What was/were the object/objects of Queen Victoria’s Proclamation (1858)? (1). To disclaim any intention to annex Indian States (2). To place the Indian administration under the British Crown (3). To regulate East India Company’s trade with India Select the correct answer using the code given below.

Statements 1 and 2 are correct, and statement 3 is not an object of the Proclamation. The Proclamation of 1 November 1858, read out by Lord Canning at Allahabad, announced that the Crown would not annex Indian states and would respect treaties and the rights of rulers. This was meant to reassure princely India after 1857. It also announced that the government of India was now vested in the Crown, which follows the Government of India Act 1858 that abolished Company rule.

Statement 3 is wrong. The Proclamation says nothing about regulating the East India Company's trade. The Company's monopoly over Indian trade had already ended under the Charter Act of 1813, and its commercial role was wound up by 1833. The Proclamation was about political sovereignty, not commerce.

The core concept is the transfer of power from the Company to the Crown and the doctrine of Crown paramountcy over princely states. This matters for Mains on the princely states and their integration after 1947, through the Instruments of Accession.

Trap: Aspirants often select D because the Proclamation is remembered for many promises, and they assume trade regulation was part of the transfer.