History: Pakistan

Sources for this page

Each number marks a specific claim. Notes give the source, its locator and how it relates to the claim.

1. 1.

   Claim: The Indian Independence Act, 1947, given Royal Assent on 18 July 1947, provided in Section 1(1): "As from the fifteenth day of August, nineteen hundred and forty-seven, two independent Dominions shall be set up in India, to be known respectively as India and Pakistan." Section 1(2) designated that date "the appointed day."

   • Parliament of the United Kingdom, Indian Independence Act, 1947 (10 & 11 Geo. 6, c. 30) (18 July 1947) link, Section 1. Government perspective or primary official source Source record
2. 2.

   Claim: Pakistan's own transfer-of-power ceremony was held in Karachi on 14 August 1947, a day before India's equivalent ceremony in Delhi, because Lord Mountbatten needed to attend both and could not be present in both cities on the same day, so his visit to Karachi was brought forward.

   • The National, Why do Pakistan and India celebrate Independence Day one day apart? (The National) link, article text. Source record
3. 3.

   Claim: British India was partitioned along religious lines into India and Pakistan at independence in August 1947, with the boundary drawn by a commission chaired by Cyril Radcliffe. Estimates vary substantially by source: population displacement is commonly estimated at between roughly 10 and 20 million people, and communal violence deaths are variously estimated from approximately 200,000 to 2 million.

   • Partition of India (Wikipedia) link, article text. Source record Consulted via a general-reference encyclopedia article summarising multiple scholarly estimates, not a single primary demographic study.
4. 4.

   Claim: The Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir, Hari Singh, signed an Instrument of Accession to India, rather than Pakistan, on 26 October 1947, amid the outbreak of fighting between Indian and Pakistani-backed forces in the region; the accession's validity and the broader status of Kashmir remain disputed between India and Pakistan.

   • Instrument of Accession (Jammu and Kashmir) (Wikipedia) link, article text. Source record Consulted via a general-reference encyclopedia article, not the Instrument of Accession's original text or primary diplomatic records; this bundle does not adjudicate the ongoing Kashmir dispute.
5. 5.

   Claim: On 12 August 1947, at its 190th meeting, the Security Council unanimously recommended to the General Assembly that it admit Pakistan (together with Yemen) to United Nations membership.

   • United Nations Security Council, Security Council resolution 29 (1947) (United Nations, 12 August 1947) link, operative paragraph. Source record
6. 6.

   Claim: On 30 September 1947, at its 92nd plenary meeting, the General Assembly determined that Pakistan and Yemen "are, in its judgment, peace-loving States, within the meaning of Article 4 of the Charter, and are able and willing to carry out their obligations under the Charter," and decided "to admit Pakistan and Yemen as Members of the United Nations."

   • United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly resolution 108 (II): Admission of Yemen and Pakistan to membership in the United Nations (United Nations, 30 September 1947) link, operative paragraphs. Source record
7. 7.

   Claim: Pakistan's first constitution came into force on 23 March 1956, declaring Pakistan an Islamic Republic and ending its status as a Commonwealth dominion.

   • Constitution of Pakistan of 1956 (Wikipedia) link, article text. Source record Consulted via a general-reference encyclopedia article, not the Constitution's own text.
8. 8.

   Claim: In 1971, a nine-month conflict between Pakistani armed forces and Bengali nationalist and guerrilla forces in East Pakistan, followed by Indian military intervention in December 1971, ended with East Pakistan's independence as Bangladesh. Estimates of the conflict's death toll vary very widely by source, from roughly 300,000 to 3 million.

   • Bangladesh Liberation War (Wikipedia) link, article text. Source record Consulted via a general-reference encyclopedia article summarising widely differing estimates from different sources; this bundle reports the range as attributed and does not adjudicate a single figure or apportion responsibility for the violence.