PARTITION OF BRITISH INDIA IN 1947

Partition of British India in 1947

Chernboon Suwansinpan
Ekamai International School

PARTITION OF BRITISH INDIA IN 1947

Abstract
This research paper explains the different events that happened to India, before
and after the partition, it contains all the events that led to the partition, starting from
early 1885 to the present. It aims to show the reader how the ruling of the British India
slowly turns into a civil war within the country, how the British tried to deceive the Hindus
and Muslims to fight for them during the World War 1 and World War 2, how the Muslim
League wanted to part away from the Hindus, how the partition is divided
geographically, the population transfer between the two countries, and how it affect
India and Pakistan today.
The Partition of India was the partition of the British Indian Empire that led to the
new sovereign states of Pakistan (which is now spilled into Bangladesh and Pakistan)
and India. There was so much violence before, during, and after the partition, over
200,000 to 2,000,000 people were killed between the religions and many people
(Hindus, Sikhs, and Muslims) were displaced during the partition; it was considered as
the largest mass migration in human history. After the Partition, there were new ways of
running both country and both completely refrained from being neighbors, to the point
where they wont even eat or study together. Everything was affected, from their
economies to their populations. Even with all these chaos, until today, people from India
and Pakistan still blamed each other on who was the cause of the Partition.

PARTITION OF BRITISH INDIA IN 1947

Partition of British India in 1947

Partition of British India, theres no denying the fact that the Partition of British
India was one of the biggest historical event in India that has a major impact on its
country until today. Its not just a single event in India, but also a historical event to the
world history. The spark to the partition started in the 1885 and sort of ended in 1947.
It sorts of ended because the problem is still somewhat ongoing until today. India was
partitioned at Independence on 15th August 1947 into two distinct nations: a newly
established and principally the Muslim state of Pakistan, and a Hindu-dominated India
(Farah, 2011). The partition ended the British Raj (what are now the four countries, the
Republic of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Burma) or the British rule over India. At
that time, the four countries were known as the British Empire. However, its not as
simple as it sounds, during the events that lead to the partition, more than million people
end up being killed in the communal violence (Maududi on The Partition of British India,
n.d.). The Partition doesnt happen because of the rivalry between the Hindus and the
Muslim, but mainly because of the British that ruled India during the 1880s. Its not
because of a single mistake, but because of mistakes and scheme. This started in the
backdrop of Civil Disobedience Movement and Khilafat Movement (Singh, n.d.).
World War 1
It all started in 1885 when the Hindus of the Indian National Congress or the INC
gathered for the first time. When the British made an attempt to divide the state of
Bengal along religious lines in 1905, the INC lead huge protests against the plan
(Szczpanski, 2015). This made the Muslim think that its unfair to them since the Hindus
got to negotiate with the British and gain the right to not let the British divide the land.
The Muslims started to ask for their rights in future independence negotiations. Although
the Muslims and Hindus were enemy during that time, they decided to team up and
cooperate to get the Britain to stop messing with India because they knew that the
Britain were trying to make them fight and became each other rivalry. During the World
War 1, the Muslim League and the INC agree to support the Britain during the war,

PARTITION OF BRITISH INDIA IN 1947

sending troops (over 1 million soldiers) and war materials, in exchange for political
concessions and independence.
From 1914 to 1918 most of the Indians support the British during their war
against the Germany, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the Ottoman Empire. More
43,000 died during the war. Since the British knew that not all Indians support them,
they decided not to offer any concessions. The fact that British didnt offer any
concession to India, it started to increase the hatred that India has for the British.
On March 10, 1919, the British decided to pass a law called Rowlatt Act, it is a
law where the government is allowed to put anyone into prison for with no judgment.
People were arrested for no reasons and had no right to blame the accusers or see the
evidence on why they were arrested; even if they were to have a chance to see the
evidence, they would still lose the case.
As time passed by, the situation started to get worse, there were streets violence
between the Europeans and Indians in a street called Amritsar. One of European
commander, Brigadier- General Reginald Dyer, order all the Indian men to crawl on their
hands and knees along the public street and were to no approach any British officers; if
they were to disobey the command, they could be publicly punished. The thing that the
Britain did to the Indian was, on April 13, the British government passed another law
saying that a gathering of more than four people is allowed anywhere in public. This
shows how bad the situation was, not only does the Indians not receive any political
concession (after the war), but they were also to crawl on their hands and knees.
Since the Britain knew that what they were doing was not right, they wanted to
keep the concession deal as a secret. On April of 1919, a group of British Army went
to Amritsar, Punjab (what are now the border between India and Pakistan), to silence
the people about not offering any political concessions. The British Army thought that, in
order to silence the people, they would torture them by firing an unarmed crowd, which
end up killing more than 1,000 Indian protestors. When the news spread around India,
thousands of people became the supporters of the Indian National Congress and the
Muslim League.

