From the introduction:
The Indian subcontinent has a long and colourful history. Until the British conquests, India lacked a national identity, being a collection of hundreds of smaller states with many different customs and languages. While the people were overwhelmingly Hindu, Islam had been introduced by the Mughal Empire, fracturing the subcontinent’s religious identity. Many Muslim rulers suppressed the practice of Hinduism, opening wounds that would never fully heal.
The Imperial Age assumes that most campaigns will take place in the 1870s and the 1880s. Arguably, British Imperial India starts with 1857, when Great Britain relinquished the East India Company’s control of the subcontinent and imposed direct control. Queen Victoria was crowned Empress of India in 1877. This supplement will focus specifically on the period spanning 1870-1890, collectively referred to as the Imperial Age.