15 August - British India is dissolved the Dominion of India gains its independence from the United Kingdom. A largely Hindu India and a MuslimPakistan are created by partitions of the subcontinent, with Punjab and Bengal divided along religious-demographic boundaries between the two. Hindu - Muslim riots break out along both the western and eastern borders. Mass transfer of refugees takes place from the successor states of India to Pakistan and vice-versa. The monarch of Kashmir signs instrument of accession with India in the face of heavy attack from Pakistani tribals, but at the same time he had signed a Standstill Agreement with Pakistan. Mountbatten remains the Governor general of India as wished by the Indians and Jawaharlal Nehru becomes the first Prime Minister of India. Nehru unfurls the Indian tricolor on the ramparts of the Red Fort, symbolically marking the end of British colonial rule.
13 September - Prime Minister Nehru suggests the transfer of 4 million Hindus and Muslims between India and Pakistan.
27 October - War breaks out between India and Azad Kashmir forces in Kashmir.
9 November - Junagadh joins the Dominion of India.