The Partition of India

1. Lecture eight

The Partition of India 1947

2. Indian Subcontinent today

3. Map of the partition of India

4. Lecture rundown

1) Partition: Numbers and figures
2) Indian history – and the move towards British dominance
3) British direct rule and the emergence of an Indian public sphere
4) The Indian National Congress, Muslim League and the move towards independence
5) The Second World War and the move towards partition
6) Ethnic violence in the Punjab
7) Consequences of displacement in the East Punjab
8) Consequences of partition on cities – Lahore and the partition
9) Conclusions

5. 1) Partition numbers and figures

1) Partition of the Punjab
a) Refugee crisis
Approximately 4.5 million refugees (Hindus/Sikhs) leave Pakistani Punjab for India
Approximately 5.5 million refugees (Muslims) leave India for Pakistan
b) Massacres
Approximately 350,000 killed in Inter-religious (communal) violence
2) Partition of Bengal
Approximately 2.5 million Hindus leave East Pakistan for India
Approximately 700,000 Muslims leave West Bengal for East Pakistan
Overall:
Large numbers but only 3% of Indian population displaced – way smaller proportions compared to
Poland after Second World War

6. Map of the partition of India

7. Partition of Punjab

8. Partition of Bengal

9. 2) Indian history – and the move towards British dominance

a) Religion in the sub-continent and the rise of Islam
b) The dominance of the Mughal empire – 16th onwards – Muslim elites, Hindu
masses
c) British East India trading posts established early 17th century, Bombay
(Mumbai), Madras (Chennai), Calcutta (Kolkatta)
d) Mid 18th century British East India company dominates India

10. Expansion of East India Company rule in India

11. 3) British direct rule and the emergence of an Indian public sphere

a) 1857 Indian rebellion against East India company forces Britain to impose direct rule
on most of India
b) Two different kinds of rule – British Indian provinces and 600 'princely states'
c) British rule through local elites but allow Indians space to practice religion in the public
arena – religious public sphere opens up
d) Muslims 20% of Indian population – show their identity through local power structures
and ideas of a Muslim moral order
e) Main way of showing identity in India late 19th century through religion – often this
causes riots between and among different groups
f) End of nineteenth century, emergence of an Indian public sphere – secular public
sphere emerges – 'public meetings instead of mosques'

12. British India (1937)

13.

'Violent conflict was both a manifestation of the contested character of collective
identity and an attempt to protect and reassert the existence of a larger moral
order as protection for the individual within a local world marked by hierarchy,
domination and uncertainty.'
Gilmartin

14. 4)The Indian National Congress, Muslim League and the move towards independence

a) Development of Indian mass parties at turn of 20th century
i) Indian National Congress – set up 1885, initially middle class, move towards more
radical positions – leads the call for Indian independence
ii) All Indian Muslim League – set up 1906 – set up to defend Muslim interests in India –
against supposedly Hindu supporting Congress – eventually calls for an independent
Muslim Indian state – Pakistan
b) Changes in British governance in India – 1919 – Government of India act – 'dyarchy' –
mixed government in British Indian provinces – provides experience for Indians
c) Indian opposition to British governance strong – 1935 Second Government of India act
– introduction of Indian rule at a provincial level in British Indian provinces
d) 1937 elections – Congress wins in 8 provinces – Muslim League in 2 – Muslim league
becomes a mass party

15. Jinnah, Nehru and Gandhi

16. British India (1937)

17. 4) The Indian National Congress, Muslim League and the move towards independence

e) Congress and Muslim league affected by European nationalist discourse – Nehru and
Jinnah – first call for Pakistan in 1930 – unsure where it would be
f) Nehru and the Congress – see a future India based on rationality, modernity,
secularism
g) Muslim League and Jinnah – defend Muslim rights against the Congress – Jinnah's
Pakistan – idea of an Islamic moral order – strong call
“They (Hinduism and Islam) are not religious in the strict sense of the word, but are in
fact different and distinct social orders, and it is a dream that the Hindus and the
Muslims can ever evolve a common nationality. . . . They neither inter-marry nor interdine. . . . They have different epics, their heroes are different and they have different
episodes. Very often the hero of one is the foe of the other, and likewise their victories
and defeats overlap.”
Jinnah

