105-464: Saurashtra State , formally known as United State of Kathiawar and later United State of Saurashtra , was a State of India that existed between 1948 and 1956, on Saurashtra alias Kathiawar peninsula, with Rajkot as its capital, Saurashtra State was originally named the United State of Kathiawar. It was formed n 15 February 1948, from approximately 200 large and small Princely States of
210-536: A substantive sub-lieutenant on 15 January 1919. HMS P. 31 took part in the Peace River Pageant on 4 April 1919. Mountbatten attended Christ's College, Cambridge , for two terms, starting in October 1919, where he studied English literature (including John Milton and Lord Byron ) in a programme designed to augment the education of junior officers which had been curtailed by the war. He
315-472: A Covenant for the formation of the United State of Kathiawar on 24 January 1948. The large Kathiawar peninsula included some prominent princely states of India, notably salute state : and many smaller non-salute-states, including petty (e)states, often not more than one or two villages, making the peninsula the most fragmented of feudal age India. Among the States of Kathiawar, Baroda State -which
420-598: A German course change. This was "a rather disastrous move as the directors swung off and lost target" and it resulted in Javelin being struck by two torpedoes. He rejoined Kelly in December 1940, by which time the torpedo damage had been repaired. Kelly was sunk by German dive bombers on 23 May 1941 during the Battle of Crete ; the incident serving as the basis for Noël Coward 's film In Which We Serve . Coward
525-460: A brilliant success in your handling of Kathiawar States problem. However, it was sad that Mahatma Gandhi was not alive by that time to see his dream of whole of Kathiawar getting united under one umbrella. Even after creation of United State of Kathiawar, there were some patches of lands in Kathiawar belonging to princely states of Junagadh , Mangrol , Manavadar and others, which did not join
630-557: A different turn. Given Mountbatten's determination, Nehru and Sardar Patel 's inability to deal with the Muslim League and, lastly, Jinnah's obstinacy, all Indian party leaders (except Gandhi) acquiesced to Jinnah's plan to divide India, which in turn eased Mountbatten's task. Mountbatten also developed a strong relationship with the Indian princes , who ruled those portions of India not directly under British rule. His intervention
735-540: A flying visit to Pearl Harbor , three months before the Japanese attack on it . Mountbatten, appalled at the US naval base's lack of preparedness, drawing on Japan's history of launching wars with surprise attacks as well as the successful British surprise attack at the Battle of Taranto which had effectively knocked Italy's fleet out of the war, and the sheer effectiveness of aircraft against warships, accurately predicted that
840-802: A former member of the Royal Marines , have written that these lessons should not have needed a debacle such as Dieppe to be recognised. Nevertheless, as a direct result of the failings of the Dieppe Raid, the British made several innovations, most notably Hobart's Funnies – specialised armoured vehicles which, in the course of the Normandy Landings , undoubtedly saved many lives on those three beachheads upon which Commonwealth soldiers were landing ( Gold Beach , Juno Beach and Sword Beach ). In August 1943, Churchill appointed Mountbatten
945-503: A merger accompanied by a full responsible government. The peninsula was ridden by factions and jealousies and it was crazy patchwork of States of varying degree of sovereignty, with only one thing in common, namely, autocratic rule. On February 15 the whole of peninsula became one unit under one Government. For which, Sardar Patel has won tribute. Upon formation of United State of Kathiawar, Lord Mountbatten also congratulated Sardar Patel, saying :- It appears that you have again scored
1050-470: A part of Bombay State, the territory of which was enlarged on that day to include Kutch State , Saurashtra State, Marathwada & Vidarbha , while a southern portion was excluded, which went to Karnataka . Following Mahagujarat Movement , the Bombay State was again dissolved to be carved into two separate states of Maharashtra and Gujarat created on linguistic basis on 1 May 1960 With this,
1155-668: A platoon of stokers, many of whom had never handled a rifle before, in Northern England . He transferred to the battlecruiser HMS Repulse in March 1921 and accompanied the Prince of Wales on a Royal tour of India and Japan. Edward and Mountbatten formed a close friendship during the trip. Mountbatten survived the deep defence cuts known as the Geddes Axe . Fifty-two percent of the officers of his year had had to leave
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#17327753146711260-530: A royal proclamation changing the name of the British royal house from the German House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha to the House of Windsor . The king's British relatives with German names and titles followed suit with Mountbatten's father adopting the surname Mountbatten, an anglicisation of Battenberg. The elder Mountbatten was subsequently created Marquess of Milford Haven . At the age of 16, Mountbatten
1365-464: A sovereign democratic republic. The new republic was also declared to be a "Union of States". The constitution of 1950 distinguished between three main types of states: Andhra State was created on 1 October 1953 from the Telugu -speaking northern districts of Madras State . The French enclave of Chandernagore was transferred to West Bengal in 1954. In the same year Pondicherry , comprising
