British India

American  

noun

1. a part of India, comprising 17 provinces, that prior to 1947 was subject to British law: now divided among India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.

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British India British  

noun

1. the 17 provinces of India formerly governed by the British under the British sovereign: ceased to exist in 1947 when the independent states of India and Pakistan were created

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

British India

West Bengal's history of migration dates back to the partition of British India in 1947.

From Barron's ● May 29, 2026

In the first part of the 1800s, Ram Singh, Ravinder’s great-great-grandfather, farmed wheat and rice outside of Lahore, now in Pakistan but then part of British India.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 25, 2025

The first census of British India was conducted in 1871-72, 14 years after the shamefully bloody Sepoy Mutiny, and counted some 200 million Indian subjects.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 5, 2025

Once the capital of British India, the city's fortunes have waned since independence.

From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2025

HOTI-MARDAN, or Mardan, a frontier cantonment of British India in the Peshawar district of the North-West Frontier Province, situated 15 m.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 7 "Horticulture" to "Hudson Bay" by Various