A Day That Shook The World: India and Pakistan gain independence

Tuesday 08 March 2011 10:54 GMT

(Hulton Archive/Getty)

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On 14 August 1947, British rule on the subcontinent finally came to an end, after 163 years of the Raj.

Lord Mountbatten, the last viceroy, presided over the formal ceremonies, and duly became the first governor-general of the new Dominion of India.

However, this was set against a backdrop of sectarian violence between the Muslims of the north and the Hindus of the south, and the eventual schism between India and Pakistan.

Watch original footage of the handover of power in this British Pathé video, above.

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