82.132.186.0 at 18:29, 24 April 2026

2026-04-24T18:29:41Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 23:59, 24 April 2026
Line 1:		Line 1:
	{{Short description \|~~India between~~ 1947 ~~and~~ 1950}}		{{Short description \|British dominion in southern Asia from 1947 to 1950}}
	{{Use Indian English\|date=May 2013}}		{{Use Indian English\|date=May 2013}}
	{{Use dmy dates\|date=September 2022}}		{{Use dmy dates\|date=September 2022}}

Dr. Katy Jane: slightly add content for clarity further and updated info for clarity

2026-03-03T05:38:28Z

slightly add content for clarity further and updated info for clarity

Show changes

WikiDwarf: /* Independence: 1947 */ rephrasing the sentence about the nationalist leaders' acceptance and rushed British withdrawal per Rotem Geva's 2022 book, with quote

2023-07-25T15:40:36Z

Independence: 1947: rephrasing the sentence about the nationalist leaders' acceptance and rushed British withdrawal per Rotem Geva's 2022 book, with quote

Show changes

UpdateBot: robot: Update article

2022-04-19T10:50:34Z

robot: Update article

Show changes

>DrKay: infobox was broken

2021-07-02T09:03:00Z

infobox was broken

New page

{{short description|Former state in South Asia from 1947 to 1950}}
{{Use Indian English|date=May 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2013}}
{{Infobox former country
| conventional_long_name = Union of India
| common_name = India
| government_type = [[Federation|Federal]] [[parliamentary]] [[constitutional monarchy]]
| native_name = {{transl|hi|ISO|Bhāratiya Adhirājya}}
| year_start = 1947
| year_end = 1950
| event_start = [[Indian Independence Act 1947|Indian Independence Act]]
| date_start = 15 August
| event_end = [[Constitution of India|Republican constitution adopted]]
| date_end = 26 January
| p1 = British Raj
| flag_p1 = British Raj Red Ensign.svg
| s1 = India{{!}}Republic of India
| flag_s1 = Flag of India.svg
| image_flag = Flag of India.svg
| image_coat = Emblem of India (without motto).svg
| symbol_width = 60px
| symbol_type = [[State Emblem of India|Emblem]]<ref name="State Emblem and Seal">{{cite web|title=Press Communique' - State Emblem|url=http://pib.nic.in/archive/docs/DVD_38/ACC%20NO%20804-BR/HOM-1947-12-30_116.pdf|website=Press Information Bureau of India - Archive|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170808193914/http://pib.nic.in/archive/docs/DVD_38/ACC%20NO%20804-BR/HOM-1947-12-30_116.pdf|archive-date=24 February 2018|df=dmy-all}}</ref>
| capital = [[New Delhi]]
| currency = [[Indian rupee]]
| leader1 = [[George VI]]
| year_leader1 = 1947–1950
| title_leader = [[List of heads of state of India#Monarch (1947–1950)|King]]
| representative1 = [[Lord Mountbatten]]
| representative2 = [[Chakravarti Rajagopalachari]]
| year_representative1 = 1947–1948
| year_representative2 = 1948–1950
| title_representative = [[Governor-General of India|Governor-General]]
| deputy1 = [[Jawaharlal Nehru]]<ref>As [[Prime Minister of India]] until 1964.</ref>
| year_deputy1 = 1947–1950
| title_deputy = [[Prime Minister of India|Prime Minister]]
| legislature = [[Constituent Assembly of India|Constituent Assembly]]
| stat_year1 = 1950
| stat_area1 = 3287263
| today = {{plainlist|
* {{flag|India}}
* {{flag|Bangladesh}}{{efn|See territorial exchanges between India and Bangladesh ([[India–Bangladesh enclaves]]).}}
* {{flag|China}}{{efn|See [[Sino-Indian War]] of 1962.}}
}}
| iso3166code = omit
}}

