At the end of 16 August 1947
The Indian portion became East Punjab. Partition’s final boundary award was not public until 17 August. [1]
The Indian Independence Act created the two Dominions from 15 August 1947. For the former British provinces, transfer was constitutional rather than a series of princely accessions. Existing administrative machinery continued under new authority while the Dominion’s constitution-making proceeded. India had not yet become the Republic inaugurated on 26 January 1950. [1][2]
The authority behind the territory
The authority recorded for the snapshot is: Provincial government under the Dominion of India; no hereditary princely ruler. [1]
The British Parliament enacted the transfer; Governor-General Mountbatten and the new Dominion and provincial governments implemented it. [1]
How the relationship changed
Partition divided the former British province between India and Pakistan. The displayed source polygon is clipped to a later Indian outline and must not be read as the whole 1947 province. [1]
The documented sequence distinguishes these events: 15 August 1947 — indian Dominion established. [1]
East Punjab: independence amid Partition
The former British Punjab was divided between East Punjab in India and West Punjab in Pakistan. The new Dominions began on 15 August, while the final boundary award was announced on 17 August. At the end of 16 August, the atlas’s chosen moment, legal independence had arrived before the new frontier was publicly settled in detail. [1][3]
The boundary was accompanied by mass displacement and communal violence. Contemporary letters and reports preserved by the UK National Archives describe attacks, refugees and fears among communities. An outline can show an administrative division but not the upheaval of people trying to reach safety on either side. This is why the story of provincial transfer cannot be reduced to a peaceful replacement of flags. [3]
The Punjab princely states had separate histories. Eight formed PEPSU in 1948; Loharu, Dujana and Pataudi merged directly into East Punjab. Punjab and PEPSU were combined in the 1956 reorganisation. None of those later settlements should be confused with the partition of the British province itself. [4][5][6]
The timeline
Dates identify the event recorded. A month or year is left imprecise where the evidence does not supply a day.
- BY THE SNAPSHOT
Indian Dominion established
Timeline evidence: [1] Indian Independence Act 1947, sections 1–3, 7
Evidence & map notes
Snapshot basis. Territory type; consult the dossier for the 1947 constitutional position.
The 16 August frontier cannot be reconstructed from this retrospective boundary layer.
Boundary source: 1941. Source-year boundary (1941); the 16 August 1947 boundary has not been independently verified. The source uses a later Indian external outline and does not cover the whole pre-Partition province. Partition reconciliation is pending. This reference is not a verified reconstruction of the boundary on 16 August 1947.
Paragraph citations distinguish published agreements, contemporary accounts, later chronologies and historical scholarship. Regional chapters explain a shared process; they do not establish a separate local negotiation or exact instrument date where none has been verified.
Sources & further reading
The White Paper records the Indian government’s account and reproduced legal instruments. It is not an independent assessment of every claim of consent, coercion or popular opinion.
- Indian Independence Act 1947, sections 1–3, 7 ↗Primary / official source
- 1950 White Paper: Constitutional Relationship with the Centre ↗Government account / primary document transcription
- Partition of British India: contemporary maps, letters and official reports ↗Primary documents with archival teaching commentary · UK National Archives
- 1950 White Paper: Patiala and East Punjab States Union ↗Government account / primary document transcription
- 1950 White Paper: States Merged in East Punjab ↗Government account / primary document transcription
- States Reorganisation Act, 1956, especially sections 2–12 ↗Primary legislation · India Code