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

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

He was born in Charkhari, a state in British India, in what he describes as a "one-horse town".

From BBC • Aug. 15, 2025

Hardly a station or camp in British India is free from a crowd of feathered followers of this species, ready to dispute with the kites and the cooks the very meat at the fire.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 7, Slice 7 "Crocoite" to "Cuba" by Various