The British Empire: India

In 1943, around 3 million people died in Bengal.

The famine is remembered in how people eat their rice. Not a grain is wasted. There is no national memorial.

Winston Churchill and the British government did not release enough shipping to relieve Bengal quickly. Help did not come in time.

In Bengal, traders hoarded grain. Prices rose. Those who could held food back as fear spread.

In 1947, violence spread across Punjab and beyond.

British withdrawal was accelerated before order was secured. Borders were drawn as authority collapsed. Leaders including Jawaharlal Nehru and Muhammad Ali Jinnah moved towards independence but could not contain the violence.

Militias formed. Crowds gathered. Those who could joined in. Neighbours turned on neighbours. Killings, expulsions and assaults followed.

Was India Shaped Most by Imperial Power or Indian Action?