greater peril than it is now.

From The Contemporary Review, Volume 36, October 1879 by Various