raj

American  

[rahj] / rɑdʒ /

noun

(often initial capital letter)

1. (in India) rule, especially the British rule prior to 1947.

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Raj ¹ British  

/ rɑːdʒ /

noun

1. the British government in India before 1947

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raj ² British  

/ rɑːdʒ /

noun

1. (in India) government; rule

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Etymology

Origin of raj

1790–1800; < Hindi rāj < Pali, Prakrit rajja < Sanskrit rājya kingdom, rule

Explanation

The raj was the period in history when the British Empire ruled over a region of South Asia that includes the modern countries of India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. In Hindi, raj means "rule" or "kingdom." Britain's control over the Indian subcontinent during the 19th and 20th centuries was officially known as British India, but it was commonly referred to as "the British Raj" or simply "the Raj." The raj officially began in 1858, and it lasted through 1947 when the region was split into two sovereign states, India and Pakistan. Today the former raj consists of five independent nations.

Example Sentences

The nizam juggled between his obligations to the colonial raj and to India’s rising pro-independence leaders Jawaharlal Nehru and Muhammad Ali Jinnah.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 4, 2026

You don’t have to have grown up under the raj like, say, Kipling to think the city’s lush historic aura, and its towering monument the Gateway of India, are better conjured by the pre-1995 name.

From New York Times • Mar. 12, 2014

When the license-permit-quota raj was dismantled in the 1990s, it was expected that corruption would diminish.

From Newsweek • Jun. 12, 2011

Further in, it's the raj of the "Dada log".

From The Guardian • Mar. 27, 2010

We who serve one raj are One—one to remember—one to forget—one to help each other in good time.

From King of the Khyber Rifles by Mundy, Talbot