1947 in India

Incumbents

• Emperor of India – George VI until 15 August
• King of India – George VI from 16 August
• Viceroy of India – The Viscount Wavell
• Viceroy of India – The Viscount Mountbatten of Burma
• Governor-General of the Union of India – The Viscount Mountbatten of Burma
• Prime Minister of India – Jawaharlal Nehru took office on 15 August

  Events

• 15 March – Hindus and Muslims clash in Punjab.
• 17 May – Tripura is officially ceded to India after 200 years of independent rule.
• 7 August – The Bombay Municipal Corporation formally takes over the Bombay Electric Supply and Transport.
• 15 August – British India is dissolved and the Dominion of India gains its independence from the United Kingdom. A largely Hindu India and a Muslim Pakistan 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.
• August – October – Massacres and migrations in Punjab.
• 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 Pakistan forces in Kashmir.
• 9 November – Junagadh joins the Dominion of India.
• The customs us with French India is denounced.

  Births

• 12 February - Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, Sikh theologian and leader.
• 19 June – Salman Rushdie, Novelist.
• 5 July - Lalji Singh, molecular biologist.
• 15 August - Raakhee, Bollywood actress.
• 17 October - Simi Garewal, actress.

  Deaths

• 13 May – Sukanta Bhattacharya, Bengali poet.