This book explores the shift from colonial rule to independence in India and Pakistan, with the aim of unravelling the explicit meaning and relevance of 'independence' for the new citizens of India and Pakistan during the two decades post 1947. While the study of postcolonial South Asia has blossomed in recent years, this volume addresses a number of imbalances in this dynamic and highly popular field. Firstly, the histories of India and Pakistan after 1947 have been conceived separately, with many scholars assuming that the two states developed along divergent paths after independence. Thus, the dominant historical paradigm has been to examine either India or Pakistan in relative isolation from one another. Viewing the two states in the same frame not only allows the contributors of this volume to explore common themes, but also facilitates an exploration of the powerful continuities between the pre- and post-independence periods.

Taylor C. Sherman is lecturer at Department of International History, London School of Economics. Dr Sherman's research concerns the cultural and political history of India in the transition from colonial rule to independence in the middle decades of the twentieth century. Her publications include State Violence and Punishment in India (2010). William Gould is professor of Indian History at School of History, University of Leeds. He researches on the politics of religious conflict and 'communalism' in South Asia, and the historical narratives of South Asian migrants to the UK after 1947. His publications include Hindu Nationalism and the Language of Politics in Late Colonial India (2004) and Religion and Conflict in South Asia (2012). Sarah Ansari is Reader at Department of History, Royal Holloway, University of London. Her research interests focus on the recent history of South Asia, in particular those parts of the subcontinent that became Pakistan in 1947.