In 1858 the Government of India Act transferred authority in India from the East India Company to the British Crown. A cabinet post, Secretary of State for India, was created in British Parliament, and a new administration system was set in place, with governors supported by the Indian Civil Service. By the 1880s, Indians were eligible for appointment in the Indian Civil Service and many Indians initially saw British rule as a positive development. British rule did bring new technologies to the region and by the turn of the century India had an extensive railway system, and a network of irrigation canals. Britain’s wide-reaching trade links also brought Indian goods to a truly worldwide market.

However, the majority of the British in India led lives separated from those of the Indians by position, wealth and prejudice. From the late 19th century onwards, wives and families of British men working in India came to join them. Although living in a country with a very different culture, geography and climate, the British made few concessions to this and instead attempted to replicate the lives they had led back in Britain. Indians were largely excluded from this society and were often treated as inferiors by the British.