Why was India Partitioned? (Short Animated Documentary)

by the end of the Second World War it was clear to many in Britain that Indian independence was inevitable a notable exception being Winston Churchill who wanted India to remain a British Dominion at all costs and for all time but since he had just been voted out of office no one really cared what he thought anymore he was replaced by Clement Attlee he was sympathetic to Indian independence and so as Prime Minister he began the process that would lead to it of course there's one thing you'll have noticed about British India before and after independence it was partitioned the question is why now before continuing it's important to clear up some common misconceptions the first is that Ceylon now Sri Lanka was not a part of British India although it did achieve independence at the same time the second is that Burma had previously been a part of British India but was by the end of the second world war administered separately the third thing to make clear is that Britain didn't rule rule of India directly some of it was ruled by Indian princes like in Hyderabad so British India was incredibly diverse and was home to many people's languages and religions although frankly this was mostly lost on the British who largely saw everyone as being under one category ours there were many of these peoples calling for independence from Britain but very few were Pro partition the British Viceroy in India in 1947 was Lord Mountbatten who alongside aptly wanted an independent India to remain united so it would make a stronger ally in the Cold War the pro-independence Indian National Congress was opposed to division since they felt it would weaken India the main proponents of partition with the Muslim League led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah Jinnah believed that since an independent India would be overwhelmingly Hindu the rights in each of the country's Muslim minority would be trampled on thus to him it was necessary for the creation of an independent Muslim state could Pakistan in case you're wondering the name Pakistan is a sort of acronym made up of the majority Muslim states in Northwest India Punjab Afghani a Kashmir Indus Sindh and the tan comes from Baluchistan tensions continued to rise throughout India as demands for independence and also for an independent Muslim state continued to grow after winning an India wide election the Indian National Congress largely refused to negotiate with the Muslim League and the British were mostly looking to keep their hands clean at this stage as violence continued to break out no one was able to keep the idea of a united India alive and so in the end the inevitable was agreed to upon its independence India was to be partitioned into at least two countries as such the reasons for Indian partition are quite clear it was the desire of the Muslim minority within India to have control over its own affairs and fear that their rights wouldn't be protected that divided the subcontinent so now that the Y has been established our attention should turn to the how because one of the most controversial things about partition was how the new nation's borders were drawn the task fell to the British and Lord Mountbatten and it was decided that all of the states within India were to have three options join India join Pakistan or to become independent states most opted for the first two but some states most notably Hyderabad and Kashmir wished to be independent the districts of Bengal and Punjab would be divided in the relevant Hindu and Muslim populations there were to be resettled from one country to another many in India and Pakistan were concerned about the population transfer becoming violent but Britain promised there wouldn't be any problems a promise that wasn't within their power to honor I hope you enjoyed this episode and thank you for watching with extra thanks to my patrons that you see on screen now and a special thanks to James Bissonnette David archaeologist Zarqa flash Party Boyko Rob Waterhouse Yashar Enderman Chris wicker mouths Bailey Brent guard Michael Reynolds Gustav Swan tune Rick onion duck Maggie pax Kowski Winston Cawood vasily era Vedas Anthony Beckett Adam Harvey Ike Skye Chappelle and the amusement park Ives

Channel: History Matters

Views: 1,598,367

Keywords: History, Matters, Short, Animated, Documentary, India, Pakistan, Ceylon, Sri Lanka, Burma, Partition, Indian, Independence, Britain, 1947, Gandhi, Jinnah, Nehru, Population, Transfer

Id: 3AsvcUn3XQc

Length: 3min 25sec (205 seconds)

Published: Sat Jul 27 2019