Borders and Conflict in South Asia

*Borders and conflict in South Asia* is the first full-length study of the 1947 drawing of the Indo-Pakistani boundary in Punjab. Using the Radcliffe commission as a window onto the decolonization and independence of India and Pakistan, and examining the competing interests, both internal and international, that influenced the actions of the various major players, it highlights British efforts to maintain a grip on India even as the decolonization process spun out of control. Drawing on extensive archival research in India, Pakistan, and Britain, combined with innovative use of cartographic sources, the book paints a vivid picture of both the partition process and the Radcliffe line's impact on Punjab. This book will be vital reading for scholars and students of colonialism, decolonization, partition, and borderlands studies, while providing anyone interested in South Asia's independence with a highly readable account of one of its most controversial episodes.

ISBN 0719078997   Volumes 1 ISBN13 9780719078996 (What's this?)   Weight (grammes) 544 Publisher Manchester University Press   Published in Manchester Imprint Manchester University Press   Series title Studies in Imperialism Format Hardback   Height (mm) 234 Publication date 01 Sep 2009   Width (mm) 156 DEWEY 954.552035   Spine width (mm) 28 DEWEY edition DC22   Academic level Tertiary education, Professional / Scholarly Pages 256

1		'Standing on the edge of a volcano' : the historical context of partition		9
2		'This is your country and it is up to you to decide' : the facade of South Asian responsibility		25
3		'Nobody had been paying any attention to the case' : the boundary commission at work		55
4		'Water was the key' : Radcliffe's private deliberations		73
5		'A political decision, and not a judicial one' : the Radcliffe award		106
6		'The stories they carried' : the aftermath		129
7		'An awful lot of thought should have gone into it' : alternatives to the Radcliffe award		140
8		'In between, on a bit of earth which had no name' : the development of the Indo-Pakistani borderlands		150
9		Imperial epitaphs : Cyril Radcliffe and the end of empire		178
Conclusion		'No such deeds' : responsibility and remembrance		191
		Bibliography		202
		Index		218

 Be the first to write a customer review