Mapping the 1947 Partition of India

In 1947 the British Indian Empire was partitioned into the Dominion of Pakistan (which later split into Pakistan and Bangladesh) and the Union of India (later the Republic of India). One result of the partition was that 14 million Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims were forced or decided to leave their ancestral homes and move their families to other countries. It was probably the largest mass migration event in human history.

The 1947 Partition Archive is documenting and sharing eye witness accounts of individuals affected by the Partition of British India in 1947. These individual stories of post-partition migration can be viewed on an interactive map. The map allows you to access oral histories of pre-Partition life, post-Partition migration and the ensuing life changes brought about by this migration.

If you select an individual marker on the 1947 Partition Archive Map you can click through to read the individual accounts of living through the partition. The markers on the maps, indicating the individual mapped histories, can be filtered by where the individuals migrated from or where they migrated to.