The 1947 Partition Archive

The 1947 Partition Archive is a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving the fast disappearing memory of the 1947 Partition of India and Pakistan by capturing and preserving the people's history. We provide a platform for people to collect, archive and display eyewitness oral histories that document not only Partition, but pre-Partition life and culture as well as post-Partition migrations and life changes. We are using the latest innovations in digital communications technology to create large scale public engagement through a novel crowd-sourcing approach to oral history collection. Our democratic approach enables cross-border South Asian dialogue at the grassroots level, while harnessing lessons learned and bringing knowledge of Partition into widespread public consciousness.

In 1947, amid economic losses suffered during World War II, Great Britain could no longer sustain it's South Asian colonies, collectively known as "India." As the British receded in 1947, British India was divided into India and Pakistan along religious lines. This division, known as the "Partition" was a violent event which cost 1 to 2 million lives, while nearly 15 million people were displaced. Documentation of this event is sparse when compared with other major events of the last century, such as the Holocaust in Europe and Hiroshima/Nagasaki. Given that nearly 64 years have passed since this event, we are in danger of loosing this memory completely.

The 1947 Partition Archive is working to preserve this memory for future generations using oral histories captured on video. Since August 2010 we have been conducting interviews with survivors worldwide.

Join us in preserving precious life stories before our history is forever lost.