Events that Led to the Partition of 1947 - In Detail

Imperial Entities of India

You must be thinking that going into too much detail does not suit my blog aim; I agree to that but it is necessary that we Pakistanis should know how Pakistan came into being. If you don't have much time hover over to the end of the post and click any of the two links to know the history in a narrative form or google for a video that explains all.

These are the major events that took place and contributed in the creation of two sovereign states of Pakistan and India.

June, 1757 – Battle of Plassey 

The Battle of Plassey established the British East India Company's dominance over the Indian subcontinent.  The Company defeated the Nawab of Bengal and installed a puppet ruler, enabling British business ventures in the region and allowing The Company to control trade from the national to the local level.  The Company operated its trade out of Mumbai, which grew to be the commercial centre of India.

1857 - War of Independence - End of the Great Mughal Empire

August 2, 1858 – British Parliament passes India Act

Because the Company controlled most of India by 1858, the India Act effectively transferred that control to the British crown.  This period of British rule is often referred to as the Raj. In the two years prior to the India Act, the Indian people mounted a bloody rebellion, but were ultimately defeated.  Throughout the British colonization, tensions ran high between the European power and the conquered Asian nation.

Great Britain prospered greatly from their colonization of India.  To keep money flowing into the British economy, the imperial power imposed regulations and taxes that stifled Indian industrial and commercial growth.

Approximately two fifths of the subcontinent remained outside British rule, though the ruling independent principalities typically cooperated with British if offered economic incentives.  

1885 – Indian National Congress is founded

The Indian National Congress was often able to govern the subcontinent by consensus.  However, in the years leading up to independence, the administrative body was split by factionalism.

1906 – The Muslim League is founded

The Muslim League was founded in 1906 to give a voice to under-represented Muslims, who, at the time, comprised approximately 20 percent of the population.

1930 – The Muslim League proposes a separate Pakistani state - Allahabad Address by Allama Iqbal

In a session of the Indian National Congress, the Muslim League proposed the idea of Pakistan – a separate state for the Muslim population – but found little support for the plan.

March 12, 1931 – Mahatma Gandhi leads the Salt March

To protest the British salt tax, Gandhi led nearly a hundred followers over 200 miles to the ocean to extract free salt from the sea.  The protest drew both international press and the ire of British authorities.

1935 – Great Britain passes Government of India Act

The British Parliament passed the Government of India Act in 1935, establishing a federal system.  The eleven different provinces founded were given more autonomy than ever before, planting the seeds for the partition. 1937 – First elections under federal system

In 1937, the British sponsored the first federal elections across the 11 provinces.  Hindus won the majority of seats, alienating the Muslim League, which was unable to unite even in provinces with Muslim majorities.

July 14, 1942 – Indian National Congress demands British withdrawal

The Indian National Congress passed a resolution calling for an end to British governance, demanding their withdrawal.  Less than a month later, Gandhi spurred the Quit India movement, advocating peaceful civil disobedience.  But the protests, which began as worker's strikes and marches, turned violent, prompting British authorities to arrest more than 100,000 nation-wide, including many members of the Congress.

August 16, 1946 – Jinnah calls for "Direct Action Day" in support of Pakistan

To rally support for an independent Pakistani state, Jinnah called for a "Direct Action Day."  The movement, however, broke into violence, taking the lives of thousands.

March 24, 1947 – Earl Luis Mountbatten sworn in as final Viceroy to India

Mountbatten with a countdown calendar to the Transfer of Power in the background

Earl Luis Mountbatten was sworn in as the final Viceroy to India to broker India's independence.  Mountbatten was instructed to finalize a plan by August 1947 – almost a year sooner than the originally planned June 1948 date.

Two main factors determined Great Britain's decision to seek decolonization: The administrative costs needed to suppress Indian activists proved too expensive as England recovered from the economic devastation of World War II, and following the war, the United States pressured their European ally to withdraw its colonial interests.

August 14, midnight 1947 – Pakistan declares independence

In the aftermath of partition, a huge population exchange occurred between the two newly formed states. About 14.5 million people crossed the borders, including 8,226,000 Muslims came to Pakistan from India while 7,249,000 Hindus and Sikhs moved to India from Pakistan. About 5.5 million settled in Punjab Pakistan and around 1.5 million settled in Sindh.

Two Muslim men (in a rural refugee train headed towards Pakistan) carrying an old woman in a makeshift doli or palanquin. 1947.

August 14, midnight 1947 – India declares independence

Disputes between India and Pakistan stem from the 1947 British partitioning of India into two independent nations. The region's predominantly Muslim provinces were divided into East and West Pakistan, while predominantly Hindu areas became modern India.  The border between the two states was conceived and finalized by the British lawyer Cyril Radcliffe. Boundaries were drawn hastily, using outdated census reports and maps.

It is believed that Lord Mountbatten forced Radcliffe to reverse many of areas he gave to Pakistan. A major reversal was that of the Punjab area on east of the Indian Border near Kashmir. Thus it created the Kashmir issue.

August 26, 1947 – Maharaja Hari Singh, the Indian ruler governing Jammu-Kashmir, signs region over to India, starts first India-Pakistan war over Kashmir

At the epicentre of the Indian-Pakistan conflict is the Jammu-Kashmir state, which, in 1947, had a predominantly Muslim population and was governed by an Sikh ruler, Maharaja Hari Singh.

Many Pakistanis say the Kashmir region, with its majority Muslim population, belongs in their Islamic state. Indians, meanwhile, argue India has a right to the Kashmir territory. India currently controls some two-thirds of the state; Pakistan controls about one-fifth; the eastern region has been controlled by China since 1963. Since 1947, India and Pakistan have been locked in a tense and often hostile rivalry. The two countries have fought three wars, with two centering on the Kashmir conflict. As many as 50,000 people have died over the war-torn province.

August, 1948 – U.N. resolution on Kashmir, calling for Pakistan to govern the northern – and mostly Muslim – territory, and India to govern the southern territory.

In August 1948, the United Nations intervened, issuing a resolution drawing a line of control dividing Kashmir until further decision. A plebiscite was agreed but India refused and didn't carry it out. A major part of Muslim Majority area, the Kashmir Valley which includes Srinagar is in the India-controlled Kashmir.

September 11, 1948 – Jinnah dies of tuberculosis.

January 30, 1948 – Gandhi assassinated by Hindu radical

:End of the Timeline:

I am thankful to http://www.pbs.org/ for the above timeline.

I am thankful to wikipedia.org for the above pics.

You can also visit the following websites if you want to know the Partition in a narrative form:

http://umarshehzad.hubpages.com/hub/partitioning-of-India-1947

http://www.statsvet.su.se/publikationer/ahmed/andra_artiklar/ahmed_partition_of_india_r.htm