- India’s Independence Act was passed on July 18, 1947, ending British rule
- The Act created two dominions: India and Pakistan from August 15, 1947
- The Act ended British Crown’s authority over princely states and paramountcy system
As India prepares to celebrate its 80th Independence Day on Saturday, August 15, 2026, the law that formally ended British rule in the subcontinent offers a reminder that freedom in 1947 came with a profound rupture: The creation of two new dominions, India and Pakistan. The Indian Independence Act, which was passed by the British Parliament and received Royal Assent on July 18, 1947, was the legal framework for the transfer of power. It gave effect to the plan announced by the last Viceroy, Lord Louis Mountbatten, which proposed British India to be divided and power transferred to the people of subcontinent.
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The Act declared that from August 15, two independent Dominions - India and Pakistan - would be established. Punjab and Bengal, two of British India's largest provinces, were to be divided, creating East Bengal (later Bangladesh) and West Bengal, as well as West Punjab in Pakistan and East Punjab in India.
As per the UK Parliament website, the act was mean to "make provision for the setting up in India of two independent Dominions, to substitute other provisions for certain provisions of the Government of India Act, 1935, which apply outside those Dominions, and to provide for, other matters consequential on or connected with the setting up of those Dominions."
But the successful implementation of the plan resulted in enormous consequences. The UK's National Archives estimates that more than 15 million people crossed the new borders around Partition amid widespread communal violence. Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs were uprooted from homes and communities as the political map of the subcontinent changed almost overnight.
In 2021, the Indian government established Partition Horrors Remembrance Day (Vibhajan Vibhishika Smriti Diwas) on August 14 to commemorate the victims and immense sufferings.
The Act also fundamentally altered the constitutional relationship between Britain and the subcontinent. It ended the authority of the British Crown over the princely states, bringing the system of paramountcy to an end, while allowing the states to negotiate their future relationship with the new dominions.
For the new dominions, the transition was immediate but not identical to becoming republics. India and Pakistan initially remained dominions within the Commonwealth, with the British monarch represented by a Governor-General. Jawaharlal Nehru became India's first Prime Minister, while Muhammad Ali Jinnah became Pakistan's first Governor-General.
The Act also removed the title "Emperor of India" from the British Crown - a small but symbolic clause marking the legal end of an imperial relationship that had lasted nearly nine decades.
Today, the history of the Indian constitution traces its roots to this legislation, which formally dismantled the British and set the stage for the sovereign republics we know today.
