What is Radcliffe Line?
The '''Radcliffe Line''' became the international [[border]] between [[India]] and [[Pakistan]] (which also included what is now [[Bangladesh]]) during the [[partition of India]]. The line divided Bengal into Indian held [[West Bengal]] and [[Bangladesh#History|East Bengal]] which became [[Bangladesh#History|East Pakistan]] in 1956. The line was decided by the Border Commissions headed by {{Interlanguage link|Cyril Radcliffe, 1st Viscount Radcliffe|lt=Cyril Radcliffe|en|Cyril Radcliffe, 1st Viscount Radcliffe}}, who was to divide equitably {{convert|175000|sqmi|km2}} of territory with 88 million people. The line took effect on 17 August 1947 after the [[Partition of India]]. When the partition was implemented, there were some problems: *The [[Chittagong Hill Tracts]] had a mostly [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] population, but they were given to East Pakistan (now [[Bangladesh]]). *To counterbalance the relatively small share of Gurdaspur district awarded to Pakistan, Radcliffe attempted to instead transfer [[Ferozpur]] and [[Zira Tehsil|Zira]] tehsils in Muslim-Majority [[Ferozpur District]] to Pakistan. This was opposed by the Maharaja of Bikaner because Harike headworks on the confluence of the [[Sutlej River|Sutlej]] and the [[Beas River|Beas]] rivers, from where a canal originated, was the only source of water for his desert state was in Ferozepore. It was only after he threatened Lord Louis Mountbatten, that he would accede his princely state to Pakistan if Firozpur was awarded to [[West Punjab]] province, that the award was changed at the last minute and all of Firozpur District was awarded to [[East Punjab]] in the Republic of India. *The [[Gurdaspur District]] was moslty Muslim, but was given to India. *Sometimes the line divided villages, so one part of the village was in each country. At other instances, it went through houses, different rooms of the same house were in different countries. ==Related pages== * [[Punjab (India)]] * [[Bengal (India)]] [[Category:Borders of Pakistan]] [[Category:Borders of India]