Dominion of India

The Dominion of India, officially the Union of India, was an independent dominion in the British Commonwealth of Nations existing between 15 August 1947 and 26 January 1950. Until its independence, India had been ruled as an informal empire by the United Kingdom. The empire, also called the British Raj and sometimes the British Indian Empire, consisted of regions, collectively called British India, that were directly administered by the British government, and regions, called the princely states, that were ruled by Indian rulers under a system of paramountcy, in favour of the British. The Dominion of India was formalised by the passage of the Indian Independence Act 1947. This same Act also formalised an independent Dominion of Pakistan, which was composed of the two regions of British India that are today Pakistan and Bangladesh. The Dominion of India was also referred to as "India" in common parlance, but it differed from British India in that it was now independent and geographically smaller: large swathes of the former territory now formed the also newly created but now distinct Dominion of Pakistan. Under the Act, the King remained the monarch in right of new dominions, but the British government relinquished all responsibility for the governing of its former territories. The British Government also revoked its treaty rights and obligations with the rulers of the more than 500 princely states within the region, and instead advised them to join in a political union with either India or Pakistan. Accordingly, the use of one of the British monarch's regnal titles, "Emperor of India", was abandoned.

The Dominion of India came into existence upon the partition of India, a process under and legal act of the Government and Crown of the United Kingdom. Its creation was preceded, however, by a pioneering and influential anti-colonial nationalist movement which became a major factor in ending the broader British Raj. The first government of the new Union was formed under Jawaharlal Nehru as prime minister with Vallabhbhai Patel as deputy prime minister, both members of the Indian National Congress. Lord Mountbatten, who had served as the last Viceroy of India, stayed on from August 1947 until June 1948 as independent India's first governor-general; he was replaced by C. Rajagopalachari.

The religious violence occasioned by the partition was soon reduced, in large part through the efforts of Mahatma Gandhi; resentment of him grew though amongst Hindu fundamentalists, eventually costing him his life. To Patel fell the responsibility for integrating the princely states of the British Indian Empire into the new India. Lasting through the remainder of 1947 and the better part of 1948, integration was accomplished by means of inducements, and on occasion threats. It went smoothly except in the cases of Junagadh State, Hyderabad State, and, especially, Kashmir and Jammu, the last leading to a war between India and Pakistan and to a dispute that has lasted until today.