By the Queen’s proclamation of November 1858 the government of India was taken over by the British Government. The Queen declared that all her Indian subjects should be protected in the exercise of their religious observances. Excessive measures of repression which had been resorted to were stopped.
Remarks:
Queen Victoria was styled Empress of India at the instance of Disraeli in 1876. Various reforms have been instituted in Indian administration tentatively allowing Indians some share in the government of the country. But the problem of British rule in India is not one which is capable of final solution.
THE CHINESE WAR
1857–1860
Belligerents:
Great Britain, France.
China.
Cause:
The increasing commercial ambitions of Western Powers in the East led Great Britain and France to insist on the establishment of fair and equitable terms of trade. The Chinese Government was in the hands of the Tatars known as the Taipings, who, by their successful rebellion, had overthrown the Manchu dynasty.