1470-412: A total of 36 entities. The states and union territories are further subdivided into 806 districts and smaller administrative divisions . The states of India are self-governing administrative divisions, each having a state government . The governing powers of the states are shared between the state government and the union government . On the other hand, the union territories are directly governed by
1575-609: A united India as a result of the transfer of power but authorised him to adapt to a changing situation in order to get Britain out promptly with minimal reputational damage. Mountbatten arrived in India on 22 March by air, from London . In the evening, he was taken to his residence and two days later, he took the Viceregal oath. His arrival saw large-scale communal riots in Delhi , Bombay and Rawalpindi . Mountbatten concluded that
1680-473: A united India was an unachievable goal and resigned himself to a plan for partition, creating the independent nations of India and Pakistan. Mountbatten set a date for the transfer of power from the British to the Indians, arguing that a fixed timeline would convince Indians of his and the British government's sincerity in working towards a swift and efficient independence, excluding all possibilities of stalling
1785-477: A viceregal candidate acceptable to the Indian National Congress , in clandestine meetings with Sir Stafford Cripps and Clement Attlee . Attlee advised King George VI to appoint Mountbatten Viceroy of India on 20 February 1947 charged with overseeing the transition of British India to independence no later than 30 June 1948. Mountbatten's instructions were to avoid partition and preserve
1890-575: A younger son of a marquess, becoming known as Lord Louis Mountbatten ( Lord Louis for short) until he was created a peer in his own right in 1946. He paid a visit of ten days to the Western Front in July 1918. While still an acting- sub-lieutenant , Mountbatten was appointed first lieutenant (second-in-command) of the P-class sloop HMS P. 31 on 13 October 1918 and was confirmed as
1995-803: The Crown Colony of Burma . In 1947, the last Act of the Crown was passed. The act dissolved the Indian Empire, the Imperial Legislative Council and the Chamber of Princes and the Union of India was consequently established from 9 former Indian provinces ( East Punjab , United Provinces , Central Provinces , Madras , Bombay , Bihar , Orissa , West Bengal and Assam ) and 562 former Indian states. Between 1947 and 1950,
2100-650: The Home Park, Windsor , Berkshire. He was the youngest child and the second son of Prince Louis of Battenberg and his wife Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine . Mountbatten's maternal grandparents were Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse , and Princess Alice of the United Kingdom , who was a daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha . His paternal grandparents were Prince Alexander of Hesse and by Rhine and Julia, Princess of Battenberg . Mountbatten's paternal grandparents' marriage
2205-719: The Potsdam Conference when Mountbatten, desiring to receive an invitation to visit the Soviet Union , repeatedly attempted to impress Joseph Stalin with his former connections to the Russian imperial family . The attempt fell predictably flat, with Stalin dryly inquiring whether "it was some time ago that he had been there". Says Lunghi, "The meeting was embarrassing because Stalin was so unimpressed. He offered no invitation. Mountbatten left with his tail between his legs." During his time as Supreme Allied Commander of
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#17327753146712310-805: The Royal Naval College, Greenwich . Mountbatten became a Member of the Institution of Electrical Engineers ( IEE ), now the Institution of Engineering and Technology ( IET ). He was posted to the battleship HMS Centurion in the Reserve Fleet in 1926 and became Assistant Fleet Wireless and Signals Officer of the Mediterranean Fleet under the command of Admiral Sir Roger Keyes in January 1927. Promoted lieutenant commander on 15 April 1928, Mountbatten returned to
2415-726: The Russian Imperial Family , harbouring romantic feelings towards his maternal first cousin Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna , whose photograph he kept at his bedside for the rest of his life. Mountbatten adopted his surname as a result of World War I . From 1914 to 1918, Britain and its allies were at war with the Central Powers , led by the German Empire . To appease British nationalist sentiment, in 1917 King George V issued
2520-849: The Suez Crisis of 1956, Mountbatten strongly advised his old friend Prime Minister Anthony Eden against the Conservative government's plans to seize the Suez Canal in conjunction with France and Israel. He argued that such a move would destabilize the Middle East, undermine the authority of the United Nations, divide the Commonwealth and diminish Britain's global standing. His advice was not taken. Eden insisted that Mountbatten not resign. Instead, he worked hard to prepare
2625-455: The accession of Kashmir to India , citing his close relationship to Nehru. Mountbatten's own account says that he simply wanted Maharaja Hari Singh to make up his mind. The viceroy made several attempts to mediate between the Congress leaders, Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Hari Singh on issues relating to the accession of Kashmir, though he was largely unsuccessful in resolving the conflict. After
2730-661: The funeral of George V in January 1936. Mountbatten was appointed a personal naval aide-de-camp to King Edward VIII on 23 June 1936 and, having joined the Naval Air Division of the Admiralty in July 1936, he attended the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in May 1937. Mountbatten was promoted captain on 30 June 1937 and was then given command of the destroyer HMS Kelly in June 1939. Within
