North-Western Provinces exception of the Lucknow Division and Faizabad Division of Awadh. Among other regions included at various times were: the "Delhi Territory", from 1836 until 1858, when the latter became part of the Punjab Province of British India; Ajmer and Merwara, from 1832 and 1846, respectively, until 1871, when Ajmer-Merwara became a minor province of British India; and the Saugor and Nerbudda Territories from 1853 until 1861, when they were absorbed into the Central Provinces. The "North Western Provinces" was governed by a Lieutenant-Governor, who was appointed by the East India Company from 1836 to 1858, and by the British Government
Territorial evolution of the British Empire British Raj, also called the Indian Empire, was the imperial political structure in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947, comprising British India (a Crown colony: presidencies and provinces directly governed by the British Crown through the Viceroy and Governor-General of India) and Princely States, governed by Indian rulers, under the suzerainty of the British Crown exercised through the Viceroy and Governor-General of India. Within twenty years of the partition and independence in 1947 of British India (considered to be the most important colonial possession), most of the Empire's territories had achieved full independence. Today 14 former colonies (since 2002