British Administration in India (1600-1947)

On November 1, 1858, Queen Victoria issued a Royal Proclamation, hailed by many as "the Magna Charta of India," announcing the official end of the sepoy mutiny and heralding the formal opening of the British Raj. Translated in every Indian dialect and dispatched across all of British imperial territories in southern Asia, the message of the Queen was unequivocal: the new administration of India by the British government would continue the benevolent legal obligations to native states, reject all expansionist designs, defend religious liberty, extend clemency to fugitive members of the mutiny and govern with "due regard…to the ancient rights, usages, and customs of India." While this declaration only reiterated the consistent policy of the British in India, it was intended to begin the careful process of reconciliation with the natives while reasserting British dominion.