2835-746: The honorary ranks of lieutenant general and air marshal to have the authority to carry out his duties in Combined Operations; and, despite the misgivings of General Sir Alan Brooke , the Chief of the Imperial General Staff , Mountbatten was placed in the Chiefs of Staff Committee . He was in large part responsible for the planning and organisation of the St Nazaire Raid on 28 March, which put out of action one of
2940-614: The substantive rank of vice-admiral on 22 June 1949, he became Second-in-Command of the Mediterranean Fleet in April 1950. He became Fourth Sea Lord at the Admiralty in June 1950. He then returned to the Mediterranean to serve as Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet and NATO Commander Allied Forces Mediterranean from June 1952. He was promoted to the substantive rank of full admiral on 27 February 1953. In March 1953, he
3045-410: The tribal invasion of Kashmir , it was on his suggestion that India moved to secure the accession of Kashmir from Hari Singh before sending in military forces for his defence. After his tenure as governor-general concluded, Mountbatten continued to enjoy close relations with Nehru and the post-Independence Indian leadership, and was welcomed as a former governor-general of India on subsequent visits to
3150-578: The Admiralty, Mountbatten was called "The Master of Disaster" for his penchant of getting into messes. When war broke out in September 1939, Mountbatten became Captain (D) (commander) of the 5th Destroyer Flotilla aboard HMS Kelly , which became famous for its exploits. In late 1939 he brought the Duke of Windsor back from exile in France and in early May 1940 Mountbatten led a British convoy in through
3255-525: The American ambassador from 1961 to 1963, was a particularly harsh critic of Mountbatten in this regard. However, another view is that the British were forced to expedite the partition process to avoid involvement in a potential civil war with law and order having already broken down and Britain with limited resources after the Second World War. According to historian Lawrence James, Mountbatten
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3360-688: The Dieppe Raid, Mountbatten became a controversial figure in Canada, with the Royal Canadian Legion distancing itself from him during his visits there during his later career. His relations with Canadian veterans, who blamed him for the losses, "remained frosty" after the war. Mountbatten claimed that the lessons learned from the Dieppe Raid were necessary for planning the Normandy invasion on D-Day nearly two years later. However, military historians such as Major-General Julian Thompson ,
3465-471: The Emperor's representative to the constituent states of the province. The first three of the lieutenant-governorships were territories annexed to India from other powers and temporarily governed by the erstwhile Bengal Presidency, before being made into their own separate provinces. Agra and Bengal were still considered de jure parts of the defunct Bengal Presidency for judicial and legal purposes. Agra
3570-504: The English Channel, and in the Mediterranean. In August 1941, he received command of the aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious . He was appointed chief of Combined Operations and a member of the Chiefs of Staff Committee in early 1942, and organised the raids on St Nazaire and Dieppe . In August 1943, Mountbatten became Supreme Allied Commander South East Asia Command and oversaw the recapture of Burma and Singapore from
3675-474: The Government of India introduced legislation to merge the union territories of Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli into a single union territory to be known as Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu , effective from 26 January 2020. Ladakh UT The Constitution of India distributes the sovereign executive and legislative powers exercisable with respect to the territory of any state between
3780-491: The Indian Union and the state's monarchy was abolished. In 1987, Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram became states on 20 February, followed by Goa on 30 May, while erstwhile union territory of Goa, Daman and Diu 's northern exclaves Damão and Diu became a separate union territory as Daman and Diu . In November 2000, three new states were created, namely: Pondicherry was renamed Puducherry in 2007 and Orissa
3885-637: The Japanese by the end of 1945. For his service during the war, Mountbatten was created viscount in 1946 and earl the following year. In February 1947, Mountbatten was appointed Viceroy and Governor-General of India and oversaw the Partition of India into India and Pakistan . He then served as the first Governor-General of the Union of India until June 1948 and played a significant role in persuading princely states to accede to India. In 1952, Mountbatten
3990-776: The NATO Military Committee for a year. In August 1979, Mountbatten was assassinated by a bomb planted aboard his fishing boat in Mullaghmore, County Sligo , Ireland, by members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army . He received a ceremonial funeral at Westminster Abbey and was buried in Romsey Abbey in Hampshire. Mountbatten, then named Prince Louis of Battenberg , was born on 25 June 1900 at Frogmore House in
4095-726: The Royal Navy by the end of 1923; although he was highly regarded by his superiors, it was rumoured that wealthy and well-connected officers were more likely to be retained. Mountbatten was posted to the battleship HMS Revenge in the Mediterranean Fleet in January 1923. Pursuing his interests in technological development and gadgetry, Mountbatten joined the Portsmouth Signals School in August 1924 and then went on briefly to study electronics at
4200-521: The Royal Navy for war with characteristic professionalism and thoroughness. Despite his military rank, Mountbatten was ignorant as to the physics involved in a nuclear explosion and had to be reassured that the fission reactions from the Bikini Atoll tests would not spread through the oceans and blow up the planet. As Mountbatten became more familiar with this new form of weaponry, he increasingly grew opposed to its use in combat. Yet, he realised
