The 1947 Partition Archive

The 1947 Partition Archive Crowdsourcing oral histories of the 1947 India - Pakistan Partition since 2010. Join us to record a story now. Or share your own story.

While we are late, as Partition occurred 74+ years ago, we are not too late. There are still those who hold vivid and important memories of the chaos that unfolded during Partition, the pre-Partition life and culture and the post-Partition changes/loss of a way of life. We are a people powered project that collects, archives and immortalizes these stories. Contact us to share your stories or to jo

in hands with us in preserving memories before they are forever lost. We invite you to explore our page. Please mind the following RULES OF ENGAGEMENT:

We ask that you be mindful and respectful towards elders' memories and take care in posting comments. That said, we invite you to explore stories from all faiths and all backgrounds on our wall. An open mind and heart from your end is requested as we embark on this inter-community journey. We ask that before you make quick conclusions and judgements based on what you know from politics, to please step back and remember that this is a non-political project. We ask that you analyze the sources of your previous knowledge when making quick judgements. Lastly, we ask you to also be mindful and aware of the hard work required to collect unheard voices of the people.

This day in history: August 17 marks the 79th anniversary of the publication of the Radcliffe line, established by bound...
08/17/2026

This day in history: August 17 marks the 79th anniversary of the publication of the Radcliffe line, established by boundary commissions chaired by Sir Cyril Radcliffe, formally partitioning the states of Punjab and Bengal between India and Pakistan. With little time to make such an impactful decision, Radcliffe's borders would ultimately have a profound impact on the region, exacerbating communal violence and mass migrations in an already uncertain time.

MAIN VAAPAS AAUNGA: Standing on the shoulders of real STORIES! Have you seen this beautiful film yet? After a record 50 ...
08/13/2026

MAIN VAAPAS AAUNGA: Standing on the shoulders of real STORIES! Have you seen this beautiful film yet?

After a record 50 day run in theaters worldwide, the film was released on Netflix on August 7. The The 1947 Partition Archive Archive is proud to have supported efforts by Window Seat Films (Window Seat Films) and Imtiaz Ali in researching costumes and customs from that time period. See some of the real life photos from interviews preserved in our archive, which supported film costume development.

Can you spot the unique period elements as you scroll through the photos, that defined life in Sargodha in 1947, and can be found in the film?

How did this film make you feel?

Images included in this post are a sampling of the many in the archive from interviews of Sargodha residents from the 1940s:

Raj Pal Wasan (archive ID 3880)
Ravinder Kumar Sethi (ID 6121) - 2x
Joginder Singh Deep (ID 5879)
Lajwanti Anand (ID 8122)

July 12, The Indian Express: ‘Record Keeping of Loss and Violence,’ an article by Harpreet Bajwa. Full article link in c...
07/12/2026

July 12, The Indian Express: ‘Record Keeping of Loss and Violence,’ an article by Harpreet Bajwa. Full article link in comments.

07/10/2026

A message from Imtiaz Ali, maker of ‘Main Vaapas Aaunga,’ which was released globally on June 12.
Have you seen it yet? What did you think? Let us know in the comments…

Per our team members who have seen it, the film will take you on a visceral flashback journey to 1947. Imtiaz Ali brilliantly captures the anguish of separation in 1947 through the lens of a budding love story which is left incomplete and paused for nearly 80 years. If you haven’t seen it yet, we highly recommend that your heart take the journey team Imtiaz Ali at Window Seat Films has curated through the making of this film.

Here’s something else: In depicting 1940s Sargodha, the film makers delved into historical research for accuracy. The oral histories you have helped gather from Sargodha migrants and residents were accessed by film makers via The 1947 Partition Archive to accurately depict the clothing and styles from that time period. The film is a sort of “tip of the iceberg” as one spectator put it… an iceberg of real stories and historical documentation thousands of us have together built.

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