India’s Partition and the creation of Pakistan

Historical Context Essay

Ayesha Jalal (Tufts University)
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India's partition and the creation of Pakistan in 1947 are among the major events in twentieth century history. The British Raj came to an end amidst unprecedented violence and social dislocation. An estimated half a million people perished while seventeen million people were forced to move across the freshly demarcated frontiers of India and Pakistan. The blood-stained legacy of 1947 has cast an enduring shadow on inter-state relations and domestic politics in post-colonial South Asia. There are few burning issues in the subcontinent which cannot be traced, directly or indirectly, to the fateful moment when the British struck the partitioner's axe. India and Pakistan have fought two full-scale wars over the former north Indian princely state of Jammu and Kashmir. An undeclared war, also…

2482 words

Citation: Jalal, Ayesha. "India’s Partition and the creation of Pakistan". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 09 February 2006 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=825, accessed 19 March 2024.]

825 India’s Partition and the creation of Pakistan 2 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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