Historical Undercurrents and Theorisation of Partition of Indian Sub-Continent

Exploring the Historical Undercurrents and Theoretical Perspectives of Partition in South Asia

Abstract

International relation of South Asia is a complex and dynamic field. The equations between India and Pakistan have a conspicuous influence on the region. The two nuclear powers have had troubled relations since their inception. The friction between the two nation states is rooted in the event of partition of the Indian sub-continent in 1947. The history of South Asia has many threads. The paper aims to explore the strand of academic historiography that culminates in the event of partition. Such an exploration traces the British advent in India and their policy of divide and rule which forms the starting point of communal politics in India. These developments in turn lead to the two nation theory and the demand for Pakistan by Muslim League. The analysis of this strand of history suitably lends itself to theorisation of partition from the point of view of IR theories of constructivism and subaltern theory. This paper analyses the historical antecedents of partition and attempts to epistemologically situate it in IR theory with the help of constructivist and subaltern approaches.