British protectorates wereprotectorates under the jurisdiction of the British government. Many territories which became British protectorates already had local rulers with whom the Crown negotiated through treaty, acknowledging their status whilst simultaneously offering protection. British protectorates were therefore governed byindirect rule. In most cases, the local ruler, as well as the subjects of the ruler, were notBritish subjects, but ratherBritish protected persons.British protected states represented a more loose form of Britishsuzerainty, where the local rulers retained absolute control over the states' internal affairs and the British exercised control over defence and foreign affairs.[1]
When the British took overCephalonia in 1809, they proclaimed, "We present ourselves to you, Inhabitants of Cephalonia, not as invaders, with views of conquest, but as allies who hold forth to you the advantages of British protection."[2] When the British continued to occupy theIonian Islands after theNapoleonic Wars, they did not formally annex the islands but described them as a protectorate. The islands were constituted by theTreaty of Paris in 1815 as the independentUnited States of the Ionian Islands under British protection. Similarly,Malta was a British protectorate between the capitulation of the French in 1800 and theTreaty of Paris of 1814.
Theprincely states of India was another example ofindirect rule during thetime of Empire.[3] So too were many of the West African holdings.[4]
Other British protectorates followed. In the Pacific Ocean the sixteen islands of theGilbert Islands (nowKiribati) were declared a British protectorate by Captain Davis R.N., ofHMS Royalist between 27 May and 17 June 1892. TheRoyalist also visited each of the Ellice Islands, and Captain Davis was requested by islanders to raise the British flag, but he did not have instructions to declare the Ellice Islands as a protectorate.[5] The nine islands of the Ellice Group (nowTuvalu) were declared a British protectorate by Captain Gibson R.N., ofHMS Curacoa, between 9 and 16 October of the same year.[6] Britain defined its area of interest in theSolomon Islands in June 1893, when Captain Gibson R.N., ofHMS Curacoa, declared the southern Solomon Islands as a British protectorate with the proclamation of theBritish Solomon Islands Protectorate.[7]
In 1894, Prime MinisterWilliam Ewart Gladstone's government officially announced thatUganda, where Muslim and Christian strife had attracted international attention, was to become a British protectorate. The British administration installed carefully selected local kings under a programme of indirect rule through the local oligarchy, creating a network of British-controlled civil service. Most British protectorates were overseen by a Commissioner or aHigh Commissioner, under theForeign Office, rather than a Governor under theColonial Office.
British law made a distinction between a protectorate and a protected state. Constitutionally the two were of similar status, in which Britain provided controlled defence and external relations. However, a protectorate had an internal government established, while a protected state established a form of local internal self-government based on the already existing one.
Persons connected with a former British protectorate, protected state,mandated territory ortrust territory may remainBritish Protected Persons if they did not acquire the nationality of the country at independence.
The last British protectorate proper was theBritish Solomon Islands, nowSolomon Islands, which gained independence in 1978; the last British protected state wasBrunei, which gained full independence in 1984.[8]
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Barbados (1627–1652) (as aproprietary colony underWilliam Courteen, followed byJames Hay I)
Mosquito Coast (1638–1860) (over Central America's Mosquito people).svg)
Aden Protectorate (1872–1963); precursor state ofSouth Yemen[9]
Sultanate of Egypt (1914–1922)
Anglo-Egyptian Sudan (1899–1956) (condominium with Egypt)
British North Borneo (1888–1946)
Sultanate of Maldives (1887–1948)[10] – Became a protected state after 1948..svg)
Kingdom of Sikkim (1861-1947)– The Kingdom of Sikkim became a protectorate of the British Government under theTreaty of Tumlong. After 1947, Sikkim became an Indian protectorate until 1975, when theSikkimese monarchy was abolished as Sikkim became a full state of India..svg)
British Cyprus (1878–1914) (put under British military administration 1914–22 then proclaimed aCrown colony 1922–60)
Malta Protectorate (1800–1813);
Crown Colony of Malta proclaimed in 1813) (de jure part of theKingdom of Sicily but under British protection)
Ionian islands (1815–1864) (aGreekstate andamical protectorate of Great Britain between 1815 and 1864)
Barotseland Protectorate (1900–1964)Bechuanaland Protectorate (1885–1966)
British Somaliland (1884–1960)[9].svg)
East Africa Protectorate (1895–1920).svg)
Gambia Colony and Protectorate* (1894–1965).svg)
Kenya Protectorate* (1920–1963)
Nigeria* (1914-1960).svg)
Northern Nigeria Protectorate (1900–1914)
Northern Rhodesia (1924–1964)Northern Territories of the Gold Coast (British protectorate) (1901–1957)
Nyasaland Protectorate (1893–1964) (
British Central Africa Protectorate until 1907).gif)
Sierra Leone Protectorate* (1896–1961).svg)
Southern Nigeria Protectorate (1900–1914)
Swaziland (1903–1968)
Uganda Protectorate (1894–1962)Walvis Bay (1878–1884)
Sultanate of Zanzibar (1890–1963)*protectorates that existed alongside a colony of the same name
Territory of Papua (1884–1888).svg)
British Solomon Islands (1893–1978)
Cook Islands (1888–1901)
Gilbert and Ellice Islands (1892–1916)Niue (1900–1901)Tokelau (1877–1947)As protected states, the following states were never officially part of the British Empire and retained near-total control over internal affairs; however, the British controlled their foreign policy. Their status was rarely advertised while it was in effect, it becoming clear only after it was lifted.[1]
Emirate of Afghanistan (1879–1919)[a][11]
Brunei (1888–1984)
Bhutan (1910–1947)[11]
Emirate of Nejd (1915-1921)
Sultanate of Nejd (1921-1926)
Kingdom of Hejaz and Nejd (1926-1927)
Kingdom of Nepal (1816–1923)[11]Kingdom of Egypt (1922–1936)[12]
Federation of Malaya (1948–1957)
Federated Malay States (1895–1946)
Negeri Sembilan (1888–1895)
Sungai Ujong (1874–1888)Jelebu (1886–1895)
Pahang (1888–1895)
Perak (1874–1895)
Selangor (1874–1895)Unfederated Malay States (1904/09–1946)
Tonga (1900–1970)British Residency of the Persian Gulf (1822–1971); headquarters based atBushehr,Persia.svg)
Persia (1919–1921).svg)
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Bahrain (1783–1971)[11]
Sheikhdom of Kuwait (1899–1961)[11].svg)
Qatar (1916–1971)
Trucial States; precursor state of theUAE (1820–1971)[11]
Abu Dhabi (1820–1971)
Ajman (1820–1971)
Dubai (1835–1971).svg)
Fujairah (1952–1971)
Ras Al Khaimah (1820–1971)Sharjah (1820–1971)Kalba (1936–1951)
Umm al-Qaiwain (1820–1971)
Muscat and Oman (1891–1970)[13][1]
Kingdom of Sarawak (1888–1946)Sultanate of Maldives (1948-1965)Swaziland (1967–1968)
