The Final Personal Report Of The Last Viceroy Of India

The final personal report of the last Viceroy of India, Lord Mountbatten of Burma, 1947. The report is dated 16 August 1947, immediately after the end of British rule in India. 'Top Secret and Personal. This last week of British rule in India has been the most hectic of any. We have been working longer hours and under more trying conditions, and with crises of differing magnitudes arising every day, and sometimes two or three times a day. The problem of the States continued to occupy most of my time, particularly of those Rulers who have kept changing their mind up to the last moment, whether to accede to India, to Pakistan, or to neither. I paid my farewell visit to Karachi, and took part in unbelievable scenes on the day of the transfer of power in Delhi. The issue which has created the greatest and most serious crisis to date has been the awards of the Boundary Commissions, a summary of which is given in appendix I.'. Creator: Unknown. (Photo by Heritage Art/Heritage Images via Getty Images)