PARTITION OF BRITISH INDIA IN 1947

In the 1930s, Mohandas Gandhi became the leading figure of the Indian National
Congress, he gave off inspirational in the hope of ending the protest and help India gain
their independence from the British Raj. Gandhi wishes for a peaceful and unified
relationship between the Hindus and the Muslim of India, but the INC are really against
the idea of joining the Muslim to fight against the British. As a result, the Muslim began
making plans to separate themselves from the Hindus.
World War 2
Moving onward to World War 2, the war creates the turning point between the
Indian National Congress, the Muslim League, and British. Like the last time, the British
expect the INC and the Muslim to support them by sending troops and war materials to
help them during the war. But this time, the INC refusing in helping Britain because they
knew that if they help, they wont benefit anything or sometimes, not only will their
soldiers be killed during the war but they wont even get any concessions from the
British. After they betrayal during the World War 1, the INC saw no benefit from the
India. However, the INC still trust the Britain and decided to support them by sending
over two and a half million soldiers to fight under the British command. The reason for
them helping the British was that they thought that the British would favor and support
the Muslim nation in the post-independence in Northern India.
Not only does the Muslim agreed to help the British this time, but some India
Princely States also provided large donations to support British Allied campaign during
the War and provided the base for the American operation in support of the China. They
helped the British gain independence from Hong Kong and Singapore after the
Japanese surrender in 1945. At this point, the Muslim were trying to find as much favor
from the other countries as much as possible. At that time, India also fought with so
many countries, such as the North African against Rommel, Southeast Asia against the
Japanese in Burma, West African campaign, and the European Theaters of Germany
and Italy. After the World War 2, over 87,000 Indian soldiers were killed.
While the Muslim League were supporting the British in every way they can while
the largest and the most influential political parties were in India, the India National
Congress were seeking independence themselves before it would help Britain.
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PARTITION OF BRITISH INDIA IN 1947

However, London was against the idea of INC independence, so they created a Quit
India campaign and imprisoned some of the leaders of INC for a long period of time.
Japan sets up an army of Indians, known as the Indian National Army while India was
under the leadership of Subhas Chandra Bose and several other leaders who were also
seeking independence from the British.
Quit India
On August 1942, the Indian National Congress launched the Quit India
Movement. The Movement was led by Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, Maulana Azad,
and Sardar Vallabhbhai. The purpose of launching the movement was to call
independence upon themselves. The Congress condemned the Nazi Germany and told
them that they would not fight for them and cooperate in any way with the government
until independence was upon them. After the government head about the movement,
they quickly arrested over 60,000 nation and local Congress leaders and hope that it
would put an end to the violent reaction of Congress supporters. The leading figures,
like Mohandas Gandhi, were kept in jail until June 1945. Some of the leaders were,
including Gandhi, were released in May 1946, due to health problems.
Since the Hindus and the Muslims are rivalries, the Muslim League, once again,
rejected the Quit India movement and move toward the British Raj, because they knew
that its where the people their sides are. Subhas Chandra, Congress Leader, quit
himself from the Congress and start forming alliances with Germany and Japan to gain
independence. Japan helped him form the Indian National Army, which consists of
Indians soldiers who fought under Japanese direction. In addition to being the leader of
the Congress, Subhas Chandra also led the Provisional Government of Free India.
After World War 2
Before the war ended, most people Britain favored the fact that the Britain should
stop expanding their empire for a while. The Britain leader, Winston Churchill, was voted
out and a new pro-independence Labor Party was voted in 1945. After the Labor Party
was voted in, they called for an immediate independence for India, as well as more
freedom for the Britains other colonial.
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PARTITION OF BRITISH INDIA IN 1947

