Archive · 9 Aug 2026

Cyril Radcliffe's five-week map carved India-Pakistan border, displacing millions

Cyril Radcliffe's five-week map carved India-Pakistan border, displacing millions

A long time ago, in 1947, British rulers were leaving a big place called India.

Before they left, they decided to split it into two new countries: India and Pakistan.

They needed someone to draw the line between the two countries, so they picked a British lawyer named Cyril Radcliffe.

Radcliffe had never visited India before and had only about five weeks to do the job.

The line he drew cut through villages, farms, rivers and roads where people of different religions lived side by side.

When the border was finally announced, millions of families discovered their homes were now in a different country.

About 12 to 15 million people were forced to move, and more than a million people died.

Radcliffe was so upset by the suffering that he later destroyed his papers and refused to be paid.

The border he drew still exists today and helped shape the countries of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Sources