In 1858, following the Indian Mutiny, the East India Company was dissolved and British India came under the direct rule of the Crown, which was exercised by the Secretary of State for India and the Viceroy of India. With Calcutta's waning power, and after intense lobbying by the administrators of the Settlements, in 1867 they were declared a crown colony and placed directly under the control of the Colonial Office in London. However, the declaration gave the colony a considerable degree of self-government within the British Empire.