India did not sign a similar standstill agreement with the princely state.Īs partition-related violence raged across the two new nations, the government of Pakistan pressured Kashmir to join it. To avert pressure to join either new nation, the maharaja signed a standstill agreement with Pakistan that allowed citizens of Kashmir to continue trade and travel with the new country. Unlike most of the princely states which aligned themselves with one nation or the other, Singh wanted independence for Kashmir. Unauthorized use is prohibited.Īt the time, the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, which had a majority Muslim population, was governed by maharaja Hari Singh, a Hindu.
Under the hasty terms of partition, more than 550 princely states within colonial India that were not directly governed by Britain could decide to join either new nation or remain independent. The Hindu-majority independent nation of India followed the next day.
On August 14, 1947, the independent, Muslim-majority nation of Pakistan was formed. “It is high time that the British Government applied their mind definitely to the division of India and the establishment of Pakistan and Hindustan, which means freedom for both,” Jinnah said in 1945.Īs religious riots broke out across British India, leaving tens of thousands dead, British and Indian leaders began to seriously consider a partition of the subcontinent based on religion. Mohammad Ali Jinnah, a politician who headed up India’s Muslim League, began demanding a separate nation for India’s Muslim population. After World War II, Parliament decided British rule in India should end by 1948.īritain had historically had separate electorates for Muslim citizens and reserved some political seats specifically for Muslims that not only hemmed Muslims into a minority status, but fueled a growing Muslim separatist movement. Though it feared civil war between India’s Hindu majority and Muslim minority, Britain faced increasing pressure to grant independence to its colony.