Egypt, without forming part of the British empire, came under the military occupation of Great Britain in 1882. "By right of conquest" Great Britain subsequently claimed a share in the administration of the former Sudan provinces of Egypt, and an agreement of the 19th of January 1899 established the joint sovereignty of Great Britain and Egypt over what is now known as the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan.

The Indian section of the empire was acquired during the 17th-19th centuries under a royal charter granted to the East India Company by Queen Elizabeth in 1600. It was transferred to the imperial government in 1858, and Queen Victoria was proclaimed empress under the Royal Titles Act in 1877. The following list gives the dates and method of acquisition of the centres of the main divisions of the Indian empire. They have, in most instances, grown by general process of extension to their present dimensions.

Name. Date. Method of Acquisition.
Madras 1639 to 1748 By treaty and subsequent conquest. Fort St George, the foundation of Madras was the first territorial possession of the E.I. Co. in India. It was acquired by treaty with its Indian ruler. Madras was raised into a presidency in 1683; ceded to France 1746; recovered 1748.
Bombay 1608 to 1685 Treaty and cession. Trade first established 1608. Ceded to British crown by Portugal 1661. Transferred to E.I. Co. 1668. Presidency removed from Surat 1687.
Bengal 1633 to 1765 Treaty and subsequent conquests. First trade settlement established by treaty at Pipli in Orissa 1633. Erected into presidency by separation from Madras 1681. Virtual sovereignty announced by E.I. Co., as result of conquests of Clive, 1765.
United Provinces of Agra and Oudh 1764 to 1856 By conquests and treaty through successive stages, of which the principal dates were 1801-3-14-15. In 1832 the nominal sovereignty of Delhi, till then retained by the Great Mogul, was resigned into the hands of the E.I. Co. Oudh, of which the conquest may be said to have begun with the battle of Baxar in 1764, was finally annexed in 1856.
Central Provinces 1802-1817 By conquest and treaty.
Eastern Bengal and Assam 1825-1826 Conquest and cession. The Bengal portion of the province by separation from Bengal in 1905.
Burma 1824-1852 Conquest and cession.
Punjab 1849 Conquest and annexation. Made into distinct province 1859.
N.-W. Frontier Province 1901 Subdivision.
Ajmere and Merwara 1818 By conquest and cession.
Coorg 1834 Conquest and annexation.
British Baluchistan 1854-1876 Conquest and treaty.
Andaman Islands 1858 Annexation.

The following is a list of some of the principal Indian states which are more or less under the control of the British government:—

1. In direct political relations with the governor-general in council.

Hyderabad.

Baroda.

Mysote.

Kashmir.

2. Under the Rajputana agency.