British Indian passport

The Front cover of a British Indian passport.

Muhammad Ali Jinnah's passport issued by the British Indian Empire.

The British Indian passport was a passport, proof of national status and travel document issued to British subjects of the British Indian Empire, British subjects from other parts of the British Empire, and the subjects of the British protected states in the Indian subcontinent (i. e. the British Protected Persons of the 'princely states'). The title of the state used in the passport was the "Indian Empire",^[1] which covered all of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Burma.

The use of the passport was discontinued after the independence of India and Pakistan in 1947, and its bearers were entitled to opt for Indian, Pakistani or British nationality.

Pre-1947 History

The use of passports was introduced to the British Raj after the First World War.^[2]

The Indian Passport Act of 1920 required the use of passports, established controls on the foreign travel of Indians, and foreigners travelling to and within the Presidencies and Provinces of British India.^[3] The passport was based on the format agreed upon by the 1920 League of Nations International Conference on Passports.^[4]

British Indian Passport Media

A stamp on a British Indian Passport.
1931 passport application, by Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
Official note from the Viceroy of India on the first page of the British Indian passport.
Last page of the passport describing the rules and regulations