The purpose of Queen Victoria’s Proclamation concerning India, issued in 1858, was to announce that England was assuming control of its Indian colonies, removing them from the administration of the British East India Company. A secondary purpose was to reassure the people of India that Britain intended to respect and preserve the culture of India, particularly the right of Indians to practice their traditional religions. Queen Victoria’s Proclamation concerning India was actually written by Edward Stanley, the fourteenth Earl of Derby.