4305-558: The Royal Navy in 1916. He saw action during the closing phase of the First World War , and after the war briefly attended Christ's College, Cambridge . During the interwar period , Mountbatten continued to pursue his naval career, specialising in naval communications. Following the outbreak of the Second World War, he commanded the destroyer HMS Kelly and the 5th Destroyer Flotilla . He saw considerable action in Norway, in
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4410-667: The Signals School in July 1929 as Senior Wireless Instructor. He was appointed Fleet Wireless Officer to the Mediterranean Fleet in August 1931 and, having been promoted commander on 31 December 1932, was posted to the battleship HMS Resolution . In 1934, Mountbatten was appointed to his first command – the destroyer HMS Daring . His ship was a new destroyer, which he was to sail to Singapore and exchange for an older ship, HMS Wishart . He successfully brought Wishart back to port in Malta and then attended
4515-422: The Southeast Asia Theatre, his command oversaw the recapture of Burma from the Japanese by General Sir William Slim . A personal high point was the receipt of the Japanese surrender in Singapore when British troops returned to the island to receive the formal surrender of Japanese forces in the region led by General Itagaki Seishiro on 12 September 1945, codenamed Operation Tiderace . South East Asia Command
4620-425: The Spanish pretender Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona , to ease the eventual accession of his son, Juan Carlos , to the Spanish throne by signing a declaration of abdication while in exile. The next year Mountbatten attended an official White House dinner during which he took the opportunity to have a 20-minute conversation with Richard Nixon and Secretary of State William P. Rogers , about which he later wrote, "I
4725-451: The State, as per scheme envisioned by Sardar Patel. The Baroda State later merged itself into Bombay State on 1 May 1949. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel inaugurated the United State of Kathiawar on 15 February 1948. On this occasion he paid tribute to Jam Sahib and the other rulers of erstwhile Princely States of Kathiawar, saying :- But for vision, wisdom and patriotism, the happy result you are seeing today would not have fructified. It
4830-406: The States of Kathiawar to join the Union of India and sign the Instrument of Accession . Patel met and managed to convince the local princes and petty subas, totaling 222 in Saurashtra region alone. Among these in Kathiawar Agency were 14 Salute states , 17 minor and 191 petty Non-salute Princely States and 46 Estates (Jagir-level). Most of the native rulers of the Kathiawar States entered into
4935-423: The Supreme Allied Commander South East Asia Command (SEAC) with promotion to acting full admiral . His less practical ideas were sidelined by an experienced planning staff led by Lieutenant-Colonel James Allason , though some, such as a proposal to launch an amphibious assault near Rangoon , got as far as Churchill before being quashed. British interpreter Hugh Lunghi recounted an embarrassing episode during
5040-465: The US would enter the war after a Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. Mountbatten was a favourite of Winston Churchill . On 27 October 1941, Mountbatten replaced Admiral of the Fleet Sir Roger Keyes as Chief of Combined Operations Headquarters and was promoted to commodore . His duties in this role included inventing new technical aids to assist with opposed landings. Noteworthy technical achievements of Mountbatten and his staff include
5145-414: The Union and that state. Lord Mountbatten Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma (born Prince Louis of Battenberg ; 25 June 1900 – 27 August 1979), commonly known as Lord Mountbatten , was a British statesman, Royal Navy officer and close relative of the British royal family . He was born in the United Kingdom to the prominent Battenberg family . He
5250-490: The United State of Kathiawar and unity of India may more fully be achieved Jawaharlal Nehru described the event as a great step forward and one of the most notable in contemporary Indian history. He further commended the statesmanship of Sardar Patel and further wrote in his letter to provincial chief ministers on 20 February 1948 :- Six months ago it would have been considered an idle dream to think of an administrative merger of hundreds of Kathiawar states, let alone such
5355-423: The administrator appointed by Government of India in managing affairs of these states. In November 1948, the United State of Kathiawar was renamed the United State of Saurashtra or Saurashtra State, when a supplementary covenant was negotiated and executed by the native rulers of the princely states merged into United State of Kathiawar. Once the Saurashtra Union came into existence, a second supplementary covenant
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#17327753146715460-460: The area of Saurashtra State again became a geographically defined region, Saurashtra , within the State of Gujarat. The following princes of salute states served as Rajpramukh (premier Prince), i.e. Head of the State : 21°30′N 70°08′E / 21.5°N 70.13°E / 21.5; 70.13 States and union territories of India India is a federal union comprising 28 states and 8 union territories , for
5565-421: The colonial Baroda, Western India and Gujarat States Agency of the British raj territory under direct colonial rule. The name of State was given after the Kathiawar and Saurashtra region , both of which generally denote the same geographical region of lands on the main peninsula of Gujarat. The persuasions of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and the influence of Mahatma Gandhi are credited for persuading most of
