Partition of India million became homeless. However, many argue that the British were forced to expedite the Partition by events on the ground. Once in office, Mountbatten quickly became aware that if Britain were to avoid involvement in a civil war, which seemed increasingly likely, there was no alternative to partition and a hasty exit from India. Law and order had broken down many times before Partition, with much bloodshed on both sides. A massive civil war was looming by the time Mountbatten became Viceroy. After the Second World War, Britain had limited resources, perhaps insufficient to the task of keeping order. Another
Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan coauthored with Dillon Ripley, was published in 1983. The plates from this supplement were incorporated in the second edition of the "Handbook". The second edition was completed by others, notably J. S. Serrao of the BNHS, Bruce Beehler, Michel Desfayes and Pamela Rasmussen, after the deaths of Ali in 1987 and Ripley in 2001. Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan The Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan is the "magnum opus" of Indian ornithologist Salim Ali, written along with S. Dillon Ripley. Appended to the title is the phrase ""together with those of Bangladesh, Nepal, Sikkim,