Emperor of India - British Monarchs

British Monarchs

After the Mughal Emperor was deposed by the British East India Company, and after the company itself was dissolved, the title "Empress of India" (or Kaiser-i-Hind, a form coined by the orientalist G.W. Leitner in a deliberate attempt to dissociate British imperial rule from that of preceding dynasties) was taken by Queen Victoria from 1 May 1876, and proclaimed at the Delhi Durbar of 1877. The title was introduced nineteen years after the formal incorporation into the British Empire of Britain's possessions and protectorates on the Indian subcontinent, comprising most of modern-day India (excluding the Portuguese India, the State of Sikkim, and the enclaves of French India), Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Burma (though the latter would be made a separate colony in 1937). Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli is usually credited with the title's creation.

There were several motivations for the instatement of the imperial title. It had become evident that Queen Victoria's daughter, Victoria, Princess Royal, would become an empress when her husband ascended the German imperial throne; many at the time thought it wrong for the daughter to outrank her mother, a "mere" queen. Furthermore, Victoria's superiority to the various rulers who nominally controlled parts of British India was considered justification for the title "Empress".

When Victoria died, and her son Edward VII ascended the throne, his title became "Emperor of India". The title continued after India and Pakistan became independent from Britain at midnight on 14/15 August 1947, and was not formally abandoned until 22 June 1948 under George VI, although the British monarch continued to be the monarch of India and Pakistan until they became republics in 1950 and 1956, respectively (see below).

When signing their name for Indian business, a British King-Emperor or reigning Queen-Empress used the initials R I (Rex/Regina Imperator/Imperatrix) or the abbreviation Ind. Imp. (Indiae Imperator/Imperatrix) after their name (while the one reigning Queen-Empress, Victoria, used the initials R I, the three consorts of the married King-Emperors simply used R).

When a male monarch held the title his wife, the queen consort, used the style Queen-Empress, but was not herself a reigning monarch.

British coins, and those of the Empire and Commonwealth dominions routinely included the abbreviated title Ind. Imp., although in India itself the coins said "Empress", and later "King Emperor". When in 1947 India became independent all coining dies had to be changed, which took up to a year and created some problems. Canadian coins, for example, were minted well into 1948 stamped "1947", the new year's issue indicated by a small maple leaf in one corner. In Great Britain itself the title appeared on coinage through 1948.