5670-499: The construction of "PLUTO", an underwater oil pipeline to Normandy , an artificial Mulberry harbour constructed of concrete caissons and sunken ships, and the development of tank-landing ships . Another project Mountbatten proposed to Churchill was Project Habakkuk . It was to be an unsinkable 600-metre aircraft carrier made from reinforced ice (" Pykrete "); Habakkuk was never carried out due to its enormous cost. As commander of Combined Operations, Mountbatten and his staff planned
5775-453: The convention and were wishing to join Pakistan . It was later after violent integration of Junagadh into Union of India that a referendum was held and Junagadh, Mangrol, Manavadar, Babariawad and others became a legal part of India . However, due to some technicalities, these territories even after the referendum remained under an Executive Council of popular representatives of Junagadh led by Samaldas Gandhi , for some time, who assisted
5880-407: The country, and, through the efforts of their close mutual friend, Krishna Menon , developed a certain depth of feeling and intimacy with both Nehru that was shared by his wife, Edwina. He felt differently about the Muslim League leader Muhammad Ali Jinnah , but was aware of his power, stating "If it could be said that any single man held the future of India in the palm of his hand in 1947, that man
5985-426: The country, including during an official trip in March 1956. The Pakistani government, by contrast, lacked a positive view of Mountbatten for his perceived hostile attitude towards Pakistan and deemed him persona non grata , barring him from transiting their airspace during the same visit. After India, Mountbatten served as commander of the 1st Cruiser Squadron in the Mediterranean Fleet and, having been granted
6090-434: The date of the partition from June 1948 to 15 August 1947. The uncertainty of the borders caused Muslims and Hindus to move into the direction where they felt they would get the majority. Hindus and Muslims were thoroughly terrified, and the Muslim movement from the East was balanced by the similar movement of Hindus from the West. A boundary committee chaired by Sir Cyril Radcliffe was charged with drawing boundaries for
6195-422: The direct rule of the Emperor of India (who was also the King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions ) and a few minor states, ruled by Indian princes under the suzerainty of the Emperor. A Governor or Lieutenant-Governor acted as the representative of the Emperor to that province and head of government of the directly ruled territories in the province. The governor or lieutenant-governor also served as
6300-470: The fog to evacuate the Allied forces participating in the Namsos Campaign during the Norwegian Campaign . On the night of 9–10 May 1940, Kelly was torpedoed amidships by a German E-boat S 31 off the Dutch coast, and Mountbatten thereafter commanded the 5th Destroyer Flotilla from the destroyer HMS Javelin . On 29 November 1940 the 5th Flotilla engaged three German destroyers off Lizard Point, Cornwall . Mountbatten turned to port to match
6405-404: The following July. The Defence Secretary , Denis Healey , interviewed the forty most senior officials in the Ministry of Defence; only one, Sir Kenneth Strong , a personal friend of Mountbatten, recommended his reappointment. "When I told Dickie of my decision not to reappoint him," recalls Healey, "he slapped his thigh and roared with delight; but his eyes told a different story." Mountbatten
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#17327753146716510-458: The former French enclaves of Pondichéry , Karikal , Yanaon and Mahé , was transferred to India. This became a union territory in 1962. Also in 1954, pro-India forces liberated the Portuguese-held enclaves of Dadrá and Nagar Aveli , declaring the short-lived de facto state of Free Dadra and Nagar Haveli . In 1961, India annexed it as the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli . The States Reorganisation Act, 1956 reorganised
6615-433: The highly successful Bruneval raid , which gained important information and captured part of a German Würzburg radar installation and one of the machine's technicians on 27 February 1942. It was Mountbatten who recognised that surprise and speed were essential to capture the radar, and saw that an airborne assault was the only viable method. On 18 March 1942, he was promoted to the acting rank of vice admiral and given
6720-423: The last Tsar), "Nicky" was changed to "Dickie". Mountbatten was educated at home for the first 10 years of his life; he was then sent to Lockers Park School in Hertfordshire and on to the Royal Naval College, Osborne , in May 1913. Mountbatten's mother's younger sister was Russian Empress Alexandra Feodorovna . In childhood he visited the Imperial Court of Russia at St Petersburg and became intimate with
6825-440: The most heavily defended docks in Nazi-occupied France until well after the war's end, the ramifications of which contributed to allied supremacy in the Battle of the Atlantic . After these two successes came the Dieppe Raid of 19 August 1942. He was central in the planning and promotion of the raid on the port of Dieppe . The raid was a marked failure, with casualties of almost 60%, the great majority of them Canadians. Following
6930-472: The new nations. With a mandate to leave as many Hindus and Sikhs in India and as many Muslims in Pakistan as possible, Radcliffe came up with a map that split the two countries along the Punjab and Bengal borders. This left 14 million people on the "wrong" side of the border, and very many of them fled to "safety" on the other side when the new lines were announced. When India and Pakistan attained independence at midnight of 14–15 August 1947, Mountbatten