The '''Union of India''',<ref name=unionofindia>*{{citation|last=Winegard|first=Timothy C.|title=Indigenous Peoples of the British Dominions and the First World War|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qzIw-c1YOAIC&pg=PA2|year=2011|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-107-01493-0|pages=2}} Quote: “The first collective use (of the word "dominion") occurred at the Colonial Conference (April to May 1907) when the title was conferred upon Canada and Australia. New Zealand and Newfoundland were afforded the designation in September of that same year, followed by South Africa in 1910. These were the only British possessions recognized as Dominions at the outbreak of war. In 1922, the Irish Free State was given Dominion status, followed by the short-lived inclusion of India and Pakistan in 1947 (although India was officially recognized as the Union of India). The Union of India became the Republic of India in 1950, while the became the Islamic Republic of Pakistan in 1956.”</ref> also called the '''Dominion of India''' ([[Hindi]]: {{transl|hi|ISO|Bhāratiya Adhirājya}}),<ref>{{citation|last1=Sharma|first1=Mahesh|title=Swatantrata Sangram Ke Andolan|year=2012|publisher=Jñāna Gaṅgā |pages=242 |isbn=9789380183886 |url=https://www.google.co.in/books/edition/Swatantrata_Sangram_Ke_Andolan/pF6DBQAAQBAJ}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=1 March 2021|title=असुरक्षा के शिकार कश्मीरी नेता: डीडीसी चुनावों में गुपकार गठजोड़ के खराब प्रदर्शन से हताश नेताओं का अनर्गल प्रलाप जारी|work=Dainik Jagran|url=https://www.jagran.com/editorial/apnibaat-kashmiri-leaders-suffering-from-insecurity-desperate-kashmiri-leaders-continue-to-have-unrestrained-babble-due-to-poor-performance-of-gupkar-alliance-in-ddc-polls-21416071.html|access-date=3 June 2021}}</ref> was an independent [[dominion]] in the British [[Commonwealth of Nations]] between 15 August 1947 and 26 January 1950. It was created by the [[Indian Independence Act 1947]] and was transformed into the [[Republic of India]] by the [[promulgation]] of the [[Constitution of India]] in 1950.<ref name="Winegard 2011 2">{{citation|last=Winegard|first=Timothy C.|title=Indigenous Peoples of the British Dominions and the First World War|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qzIw-c1YOAIC&pg=PA2|date=2011|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-107-01493-0|pages=2–}}</ref>

[[George VI]] was king of India throughout and was represented by the [[governor-general of India]]. However, the governor-general was not designated [[viceroy]], as had been customary under the [[British Raj]]. The office of viceroy was abolished on independence. Two governors-general held office between independence and India's transformation into a republic: [[Lord Mountbatten]] (1947–48) and [[Chakravarti Rajagopalachari]] (1948–50). [[Jawaharlal Nehru]] was [[Prime Minister of India|prime minister]] throughout.

==Formation==
{{Main|Partition of India}}

Since the late 1920s the [[Indian independence movement]] had been demanding ''Pūrṇa Swarāj'' (complete self-rule) for the Indian nation and the establishment of the Dominion of India and the [[Dominion of Pakistan]] was a major victory for the Swarajis. Nevertheless, the Partition was controversial among the people, and resulted in significant political instability and [[Forced displacement|displacement]].<ref name="Keay">{{Cite book |title=India: A History |year=2000 |publisher=[[Grove Press]] |location= New York, USA |isbn=978-0-8021-3797-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3aeQqmcXBhoC}}</ref>

The 1946 [[Cabinet Mission]] to India proposed 'Union of India' as a political unit that would encompass both [[British India]] and the Indian [[princely state]]s.<ref name="Menon2015">{{citation |last=Menon |first=Vapal Pangunni |title=Transfer of Power in India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gk3WCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA264 |year=2015 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-1-4008-7937-3 |p=264}}</ref> The Mission's plan did not come into fruition due to disagreements over the powers to be held by the Union government. On 3 June 1947, it was [[Indian Independence Act 1947|decided]] that British India would be partitioned into two [[sovereign state]]s, both dominions: Pakistan, consisting of Muslim-majority regions, and India, consisting of the rest. In deference to the wishes of [[Indian National Congress]], it was accepted that the partition would be regarded as the Muslim majority areas splitting off from India.<ref>{{citation |last=Pande |first=Aparna |title=Explaining Pakistan’s Foreign Policy: Escaping India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ceg-kSmft94C |date=2011 |publisher=Routledge |ISBN=978-1-136-81894-3 |at=p. 178, note 52}}</ref>

The Partition of India took place on 15 August 1947,<ref>[http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Geo6/10-11/30/enacted Section 1 of the Indian Independence Act, 1947]</ref> leading to the creation of Pakistan (which later split into the [[Pakistan|Islamic Republic of Pakistan]] and the [[Bangladesh|People's Republic of Bangladesh]] in 1971) and India.

