Recently Twitterati raised an interesting question as to how many times India was partitioned? Most people replied that India was partitioned in 1947 when India and Pakistan became two separate dominions. But actually there is more to it than that.
Did you know India was partitioned seven times by the British in 61 years. It of course is besides the secession of Bangladesh from Pakistan in 1971. Also it does not include the earlier separations of Burma now Myanmar and Ceylon now Sri Lanka from India.
Recently Twitterati raised an interesting question as to how many times India was partitioned? Most people replied that India was partitioned in 1947 when India and Pakistan became two separate dominions, called the Republic of India and Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
There are some important questions about the Indian sub-continent that still remain unanswered. Let’s find answers to the perplexing question:
Q: Partition of India was done how many times ?
Answer: Seven times in 61 years by British rule.
Afghanistan was separated from India in 1876
Nepal in 1904
Bhutan in 1906
Tibet in 1907
Sri Lanka in 1935
Myanmar (Burma) in 1937
Pakistan in 1947
India’s Partition of Akhanda Bharat
Unbroken India extended from the Himalayas to the Indian Ocean and from Iran to Indonesia. India’s area in 1857 was 83 lakh square kilometers, which is currently 33 lakh square kilometers.
Sri Lanka: The British separated Sri Lanka from India in 1935. The old name of Sri Lanka was Sinhaldeep. The name Sinhaldeep was later renamed Ceylon. Sri Lanka’s name was Tamraparni during the reign of Emperor Ashoka. Mahendra, son of Emperor Ashoka and his daughter Sanghamitra went to Sri Lanka to propagate Buddhism. Sri Lanka was a part of united India.
Afghanistan: The ancient name of Afghanistan was Upganasthan and Kandahar’s was Gandhara. Afghanistan was a Shaivite country. The Gandhara described in the Mahabharata is in Afghanistan from where the Kauravas’ mother was Gandhari and maternal uncle Shakuni. The description of Kandahar that is Gandhara is found till the reign of Shah Jahan. It was a part of India. In 1876 Gandamak treaty was signed between Russia and Britain. After the treaty, Afghanistan was accepted as a separate country.
Myanmar (Burma): The ancient name of Myanmar (Burma) was Brahmadesh. In 1937, the recognition of a separate country to Myanmar i.e. Burma was given by the British. In ancient times, the Hindu king Anandavrata ruled here.
Nepal: Nepal was known as Deodhar in ancient times. Lord Buddha was born in Lumbini and mother Sita was born in Janakpur which is in Nepal today. Nepal was made a separate country in 1904 by the British. Nepal was called as Hindu Rashtra Nepal. Until a few years ago, the king of Nepal was called Nepal Naresh. Nepal has 81 percent Hindus and 9% Buddhists. Nepal was an integral part of India during the reigns of Emperor Ashoka and Samudragupta. In 1951, Maharaja Tribhuvan Singh of Nepal appealed to the then Prime Minister of India, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru to merge Nepal with India, but Jawaharlal Nehru rejected the proposal.
Thailand: Thailand was known as Syam until 1939. The major cities were Ayodhya, Shri Vijay etc. The construction of Buddhist temples in Syam began in the third century. Even today many Shiva temples are there in this country. The capital of Thailand, Bangkok also has hundreds of Hindu temples.
Cambodia: Cambodia, derived from the Sanskrit name Kamboj, was part of unbroken India. The Kaundinya dynasty of Indian origin ruled here from the first century itself. People here used to worship Shiva, Vishnu and Buddha. The national language was Sanskrit. Even today in Cambodia, the names of Indian months such as Chet, Visakh, Asadha are used. The world famous Angkor Wat temple is dedicated to Lord Vishnu, which was built by the Hindu king Suryadev Varman. The walls of the temple have paintings related to the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. The ancient name of Angkor Wat is Yashodharpur.
Vietnam: The ancient name of Vietnam was Champadesh and its principal cities were Indrapur, Amravati and Vijay. Many Shiva, Lakshmi, Parvati and Saraswati temples are still be found here. Shivling was also worshiped here. The people were called Cham who were originally Shaivites.
Malaysia: The ancient name of Malaysia was Malay Desh which is a Sanskrit word which means the land of mountains. Malaysia is also described in Ramayana and Raghuvansham. Shaivism was practiced in Malay. Goddess Durga and Lord Ganesha were worshiped. The main script here was Brahmi and Sanskrit was the main language.
Indonesia: The ancient name of Indonesia is Dipantar Bharat which is also mentioned in the Puranas. Deepantar Bharat means the ocean across India. It was the kingdom of Hindu kings. The largest Shiva temple was in the island of Java. The temples were mainly carved with Lord Rama and Lord Krishna. The Bhuvanakosh is the oldest book containing 525 verses of Sanskrit.
The names or mottos of the leading institutions of Indonesia are still in Sanskrit :
Indonesian Police Academy – Dharma Bijaksana Kshatriya
Indonesia National Armed Forces – Tri Dharma Eka Karma
Indonesia Airlines – Garuda Airlines
Indonesia Ministry of Home Affairs – Charak Bhuvan
Indonesia Ministry of Finance – Nagar Dhan Raksha
Indonesia Supreme Court – Dharma Yukti
Tibet: The ancient name of Tibet was Trivishtam which was divided into two parts. One part was given to China and the other to Lama after an agreement between the Chinese and the British in 1907. In 1954, India’s Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru accepted Tibet as part of China to show his solidarity with Chinese people.
Bhutan: Bhutan was separated from India by the British in 1906 and recognized as a separate country. Bhutan is derived from the Sanskrit word Bhu Utthan which means high ground.
Pakistan: There was partition of India on August 14, 1947 by the British and Pakistan came into existence as East Pakistan and West Pakistan. Mohammad Ali Jinnah had been demanding a separate country on the basis of religion since 1940 which later became Pakistan. In 1971 with the cooperation of India, Pakistan was divided again and Bangladesh came into existence. Pakistan and Bangladesh were once parts of India.
Interesting, but how many of us are really aware of this history?
