The Human Cost of Partition 1947

Did you know that the largest mass migration in human history happened in just a few weeks?

In 1947, British India was divided into two new states: India and Pakistan.

The decision followed decades of colonial rule and rising tensions between religious communities

as the British prepared to leave. The borders were drawn by a single man,

Cyril Radcliffe, who had never been to India before. In just weeks, he drew a line across

the subcontinent—later known as the Radcliffe Line—cutting through villages, farmland,

and cities. When independence was announced, millions suddenly found themselves

on the “wrong” side of the border. An estimated fourteen million people fled their homes.