Rajpramukh was an administrative title in India which existed from India's independence in 1947 until 1956. Rajpramukhs were the appointed governors of certain Indian provinces and states. Background The British Indian Empire, which included most of present-day India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, was made up of two types of political units. British India consisted of fifteen provinces, all British possessions, ruled directly by the British in all respects, either through a governor or a chief commissioner, officials appointed by the viceroy. Existing alongside British India were a large number of princely states, ruled by local hereditary rulers, who acknowledged British suzerainty, including British control of their external affairs, but who retained local autonomy. At the time of the proclamation of Queen Victoria as Empress of India in 1875, more than 700 Indian princely states and territories enjoyed treaty relations with the British Crown. The exact relationship between the Government of India (controlled by the British) and these states varied enormously, ranging from treaties of alliance, defence, protection, or supervision to almost outright control. The British Crown assumed control of British India from the East India Company in 1857 and thereafter controlled the internal governance through a Secretary of State for India in London and a Viceroy in India. The hundreds of princely states varied greatly in size, from Hyderabad, with a population of over ten million, to tiny states. Most of the rulers of the princely states worked closely with a British political agent who was responsible to the governor of a British province, but the four largest princely states, Hyderabad, Baroda, Mysore, and Jammu and Kashmir, had Residents directly under the authority of the viceroy. Two agencies, the Central India Agency and Rajputana Agency, were made up of numerous princely states, and their political agents were appointed by the Viceroy. After independence under the Dominion of India, 1947–1950 On 20 February 1947, the British government announced its intention to transfer power in British India to Indian hands by June 1948. However by 16 May 1947, the Cabinet Mission Plan had failed to evolve a constitution for India acceptable to all contending parties. Subsequently, the British government announced on 3 June 1947 its intention to partition British India into two dominions. On 15 July 1947, the House of Commons passed the Indian Independence Act 1947, to divide British India into the dominions of India and Pakistan. The House of Lords followed