State any four changes in the administration of the British Government as a consequence of the Revolt.

(1) The GOVERNMENT OF INDIA ACT of 1858 transferred the government of India from the EAST INDIA COMPANY to the BRITISH CROWN. The Company was abolished and India came to be ruled directly by the Queen. (2) The office of the SECRETARY OF STATE FOR INDIA was created — a member of the British Cabinet, responsible to Parliament and assisted by a Council of fifteen members. The Board of Control and the Court of Directors were abolished. (3) The Governor-General was given the additional title of VICEROY, as the direct representative of the Crown; Lord Canning became the first Viceroy. (4) QUEEN VICTORIA’S PROCLAMATION of 1 November 1858 abandoned the policy of annexation, promised to respect the rights and dignity of the Indian princes and the treaties made with them, guaranteed non-interference in religion, and promised Indians admission to government service without distinction of race or creed.

Four marks, four changes, one mark each. The first three form a single story and are best given in that order: who rules (Crown, not Company), who answers for it in London (Secretary of State), and who represents the Crown in India (Viceroy). The Proclamation is the fourth and the most substantive, because its three promises answer the three great grievances of 1857 — annexation, religion, and exclusion from office. Adding that many were not kept in practice shows real understanding.