After the Mutiny - From Queen to Queen-Empress
David Washbrook on how the trauma of mutiny was catalyst to a new imperial vision - courtesy of skilful Victorian public relations for the subcontinent.
The Great Mutiny and Civil Rebellion of 1857 had many effects on the relationship between Britain and India: but one of the most visible was a change in its forms of rulership and sovereignty. Until the Mutiny, the British had been content to leave the status of their government in India on a curious theoretical footing, which cloaked effective practice behind convenient fictions.