The Towards Freedom series is an endeavour to document the years leading to Independence. It goes beyond the overtly political activities of the time and the notion of Independence as ‘transfer of power’. The volumes of this series underscore the fact that the struggle for Independence was not just about attaining freedom from a colonial power—it also comprised efforts to seek social justice, economic empowerment, and cultural autonomy. With meticulously selected historical material from 1937 to 1947, the volumes bring to the fore the activities, attitudes, and ideas of diverse sections of Indian society.

The 1947 volume, published in three parts, covers the major socio-political processes of that fateful year. The first part highlights the main political events that took place in the three-way conflict between imperialist, nationalist, and communal forces. The story continues in the second part, which takes up the partition award and the actual process of partition, the settlement of boundaries, the rehabilitation of refugees, and the developments in the princely states. The third part brings to the fore themes such as the future of the Congress, peasants’ and workers’ struggles, caste, minorities, language and literature, the position of women, the economic consequences of partition, foreign relations, and the celebrations of 15th August.

In this part, the second in the 1947 volume, the story of India’s independence and partition unfurls through documents ranging from newspapers, private papers, and letters, to speeches, maps, cartoons, and colonial archives. The documents relate to the Constituent Assembly, the partition award, partition in Bengal and Punjab, the referendum in the Northwest Frontier Provinces and Sylhet, and the princely states, as also those on the Interim Government and the India Independence Bill. This part also highlights the problem of communalism which became so pronounced in several regions of India during this period that even the parties which stood for unity, such as the Congress, had little option but to accept partition.

About the Author

Sucheta Mahajan , the Editor of this volume, is Professor of History, Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. She was Gillespie Visiting Professor at the College of Wooster, Ohio, Fellow of the Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla, and the Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center in Italy. She was an editor of Studies in History, the journal of the centre where she teaches. Her book Independence and Partition: The Erosion of Colonial Power in India (2000) is an authoritative account of the period. Sabyasachi Bhattacharya is Tagore National Fellow, Ministry of Culture, Government of India. He was earlier Vice Chancellor of Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan, and Professor at the Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. He has also held teaching and research appointments at the University of Chicago; St Antony's College, University of Oxford; and El Colegio de México.

Table of Contents:
Contents General Editor’s Preface Editor’s Introduction Acknowledgements List of Abbreviations Calendar of Documents Section III: 3 June 1947 to 15 August 1947 25. Constituent Assembly 26. Partition Award and After 27. Interim Government 28. Indian Independence Bill 29. Boundary Commissions 30. Governor-General(s) for the Dominions 31. Partition of Punjab 32. Partition of Bengal 33. Referendum in NWFP and Sylhet 34. Contending with Communalism 35. Communalism: Provinces 36. Minority Groups and Displaced Populations 37. Volunteer Organizations Section IV: PRINCELY STATES: 1 January 1947 to 15 August 1947 38. Princely States, Constituent Assembly, and Accession 39. All India States People’s Conference and All India States Muslim League 40. North Indian States 41. South Indian States 42. Western Indian States 43. Central Indian States 44. Eastern Indian States About the Editors Index