The Indian Imperial Police, referred to variously as the Indian Police or, by 1905,[1] the Imperial Police, was part of the Indian Police Services, the uniform system of police administration in British India, as established by Government of India Act 1858 and Police Act of 1861. It was motivated by the danger experienced by the British during the 1857 rebellion.[2]
In 1920 the Imperial Indian police had 310,000 police in their contingent. Its members policed more than 300 million people in the British Raj (now India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Burma). Its formal name, notwithstanding, the service was called the Indian Police in everyday usage, including in government documents.
In 1948, a year after India's independence, the Imperial Police Service was replaced by the Indian Police Service, which had been constituted as part of the All-India Services by the Constitution.[1]