Question

Why was Delhi Durbar organized in 1877 with pomp and show?
A) The viceroy wanted to display the wealth and prosperity of India.
B) The British wanted to threaten the people by displaying their army strength.
C) The British wanted to replace the Mughal Emperor from the minds of the people as their ruler.
D) The viceroy wanted to appease Queen Victoria.

Answer 1

Hint: In general, the term "British India" had been used (and is still used) to denote also to the provinces under the decree of the British East India Company in India from 1600 to 1858. The term has also been used to denote the "British in India".

Complete Answer:
Titled the "Proclamation Durbar", the Durbar of 1877, for which the association was commenced by Thomas Henry Thornton, was held instigating on 1 January 1877 to announce Queen Victoria as Empress of India by the British. The 1877 Durbar was mostly an authorized affair and not a widespread event with mass involvement like later durbars in 1903 and 1911. It was joined by the 1st Earl of Lytton—Viceroy of India, maharajas, nawabs, and intellects. This was the height of the handover of control of British India from the East India Company to the Crown.

The Empress of India Medal to memorialize the Proclamation of the Queen as Empress of India was hit and disseminated to the privileged visitors, and the aged Ramanath Tagore was elevated to the rank of a symbolic Raja by Lord Lytton, viceroy of India. It was at this impressive durbar that Ganesh Vasudeo Joshi, sporting "homespun unblemished white khadi" ascended to recite a reference on behalf of the grassroots innate political group, the Poona Sarvajanik Sabha, which group foreshadowed the later rise of the Indian National Congress.

Thus, option (C) is correct.

Note:
The Delhi Durbar (indicating "Court of Delhi") was an Indian imposing-style mass assemblage planned by the British at Coronation Park, Delhi, India, to mark the progression of an Emperor or Empress of India. Also recognized as the Imperial Durbar, it was held 3 times, in 1877, 1903, and 1911, at the pinnacle of the British Empire. The 1911 Durbar was the only one that a self-governing, George V, joined. The term was derived from the public Mughal term durbar.