Historians have mapped the trading routes of medieval shipping which helped “sow the seeds of the British maritime empire ... compiled for the interactive map and database.

India, often declared "the jewel in the crown" for the Empire, had won its independence just five years before. In 1952, British troops were fighting independence movements in Egypt and Kenya.

The British Empire once shaded fully a quarter of the world's map pink. The political reach ... The cotton trade, British imperial sea shipping lines, and the need for raw materials to power ...

Save guides, add subjects and pick up where you left off with your BBC account. The British Empire began in the late 1500s under Queen Elizabeth I. By 1913 the empire had grown to rule over 400 ...

Historians have mapped the trading routes of medieval shipping which helped "sow the seeds of the British maritime empire ... compiled for the interactive map and database.