Legacy of Partition 1947-2009 Exhibition
Panel 1: Partition of Former British India at Granting of Independence in 1947
Was this, the largest involuntary migration of people in history, really necessary?
Refugees from the Punjab in New Delhi
British India had been the scene of spasmodic communal strife for nearly a year. But the chain of events which started with the attack by the Sikhs on a special train carrying Pakistan government employees and their families from Delhi to Karachi on 9 August and which had inflicted untold suffering on millions of people in the Punjab was of a very different character.
Sir Laurence Grafty-Smith, UK High Commissioner, Karachi to Sec. of State Commonwealth Relations, 12 Sept. 1947
Sir Laurence Grafty-Smith, UK High Commissioner, Karachi to Sec. of State Commonwealth Relations, 12 Sept. 1947
Map of British India showing the areas of direct rule (light orange) and princely states (dark orange)
Struggle for power of the Indian political parties with the prospect of British Departure by June 1948
Gandhi (right) and Jinnah, President of the Muslim League, at the failed talks on a constitutional settlement, 1944
Political Party Campaigning
Jawaharlal Nehru, President of the Indian National Congress
Zaid Haroon of the Muslim League
Fear of civil war if a political settlement not reached. ‘Great Killings’ at Calcutta, 16 August 1946 and following days: 5,000 dead, 10,000 injured, 100,000 homeless.
Clearing the dead at Calcutta
Troops clearing Calcutta’s streets, firearms at the ready
“I always thought the British would quit India, but I was in a minority... The Indians who worked at the airfield couldn’t visualize a time when the British would no longer be there... We didn’t see any trouble between the communities. But there was quite a lot of agitation for the British to ‘Quit India’. When we were leaving the country via Bombay we had bricks thrown at us to help us on our way! “
Ernest Adams, Air-Frame Fitter, based at Cawnpore/Kanpur Airbase, 1944-46
Ernest Adams, Air-Frame Fitter, based at Cawnpore/Kanpur Airbase, 1944-46
Census of Population 1941
(NB: Figures for Hindus exclude scheduled castes = 48.81m or 12.55 % of total. Sikhs = 5.69m or 1.46% of total):
Total Hindus, British India 150,890,000 38.79%
Total Hindus, princely states 55,227,000 14.20%
Total Hindus, India 206,117,000 52.99%
Total Muslims, British India 79,399,000 20.41%
Total Muslims, princely states 12,660,000 3.25%
Total Muslims, India 92,058,000 23.67%
Total Population, India 388,988,000 100%
Total Hindus, princely states 55,227,000 14.20%
Total Hindus, India 206,117,000 52.99%
Total Muslims, British India 79,399,000 20.41%
Total Muslims, princely states 12,660,000 3.25%
Total Muslims, India 92,058,000 23.67%
Total Population, India 388,988,000 100%
Page Last Updated: 17 March 2009
