India–United Kingdom relations would remain the empire's most important colony until independence. Queen Victoria became Empress of India in 1876. From a small trading outpost, India became the jewel in the British crown. In 1858, the British Government took control of the territories and treaty arrangements of the former East India Company. In 1876, the area, which included modern India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, became "the Indian Empire" (often known historically as the "British Raj") with British Monarch Queen Victoria proclaimed as "Empress of India" (a title held by her successors until 1947). The British Indian Army was established and assisted Britain in many
British Overseas Territories citizen resulted from the desire to prevent ethnic-Chinese people in Hong Kong with UK and Colonies Citizenship from migrating to the UK prior to the planned 1997 hand-over of the colony to China, was seen as racist, especially as those colonials in affected colonies who possessed a qualifying connection to the UK sufficient to retain either British citizenship or a "right to remain" (in the UK) notification in their BDTC passports were usually white. The former colonials also objected to being described as "dependent", especially in Bermuda, which had been self-reliant virtually since 1612, and largely self-governed since 1620. This resentment