Constitution of India
On January 26, 1950, India adopted the world's longest written constitution, transforming itself from a Dominion into a sovereign democratic republic. Drafted over nearly three years by a Constituent Assembly chaired by Rajendra Prasad with B.R. Ambedkar leading the Drafting Committee, it abolished untouchability, guaranteed fundamental rights, and introduced universal adult suffrage.
Preceding Causes
Indian independence in 1947 required a constitutional framework. The Constituent Assembly, elected in 1946, drew on constitutions of the USA, UK, Ireland, Canada, Australia, and other nations. The trauma of Partition made the framers insist on a secular, federal state that could hold a diverse nation together.
Indian National Army and Subhas Chandra Bose
Subhas Chandra Bose, rejecting Gandhi's nonviolent path, allied with Axis powers to form the Indian National Army (Azad Hind Fauj) from Indian POWs and civilian volunteers in Japanese-occupied Southeast Asia, and led an armed campaign toward India through the battles of Imphal and Kohima (1944).
Quit India Movement
On August 8, 1942, Gandhi called for immediate British withdrawal with his "Do or Die" speech at the Gowalia Tank Maidan in Bombay. Within hours the entire Congress leadership was arrested, but leaderless underground resistance, strikes, and sabotage paralyzed parts of British India in the most serious challenge to colonial rule since 1857.
Direct Action Day
On August 16, 1946, the Muslim League called for "Direct Action" to demand Pakistan. In Calcutta, the resulting riots killed approximately 4,000–5,000 people in four days of Hindu-Muslim violence. The Great Calcutta Killings spread retaliatory violence to Bihar and Noakhali.