Tamil Nadu Timeline

GovernanceBritish Crown rule

Crown takes over the government of India

· Chennai

Crown takes over the government of India
Sodacan (ed. Safes007), CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Following the Government of India Act 1858, a proclamation by Queen Victoria declared direct Crown rule over British India, the Madras Presidency included.

On 2 August 1858 the British Parliament passed the Government of India Act 1858, under which the Crown took over the government of India from the East India Company. It created the office of Secretary of State for India to supervise the administration. Some months afterwards, a proclamation in Queen Victoria's name, addressed to the 'Princes, Chiefs, and People of India', announced the transfer and pledged religious toleration. From then on the Madras Presidency, which took in most of today's Tamil Nadu, was governed directly for the Crown through its Governor.

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