British Raj

The British Raj (rāj, literally, "rule" in Hindi) was the rule of the British Crown in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947. The rule is also called Crown rule in India, or Direct rule in India. The region under British control was commonly called India in contemporaneous usage, and included areas directly administered by the United Kingdom, which were collectively called British India, and those ruled by Indian rulers, but under British tutelage or paramountcy, and called the princely states. The resulting political union was also called the Indian Empire and after 1876 issued passports under that name. As India, it was a founding member of the League of Nations, a participating nation in the Summer Olympics in 1900, 1920, 1928, 1932, and 1936, and a founding member of the United Nations in San Francisco in 1945.

This system of governance was instituted on June 28, 1858, when, after the Indian Rebellion of 1857, the rule of the British East India Company was transferred to the Crown in the person of Queen Victoria (who, in 1876, was proclaimed Empress of India). It lasted until 1947, when the British Indian Empire was partitioned into two sovereign dominion states: the Union of India (later the Republic of India) and the Dominion of Pakistan (later the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the eastern part of which, still later, became the People's Republic of Bangladesh). At the inception of the Raj in 1858, Lower Burma was already a part of British India; Upper Burma was added in 1886, and the resulting union, Burma, was administered as an autonomous province until 1937, when it became a separate British colony, gaining its own independence in 1948.

British rule in Himachal Pradesh

The Indian Rebellion of 1857, also known as the First War of Indian Independence and the Sepoy Mutiny was a prolonged period of armed uprisings in different parts of India, against British occupation of that part of the subcontinent.

The first Indian war of independence resulted due to the buildup of political, social, economic, religious and military grievance against the British. People of the hill provinces were not politically active as were the people in other states of the country. More or less they maintained distance and so did their rulers with the exception of Bushahr. Some of them even provided help to the British during the time of revolt. Among them were the rulers of Chamba, Bilaspur, Bhagal and Dhami.Sons of Raja Gobind Singh,ruler of Siba State,namely Raja Ram Singh and Sunder Singh revolted Britishers,killed some of them along with their cousin,as a result Sunder Singh left the thorn,established an independent domense named a Tantpalan. The rulers of Bushars acted in a hostile manner to the interests of the British. However, the evidence is not clear whether they really aided the rebels or not. The British territories in the hill came under the direct control of British Crown after Queen Victoria's proclamation of 1858. The provinces of Chamba, Mandi and Bilaspur were at a good rate of progress in various fields during the British rule. During World War I, nearly all rulers of the hill states remained loyal and served to the British army during the war time. Amongst the states which helped British were the states of Kangra, Dada-Siba Jagir, Nurpur, Chamba, Suket State, Mandi and Bilaspur.

British Rule (card game)

The British Rule (sometimes referred to as the Commonwealth Rule) is a small variation to the rules of trick-taking card games such as whist, contract bridge and poker.

The British Rule simply states that if the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom is a woman, then the values of the King cards and Queen cards are reversed.

Since the current reigning monarch of the United Kingdom is Queen Elizabeth II, British Rule contract bridge is currently played with the Queen cards outranking King cards.

The British Rule is used almost exclusively for card games played within the UK, but it is sometimes employed in other Commonwealth countries and crown dependencies, where it is commonly referred to as The Commonwealth Rule.

Usage

In the Victorian era (when the reigning monarch was Queen Victoria), The British Rule was widely used in card games throughout the British Empire. In certain parts of India, local bylaws enforced its usage, punishable by a fine.

However, in the modern era, the use of the British Rule has become entirely optional. It is most commonly employed in private members' clubs and bridge and golf clubs that maintain a strong traditional ethos. For international tournaments played within the UK, the British Rule does not apply.