18. British India (1937)

19. Jinnah, Nehru and Gandhi

20. 5) The Second World War and the move towards partition

a) Second World War brings new tensions into play
b) Muslim League call for Pakistan - Lahore resolution 1940 – Pakistan to be in North-West India – but no
specific territorial calls
c) India included on the allied side by the British – civil disobedience – Congress leaders in Prison
d) 1945 – British basically agree on Indian independence – but how would it occur?
e) 1946 provincial elections – Muslim league very successful
f) Increasingly likely that partition would have to take place – but where was Pakistan to be? - Leads to
violence and insecurity
g) Direct action day for Pakistan called - Violence in Calcutta – August 1946 – 5,000 die
h) February 1947 – British to leave India by July 1948 – but no decision on Pakistan
i) Riots in the Punjab – March 1947
j) British decide to leave by August 1947 – partition will happen – but no boundary decisions until August
1947
h) Terrible ethnic violence and migration during and in aftermath of partition – India independent but
divided

21.

'From late 1946 there is evidence that violence was often aimed not at renegotiating
status and power within the symbolic framework of a local order, but rather at
'cleansing' the local community to reground it symbolically in the territorial frameworks
promised by partition'
Gilmartin

22. 6) Ethnic violence in the Punjab

a) 10 million displaced and 300,000 massacred – how did this happen?
b) Build-up to partition and violence in the Punjab
i) Ethnically divided Punjab one of the main demands by Muslim League for inclusion into
Pakistan
ii) Violence from March 1947 after British declare they will leave India
iii) Instability during wait for Border commission – high levels of violence as Indian
independence declared August 1947
iv) Three different communities in the Punjab, Muslims, Sikhs and Hindus
c) Massacres on trains – organised attacks on trains from August-October 1947 after
independence – thousands massacred
d) High militarisation of the Punjab – 'campaigns carried out in military style' – violent
attacks by organised groups in the Punjab

23. Partition of Punjab

24. Partition of Bengal

25. 7) Consequences of displacement in the East Punjab

a) Immense task to integrate the 4.5 million refugees from the West Punjab
b) East Punjab economically weaker than the West of the province
c) Government initially settles refugees from one area together, various types of aid
granted
d) Sensible government policies regarding settlers – 'Standard acre' and 'Graded cuts'
and land consolidation
e) Refugees integrated well – help make East Punjab economically prosperous

26. 7) Consequences of displacement in the East Punjab

'In spite of the fact that West Punjab was more richly endowed at the time of
partition, it was overtaken by East Punjab in almost all key areas such as the
overall rate of agricultural growth, farm output, degree of mechanization, per
capita consumption patterns and literacy levels.'
Tan and Kudaisya, The Aftermath of Partition in South Asia

27. East Punjab and Haryana

28. 8) Consequences of partition on cities – Lahore and the partition

a) Important effects of partition on large cities of the subcontinent, Delhi, Calcutta,
Karachi – social, cultural, economic
b) Lahore From Punjab’s pride to border town – 10 million people – second biggest city
in Pakistan
c) Before partition – Most important city of the British Punjab – Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs –
Majority Muslims but Hindus and Sikhs economically and culturally strong
d) During partition – horrendous violence in the city – departure of Hindus and Sikhs
e) After partition – negative cultural, economic and political consequences

29. Partition of Punjab

30. Badshahi Mosque, Lahore

31.

'The violence which Lahore experienced was unprecedented even by the horrific
standards of 1947, and when it had subsided, what emerged was a city which had
been completely ‘cleansed’ of its ‘minority’ communities.'
Tan and Kudaisya

32. 9) Conclusions

a) Displacement and ethnic cleansing in India can't be seperated from the Indian
independence movement – how would an independent India look?
b) Pakistan movement hindered the push for an independent India – leads to partition
c) Instability over partition leads to mass violence – political clashes over space
d) Ethnic violence quite different to other cases we look at – difficult to find intent
e) State much less presence in the cleansing than in other cases – smaller level actors
important
f) States can sometimes get the settlement of refugees right – situation in the East
Punjab
g) Cities can be changed forever by mass movement of populations