Independence, Partition and the Republic

The independence movement was not one movement

Resistance to British rule took many forms: constitutional politics, mass civil disobedience, revolutionary activity, labour and peasant organization, regional campaigns and political movements representing different religious and social constituencies. The Indian National Congress and figures including Mohandas Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru became internationally prominent, but they were part of a much larger and contested political field.

1947 and Partition

British rule ended in August 1947. The former British Indian territories were partitioned principally between the new states of India and Pakistan, while princely states faced decisions about accession. Partition triggered one of the largest mass migrations of the twentieth century and widespread communal violence. Millions crossed new borders, and many families experienced loss, displacement or separation.

India was independent before it became a republic

India became independent on 15 August 1947 as the Dominion of India. The Constituent Assembly adopted the Constitution on 26 November 1949. Most of it came into force on 26 January 1950, when India became a republic. This distinction is useful because “independence” and “republic” refer to two related but different constitutional moments.

The borders continued to evolve

The territorial organization of the republic did not freeze in 1950. Princely states were integrated, state boundaries were reorganized, and linguistic state formation altered the internal map. Goa remained under Portuguese rule until 1961. Bangladesh emerged from East Pakistan as an independent country in 1971. Modern South Asian political geography is therefore the product of continuing twentieth-century change.