7035-401: The original 1841 royal christening gown at the ceremony. Mountbatten's nickname among family and friends was "Dickie"; however "Richard" was not among his given names. This was because his great-grandmother, Queen Victoria, had suggested the nickname of "Nicky", but to avoid confusion with the many Nickys of the Russian Imperial Family ("Nicky" was particularly used to refer to Nicholas II ,
7140-469: The potential for nuclear energy, especially with regard to submarines. Mountbatten expressed his feelings towards the use of nuclear weapons in combat in his article "A Military Commander Surveys The Nuclear Arms Race", which was published shortly after his death in International Security in the Winter of 1979–1980. After leaving the Admiralty, Mountbatten took the position of Chief of the Defence Staff . He served in this post for six years during which he
7245-418: The process of independence unduly and recklessly, foreseeing vast disruption and loss of life and not wanting this to occur on his watch, but thereby actually helping it to occur (albeit in an indirect manner), especially in Punjab and Bengal. John Kenneth Galbraith , the Canadian-American Harvard University economist, who advised governments of India during the 1950s and was an intimate of Nehru who served as
7350-447: The process. Among the Indian leaders, Mahatma Gandhi emphatically insisted on maintaining a united India and for a while successfully rallied people to this goal. During his meeting with Mountbatten, Gandhi asked Mountbatten to invite Jinnah to form a new central government, but Mountbatten never uttered a word of Gandhi's ideas to Jinnah. When Mountbatten's timeline offered the prospect of attaining independence soon, sentiments took
7455-404: The provinces with only territories under direct Crown rule. The latter years of the Indian Empire saw the enactment of the last Government of India Act by the Crown. This act granted full autonomy to Indian provinces. Provincial laws no longer needed the assent of the governor-general. This act created the office of a Premier in each province, who functioned as the new head of government and
7560-639: The provinces. However a good number of states were organised into imperial structures called agencies, or residencies. An Agent to the Governor-General (AGG) functioned as the Emperor's representative to all the states in the agency. In 1919, the fourth Government of India was enacted by the Crown. This saw many major changes. The legislatures of the provinces were made elected ones rather than nominated ones. Some provinces were given bicameral legislatures . All provinces were elevated to governorships and all lieutenant governors were made governors. Burma
7665-580: The representative of the Emperor . In addition to these, there were certain territories ruled directly by the Government of India through nominated chief commissioners. These were former independent states annexed to India and since ruled directly by the Supreme Government. A vast majority of the Indian states in the late nineteenth century were, in terms of imperial divisions, organised within
7770-479: The self-promotion of his own part in Indian independence – notably in the television series The Life and Times of Admiral of the Fleet Lord Mountbatten of Burma , produced by his son-in-law Lord Brabourne , and Freedom at Midnight by Dominique Lapierre and Larry Collins (of which he was the main quoted source) – his record is seen as very mixed. One common view is that he hastened
7875-463: The situation was too volatile to wait even a year before granting independence to India. Although his advisers favoured a gradual transfer of independence, Mountbatten decided the only way forward was a quick and orderly transfer of power before 1947 was out. In his view, any longer would mean civil war. Mountbatten also hurried so he could return to the Royal Navy. Mountbatten was fond of Congress leader Jawaharlal Nehru and his liberal outlook for
7980-495: The states based on linguistic lines resulting in the creation of the new states. As a result of this act: Bombay State was split into the linguistic states of Gujarat and Maharashtra on 1 May 1960 by the Bombay Reorganisation Act. The former Union Territory of Nagaland achieved statehood on 1 December 1963. The Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966 resulted in the creation of Haryana on 1 November and
8085-495: The streets to cheer Mountbatten as no European had ever been cheered before." During his reign as governor-general until 21 June 1948, he played a significant role in the political integration of India and persuaded many princely states to join India. On Mountbatten's advice, India took the issue of Kashmir to the newly formed United Nations in January 1948. Accounts differ on the future which Mountbatten desired for Kashmir. Pakistani accounts suggest that Mountbatten favoured
8190-552: The territories of the princely states were politically integrated into the new Indian Union . Most were merged into existing provinces. Others were organised into new provinces and states , such as Rajasthan , Himachal Pradesh , Malwa Union , Baghelkhand and Bundelkhand States Union , and Patiala and East Punjab States Union , made up of multiple princely states. A few, including Mysore , Hyderabad , Bhopal , and Bilaspur , became separate states. The new Constitution of India , which came into force on 26 January 1950, made India
8295-415: The transfer of the northern districts of Punjab to Himachal Pradesh . The act designated Chandigarh as a union territory and the shared capital of Punjab and Haryana. Madras State was renamed Tamil Nadu in 1969. The north-eastern states of Manipur , Meghalaya and Tripura were formed on 21 January 1972. Mysore State was renamed Karnataka in 1973. On 16 May 1975, Sikkim became the 22nd state of
