Main Page | See live article | Alphabetical index In many Indian languages, Raj literally means Royalty. The Raj is the name generally given to the period of direct colonial rule of India by the British Empire. This period began in 1858 when direct rule was assumed following the First War of Independence (Sepoy Mutiny) against the British East India Company. The period ended with Indian independence in 1947. (See also British Raj) This article is from Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.