National flag flying from the minaretted battlements of the Red Fort at Delhi on August 16,1947, after being hoisted by former Prime Minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.
The partition led to a population transfer of more than 10 million people between India and Pakistan and the death of about one million people.
The nation faced religious violence, casteism, naxalism, terrorism and regional separatist insurgencies for a long period after the partition.
Hundreds of Muslim refugees crowd atop a train leaving New Delhi for Pakistan.
People throng to participate in India's first Independence Day celebrations at Raisina Hill in New Delhi.
People throng to participate in India's first Independence Day celebrations at Raisina Hill in New Delhi.
Britain's Earl Mountbatten, in naval uniform,centre, salutes the tri-colour during the farewell march past of the last battalions of the British Army, stationed in Delhi, in the forecourt of Government House, Delhi.
Jawaharlal Nehru salutes the flag as he becomes independent India's first Prime Minister during the Independence Day ceremony at Red Fort.
Governor General Lord Mountbatten salutes India's National flag as Edwina Mountbatten, second right, and Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, right, look on during India's first Independence Day celebrations in New Delhi.
Lord and Lady Mountbatten, centre right, ride in a coach with Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, seated on canopy at extreme left, at India's Independence Day celebrations in New Delhi on August 15, 1947. Prime Minister Nehru and deputy Prime Minister
The last stages of the independence struggle from the 1920s onwards saw Congress adopt Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi's policy of non-violence and civil resistance, Muhammad Ali Jinnah's constitutional struggle for the rights of minorities in India, and
Seated left to right clockwise around the table; Sardar Abdur Rab Nishtar, Communications Member of Interim Government, Sardar Baldev Singh, War Member; Achatya Kripalani, President of the Congress Party; Sardar Patel, Home, Information and
Lord Louis Mountbatten, Viceroy of India, meeting with 7 Indian leaders in the study of the Viceregal Lodge, New Delhi, to discuss the British Government's plan for the Separation of India. Seated left to right; Pandit Jawarharlal Nehru, Vice
Members of the constitutional assembly listen to the speech of Lord Mountbatten in 1947 in New Delhi. First bench, front right, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, left defense minister Sardar Swaran Singh. The Constituent Assembly completed the work
Lord Mountbatten speaks to the constitutional assembly in New Delhi in 1947. On 3 June 1947, Viscount Louis Mountbatten, the last British Governor-General of India, announced the partitioning of British India into India and Pakistan. With the speedy
First Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru holds a mace of gold in his hand presented to him on the eve of Independence in New Delhi
Glimpses of history: Rare images of India’s independence