Rajpramukh

Rajpramukh was an administrative title in India which existed from India's independence in 1947 until 1956. Rajpramukhs were the appointed governors of certain of India's provinces and states.

The British Indian Empire, which included most of present-day India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, was made up of two types of political units. British India consisted of fifteen provinces, all British possessions, ruled directly by the British in all respects, either through a Governor or a Chief Commissioner, officials appointed by the Viceroy. Existing alongside British India were a large number of princely states, ruled by local hereditary rulers, who acknowledged British suzerainty, including British control of their external affairs, but who retained local autonomy. At the time of the proclamation of Queen Victoria as Empress of India in 1877, more than 700 Indian princely states and territories enjoyed treaty relations with the British Crown. The exact relationship between the Government of India (controlled by the British) and these states varied enormously, ranging from treaties of alliance, defence, protection, or supervision to almost outright control. The British Crown assumed control of British India from the East India Company in 1857 and thereafter controlled the internal governance through a Secretary of State for India in London and a Viceroy in India.