Most of the 565<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.worldstatesmen.org/India_princes_A-J.html|title=Indian Princely States before 1947 A-J}}</ref> [[princely state]]s within Indian territory acceded to the Dominion of India. The Hindu-majority [[Junagadh State]] located in modern-day [[Gujarat]] attempted to accede to Pakistan under [[Nawab of Junagadh|Nawab]] [[Muhammad Mahabat Khanji III|Sir Muhammad Mahabat Khanji III]], who was a [[Muslim]]. It was [[Annexation of Junagadh|annexed]] militarily by the Indian government. Similarly, the [[State of Hyderabad]] sought to remain independent and was also [[Indian annexation of Hyderabad|annexed]] by India in 1948.<ref name="Keay" />

==History==
{{See also|Indo-Pakistani War of 1947}}
The newly created states of Pakistan and India both joined the [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]], a platform for cooperation between the countries that had been part of the [[British Empire]]. Nevertheless, they soon found themselves at [[Indo-Pakistani War of 1947|war]] that began in October 1947, over the contested [[princely state]] of [[Jammu and Kashmir (princely state)|Jammu and Kashmir]]. Pakistani militants entered the state, alarming Maharaja [[Hari Singh]] who appealed to India for military intervention, in exchange for the signing of the [[Instrument of Accession]] and annexation into India. The region is contested to this day, and two other Indo-Pakistan wars occurred as part of the [[Kashmir conflict]].<ref name="Keay" />

==Reign of George VI==
[[File:1 Indian rupee coin, 1947.jpg|thumb|King George VI, on an Indian one-rupee coin. The [[Coins of the Indian rupee|coins]] with the King's portrait were in circulation from 1947 to 1950.<ref>{{cite web|title=Republic India Coinage|url=https://rbi.org.in/Scripts/mc_republic.aspx|access-date=9 May 2021|work=Reserve Bank Of India|quote=India won its independence on 15th August, 1947. During the period of transition India retained the monetary system and the currency and coinage of the earlier period and introduced a new distinctive series of coins on 15th August, 1950. ...[The Anna Series] was introduced on 15th August, 1950 and represented the first coinage of Republic India. The King's Portrait was replaced by the Lion Capital of the Ashoka Pillar.}}
</ref>]]
Under the [[Indian Independence Act 1947]], [[British Raj|British India]] was to be divided into the independent sovereign states of India and [[Dominion of Pakistan|Pakistan]].<ref>{{cite ODNB|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/33370|title=George VI|access-date=20 April 2008|last=Matthew|first=H. C. G.|date=September 2004|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/33370|quote=India and Pakistan remained among the king's dominions but both were set on republican courses, becoming republics within the Commonwealth in 1950 and 1956 respectively.}}</ref> From 1947 to 1950, George VI was the sovereign of India, which shared the same person as its sovereign with the [[United Kingdom]] and the other [[Dominion]]s in the British [[Commonwealth of Nations]].<ref name=unionofindia /><ref name="Harshan">{{citation|last1=Kumarasingham|first1=Harshan|title=THE 'TROPICAL DOMINIONS': THE APPEAL OF DOMINION STATUS IN THE DECOLONISATION OF INDIA, PAKISTAN AND CEYLON, vol. 23| url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23726109?seq=1 |year=2013|publisher=Transactions of the Royal Historical Society|pages=223|quote=Few today, including those who work on the subcontinent, recollect that India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka did not become republics the day British rule ended. Even distinguished scholars of Empire like Perry Anderson and A. G. Hopkins have made the common assumption that India naturally became a republic upon independence on 15 August 1947. Instead, all three of these South Asian states began their independent life as Realms within the British Commonwealth and mirrored the style and institutions of the Dominions of Canada, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand. Though their sovereignty was in no way impaired by this seemingly ambiguous position they all held the British sovereign as their head of state who was represented in each capital by a governor- general appointed on the advice of the local prime minister. India, Pakistan and Ceylon were Realms from 1947 to 1950, 1947 to 1956 and 1948 to 1972 respectively.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Panickar |first=Sreejith |date=15 August 2015 |title=Why August 15 should not be Independence Day |url=https://www.dailyo.in/politics/august-15-independence-day-dominion-nehru-mountbatten-king-george-vi-republic-day-constitution/story/1/5680.html |work=DailyO |access-date=26 February 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Daniyal |first=Shoaib |date=15 August 2015 |title=Five things you didn't know about India's Independence Day |url=https://scroll.in/article/674450/five-things-you-didnt-know-about-indias-independence-day|work=Scroll.in |access-date=26 February 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|date=15 August 2020 |title=Did India really achieve freedom in 1947?|url=https://www.deccanherald.com/national/did-india-really-achieve-freedom-in-1947-873663.html|work=Deccan Herald |access-date=26 February 2021}}</ref>{{excessive citations inline|date=June 2021}} The monarch's constitutional roles were mostly carried out by the [[governor-general of India]].<ref name="Harshan"/>