Muhammed Ali Jannah, Muslim Leagues leader, created a public campaign in
support for creating a separate Muslim state. On the other hand, Jawaharlal Nehru,
leader of India National Congress, was against that idea and wanted a unified country
instead. At this point, the India is about to gain the independence theyve been fighting
years, but now the country is moving toward having a civil war. Although Gandhi
supported and wanted to Indian to unite peacefully under the British Rule, the Muslim
League still called for a separate state. On August 16, 1946, the Muslim League
sponsored the Direct Action Day, which killed more 40,000 Hindus and Sikhs in
Calcutta (where now is Kolkata). The Direct Action Day then created the Night of the
Long Knives, which killed over 100 more people. It was the two days of violence that
resulted in thousands of deaths in the various city across the country.
The problem started when the Islam spread into the Indian Peninsula in early
700s. In the 20th century, this tension was a major factor in the partition of the British
colony of India into the new states of India and Pakistan (Muslim and Hindu Conflict in
India, n.d.)
Direct Action Day
The Direct Action Day is on the 16th of August 1946, also known as the
Great Calcutta Killings. The day was filled with violence and murder between the Hindus
and Muslims. It happens in the city of Calcutta (now known as Kolkata) in Bengal,
province of India. This day was also the day that leads to the Night of the Long Knives,
where theres, even more, violence and murder. This day was the day where the
Muslims League Council shows their strength and feelings toward the British and
Congress. They did this to assured themselves that the British will still be on their sides;
if British were to pull out and not support the Muslim anymore, they would suffer from
the overwhelming number of Hindus. This Direct Action Day was the worst communal
violence British had ever seen.
In the 1940s, the Muslim League and India National Congress were the two
largest parties in India. In 1946, the Cabinet Mission of India planned on transferring the
power of the British Raj to the Indian, which soon lead to a proposal of having the new
Dominion of India and its government. Soon enough, the Muslim League proposed
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PARTITION OF BRITISH INDIA IN 1947

another alternative plan of dividing the British Raj into a Hindu-dominated India and a
Muslim-dominated Pakistan. The Congress rejected the proposal right away. This was
one of the reasons why the Muslim League supported the Direct Action Day, and that is
to protest this reject and assert their demand for separate Muslim State.
Back in the days, the situation in Bengal was really complex. During that time,
Muslims was the majority of the population were mostly concentrated in the eastern part
of India. Around fifty-six percents were the Muslims and forty-two percent for the
Hindus. Because of this demographic structure, the eastern part of India was the only
place where the Muslim League was in control of. The Muslim combined themselves
with the Europeans and oppose against the group of the Congress, the Hindu
nationalist party and Communist Party of India, and the Hindu Mahasabha. The Hindu
group were strongly supported by the rich members of the Marwari trading community,
consists of immigrants from Rajasthan. Rajasthan plays a major role in Calcutta. The
sixty-four percent of Hindus and the thirty-three percent of Muslim in Calcutta were then
divided into two highly opposition individuals. During the situation, there was a massive
violence in Calcutta. There were protests, over 4,000 people were killed, 100,000
people were left homeless; all of this happened within 72 hours. This violence creates,
even more, violence in the surrounding regions; such as United Provinces, Punjab,
North Western Frontier Province and the Noakhali and Bihar. These events eventually
lead to the Partition of India.
The Night of the Long Knives
The Night of the Long Knives was the event that happened after the Direct Action
Day. It is sometimes called as the Operation Humming Bird. It was a day of violence
that took place in Nazi, Germany in 1934 from June 30 to July 2. It happened when the
Nazi were trying to carry out a series of political execution. The leading figures of the
Nazi Party, such as; Strasserist, Gregor, Strasser, were killed because of the anti-Nazis.
Those who were killed were mostly the leader of the Sturmabteilung. More than a
hundred people were killed, although the final death toll may have been over the
hundreds. Most of the executions were lead out by the police officer, the Schutzstaffel,
and Gestapo. This violence caused the people to come together to support the
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PARTITION OF BRITISH INDIA IN 1947

Reichswehr for Hitler and also provided a standing point for the Nazi group. The Night
of the Long Knives was a turning point for the Germany because it represent Hitler as
the judge of the German, as he put in his speech on July 13, 1934.
During the execution, people used the code name Hummingbird to refer to the
planner, to give them a signal on when to send the execution troop into action on that
day. That codename was then used throughout the city. The Night of the Long Knives
refers to the slaughtering of people and the act of humiliation. The Germans used the
term Rhm-Putsch to describe the murders. The term was given by the Nazi group.
Geographic Partition
On June 3rd of 1947, British Victory Louis Mountbatten announced that, as
of August 15, India would be split between separate majority- Hindu and majorityMuslim countries (Roren, 2012).
The plan that Mountbatten had for India was- the Sikhs, Hindus and Muslims in
Punjab and Bengal would gather and vote if they wanted the partition or not. If the
majority said that they agree with the idea of dividing India into two states, then would
be independent by 15th of August 1947. There would be no individual independence in
Bengal or anywhere else, would the country would be independent as a whole.
After the vote, the majority agreed with the provinces being divided, so the
Muslim Leagues proposal was finally being acknowledged. However, the Congress
proposal was also taken into account while they were trying to make Pakistan as small
as possible. Mountbattens plan was to divide India into India and Pakistan, but he still
want the people to remain as unified as possible.
On June 3rd, 1947, the Congress Working Committee passed the proposal in
accepting the Partition of India. During that moment, there was a tension between the
Hindus and Muslims but there was absolutely no violence between them. On that day,
Gandhi was reported to be found isolated by the Patel and Nehru; he was observing the
day of silence in that situation. Mountbatten did visit Gandhi and hope that Gandhi
wouldnt object the idea of the Partition of India. Mountbatten was surprised to see
Gandhi observing this situation without reacting anything. But deep inside, Gandhi still
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PARTITION OF BRITISH INDIA IN 1947

