ABSTRACT
This chapter is a profile of Sir Walter Monckton, the British barrister who was a constitutional adviser to the Nizam for over fifteen years. He was appointed as such in 1933, to succeed Sir Donald Somervell, for appearing on the Nizam’s behalf before the Linlithgow Committee. He remained so till the very end.
The narrative begins with Sir Walter’s first visit to India in 1935 when he first went to Simla (now Shimla) to call on the viceroy, Lord Willingdon, and travelled from there to Delhi and then from there on to Hyderabad.
The thread of Sir Walter’s first journey to Hyderabad is then picked up, followed by an account of his extended first stay in Hyderabad and his first personal audience with the Nizam. He then went back to England but returned to Hyderabad in 1936. Returning to Hyderabad after the War, he stayed on through India’s independence and till the standstill agreement. After another visit back home, he returned to Hyderabad in March 1948. When the negotiations between India and Hyderabad finally failed in June 1948, Sir Walter returned to England for good.
Finally, there is a short account of Sir Walter’s life thereafter, his stint in Churchill’s post-War cabinet, his second marriage and his last days.
