India competed at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris, France. It was the nation's first appearance at the modern Olympic Games. This marked the first participation of an Asian country in the Olympic Games.
One athlete, Norman Pritchard, participated in athletics. He competed in five events and won two silver medals. Until 2020, these were the only medals won by India in athletics. India was classified 19th in the overall medal table, which represents its best ever placement till date.
The British Raj (/rɑːdʒ/ RAHJ; from Hindustani rāj, 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent, lasting from 1858 to 1947. It is also called Crown rule in India, or direct rule in India. The region under British control was commonly called India in contemporaneous usage and included areas directly administered by the United Kingdom, which were collectively called British India, and areas ruled by indigenous rulers, but under British paramountcy, called the princely states. The region was sometimes called the Indian Empire, though not officially. As India, it was a founding member of the League of Nations and a founding member of the United Nations in San Francisco in 1945. India was a participating state in the Summer Olympics in 1900, 1920, 1928, 1932, and 1936.
This system of governance was instituted on 28 June 1858, when, after the Indian Rebellion of 1857, the rule of the East India Company was transferred to the Crown in the person of Queen Victoria (who, in 1876, was proclaimed Empress of India). It lasted until 1947 when the British Raj was partitioned into two sovereign dominion states: the Union of India (later the Republic of India) and Dominion of Pakistan (later the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and People's Republic of Bangladesh in the 1971 Proclamation of Bangladeshi Independence). At the inception of the Raj in 1858, Lower Burma was already a part of British India; Upper Burma was added in 1886, and the resulting union, Burma, was administered as an autonomous province until 1937, when it became a separate British colony, gaining its independence in 1948. It was renamed Myanmar in 1989. The Chief Commissioner's Province of Aden was also part of British India at the inception of the British Raj and became a separate colony known as Aden Colony in 1937 as well.
India competed in the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium. It was the country's second participation in the Summer Olympics after a single athlete, Norman Pritchard, competed in the 1900 Summer Olympics. India sent a contingent consisting of five athletes competing across two sports in the Games. India competed in the wrestling event for the first time in the history of the Games. Purma Bannerjee served as the flag bearer during the opening ceremony.
India competed at the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam, Netherlands. It was the country's fourth participation in the Summer Olympics its debut at the 1900 Summer Olympics. The Indian team consisted of 21 athletes and competed in two sports. India competed in the men's field hockey event for the first time in the history of the Games, and won the gold medal. It was the country's first gold medal, and the began a streak in the sport that continued through the 1956 Games.
Norman Gilbert Pritchard (23 June 1875 – 30 October 1929), also known by his stage name Norman Trevor, was a British-Indian athlete and actor who became the first Asian-born athlete to win an Olympic medal when he won two silver medals in athletics at the 1900 Paris Olympics representing India. He won India's first medal at the Olympics in the 200 metres and the 200 metres hurdles.