The Three Great Imperial Durbars 
During the period of 1855-1915, Delhi had been the scene of three great Imperial Assemblages or Durbars (as they were more popularly known). The first was summoned by Lord Lytton on 1st January 1877 to announce Queen Victoria as the new Empress of India. The second was the Coronation Durbar of 1902-03, held during Lord Curzon’s Viceroyalty to proclaim the accession of King Edward VII. The last – the greatest of the three durbars, was held in 1911, depicting the splendours of India’s imperial capital before the visiting Sovereign and his Consort.

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             (Courtesy: The History of the Imperial Assemblage at Delhi, J. Talboys Wheeler, Maharana Mewar Special Library, Udaipur)              (Courtesy: Maharana Mewar Charitable Foundation, Udaipur)              (Courtesy: Maharana Mewar Research Institute, Udaipur)              (Courtesy: Maharana Mewar Research Institute, Udaipur)
The Historical Necessity of Lytton’s Imperial Assemblage of 1877 
The Revolt of 1857 created a politically unstable environment for the British. Suspicion was rife and communications were difficult. This prompted Queen Victoria “to soothe the wounds of India by drawing it more closely to herself”. So, on 1st November 1858 the Government of India was placed directly under the supervision of the Crown. The Act of Parliament commonly known as the Royal Titles Bill (39 and 40 Vict. c. 10) emphasized that the Sovereign of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland would automatically become the first Empress of India.

However, most people could not understand or comprehend the power that had destroyed the East India Company, and the authority that had replaced it. Even soldiers of the British regiments of the East India Company’s army refused to recognize the right of the Crown or that of Parliament. The Governor-General recognised the need for an outward and visible sign of the Power that had control of India’s destinies at a time when the basis on which this authority rested has been shaken to the very foundation.

Therefore, in 1874, the plans for a Royal tour to India in the autumn of the following year became the subject of anxious deliberation, and communications passed between the authorities with a view to an understanding as to the nature of the visit. On 16th March 1875, the Marquees of Salisbury made an official announcement to the Council of India of the intended visit of the future king, Edward, Prince of Wales.

The visit of Edward, Prince of Wales in 1875-76 gave rise to a general consciousness of the Imperial rule. When this was attained, the time arose for a further step to cement that consciousness. Queen Victoria , with a view “specially to mark Her Majesty’s interest in this great Dependency of Her Crown and Her Royal confidence in the loyalty and affection of the Princes and People of India,” decided to undertake the more exalted task of an Imperial responsibility, the title of “Empress of India”.

It was then that Lord Lytton, Viceroy and Governor-General, published the Imperial Proclamation on 18th August 1876 and announced his intention, on the first day of the new year, to hold at Delhi an Imperial Assemblage, “for the purpose of proclaiming to the Queen’s subjects throughout India the gracious sentiments which have induced Her Majesty to make to Her Sovereign Style and Titles an addition specially intended to mark Her Majesty’s interest in this great Dependency of Her Crown and Her Royal confidence in the loyalty and affection of the Princes and People of India.”  Thus, for the first time, the Viceroy was able, in the name of the Crown, to summon all the great Chiefs and officials to join him in a single celebration of the event.*

* Earlier, the Viceroy, instead of holding one great assemblage to explain the blessings which the Crown had bestowed, and to give tangible proof of the Sovereign’s goodwill, had to travel about from province to province and from state to state to hold separate functions at the capitals of each.

The Imperial Assemblage held at Delhi on 1st January 1877 was an event of deep political significance, marking, as it did, the commencement of a new chapter in the history of British India, and the final ratification of a definite theory of a constitutional relationship between the Crown and its greatest dependency. It was meant to bring home to the Indian public, in a way that no mere written pronouncement could have done, the nature and reality of the process by which India had become incorporated in the British dominions.