Political integration of India Political integration of India At the time of Indian independence in 1947, India was divided into two sets of territories, one under direct British rule, and the other under the suzerainty of the British Crown, with control over their internal affairs remaining in the hands of their hereditary rulers. The latter included 554 princely states, having different types of revenue sharing arrangements with the British, often depending on their size, population and local conditions. In addition, there were several colonial enclaves controlled by France and Portugal. The political integration of these territories into India was a declared objective of the
Prostitution in colonial India of British India. As seaports became more prominent in India, more European women immigrated to serve as prostitutes. Many British authorities tolerated the immigration of European prostitutes in the hope that men would engage in sex with them, instead of Indian women. Although, state-regulated prostitution was seen as a necessity to satisfy sailors and soldiers, European women constituted another racial crisis for the British authorities, giving rise to fears about sexual intercourse between “native” males and white women. They perceived this type of sexual interaction as undermining to colonial hierarchies based on class and race. They were even more anxious