Imagine an India so vast it stretched from modern-day Yemen to Myanmar, encompassing a quarter of the world's population and being two and a half times larger than today's Republic of India. This was the reality of the 1920s Indian Empire, a colonial entity that historian Sam Dalrymple describes as "deeply unfamiliar" to contemporary Indians.
In a revealing discussion on The Success Code with Rushank Shah, Dalrymple explored how this massive territory fragmented into twelve modern nations through five major partitions that were far from inevitable.
The Unrecognizable Indian Empire
During the 1920s, when the Indian National Congress declared Purna Swaraj (complete independence), the geographical concept of India was dramatically different from today's map. The British Raj extended from Aden in modern Yemen—administered from Bombay—to Rangoon (now Yangon) in contemporary Myanmar.
This colossal entity contained the world's largest populations of Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, and Zoroastrians. According to Dalrymple, the Interpretation Act legally defined anyone under the Viceroy's jurisdiction as Indian, meaning that "in the 1920s the term Indian legally extends to anyone living in Dubai."
Over the following five decades, this vast territory would undergo five partitions, eventually forming Yemen, Oman, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, and Myanmar.
Economic Forces Trigger the First Partition
The initial division came unexpectedly on April Fool's Day in 1937 with the separation of Burma. Dalrymple argues this split was driven more by economic pressures than identity politics, specifically the impact of the Great Depression.
Burma was the British Raj's wealthiest and largest province, with Rangoon surpassing New York as the world's primary immigration port. Tamil Nadu's Chettiars, prominent bankers, played a crucial role in Burma's economy until the global economic collapse forced them to claim approximately one-quarter of Burmese agricultural land as collateral.
This economic displacement sparked massive anti-immigrant sentiment, overwhelming questions of shared identity. Rabindranath Tagore reportedly expressed horror that Rangoon had become a majority Tamil and Bengali-speaking city, witnessing what he called "double colonialism"—Indians positioned below the British, with Burmese at the bottom.
Dalrymple connects this early partition directly to contemporary conflicts, noting that "It is the origin of the Rohingya genocide which we saw just a few years ago."
The Near-Miss That Could Have Changed History
The violent partition of 1947 was almost avoided through the 1946 Cabinet Mission Plan, a British proposal to maintain a united subcontinent through a federated system of five states: West Pakistan, East Pakistan, North India, South India, and Deccan.
Mohammed Ali Jinnah accepted this plan, and Dalrymple observes that "every scholar I know who has worked on this period their heart breaks when reading about the cabinet mission plan because so much of the violence that follows I think could have been avoided."
The agreement collapsed when the Congress tentatively agreed but then withdrew over minor amendments, including a footnote about whether the Northwest Frontier should join North India or West Pakistan. Feeling betrayed, Jinnah announced Direct Action Day, urging Muslim League supporters to demonstrate their strength across the country while carrying weapons.
Dalrymple provides crucial context about Jinnah's transformation, noting that in the 1920s, he was celebrated as the "greatest ambassador of Hindu Muslim unity." The historian describes Jinnah as a fashionable, non-communal lawyer with a Parsi wife, who "eats ham sandwiches. He probably drinks."
Personal tragedy—the likely suicide of his wife—combined with political betrayals and pogroms against Muslims in UP gradually transformed Jinnah into the architect of partition.
Forgotten Violence and Rushed Borders
The final border decisions were heavily influenced by Viceroy Lord Mountbatten, who accelerated the entire process to just 77 days to complete the transfer of power by August 15, 1947—the second anniversary of Japan's WWII defeat. Dalrymple characterizes this rushed timeline as "horrendous."
While Cyril Radcliffe drew the famous line dividing British India, the integration of 565 princely states presented an enormous challenge. Sardar Patel and VP Menon successfully persuaded most states to join India, though Jodhpur and Jaisalmer briefly negotiated with Jinnah for semi-independent protectorate status under Pakistan.
The bloodiest integration involved Hyderabad, where the Nizam sought independence. When communist revolution sparked the Telangana Armed Uprising, the Nizam deployed Razakars who committed widespread atrocities, leading to civil war.
In September 1948, India launched what it termed a "police action" that actually involved air force and tank deployments. The subsequent violence created displacement that Dalrymple describes as "three times more displacement... than the Palestinian Nakba the same year," referencing a report suppressed for years by Patel that detailed massacres, forced conversions, and extensive violence.
Dalrymple concluded by hinting at his next research project exploring connections between French India and the Vietnam War, suggesting the Indian army fired the conflict's first shots.
