Indian Imperial Police

In 1920, the Imperial Indian police had 310,000 police in their contingent. Its members policed more than 300 million people from the Raj (now India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Burma).

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.

History

The sanctioned strength of the I.P. officers in British India was 743 in 1924 of whom 77 (10%) were Indians. In 1946, the sanctioned strength was 721 of whom 221 (30%) were Indians.

It comprised two branches, the Superior Police Services, from which the Indian (Imperial) Police would later be formed, and the Subordinate Police Service. Until 1893, appointments to the senior grades (i.e., Assistant District Superintendent and above) were mainly from European officers of the Indian Army.

The highest rank in the service was the Inspector General for each province. The rank of Inspector General was equated and ranked with Brigadier and similar ranks in the Indian Armed Forces, as per Central Warrant of Precedence in 1937. Subordinate to the Inspector General, the ranks were composed of District Superintendents and Assistant District Superintendents, most of whom were appointed, from 1893, by examination for the Indian Civil Service tests in the UK. The Subordinate Police Service consisted of Inspectors, Sub-Inspectors, Head Constables (or Sergeant in the City forces and cantonments) and Constables, consisting mainly of Indians except for the higher ranks.

By the 1930s, the Indian Police exercised "unprecedented degree of authority within the colonial administration". The Indian Imperial Police was also the primary law enforcement in Burma, governed as a province of India, until 1937.

Before WWII, the Indian Police routinely served as a source of cadre for MI5.