Correct Option: D

Called the “Proclamation Durbar”, the Durbar of 1877 was held beginning on 1 January 1877 to designate the coronation and proclaim Queen Victoria as Empress of India. The 1877 Durbar was largely an official event and not a popular occasion with mass appeal like 1903 and 1911. It was attended by the 1st Earl of Lytton Viceroy of India, maharajas, Nawabs and intellectuals. It was at this glittering durbar that a man in “homespun spotless white khadi” rose to read a citation on behalf of the Pune Sarvajanik Sabha. Ganesh Vasudeo Joshi put forth a demand couched in very polite language: “We beg of Her Majesty to grant to India the same political and social status as is enjoyed by her British subjects.” With this demand, it can be said that the campaign for a free India was formally launched.