Queen of England and Empress of India

It is a singular fact that prior to 1877, Germany, Russia, and Austria, among the civilized nations, and Turkey, China, Japan, Persia, and other semi-civilized powers, were ruled by potentates nominally of higher rank than the Queen of England; and on one or two occasions, members of the Queen's family, sent to represent her at festivities at other courts, complained of the indignity of being obliged to yield precedence to the representatives of imperial monarchs not nearly so powerful in fact as she.

Primarily, therefore, Queen Victoria assumed the title Empress of India to enhance the dignity of her sovereign office. The English people would not, of course, listen to the idea of her assuming even the appearance of dictatorial power as far as they were concerned; but Disraeli, then Premier, insisted that the chief object of the new title was to impress the distant subjects of the crown, and proposed that Victoria should confine her imperial rank to India. On this basis Parliament consented, in April, 1876, to pass the "titles bill," as it was called. The subject aroused a great deal of excitement, even among the most loyal people, and the most influential London journals were very severe in their arraignment of what they considered a specious humbug. The Bombay Gazette, speaking for the people of India, declared the scheme quite uncalled for, as the native Indian subjects of the Queen would not know the difference between the old title and the new one. But these arguments were met in Parliament and by the strictly conservative press with the statement that the dignitaries of India would certainly understand the mention of their country's name in the sovereign's title, whether they grasped the full significance of the change or not; and that in a conquered oriental country where so many separate chiefs enjoyed a rank nearly, or quite, equivalent to that of a king in Europe, it was necessary to impress upon them the sense that there was a paramount authority to which they must in turn yield the obedience of vassals, and one which was recognized all over the civilized world as of the highest degree.

The proclamation was deferred until New Year's Day, 1877. On that day great state assemblages were convened at Delhi, Calcutta, Bombay and Madras. The Viceroy presided at the one held at Delhi. A dais was erected in a slightly open space, and a throne placed thereon. In front of this, on the south side, were grouped the principal governors and lieutenant-governors, and other state officers, sixty-three of the ruling native chiefs with their suites, and some fifteen thousand troops, white and native. On the north side were drawn up the minor chiefs, with their retainers and troops. The regimental bands were stationed near the dais, and around the entire assemblage was an unbroken circle of elephants in the most gorgeous trappings. At noon the Viceroy ascended the throne, and, after the national anthem had been performed, the Chief Herald read the proclamation. The imperial standard was then raised and honored with a salute of one hundred and one salvos of artillery, of six guns each, and a feu de joie from the troops. The Viceroy delivered an address, in which he explained that "the assumption of the title of Empress was intended by their sovereign to be to the princes and peoples of India a symbol of the union of their interests and a claim upon their loyal allegiance, the imperial power giving them a guaranty of impartial protection." A telegram from the Empress, bearing testimony to what had been said, was then read, and the assembly was dispersed. The next day was one of great festivity, and all civil prisoners who had records for good conduct were set free. There were no formal ceremonies in England. Medals were struck in honor of the occasion and distributed among the leading partakers in the ceremonies. They bore on one side the Queen's head, and on the other, in Arabic and Sanskrit, her new title, KAISERIHIND. Each of the greater native chiefs, also, received a beautiful banner, emblazoned with the arms of his house, and carried on a gilt pole, inscribed, "From Victoria, Empress of India, January 1st, 1877."

It may be recalled, in conclusion, that his skillful procurement of this tribute to his sovereign was promptly followed by Mr. Disraeli's elevation to the peerage, as the Earl of Beaconsfield, at Her Majesty's direct solicitation.