8400-409: The union government. The Indian Empire was a very complex political entity consisting of various imperial divisions and states and territories of varying autonomy. At the time of its establishment in 1876, it was made up of 584 constituent states and the directly ruled territories of the Crown . The entire empire was divided into provinces and agencies. A province consisted of territory under
8505-670: The war, Mountbatten was known to have largely shunned the Japanese for the rest of his life out of respect for his men killed during the war and, as per his will, Japan was not invited to send diplomatic representatives to his funeral in 1979, though he did meet Emperor Hirohito during his state visit to Britain in 1971, reportedly at the urging of the Queen. Mountbatten's experience in the region and in particular his perceived Labour sympathies at that time, alongside his wife's longstanding friendship and collaboration with V. K. Krishna Menon , led to Menon putting forth Mountbatten's name alone as
8610-547: Was morganatic because his grandmother was not of royal lineage; as a result, he and his father were styled "Serene Highness" rather than "Grand Ducal Highness", were not eligible to be titled Princes of Hesse, and were given the less exalted Battenberg title. Mountbatten's elder siblings were Princess Alice of Battenberg (mother of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh ), Princess Louise of Battenberg (later Queen Louise of Sweden ), and Prince George of Battenberg (later George Mountbatten, 2nd Marquess of Milford Haven ). Mountbatten
8715-518: Was Mahatma Gandhi's dream that Kathiawar should be united and it gladdens my heart that dream of such unification has come true. The Jam Sahib K. S. Digvijaysinhji of Nawanagar State one of the chief negotiator from the side of rulers of Kathiawar in his reply observed and said :- It is not as if we were tired monarchs who were fanned to rest. It is not as we have been bullied into submission. We have by our own free volition pooled our sovereignties and covenanted to create this new State so that
8820-480: Was Mohammad Ali Jinnah." During his meeting with Jinnah on 5 April 1947, Mountbatten tried to persuade him of a united India, citing the difficult task of dividing the mixed states of Punjab and Bengal , but the Muslim leader was unyielding in his goal of establishing a separate Muslim state called Pakistan . Given the British government's recommendations to grant independence quickly, Mountbatten concluded that
8925-692: Was a maternal uncle of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh , and a second cousin of King George VI . He joined the Royal Navy during the First World War and was appointed Supreme Allied Commander , South East Asia Command , in the Second World War . He later served as the last Viceroy of India and briefly as the first Governor-General of the Dominion of India . Mountbatten attended the Royal Naval College, Osborne , before entering
9030-602: Was a personal friend of Mountbatten and copied some of his speeches into the film. Mountbatten was mentioned in despatches on 9 August 1940 and 21 March 1941 and awarded the Distinguished Service Order in January 1941. In August 1941, Mountbatten was appointed captain of the aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious which lay in Norfolk, Virginia , for repairs following action at Malta in January. During this period of relative inactivity, he paid
9135-554: Was able to consolidate the three service departments of the military branch into a single Ministry of Defence . Ian Jacob , co-author of the 1963 Report on the Central Organisation of Defence that served as the basis of these reforms, described Mountbatten as "universally mistrusted in spite of his great qualities". On their election in October 1964 , the Wilson ministry had to decide whether to renew his appointment
9240-525: Was able to talk to the President a bit about both Tino [Constantine II of Greece] and Juanito [Juan Carlos of Spain] to try and put over their respective points of view about Greece and Spain, and how I felt the US could help them." In January 1971, Nixon hosted Juan Carlos and his wife Sofia (sister of the exiled King Constantine) during a visit to Washington and later that year The Washington Post published an article alleging that Nixon's administration
9345-583: Was alone in his study at the Viceroy's house saying to himself just before the clock struck midnight that for still a few minutes, he was the most powerful man on Earth. At 12 am, as a last act of showmanship, he created Joan Falkiner , the Australian wife of the Nawab of Palanpur , a highness, an act that was apparently one of his favourite duties that was annulled at the stroke of midnight. Notwithstanding
9450-731: Was appointed Colonel of The Life Guards and Gold Stick in Waiting on 29 January 1965 and Life Colonel Commandant of the Royal Marines the same year. He was Governor of the Isle of Wight from 20 July 1965 and then the first Lord Lieutenant of the Isle of Wight from 1 April 1974. Mountbatten was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society and had received an honorary doctorate from Heriot-Watt University in 1968. In 1969, Mountbatten tried unsuccessfully to persuade his second cousin,
9555-595: Was appointed Personal Aide-de-Camp to the Queen. Mountbatten served his final posting at the Admiralty as First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff from April 1955 to July 1959, the position which his father had held some forty years before. This was the first time in Royal Naval history that a father and son had both attained such high office. He was promoted to Admiral of the Fleet on 22 October 1956. In
9660-692: Was appointed commander-in-chief of the British Mediterranean Fleet and NATO Commander Allied Forces Mediterranean . From 1955 to 1959, he was First Sea Lord , a position that had been held by his father, Prince Louis of Battenberg , some forty years earlier. Thereafter he served as chief of the Defence Staff until 1965, making him the longest-serving professional head of the British Armed Forces to date. During this period Mountbatten also served as chairman of