felt that it was unfair. He wrote on a paper saying, Have I ever opposed you? meaning
that Gandhi doesnt understand why Mountbatten would do this when Gandhi or the
people had never done anything to him.
Independence was celebrated in Britains by South Asians. At 11 am on 15
August 1947, Indians gathered at India House in Aldwych to salute the flag. Pakistanis
gathered in celebration at Lancaster House (1947 Independence and Partition, n.d.).
Even when Pakistan and India achieved independence, till August 17, there was
no announcement on the borders of two countries. The man who set the boundary lines
between India and Pakistan was Cyril John Radcliffe, the British lawyer and Law Lord
(Panwar, 2015).
After the Partition, the border between India and Pakistan was distinguished by
the British Government. It was determined under the chairmanship of London lawyer
named Sir Cyril Radcliffe. The border was named after this lawyer; the border is called
the Radcliffe Line. The Pakistan then further spilled into two states; the East Pakistan
and the West Pakistan. The Pakistanis were separated geographically by India. India is
now divided into a majority Hindu regions (at that time, the Hindus were still under
Britain) and Pakistan from the majority Muslim areas.
The British Parliament then passed the Indian Independence Act to abandon the
control that Britain had over India for a long period of time and to conclude the control
over the two states. Hundreds of people were able to choose whether to stay on which
part of the state. The Government of India Act 1935 was applied to this partition to
provide a legal framework for the new dominions.
In 1947, after the partition, Pakistan applied to be a membership of the United
Nations and was accepted in the 30th of September 1947 by the General Assembly.
India was also the member of the United Nations since 1945.
The partition of India and its freedom from the colonial rule set a precedent for
nations such as Israel, which demanded a separate homeland because of irreconcilable
differences between the Arabs and the Jews (The Postcolonial States @ Emory, n.d.).
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Radcliffe Line
Since the Punjab region consists of the five rivers of Indus; Chenab, Jhelum,
Beas, Ravi, and Sutlej (all of these rivers contains a piece of land lying between the
river). There are between the Jhelum and Indus, between the Chenab and Revi,
between Ravi and Beas, Jhelum and Chenab and between the Beas and Sutlej. The
month before the partition happened and before the consideration of the Punjab
Boundary Commission, the area that seemed to be disputed the most was the Bist and
Bari tract. However, some parts of the Rechna tract were already claimed by the Sikhs
and Congress. The region of Amritsar, Montgomery (now known as Sahiwal), Lahore
and Gurdaspur were all disputed.
Most people who were living in that disputed region (excluding Amritsar, which
was forty-six percent Muslim) were Muslim. Even the region that is Muslim Majority, like
the Gurdaspur, was slender. There were only three sub-unit of the region that was a
non-Muslim majority. These non-Muslim regions were Amritsar and Tarn Taran in the
district of Amritsar and the Pathankot (which is concentrated in the north of Gurdaspur,
but wasnt disputed). In addition, there were four Muslim regions in the east of Sutlej
which makes the Muslim outnumbered the Sikhs and Hindus altogether.
Before the Boundary Commission began any action, the government originally
were to set up an East and West Punjab regions. The territories were geographically
divided by the national division based on where each region is located. Each side was
to claim that piece of land, so they were an agreement where the Boundary
Commission consist of two non-Muslims and two Muslim judges and Sir Radcliffe as the
common chairman.
Both sides (the Congress and the Muslims) presented their claim with no right of
bargaining. The judges were also not allowed to authorize or command on any of this
major issues. Both sides decided to leave the final decision to Sir Cyril Radcliffe
because they didnt want any violence to happen.

