What was/were the object/objects of Queen Victoria's Proclamation (1858)?

Answer: (a) 1 and 2 only

The Proclamation of 1 November 1858 announced that the Crown was taking over the government of India from the East India Company. It also assured the Indian princes that their treaties would be respected and that the Crown wanted no territorial expansion. It had nothing to do with regulating the Company's trade.

• ✓ 1. The Queen declared: 'We desire no extension of Our present territorial Possessions.' She also announced to the Native Princes that all treaties and engagements made with them by the Company were accepted and would be scrupulously maintained. This was a clear disclaimer of any intention to annex Indian States, aimed at calming the princes after 1857.
• ✓ 2. The Queen declared that she had resolved to take upon herself the government of the territories in India 'heretofore administered in trust' for the Crown by the East India Company. This placed Indian administration directly under the British Crown and ended Company rule.
• ✗ 3. The Proclamation dealt with the transfer of government to the Crown, assurances to the princes, non-interference in religion and pardon for rebels. It did not regulate the Company's trade. The Charter Act of 1833 had already ended the Company's commercial activities.

Remember · Queen's Proclamation, 1 November 1858: Crown takes over from the Company, treaties with princes honoured, no further annexation, religious non-interference, and pardon for most rebels.

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 8 Exploring Society: India and Beyond (Part 1), Ch 4 (practise this chapter)

Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies paper. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). · Report an error