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Emperor/Empress of India (Shahanshah-e-Hind inHindustani) was used as atitle by the lastMughal emperorBahadur Shah II, and also by theBritish monarchs during the rule ofBritish India.
Sometimes, the term "Emperor of India" is also used to refer to Indian emperors such asAshoka the Great of theMaurya Dynasty[1] and EmperorAkbar of theMughal empire. However, they did not claim this title for themselves.
Although theMughal dynasty ruled over most of theIndian subcontinent from the 16th century onwards, they simply used the titleShahanshah (considered in the West to be the same asemperor). However during theIndian rebellion of 1857 against the British, the rebelsepoys seizedDelhi and called the MughalBahadur Shah II asShahanshah-e-Hind, or Emperor of India. After the British defeated the rebels, he was captured and was forced to live inRangoon,Burma in 1858, this ended the rule of the Mughals.
After the Mughal Emperor ended by theBritish East India Company, the title "Empress of India" was taken byQueen Victoria from 1 May 1876.
Prime MinisterBenjamin Disraeli is usually credited with creating the title for her.[2] Also, the title was created when it became evident that Queen Victoria's daughter,Victoria, Princess Royal, would become an empress when her husband ascended the German imperial throne, many people thought it was wrong for the daughter to be an empress while her mother was just a Queen.
When Victoria died, and her sonEdward VII ascended the throne, his title became "Emperor of India". The title continued untilIndia andPakistan became independent from theUnited Kingdom at midnight on14/15 August 1947.
When signing their name for Indian business, a BritishKing-Emperor or the Queen-Empress used the initialsR I (Rex/Regina Imperator/Imperatrix) or the shorter versionInd. Imp. (Indiae Imperator/Imperatrix) after their name. This was also used on manyBritish coins, including some 1948 coins of George VI.
George VI continued to hold the titleKing of India for two years during the shortGovernor-Generalships ofLord Mountbatten and ofC. Rajagopalachari until India became a republic on 26 January 1950. George VI remained asKing of the United Kingdom andKing of Pakistan until his death in 1952. Pakistan became a republic on 23 March 1956,Elizabeth II wasQueen of Pakistan for four years.