The most important consequence was the transfer of power from the East India Company to the British Crown. The Government of India Act, 1858 ended Company rule, and India was governed henceforth in the name of the Queen. The Doctrine of Lapse was withdrawn, religious freedom was assured, and the Indian army was reorganised with the ratio of British to Indian soldiers sharply increased.

Politically, the British abandoned the policy of annexation and entered into a policy of reconciliation with the princes. Militarily, artillery and key posts came under British hands. The British also decided to consult Indian opinion cautiously, leading eventually to the Indian Councils Act of 1861 — and the mutiny's memory fuelled the distrust that shaped later nationalist politics.