Editing Rajpramukh (section)

==Background==

The [[British Raj|British Indian Empire]], which included most of present-day [[India]], [[Pakistan]], and [[Bangladesh]], was made up of two types of political units. [[British India]] consisted of fifteen provinces, all [[British possessions]], ruled directly by the British in all respects, either through a governor or a chief commissioner, officials appointed by the viceroy. Existing alongside British India were a large number of [[princely states]], ruled by local hereditary rulers, who acknowledged British [[suzerainty]], including British control of their external affairs, but who retained local autonomy. At the time of the proclamation of [[Queen Victoria]] as [[Empress of India]] in 1875, more than 700 Indian princely states and territories enjoyed treaty relations with the British Crown. The exact relationship between the Government of India (controlled by the British) and these states varied enormously, ranging from treaties of alliance, defence, protection, or supervision to almost outright control. The British Crown assumed control of British India from the [[East India Company]] in 1857 and thereafter controlled the internal governance through a [[Secretary of State for India]] in [[London]] and a Viceroy in India.

The hundreds of princely states varied greatly in size, from [[Hyderabad state|Hyderabad]], with a population of over ten million, to tiny states. Most of the rulers of the princely states worked closely with a British political agent who was responsible to the governor of a British province, but the four largest princely states, Hyderabad, [[Gwalior State|Gwailor]], [[Baroda State|Baroda]], [[Kingdom of Mysore|Mysore]], and [[Jammu and Kashmir (princely state)|Jammu and Kashmir]], had Residents directly under the authority of the viceroy. Two agencies, the [[Central India Agency]] and [[Rajputana Agency]], were made up of numerous princely states, and their political agents were appointed by the Viceroy.