Although the majority of the Indian population under the British Raj were Hindus, some provinces (now called states)had Muslim majorities. Due to the political unrest in the country, Britain decided that India would need to be partitioned to carve out a separate homeland for Indian Muslims, but it wasn’t immediately clear which provinces would join which country. Some were given the right to choose, while others were divided up – the provinces of Assam, Bengal, and Punjab were each split in half, with one half going to India and the other to the new Pakistan. The remaining princely states could pick aside. After the partition, Jinnah became the first Governor-General of Pakistan, and Jawaharlal Nehru became India’s first president. Gandhi, who remained the strongest advocate for a unified country, was shot by a Hindu religious fanatic in 1948, just a month before the last of the British troops finally left India. Source theculturetrip.com
Tuesday, April 21, 2026
