Remembering Partition and Independence, 79 Years On

At the stroke of midnight between August 14 and August 15 in 1947, the British partitioned the Indian subcontinent into India and Pakistan, which then included what would become Bangladesh in 1971. Today, Pakistan celebrates its Independence Day on August 14 and India on August 15.

British lawyer Cyril Radcliffe, who had previously never been east of Paris, took just five weeks to draw the new borders. The result triggered one of the largest forced migrations in history, displacing as many as 20 million people. Meanwhile, communal violence before and after Partition left millions dead, injured, and missing.

Much of The Juggernaut archive touches on Partition and independence in some form. Today, we’re highlighting 15 of our favorite stories, from how the Bengal famine may have altered our genes to why the West is obsessed with borders. Happy Independence Day, and happy reading!