9765-404: Was asked by Collins and Lapierre if he would have sabotaged the creation of Pakistan had he known that Jinnah was dying of tuberculosis , he replied, "Most probably". Mountbatten became the first Governor-General of independent India on 15 August 1947 upon the request of Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru . The Life magazine noted on his reception in India that, "The people gathered in
9870-466: Was baptised in the large drawing room of Frogmore House on 17 July 1900 by the Dean of Windsor , Philip Eliot . His godparents were Queen Victoria (his maternal great-grandmother), Nicholas II of Russia (his maternal uncle through marriage and paternal second cousin, represented by the child's father) and Prince Francis Joseph of Battenberg (his paternal uncle, represented by Lord Edward Clinton ). He wore
9975-472: Was decisive in persuading the vast majority of them to see advantages in opting to join the Indian Union . On one hand, the integration of the princely states can be viewed as one of the positive aspects of his legacy but on the other, the refusal of Hyderabad , Jammu and Kashmir , and Junagadh to join one of the dominions led to future wars between Pakistan and India. Mountbatten brought forward
10080-583: Was disbanded in May 1946 and Mountbatten returned home with the substantive rank of rear-admiral . That year, he was made a Knight Companion of the Garter and created Viscount Mountbatten of Burma , of Romsey in the County of Southampton , as a victory title for war service. He was then in 1947 further created Earl Mountbatten of Burma and Baron Romsey , of Romsey in the County of Southampton. Following
10185-822: Was elected for a term to the Standing Committee of the Cambridge Union Society and was suspected of sympathy for the Labour Party, then emerging as a potential party of government for the first time. Mountbatten was posted to the battlecruiser HMS Renown in March 1920 and accompanied Edward, Prince of Wales , on a royal tour of Australia in her. He was promoted lieutenant on 15 April 1920. HMS Renown returned to Portsmouth on 11 October 1920. Early in 1921 Royal Navy personnel were used for civil defence duties as serious industrial unrest seemed imminent. Mountbatten had to command
10290-402: Was executed in January 1949, providing the integration of Junagadh with Saurashtra. A few days later on 20 February 1949, the administration of Junagadh State (another major salute state) and also that of Mangrol , Manavadar , Babariawad , Bantva and Sardargarh were officially handed over to Saurashtra Government. On 1 November 1956 Saurashtra State ceased to exist as a State and became
10395-506: Was given a special status and made an autonomous province. The Chamber of Princes was established by Emperor George V in 1920. One of the major consequences of this was the creation of many more agencies from the states of the provinces, thus granting them direct relations with the Emperor instead of with the Governors. This saw the separation of all the states from the provinces and addition to before-mentioned agencies. This left all
10500-526: Was left with no other option but to cut and run, with the alternative being involvement in a potential civil war that would be difficult to get out of. The creation of Pakistan was never emotionally accepted by many British leaders, among them Mountbatten. Mountbatten clearly expressed his lack of support and faith in the Muslim League 's idea of Pakistan. Jinnah refused Mountbatten's offer to serve as Governor-General of Pakistan . When Mountbatten
10605-419: Was posted as midshipman to the battlecruiser HMS Lion in July 1916 and, after seeing action in August 1916, transferred to the battleship HMS Queen Elizabeth during the closing phases of the First World War . In June 1917, when the royal family stopped using their German names and titles and adopted the more British-sounding "Windsor", Mountbatten acquired the courtesy title appropriate to
10710-593: Was renamed Odisha in 2011. Telangana was created on 2 June 2014 from ten former districts of north-western Andhra Pradesh . In August 2019, the Parliament of India passed the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 , which contains provisions to reorganise the state of Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories; Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh , effective from 31 October 2019. Later that year in November,
10815-399: Was responsible to the provincial legislature. Bengal, Madras and Bombay which had been till now styled Presidencies, were now officially styled as provinces. The provinces of Orissa and Sind were created from Bihar and Bombay respectively. The Province of Burma which had previously functioned as an autonomous province of India was now separated from the Indian Empire, and established as
10920-501: Was separated in 1878 and merged with Oudh . The Bengal Presidency was re-established in 1912 as a governorship. All these provinces had their own legislatures established by the Indian Councils Acts, and high courts established by Indian High Courts Acts. Laws passed by these legislatures needed the dual assent of the governor or lieutenant-governor of the province and the governor-general of India , who functioned as
11025-503: Was the third largest Princely state of India, having its territories scattered over Dwarka in West of Kathiawar to Bombay in South- did not sign the covenant for the formation of the United State of Kathiawar. Instead the erstwhile Gaekwar Maharaja of Baroda, Pratap Singh Gaekwad declared a full responsible Government on 4 September 1948, under Jivraj Narayan Mehta , as Prime Minister of
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