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Overview
Between 1885, when the Indian National Congress was founded, and 1947, when British rule ended, India moved from petitions to mass movements and finally to independence. The same moment divided British India into two states, India and Pakistan, and set off one of the largest forced migrations in history, with widespread communal killing. The Kashmir dispute also began in 1947. This topic matters because it shaped the politics, borders and memory of present-day South Asia and the lives of hundreds of millions of people.
Context
The British Crown took direct control of India in 1858 after the uprising of 1857. Colonial rule used census categories and separate electorates that made religious identity politically important. The Second World War then exhausted Britain and made continued rule in India impractical. Negotiations among the British, the Congress and the Muslim League took place in a climate of rising communal tension.
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Curator's notes
- Why it matters
- Largest decolonisation; the Kashmir dispute began in 1947
- What to read
- Nehru, The Discovery of India; Ramachandra Guha, India After Gandhi; Yasmin Khan, The Great Partition
- Event or movement
- Indian independence and Partition
- Dates
- 1885 (Congress) – 1947
- What happened
- Mass non-violent movement; independence and Partition into India and Pakistan; 10 – 20 million displaced, hundreds of thousands to 2 million dead
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