Residencies of British India not maintain military forces other than for internal policing or else form diplomatic alliances with other States. The Residents attempted to modernize these Native States through promotion of European notions of progressive government. The first Native States to enter such subsidiary alliances included Arcot, Oudh and Hyderabad. Before the Rebellion of 1857, the role of the British Resident in Delhi was more important than that of other Residents, because of the tension that existed between the declining Mughal Empire and the emerging power of the East India Company. After the establishment of Crown rule of British India in 1858, the
Government of India Act 1858 the grave defects in the existing system of the government of India. However, before this bill was to be passed, Palmerston was forced to resign on another issue. Later Edward Henry Stanley, 15th Earl of Derby (who would later become the first Secretary of State for India) introduced another bill which was originally titled as "An Act for the Better Government of India" and it was passed on 2 August 1858. This act provided that India was to be governed directly and in the name of the Crown. The Indian Rebellion of 1857 forced the British Government to pass the