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In Pakistan and India, the history of the freedom movement has been written
under the influence of the All-India Muslim (AIML) and Indian National Congress (INC)
parties, respectively, to which the British transferred power in 1947 (Yousat, 2011).
Population Movement/Transfer
After the partition, there was a massive exchange of people between the two
newly formed states. This immediate exchange happened the month after the Partition.
At first, the India (undivided) has the population of approximately 390 million. But
after the Partition, there were only 330 people left in India. Which, thirty million of which
are in West Pakistan and another 30 million are in the East Pakistan (now known as
Bangladesh). Once the Radcliffe Line was established, around fourteen million people
crossed the border, in the hope of finding a stable and safe religious place. According to
1951 Census of Pakistan, over seven million people were identified as a displaced
person, almost all of those people were the Muslims that moved from Pakistan to India.
In addition, 1951 Census of India identified over seven million people who were
displaced, it was surprising to the world that the Hindus and Sikhs moved to India from
Pakistan immediately after the partition. The number of displaced people add up to
fourteen million. Since both censuses were published three years after the partition, the
total number increase after the migration.
Around eleven million people resides in the west, most of which are the Punjab.
Six million Muslims moved from India to West Pakistan and four million Sikhs and
Hindus moved from West Pakistan to India, which made the total migration from West of
India to West Pakistan, 1.8 million.
Two million people moved from East Pakistan to India, 0.7 million moved from
India to East Pakistan (now known as Bangladesh), and 3.3 million people were still left
in the east. Both newly established country were totally unprepared for this massive
migration and violence and slaughter occurred on both sides of the border. The number
of the death varies, the lowest estimate would be 200,000 and the highest estimate
would be 1,000,000.
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PARTITION OF BRITISH INDIA IN 1947

When the Partition of India split the British Province of Punjab into India and
Pakistan, the Indian state of East Punjab was then created in 1947. The Sikhs and
Hindus in the eastern part became Indias East Punjab state and the Muslims in the
western part became Pakistans Punjab State. Most of the Muslims lived in the east and
most of the Hindus lived in the west. Those small groups were fear of any movement
and change that it shows, the Partition saw many people being displaced and there was
so much public violence.
Everyone thought that Lahore and Amritsar were the cause of the problem, the
Boundary Commission was also unsure of where to place those people- whether to
make part of India or Pakistan. The Commission then decided to make Lahore part of
Pakistan, while Amritsar became part of India. Lots of the area in Punjab (Lahore,
Multan, Rawalpindi, Gujrat, and a large part of the Sikh and Hindu population) were
attacked and killed. The East Punjab (Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Gurdaspur, Amritsar, and
the Muslims) were also killed and lots of them emigrated.
India and Pakistan Today
Pakistan today controls about one-third of Kashmir- a smaller semi-autonomous
region called Azad Jammu and Kashmir by the Pakistanis and a larger, directly
administered area, which includes the former kingdoms of Hunza and Nagar.
Meanwhile, India, which controls the other two-thirds, and the Peoples Republic of
China both claim Aksai Chin in the West of Kashmir (Heilman, 2013).
After independence, India and Pakistan had to devise new ways of running their
countries and creating nation states. While Pakistan was created as a Muslim state after
Jinnahs insistence that Muslims of the former colony needed a separate country of their
own, Hindu- majority India was, and formally remains, secular, and also the worlds
largest democracy (Population Census, n.d.). The two sides of the country are so
separated that they devise new ways of running the country and even have a different
religion. Such religious differences also translated into sharp social differences. Despite
being neighbors, they refrained from eating or studying together. Even separate waters

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PARTITION OF BRITISH INDIA IN 1947

were allocated to the Hindus and Muslims while traveling, for instance, or train journeys
(Joydeep, 2014).
India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh have come a long way since the British left
them. Of the three nations, India has seen by far the most dramatic growth. In terms of
economic resources, India did much better than Pakistan. It inherited 90% of the
subcontinents industry and the thriving cities of Delhi (After partition: India, Pakistan,
Bangladesh, n.d.).
The partition of India and Pakistan was perhaps one of the most heartbreaking
events of history. Many lives were uprooted and many lost. Its ripple is still felt every day
in our culture, in our movies, in our books. And many of us in our personal lives as well
(Jassi, 2015). Some said that One explanation for the chaos in which the two Britains
hurried withdrawal with the realization it could ill afford its extended empire (Bates,
2011) and some said that It is a defining moment that is neither beginning nor end,
partition and states of postcolonial South Asia envisage their past, present and future. (
Dalrympie, 2015)

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