Dr Cathy Coombs uncovers why the Partition of India took place and its legacy in the subcontinent today.
In this talk, Cathy Coombs will consider the decades leading up to independence and the nature of British rule in India, drawing out some of the key events which led up to the decisions made in 1947. Cathy will also speak on the experience of those in the region of Punjab, split in two on 14 and 15 August 1947, to consider the consequences of these events for India, Pakistan, and Britain.
Dr Cathy Coombs is Lecturer in History at the University of Leeds.
The birth of India and Pakistan as independent states in 1947 was a key moment in the history of Britain’s empire and its army. But the process of partition was attended by mass migration and ethnic violence that has left a bitter legacy to this day.