This initiative has concluded its research.
This initiative examined the demographic and humanitarian impact of the 1947 Partition of India. Against the backdrop of substantial mortality and population movement, the research examined the role of governments and voluntary agencies in carrying out the relief enterprise that was undertaken from 1946–1949 in response to Partition-related violence and distress. The first phase of the study addressed the western regions of British India affected by Partition, particularly the Punjab. The second phase, asked similar questions for the eastern border, guided by the results of the demographic analysis of the region.
Principal Investigators
Jennifer Leaning
Faculty Associate. François-Xavier Bagnoud Professor of the Practice of Health and Human Rights, Harvard School of Public Health; Director, François-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights, Harvard School of Public Health; Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School.
Sugata Bose
Faculty Associate. Gardiner Professor of Oceanic History and Affairs, Department of History, Harvard University.
Sharon Stanton Russell
Massachusetts Institute of Technology.