On the 28th of June 1858, the British government transferred rule over India from the East India Company to Queen Victoria. This date marked the end of a corporate empire and the beginning of direct Crown control known as the British Raj. The transfer followed the Indian Rebellion of 1857, which had shaken British confidence in their ability to govern through a private trading company. Lord Dalhousie had previously pushed for rapid modernization, but the rebellion forced a change in strategy. The new administration sought to rebuild trust between rulers and subjects by reorganizing the military. Units composed of Muslims and Brahmins who had led the uprising were disbanded. New regiments formed from Sikhs and Baluchis replaced them. These changes remained in place until independence in 1947. The English population in India numbered just 125,945 according to the 1861 Census. Of these, only about 41,862 were civilians while roughly 84,083 served as European officers and soldiers. The standing Indian Army grew to include 66,000 British soldiers and 130,000 native troops by 1880. Large landholders and princes who had not joined the rebellion were rewarded with guaranteed territories. No further land reforms were implemented for the next ninety years. Bengal and Bihar remained under large landholding systems unlike Punjab or Uttar Pradesh. Queen Victoria issued a proclamation disclaiming any right to impose religious convictions on her Indian subjects. This policy meant no more social interventions regarding religion even when British officials felt strongly about issues like child widow remarriage.
Iron Tracks And Famine Codes
Railways, canals, and telegraph lines spread rapidly across India during the second half of the nineteenth century. Raw materials like cotton moved efficiently from hinterlands to ports such as Bombay for export to England. Finished goods from Britain returned to Indian markets through these same networks. Unlike Britain where private investors bore market risks, Indian taxpayers, primarily farmers and farm laborers, absorbed costs totaling £50 million. By 1920, ten percent of superior posts in the Indian Railways were held by Indians despite sixty years of construction. The rush of technology transformed agriculture but also exposed small farmers to volatile global markets. Many lost land, animals, and equipment to money lenders when food grains and raw materials were exported abroad. Tens of millions died in severe famines during the latter half of the nineteenth century. Critics blamed lumbering colonial administrations for these disasters. Commercial cropping in newly canalled Punjab increased internal food production. The railway network provided critical famine relief and reduced transport costs. After the Great Famine of 1876, 1878, the Indian Famine Commission issued its report in 1880. The resulting Famine Codes became early programs for preventing future catastrophes. These codes would later be implemented worldwide by the United Nations and Food and Agriculture Organisation into the 1970s.