India and the Interregnum

India's interim government, in office from 2 September 1946 till August 1947, was a unique coalition of the Indian National Congress, All-India Muslim League, and non-Congress and non-League political figures-all presiding over a British/British-trained state apparatus during a period of political transition. These eleven months were packed as much with the events surrounding the formal exit of the empire as its informal continuance; as much with the anticipation of Partition as its alternatives. Though it stands at a juncture of India as a colony and a dominion, it has been overlooked by colonial and postcolonial historiography of that interval, given its sole identification with Partition/Independence. India in the Interregnum moves beneath and beyond this understanding in order to, first, restore identity to the interim government-and its provincial counterparts-and investigate their work, and, second, recover the legacy of the interim government in the formation of contemporary India.

India's interim government, in office from 2 September 1946 till August 1947, was a unique coalition of the Indian National Congress, All-India Muslim League, and non-Congress and non-League political figures-all presiding over a British/British-trained state apparatus during a period of political transition. These eleven months were packed as much with the events surrounding the formal exit of the empire as its informal continuance; as much with the anticipation of Partition as its alternatives. Though it stands at a juncture of India as a colony and a dominion, it has been overlooked by colonial and postcolonial historiography of that interval, given its sole identification with Partition/Independence. India in the Interregnum moves beneath and beyond this understanding in order to, first, restore identity to the interim government-and its provincial counterparts-and investigate their work, and, second, recover the legacy of the interim government in the formation of contemporary India.