India (Napoleon's Australian Victory)

The Empire of India commonly referred to as India is a large nation situated on the Indian subcontinent. It is amongst the ten largest countries in the world, and has the third-largest population after Sino-Japan and France. India is bordered by Nepal, Sikkhim, Bhutan and Sino-Japan to the North, Burma to the East, and the Sikh Empire and Russia to the West. The Brazillian colony of Goa is situated on India's Western coast, and the Incelandic outposts Tranquibar and Matara are situated in the Western and Ceylonese coasts respectively.

Home of some of the world's oldest civilisations, India has a long history of empires and riches. Gradually becoming a British colony under the control of the British East India Company in the 18th and 19th centuries, the Company ruled India as an independent nation until 1857. In that year, a series of protests and minor rebellions forced the Board of Directors to act, and the Empire of India came into being, giving native Indians much more power over the nation's governance.

India has a large economy, and was a founding member of the FN.

History
India has been populated by humans for roughly 30,000 years and is often credited as the cradle of civilisation. Many empires rose and fell accross the continent.

The history of the modern state of India can be said to have begun in 1773, when the British East India Company established their first foothold in India. The company had been chartered by Queen Elizabeth I in 1600 and given a monopoly over English trade with the East Indies. With trade came money and power, and the Company began exercising power over the princely states of India. After a war with the Nawab of Bengal, the company acquired control over large tracts of Northern India. More wars against the Princely states and the Maratha Empire led to the expansion of the company's territorial holdings. These wars were fought by the armies of the Presidencies (provinces), which the company were allowed to keep under the terms of the Charter. Alliances were signed with many Princely states which racognised the Company as overlord.

In 1813, after the fall of Britain to Napoleon, the Company was put in an interesting position. The Governor-General, the Lord Minto, refused to surrender the colony to the Franch, and, with the support of the Board of Directors, continued to govern the colony as it had been as a british colony. Many emmigrants arrived from occupied Britain, and the vast majority of them joined the civil service or the military.

Tentative steps toward Industrialisation were begun under the rule of succeessive governors-general. A national postal service was established in the 1830s, and the first railway lines were laid in 1845.

In 1857, a large popular movement sprang up, calling for greater Indian participation in the governance of the nation. Little notice was taken of the protests until May, when native Sepoy units began to mutiny and join the protestors. Afraid that a full-blown rebellion could break out, the Governor-General and the Board of Directors voted to establish a new nation, the Empire of India. The King of Saint Helena (who had technically remained the head of state after 1813) was declared Emperor of India, and a parliament was set up with all property-owning male Indians allowed to vote and stand for election. The Princely states would remain in control of their internal affairs, whilst acknowledging the Emperor as their hegemon. Emperor William I arrived in Calcutta in December of that year, and on the 1st of January 1858 signed the Constitution of the Empire.

The empire industrialised more rapidly from that point, with thousands of miles of railways begin laid, hundreds of facories opening up and compulsary education laws begin enacted.

India was a major combatand in the Asia-Pacific War, with major fighting occuring on its borders with Sino-Japan and Burma. The country recovered quite quickly from the war, although it left a deep psychological scar in the nation. India developed nuclear weapons in the 1970s, and went through great economic growth. Today, India is a major exporter and many analysts predict that it will be a major superpower by 2030.

Government
The head of state of India is the Empress, currently Elizabeth II. The role of the Empress is mainly ceremonial, but they do perform important constitutional duties, such as signing bills into law, commissioning army officers and distributing honours and decorations. They also hold thepower to dissolve the parliament in the event of a constitutional crisis, but that power has never been used.

The Parliament of India is the nation's legislative body. The lower house is made up of representatives elected by a borough. There are 251 seats in the parliament. The party with the majority of seats in the lower house will be asked by the Emperor to form a government, or to form a coalition government with other parties. The leader of the majority party is the Prime Minister, and he or she serves as the head of government. The Prime Minister and other senior ministers form the Indian privy Council.