In Asia, Western countries encountered large traditional empires with entrenched cultures and

the presence of forces determined to resist European domination. The advance of the
metropolitan centres gave rise to three different situations. On the one hand, there were
empires and kingdoms that had been militarily defeated and turned into colonies, such as
those of the Indian subcontinent, Indochina and Indonesia. On the other hand, empires that
maintained their formal independence but were forced to recognise zones of influence and
hand over part of their territories to the direct rule of the powers: the cases of Persia and
China. Finally, there is the experience of Japan, which undertook a profound internal
reorganisation through which it preserved its independence but also managed to establish
itself as an imperialist power.

When Europeans - Portuguese, French, Dutch, English - settled in India in the 16th century,
they simply set up trading posts on the coasts to obtain the precious spices essential for
European food.. Throughout this century, the British East India Company, through agreements
with the Mughals, established its first factories in Madras, Bombay and Calcutta and gradually
gained primacy over the other colonisers.

By the middle of the s. XIX, the administration of the East India Company was replaced by
direct rule by the British Crown. In 1877 Queen Victoria was proclaimed Empress of the Indies
and, approximately half of the Indian mainland came under direct British rule. Thus, India
emerged as the centrepiece of the empire, while the region's economy was completely
disrupted.

World War I led to the fall of several empires in Europe. This had repercussions throughout the
world. The defeated Central Powers included Germany and the Ottoman Empire. Germany lost
all its colonies in Asia. German New Guinea, part of Papua New Guinea, was administered by
Australia.

In India, the westward movement of Japanese forces into Bengal during World War II had led
to major concessions by the British authorities to Indian nationalist leaders. In 1947, the war-
torn UK, embroiled in an economic crisis at home, granted British India its independence as
two nations: India and Pakistan.

MAIN CHARACTERS:
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901.
ictoria, a constitutional monarch, attempted privately to influence government policy and
ministerial appointments; publicly, she became a national icon who was identified with strict
standards of personal morality.
In 1877, Benjamin Disraeli, Conservative Prime Minister, had Queen Victoria proclaimed as
Empress of India. India was already under crown control after 1858, but this title was a
gesture to link the monarchy with the empire further and bind India more closely to Britain.

Queen Victoria took her duties as Empress very seriously. he hosted lavish banquets and parties for
Indian princes and European nobility and rode in elaborate processions accompanied by the Colonial
Indian cavalry. The Queen wanted to know everything about India, a place where she ruled but could
never visit.