ABSTRACT
Following the Sepoy Mutiny there was greater British interest in associating the Indians with the governance of their country. Some changes in social customs had been enacted before the mutiny, many at the urging of utilitarians and evangelicals in England but also with support from reformist Hindus led by Raja Ram Mohan Roy and others in the Brahmo Samaj. Queen Victoria's proclamation in 1858 on assuming rule of India stated that all subjects would be treated equally under the law and would not be discriminated against because of religion. In 1876 the queen was named empress of India, and the governor-general became viceroy under the Crown. The movement toward greater Indian participation can be seen not only as an often grudging concession to demands from Indian political leaders but also as a response in London to the Liberal and Labour successors to the utilitarians and evangelicals, especially the former, who believed that people should govern themselves.
