What can British documents tell us about the creation of Bangladesh?
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‘British India’, also referred to as the ‘British Raj’ or ‘Direct rule in India’, was part of the British Empire from 1858 until independence in 1947. This independence process was called ‘partition’, because the colony was divided up into two countries: India and Pakistan.
Partition was not inevitable and happened because of long and complicated talks between the British government and elite Indian figures, each with their own political interests. The final borders of the new nations were created in only six weeks by Sir Cyril Radcliffe and were based on Muslim and non-Muslim majority areas. Learn more about partition here.
The new Pakistan was split into two regions that were more than 1,000 miles away: West Pakistan and East Pakistan (today’s Bangladesh). The distance and difference in culture, language, and identity between the two regions, and the fact that West Pakistan held more political and economic power, led to strong tensions and eventually protest movements in East Pakistan.
In 1971, West and East Pakistan fought in the Bangladesh Liberation War. This led to the creation of Bangladesh on 16 December 1971. How can we trace this road to independence through the British reports in The National Archives?
Tasks
- Partition of British India, 1947
This map shows how British India was divided up after the 1947 Partition: into India (majority non-Muslim) and Pakistan (majority Muslim).
What do the green areas on the map represent?
Find East Bengal (later East Pakistan, today’s Bangladesh).
How far away do you think East Bengal is from West Pakistan?
What kind of issues do you think might come from a country being made up of two areas so far from each other?