The Partition of India

Up to 17 million people left their homes and became refugees overnight Approximately 1 million men, women and children lost their lives Roughly 5.5 million Hindus and Sikhs escaped to India in 1947-48, while 5.8 Muslims fled to Pakistan

After World War II, there were more calls for Indian independence than ever before. Clement Attlee, the British prime minister, was determined to oversee independence following his election in 1945, realising that India could no longer be supported and that it was at boiling point. While most Indians were Hindus, about one-quarter were Muslims and Sikhs made up a significant minority. Jawaharlal Nehru, the Hindu leader of the pro-independence Congress, and Mahatma Gandhi, who encouraged non-violent methods, fell out with Muslim leader Muhammad Ali Jinnah.

Jinnah increasingly pushed for a second independent Islamic state. A compromise — to create one federalised country — was rejected by Nehru, who feared it would leave India ungovernable. Some historians argue that the British wanted a two-state solution as Congress were unlikely to have allowed Britain to maintain troops to protect Asia from Communist influence. With no agreement, Britain proposed borders that arbitrarily chopped up the religiously mixed and wealthy Bengal and Punjab regions.

These plans were kept secret until after Independence Day on 15 August 1947. Violence soon erupted on all sides. Of the 899,000 Muslims that attempted to migrate by foot and train, between 500,000 and 800,000 died trying to enter West Punjab (Pakistan). 1.25 million non-muslims moved to the Indian side of the Punjab. Those who didn’t die of starvation or exhaustion were slaughtered by rival sides.