Introduction
At the beginning of the first Elizabethan era, Britain was a relatively insignificant group of islands off the northwest of Europe. By 1913 it had the largest empire in history holding sway over 23% of the world's population and 24% of its land area. The British Empire had humble beginnings.
Spain and Portugal were already creating empires by the time Queen Elizabeth I became monarch and she wanted some of the action. The fact that Pope Julius II had issued the bull Ea quae pro bono pacis which placed a line on the map allocating any new territories discovered between Spain and Portugal was just ignored as Britain was no longer a Catholic country. Elizabeth granted a charter to the East India Company to trade in the East.
From the creation of initial outposts, the East India Company gradually expanded its influence in India and ran the country as a profitable enterprise. In 1773 the company had to be bailed out by the British Government. By the early 19th century, the area under the company's control had increased to around two-thirds of India. After major disturbances in 1857 the British government established Direct Rule - 'The British Raj'. The East India Company was dissolved in 1874 and British Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli, arranged for Queen Victoria to be restyled 'Empress of India' with the hope of linking the monarchy and Empire more closely together.
The extent of the British Empire by 1905 is shown on the map below.
Fearful of further unrest in India as in 1857, British politicians dreamed up the idea of an 'Imperial Durbar' as an attempt to cement the relationship between Britain and the people of India. The Britannica gives the following definition of a Durbar [42]:
durbar (Persian), darbar (Hindi): In India, a court or audience chamber, and also any formal assembly of notables called together by a governmental authority. In British India the name was specially attached to formal imperial assemblies called together to mark state occasions.
The first of these Imperial Durbars was held in 1877 to proclaim Victoria as Empress of India. Further Imperial Durbars were arranged in 1903 to proclaim King Edward VII Emperor and in 1911 King George V. The intention was to make these durbars a regular event whenever a new monarch was crowned, but the world changed, and the 1911 Imperial Durbar proved to be the last.
This is the story of the three Imperial Durbars with photographs, press cuttings and even silent movies - one in colour. One can only wonder at the size and extravagance of these events at a time when millions of people in India were starving and working people in Britain, including my ancestors, were living in poverty.
I have provided background information and what happened after 1911 as far as the British Empire started to crumble and India was partitioned.
There are links to the foot of each page to take you through these events in order starting with the background. You can also access site information, contact me, provide feedback, view the visitors book, access site search facilities and follow links to other topics on my websites.
Brian Watson
Date: 29 December 2025
What's New?
- 29 December 2025: First publication online.