Following India's independence, King George VI continued to confer awards and honours in the Dominion of India in his name. Most of them were awarded on the advice of "His Majesty's Indian Ministers".<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=38313 |date=4 June 1948 |page=3401 |supp=3 }}</ref><ref>{{London Gazette |issue=38630 |date=3 June 1949 |page=2833 |supp=3 }}</ref><ref>{{London Gazette |issue=38799 |date=30 December 1949 |page=39 |supp=3 }}</ref>

On 28 April 1948, the Prime Minister of the Dominion of India, [[Jawaharlal Nehru]] advised King George VI that [[Chakravarti Rajagopalachari]] should succeed [[Lord Mountbatten]] as the next governor-general of India.<ref name=remini>{{citation|title=Reminiscences of the Nehru Age|url=https://www.google.co.in/books/edition/Reminiscences_of_the_Nehru_Age/WDduAAAAMAAJ |date=1978|publisher=Vikas Publishing House|work=M. O. Mathai|isbn=9781578660667|pages=22}}</ref>
[[File:Jawaharlal Nehru seeking His Majesty's approval.jpg|thumb|left|Jawaharlal Nehru's proposal to King George VI that Rajagopalachari should be the next governor-general of India]]
On 22 June 1948, King George VI and [[Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother|Queen Elizabeth]] abandoned the titles king-emperor and queen-empress.<ref>{{cite book|last=Townsend|first=Peter|title=The Last Emperor|publisher=Weidenfeld and Nicolson|year=1975|isbn=978-0-297-77031-2|location=London|author-link=Peter Townsend (RAF officer)}}</ref> The Indian Cabinet desired the country to become a republic, but not to leave the Commonwealth as a consequence of no longer having George VI as king, as happened to Ireland. The issue came to a head in April 1949 at a [[1949 Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference|Commonwealth prime ministers' meeting in London]]. Under the [[London Declaration]], devised by [[Canadian prime minister]] [[Louis St. Laurent]], [[India]] agreed that, when it became a republic in January 1950, it would remain in the Commonwealth and accept the British sovereign as a "symbol of the free association of its independent member nations and as such the Head of the Commonwealth". Upon hearing this, George VI told the Indian politician [[Krishna Menon]]: "So, I've become 'as such'".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.indianexpress.com/news/staying-loyal-to-george/581730/0|title=Staying loyal to George|work=indianexpress.com}}</ref>

The monarchy was abolished on 26 January 1950, when India adopted a new constitution and became a [[Republics in the Commonwealth of Nations|republic within the Commonwealth]], the first Commonwealth country to do so.<ref name="Winegard 2011 2"/><ref>{{cite web|last=Beg |first=Sahil M |date=15 August 2020 |title=For dominion India, real independence did not come in 1947 |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/research/independence-day-dominion-status-august-15-1947-6555454/|work=The Indian Express |access-date=26 February 2021}}</ref>

