Beschreibung:

Rare signed portrait Mahatma Gandhi, 1947 GANDHI, Mahatma (1869-1948) and MOUNTBATTEN OF BURMA, Louis 1st Earl (1900-1979). Photograph signed (“M. K. Gandhi” and again in Hindi & “Mountbatten of Burma”), [1 April 1947]. 237 x 281mm on a 250 x 300mm paper mount (crease at upper right, marginal tears, Mountbatten’s signature faded). A rare signed portrait from Gandhi's first dinner at the Viceroy's House, months before Indian independence and partition . Prime Minister Clement Attlee, eager to end British rule over India, appointed Mountbatten as Viceroy on 20 February 1947 and charged him with overseeing the transition to independence. His first meeting with Gandhi came the day before this image was taken. During their meetings, which lasted for several days, Gandhi advocated for a united India, and lobbied Mountbatten to invite Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the leader of India’s Muslim population to join a new central government. Already convinced that partition was the only realistic option, Mountbatten never passed along Gandhi’s proposal to Jinnah, though he did attempt to convince the Muslim leader of the merits of a united India. Following independence and partition in August 1947, Mountbatten would remain in India serving as Governor General until June 1948. Tragically, the sectarian violence consuming the Subcontinent would lead to Gandhi’s assassination in January 1948. [ With :] MOUNTBATTEN, Louis, Relationship Tables Compiled for his Children. New Delhi: The Viceregal Press, 1947. Inscribed on the front pastedown: “To Squadron Leader D. N. Prakash in appreciation of the assistance which he gave in the dispatching of the copies of this book [signed] Mountbatten of Burma” Provenance: Divan Naveen Prakash – by descent to the consignor.