Indian Empire

American

noun

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

Indian Empire British

noun

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

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of Indian Empire

First recorded in 1840–50

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

Indian Empire

Today Dubai, once a minor outpost of the Indian Empire with no gun salute, is the glittering centre of the new Middle East.

From BBC ● Jun. 21, 2025

In April 1892, a small eight-page pamphlet in English circulated in the south Indian city of Hyderabad, the largest and wealthiest princely state within 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

I have been round about her towers, and marked well her bulwarks, and I see not why, so guarded and defended, she may not hold her Indian Empire for generations to come.

From From Egypt to Japan by Henry M. (Henry Martyn) Field

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023