On 6 February 1952, Nehru announced the death of King George VI in Parliament, a few minutes after the news had reached Delhi that afternoon. He said that the news of the King's death had come as a "surprise and shock".<ref name= "piba">{{citation|title=PRIME MINISTER EXPRESSES DEEP SORROW ON DEATH OF KING GEORGE VI|date=6 February 1952|publisher=Press Information Bureau Archives|url=https://archive.pib.gov.in/archive/ArchiveFirstPhase/PRIME%20MINISTER/1952/PRI-1952-02-06-233.pdf|access-date=31 May 2021|archive-date=29 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210529155534/https://archive.pib.gov.in/archive/ArchiveFirstPhase/PRIME%20MINISTER/1952/PRI-1952-02-06-233.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{citation|title=Selected Works of Jawaharlal Nehru: Second series · Volume 17 |url=https://www.google.co.in/books/edition/Selected_Works_of_Jawaharlal_Nehru/vAcLAQAAIAAJ |date=1984|publisher=Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Fund|work=Jawaharlal Nehru, S. Gopal, Madhavan K. Palat|pages=500}}</ref><ref>{{citation|title=Journal of the Parliaments of the Commonwealth: Volume 33 |url=https://www.google.co.in/books/edition/Journal_of_the_Parliaments_of_the_Common/vBgNAQAAIAAJ |date=1952|publisher=United Kingdom Branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association|pages=146}}</ref>
{{Clear}}
==Gallery==
<gallery mode="packed" heights="105px">
Lord Mountbatten swears in Jawaharlal Nehru as the first Prime Minister of free India on Aug 15, 1947.jpg|Lord Mountbatten swearing in Jawaharlal Nehru as the first prime minister of the Dominion of India on 15 August 1947
Jawaharlal Nehru gives his "tryst with destiny" speech at Parliament House in New Delhi in 1947 (02).jpg|Jawaharlal Nehru delivering his '[[Tryst with Destiny]]' speech at Parliament House in New Delhi during the midnight session of the Constituent Assembly on 14–15 August 1947
Mountbatten addressing the Independence Day session of the Constituent Assembly on Aug 15, 1947.jpg|Lord Mountbatten, the governor-general of the new Dominion of India, addressing the Independence Day session of the Constituent Assembly on 15 August 1947
KGVI rupees 5 note cdd front obverse.jpg|Following independence in 1947, George VI banknote series continued to be legal tender till 1950 when post-independence notes were issued.<ref>{{cite web|title=British India Issues|url=https://rbi.org.in/scripts/pm_britishindia.aspx|access-date=13 May 2021|work=Reserve Bank Of India|quote=The George VI series continued till 1947 and thereafter as a frozen series till 1950 when post independence notes were issued.}}</ref>
Emergency trains crowded with desperate refugees.jpg|Emergency trains crowded with desperate refugees following the partition of the British Indian Empire
Mahatma Gandhi's funeral procession.jpg|Mahatma Gandhi's funeral procession in February 1948
Earl Mountbatten and Countess Mountbatten bid farewell to Sardar Patel and Maniben Patel.jpg|Lord and Lady Mountbatten bidding farewell to Sardar Patel and Maniben Patel in Dehra Dun on 13 June 1948
Dr. Rajendra Prasad shaking hands with Jawaharlal Nehru after signing the Constitution in 1950.jpg|Rajendra Prasad shaking hands with Jawaharlal Nehru after signing the Constitution in 1950
</gallery>

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}
{{Part of History of India}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Commonwealth realms}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dominion Of India}}
[[Category:1947 establishments in India]]
[[Category:1950 disestablishments in India]]
[[Category:Former Commonwealth realms|India]]
[[Category:Former countries in South Asia]]
[[Category:Former polities of the Cold War]]
[[Category:Government of India]]
[[Category:History of the Republic of India]]
[[Category:India and the Commonwealth of Nations]]
[[Category:India–United Kingdom relations]]
[[Category:Political history of India]]
[[Category:States and territories established in 1947]]
[[Category:States and territories disestablished in 1950]]

Dominion of India - Revision history

82.132.186.0 at 18:29, 24 April 2026

Dr. Katy Jane: slightly add content for clarity further and updated info for clarity

WikiDwarf: /* Independence: 1947 */ rephrasing the sentence about the nationalist leaders' acceptance and rushed British withdrawal per Rotem Geva's 2022 book, with quote

UpdateBot: robot: Update article

>DrKay: infobox was broken