Modern Era · South Asia · Politics
1947
India and Pakistan gain independence
August 15, 1947
At midnight India awoke, as Nehru put it, to life and freedom, and so did the new Muslim state of Pakistan. The partition Cyril Radcliffe had drawn in six weeks triggered the largest forced migration in history. Fifteen million fled across the new border; perhaps a million died in the killings. The subcontinent was free and wounded.
In context
Also in 1947 (7 other events on record)
- Transistor invented at Bell Labs · North America · Technology
- Indian Independence and Partition · South Asia · Politics
- Truman Doctrine declares Cold War · North America · Politics
- Marshall Plan announced · North America · Politics
- Dead Sea Scrolls discovered · Middle East · Religion
- Jackie Robinson breaks baseball color line · North America · Culture
Before and after in South Asia
Before and after in Politics
Era
Modern Era (1901–2000), one of 590 events from that era on Saeculum.