360 words India - partition at the stroke of midnight India, the jewel of the British Empire, was granted independence in 1947, divided along religious lines into two separate nations – India and Pakistan. The break-up resulted in the exodus of some 15 million people and the deaths of up to two million in internecine bloodshed 1858: India comes under direct rule of British crown following failed rebellion of 1857 1885: Indian National Congress founded – becomes forum for emerging nationalist feeling 1906: All India Muslim League founded to defend Muslim political interests 1920: Nationalist figurehead Mahatma Gandhi launches anti-British civil disobedience campaign 1930: Poet Allama Iqbal advocates establishment of separate Muslim state 1930s: Mistrust increases between Muslim League and Congress 1933: Name “Pakistan” – Urdu for “Land of the Pure” – coined by Cambridge student Rahmatullah Chowdhry 1940: Muslim League leader Mohammed Ali Jinnah calls for separate Muslim state 1946, Jul: Cabinet Mission Plan – British proposal for Hindus and Muslims to work together within united India – collapses Aug: Bloodiest Hindu-Muslim violence in nearly a century kills 5,000 in Calcutta – convinces Britain partition is inevitable 1947, Jun: Partition plan of British viceroy Lord Mountbatten accepted by Jinnah and Congress leader Jawaharlal Nehru Jul: British Parliament passes Indian Independence Act, ordering demarcation of dominions of India and Pakistan by midnight Aug 14-15 Aug 14-15: Separate states born – secular but Hindu-dominated India and Muslim-majority Pakistan POPULATION EXCHANGE* Muslims to Pakistan from India: 7,226,000 Hindus and Sikhs to India from Pakistan: 7,249,000 TOTAL: 14,475,000 Deaths: Estimates range from 1-2 million *Based on 1951 census Gandhi: Opposed partition Jinnah: First Governor General of Pakistan Nehru: First Prime Minister of independent India PAKISTAN 1947: Dominion of Pakistan created. Became world’s first Islamic Republic in 1956 Karachi Islamabad Kashmir: Status remains unresolved INDIA 1947: Dominion (or Union) of India created. Renamed Republic of India in 1950 Punjab: Region cut in two by new border Delhi Kolkata (Calcutta) PAKISTAN: Province of East Pakistan gains independence as Bangladesh in 1971 MUSLIM POPULATION AS % OF TOTAL (1947) Over 60% 20-60% 0-20% 400km 250 miles Sources: BBC, Emory University, Columbia University Pictures: Getty images, AP © GRAPHIC NEWS