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.
C. P. Ramaswami Iyer
When, on 3 June 1947, United Kingdom accepted demands for a partition and announced its intention to quit India within a short period, the Maharaja of Travancore desired to declare himself independent. Supported by the Diwan, C. P., Chithira Thirunal issued a declaration of independence on 18 June 1947. As Travancore's declaration of independence was unacceptable to India, negotiations were started with the Diwan by the Government of India. Family sources indicate that C. P. himself was not in favour of independence but only greater autonomy, and that a favourable agreement had been reached between C. P. and the Indian representatives by 23 July 1947 but accession to the Indian Union could not be carried out only because it was pending approval by the Raja. On the other hand, noted historian Ramachandra Guha has written about how C. P., egged on by Mohammed Ali Jinnah, had established secret ties with senior Ministers of the British Government, who encouraged him in the hope that he would give them privileged access to monazite, a material Travancore was rich in and which could give the British a lead in the nuclear arms race. Nevertheless, an assassination attempt was made on C. P. on 25 July 1947 during a concert commemorating the anniversary of Swati Thirunal. C. P. survived with multiple stab wounds and hastened the accession of Travancore state to the Indian Union soon after his recovery.