RAS question
The Partition of India in 1947 resulted in the largest mass migration in human history. Approximately how many people were displaced?
Correct answer: (A) 10-15 million.
The Partition of India in 1947 displaced approximately 1-1.5 crore people, making option A the historically supported range.
Explanation
Partition in 1947 uprooted people on a scale unmatched in modern South Asian history: about 1-1.5 crore people were displaced, with Hindus and Sikhs moving towards India and Muslims moving towards Pakistan. The Stanford University Press excerpt supports the upper end of this range, describing Partition violence as having displaced roughly fifteen million people. This is why option A fits: it captures the broad historical estimate rather than treating Partition as a limited refugee movement. The displacement was linked to communal violence, heavy suffering in Punjab and Bengal, and the Radcliffe Line, which divided Punjab and Bengal and made the human cost of Partition immediate and lasting.
Why the other options are wrong
- (B) Option B, 10-20 lakh, is far too low because displacement was around 1-1.5 crore people, not a small single-digit lakh figure.
- (C) Option C, 5 crore, overstates the scale well beyond the supported estimate of about 1-1.5 crore displaced people.
- (D) Option D, 10 crore, is a major overestimate and is not supported by the verified Stanford University Press excerpt.
Concept
This tests the human consequences of Partition within Modern Indian History, especially the scale of displacement and communal violence. It recurs in RAS because Partition connects constitutional transfer of power, boundary-making, and mass social trauma in one event.