le self-government.
The jewel in the crown of the British Empire was India, conquered not by Britain as such but by the East India Company, which essentially moved into the political vacuum left by the decline of the Moghul Empire in the 18th century. The relationship between Britain and India was entirely different in origins, nature, and expectations from that prevailing between Britain and the white Dominions. Englishmen did not emigrate to India expecting to settle there and raise their children as "Anglo-Indians." They went to India to make their fortunes, or in their own view to serve (or perhaps both), in the expectation of subsequently returning home. Other colonies, such as Malaya, were of similar character.
The small and impermanent British population in India was vastly outnumbered by the indigenous peoples of India, and it was the latter with which British rule over India was concerned. There was no question of the Indians having the "rights of Englishmen;" few Englishmen of the time thought of them as being
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