Ok, first of all, I'm sure that anyone might say that this thread fits better in the "Post 1900 Forum", but I wanted it here because it allows for more creative analysis in the matter. I wanted to avoid the chain of events and circumstances that generated the partition of India during the 1940s IOTL (including WW2).
Is it possible to have the Indian Subcontinent fractured into many states AFTER THE BRITISH CONQUEST? I'm including here not only the British Raj itself, but also the Company Rule of India before the Sepoy Revolt (considering they had a rather huge territory).
I'm thinking about India divided more or less along ethnic and religious lines, perhaps with some Princely States intact, without a British presence, or with a much reduced British presence in the region (say, the British succeeding in preserving control of Bengal or something). Perhaps like China during the Warlord Period.
You can be flexible with the PoD during the 19th Century, but it must be after the end of the Napoleonic Wars. So, anything in between 1815 and 1900. How likely is the Sepoy Revolt to provoke this outcome? You can have foreign intervention assisting the Indians in their independence, like Russia or France, if necessary.