The Revolt of 1857: Causes, Course, Nature and Consequences — Part 7: 7. Consequences

7. Consequences

7.1 End of the East India Company — Government of India Act, 1858

The revolt delivered the final blow to the East India Company's governing authority. The Government of India Act of 1858 abolished the Company and transferred its powers to the British Crown. India was henceforth governed directly in the name of the Queen of England. A Secretary of State for India (a member of the British Cabinet) was created, assisted by a 15-member Council of India. The Governor-General received the additional title of Viceroy — the personal representative of the Crown. Lord Canning became the first Viceroy of India.

7.2 Queen Victoria's Proclamation (1858): Promises Made

In November 1858, Queen Victoria issued a Royal Proclamation to the people of India containing several significant commitments:

• Those who laid down arms by 2 January 1859 would be pardoned (except those directly involved in the murder of British subjects).
• Official service would be open to all subjects of the Crown, regardless of race or religion (though honored more in the breach in practice).
• Due regard would be given to the ancient usages and customs of India — signaling a retreat from the reformist zeal of the Bentinck era.
• The British declared no desire to extend their existing territorial possessions — effectively abandoning the Doctrine of Lapse.
• The rights of Indian princes, including the right of adoption, were guaranteed.

The Proclamation marked a fundamental shift from reforming intervention to conservative non-interference in Indian social and religious matters.

7.3 Reorganisation of the Army

The British undertook a fundamental restructuring of the Indian army, guided by a principle of deliberate division:

• The proportion of European to Indian troops was significantly increased, particularly in artillery units (all artillery was henceforth controlled by European troops).
• The Martial Races Theory was formalized: soldiers from Awadh, Bihar, and Central India — at the forefront of the revolt — were declared "non-martial" and their recruitment cut sharply. Sikhs, Gurkhas, and Pathans, who had assisted in suppression, were classified as "martial" and recruited in large numbers.
• Community, caste, tribal, and regional loyalties were deliberately encouraged to prevent the cross-caste, cross-community solidarity that had been so evident in 1857. As Secretary of State Charles Wood wrote to Lord Canning in 1861: "If one regiment mutinies I should like to have the next regiment so alien that it would be ready to fire into it."

7.4 Changed British Attitude Towards Indian Society

Post-1857 British policy underwent a fundamental reorientation:

• Alliance with Conservative Elites: The British cultivated an alliance with Indian princes, taluqdars, and landholders — offering security of tenure in exchange for political loyalty. In Awadh, 22,658 out of 23,543 villages were restored to taluqdars in return for submission. In 1861, a special order of knighthood, the Star of India, was instituted for loyal princes.
• Anti-Muslim Policy: The appeal to Bahadur Shah II was used by British officialdom to construct the theory of a Muslim plot to restore Mughal rule. Systematic discrimination against Muslims followed in employment and administration. Sir Syed Ahmad Khan felt compelled to write a pamphlet, Who were the Loyal Musalmans?, documenting Muslim collaboration with the British.
• Divide and Rule: The British systematically cultivated divisions between Hindus and Muslims, between castes, and between regions, as a political strategy to prevent future united resistance.
• Abolition of Doctrine of Lapse: The doctrine that had driven so much political grievance was abandoned — all rulers were allowed the right of adoption to secure the succession.

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