Abstract: It is often assumed that when India became an independent state on 15 August 1947 Britain’s role also ceased.  In fact India, Pakistan and Ceylon all began their independence as constitutional monarchies with the British Monarch as Head of State (India 1947-50, Pakistan 1947-56 and Sri Lanka 1948-72) mirroring the institutions of fellow Commonwealth members Canada, Australia and New Zealand.  Many of the great events that shaped their futures occurred during these critical years that determined how democracy would operate. The Crown’s post-independence role had continuities with the old Raj yet its representatives exercised powers and influence on politics in a manner unthinkable in other Commonwealth countries or indeed in Britain itself.  In South Asian and Imperial studies it is almost forgotten that India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka entered independence as monarchies. This period was critical since it spanned the transition from colonial to independent rule and the establishment of the modern state.  The lecture will show how the British Crown had a lasting impact on the region’s governance. It breaks new ground by drawing on new sources such as exclusive access to the Royal Archives and in exploring the legacies of the Crown as a critical, but overlooked tool for understanding the origins of South Asian democracy.

Dr H. Kumarasingham is Reader in Politics and History at the University of Edinburgh.  He is a political historian of Britain, the British Empire and the Commonwealth.  His recent work cover the decolonisation of the British Empire and subsequent state-building that followed.  He is the author of many works, including A Political Legacy of the British Empire: Power and the Parliamentary System in Post-Colonial India and Sri Lanka, Constitution-Making in Asia – Decolonisation and State-Building the Aftermath of the British Empire, and most recently he co-edited The Cambridge Constitutional History of the United Kingdom.  He is Co-Editor of the Transactions of the Royal Historical Society.