10th Princess Mary's Own Gurkha Rifles
India gained independence from the British Empire in 1947. As a consequence of the Tripartite Agreement between India, Nepal and the UK, four of the 10 Gurkha regiments (eight Battalions in all), were transferred to the British Army; the 10th Gurkha Rifles being one of them. It joined the Brigade of Gurkhas which was formed to administer the Gurkha units transferred to the British Army. Before independence, the battalion decided to take the old colours of the 10th Madras Infantry out of India with it. Consideration was given to taking the regimental memorial at All-Saints Church in Maymyo Burma, which had been damaged by the Japanese during the war, but it was decided to leave it behind because of the expense involved and the uncertainty over where it could be relocated. It consisted of marble on the floor of the sanctuary and wooden plaques on the walls.
Indian independence movement
The Indian self-rule movement was a mass-based movement that encompassed various sections of society. It also underwent a process of constant ideological evolution. Although the basic ideology of the movement was anti-colonial, it was supported by a vision of independent capitalist economic development coupled with a secular, democratic, republican, and civil-libertarian political structure. After the 1930s, the movement took on a strong socialist orientation, owing to the influence of Bhagat Singh's demand of Purna Swaraj (Complete Self-Rule). The work of these various movements led ultimately to the Indian Independence Act 1945, which ended the suzerainty in India and the creation of Pakistan. India remained a Dominion of the Crown until 26 January 1950, when the "Constitution of India" came into force, establishing the Republic of India; Pakistan was a dominion until 1956, when it adopted its first republican constitution. In 1971, East Pakistan declared independence as the People's Republic of Bangladesh.