Emperor of India  Emperor or empress of India, shortened to king-emperor or queen-empress, was a title used by British monarchs from 1 May 1876 (with the Royal Titles Act 1876) to 22 June 1948. The image of the emperor or empress was used to signify British authority—his or her profile, for instance, appearing on currency, in government buildings, railway stations, courts, on statues etc. "God Save the King" (or, alternatively, "God Save the Queen") was the former national anthem of British India. Oaths of allegiance were made to the emperor or empress and the lawful successors by the governors-general, princes, governors, commissioners in India in events such as imperial durbars. The title was dropped on 22 June 1948, when, under the Indian Independence Act 1947, George VI became king of the new dominions of India and Pakistan. The monarchies were abolished upon the establishment of the Republic of India in 1950 and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan in 1956. The emperor or empress took little direct part in government. The exercise of sovereign powers was delegated from the emperor or empress, either by statute or by convention, to the Viceroy and Governor-General of India who were appointed by the emperor or empress, or to offices such as the secretary of state for India. The appointed Viceroy and Governor-General was also the "ex-officio" head of the Imperial Legislative Council, and its two houses, the Central Legislative Assembly and the Council of State as the delegation on behalf of the emperor or empress, along with the governors of provinces. They performed these duties with the advice and consent of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and the Government of India. Executive power was exercised by His/Her Imperial Majesty's Government in the presidencies and provinces (via the viceroy and governor-general) and the princely states via suzerainty. They had the support of the Armed Forces in India, such as the British Indian Army and Royal Indian Navy, the Indian Civil Service and other Crown Servants Secret Services (as the emperor or empress received certain foreign intelligence reports before the Viceroy did). Judicial power was vested in the various Crown Courts in India, which by statute had judicial independence from the Government. Powers independent of government were legally granted to other public bodies by statute or Statutory Instrument such as an Order in Council or a Royal Commission. After the nominal Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar was deposed at the conclusion of the Indian Rebellion of 1857 (10 May 1857 – 1 November 1858), the government of the United Kingdom decided to transfer control of British India and its princely states from the mercantile East India Company (EIC) to the Crown, thus marking the beginning of the British Raj.