60th Anniversary of the Partition of India

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2007 saw the 60th anniversary of the partition of India into the two independent countries of India and Pakistan

British rule in India ended at midnight at the end of 14th August 1947. Pakistan celebrated independence on 14th August 1947 and India on 15th August 1947. In 1971 the province of East Pakistan became the independent country of Bangladesh

As a library member you can access a range of e-resources by logging in with your library card number and PIN.

• Times Digital Archive - for archive news reports from The Times newspaper published on the first day of partition, enter the search term India and then limit your search by selecting  'on' and choosing the date 15th August 1947
• Encyclopaedia Britannica - read more detail about the history surrounding partition. Enter the search term India, then at the India article, click to expand the menu option 'History' and then click 'British imperial power, 18581947'. You will see links to topics before, during and after partition
• For concise details of the events and personalities of the time, search Credo Reference and Oxford Reference Online by entering these words: India partition
• The British Library web site has a section on Indian independence, providing a concise history, maps of India before and after partition, a detailed chronology, details of the key people involved and a glossary of terms
• For a brief summary, see BBC News - Sixty bitter years after partition or, for a shorter version, see BBC News -  Quick guide - partition
• There is a longer article at BBC History - The hidden story of partition and its legacies
• At the 'Origins' page of the Migration Histories section on the Moving Here web site you can read about partition in its historical context and learn about its relationship to South Asian people coming to Britain
• For more information about the impact of the British Empire on individuals and families, see the Channel 4 Empire's children web site
• The BBC India/Pakistan 07 site gives you the highlights from the BBC's TV, radio and online programmes marking the 60th anniversary of India and Pakistan's independence. It also includes links to archive TV and radio clips
• You can read archive Guardian newspaper articles of 1947 at the Partition of India pages on the Guardian Century web site
• For more information on the individual countries today see Countries

Page last updated: 3rd December 2013