Shattered Lands: Five Partitions and the Making of Modern Asia

by Sam Dalrymple

A history of modern South Asia told through five partitions that reshaped it.

We think of the Raj as controlling only India and Pakistan, and its breakup happening in August 1947. In reality, a quarter of the world’s population was ruled by the Viceroy from New Delhi, in a single market/rupee-currency zone that spread from the Red Sea to the borders of Thailand – an empire within an empire that included Burma, parts of Yemen, and most of the Gulf states like Dubai. The breakup of this single ‘Indian Empire’ created almost all of the conflicts which plague Asia today. These include civil wars in Burma and Sri Lanka, the ongoing insurgencies in Kashmir, Baluchistan and North East India, the Iranian Revolution, the rise of the Taliban, and most recently the Rohingya genocide.

The partitions under the microscope in this book will be The Partition of Burma, the Great Partition, the Partition of Princely India, the Partition of Arabia, and the Partition of Pakistan. Combining narrative history based on archival materials, first-hand accounts and new interviews conducted by the author, this is an accessible introduction to the continuing legacy of empire and to twentieth-century South Asia.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, India, Asia, Politics, Indian Literature, World History

544 pages, Hardcover

Expected publication February 3, 2026

Reviews

[Alastair Trueger · Rating 5 out of 5]

A genuinely remarkable read. I learned things about India and the Middle East I'd never known (Yemen was considered part of Bombay), and it changed how I see global politics. It's also one of those books that lets you see patterns in history, and much of what this book covers is still relevant today.

[Girish · Rating 2 out of 5]

I started this book with great expectations but this has turned out to be a mere average.

The only positive thing about this book is that it is able to bring all partitions in one place. Otherwise there are way better books available on each subject which covers the issue intricately in an unbiased way. For ex. The Blood Telegram by Gary J bass, Bose by Chandrachur Ghosh, Savarkar series by Vikram Sampath, Revolutionaries by Sanjeev Sanyal, etc.

Additionally, the author has cherry picked the data at many instances to paint a biased narrative in terms of what drove the partition between India and Pakistan. He has moderately tried to paint Muslim league in positive colors and thereby driving the assertion that somehow their actions were a mere 'reaction' to the actions taken by Hindus (whereas the truth is starkly opposite).

Summarising, this book can be taken as an additional source, not the only source to know the history.
In my view, it should only be referred to for the Burma and Dubai separation from the Indian Empire.

[Ojas Chahal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sam Dalrymple's debut book this is and it is a fascinating historical journey that takes us to the British Raj state and how that state through various political partitions or separation resulted into formation of over 12 modern day States that we see today in our world. Back in the day. Mahatma Gandhi could go to Aden in Yemen to Rangoon in Burma without any update on your passport and rupee used to be a common currency. This book traces and helps us to understand how Indians were spread out across the region and the hard boundaries of nation States that exist today did not existed at that time. The first partition was the one of Burma which separated Burma from India at that time which was British Raj state. How the concept of Burma and who Burmese is led to racial tensions and violence against Indian people living there , working there... How when the Japanese invaded in 1942, it lead to the mass migration of Indians from Burma to India. It was known as the Long March... Before partition of India, this was easily the biggest refugee movement in our region. This separation itself became the basis on which the famous partition of India itself happened between India and the new state of Pakistan. That idea itself was because first this partition of Burma had happened. It was also important to understand how at that time they were voices for example in Burma which talked about how they should be part of India only and they are part of India only ... U Ottama talks about that. It also talks about how integrated the Arabian States were to British Raj India and not only that but for example the interconnected relationship between the state of Hyderabad and Qu'aiti sultanate is fascinating to understand and how close the relationship was. This sultanate eventually becomes part of Southern Yemen republic. Outside of politics, the people and how people identity change is very important to understand many peoples nationality changed from a British Indian to East Pakistani to Bangladeshi. In a lifetime many people had many nationalities. This just shows how new the concept of nation state was. How people have gotten divided because of these modern lines that have been drawn upon in the last century or so which became our borders... And inside of those borders because of politics & how the State wanted and the majority of people wanted to define that State as resulted in various people groups becoming a target. In Burma rohingya people became a target... In Bangladesh Urdu speaking Bihari people became a target... In India, Bengali speaking people or the Muslim people itself become the fifth column in the eyes of some powerful entities(political figures)let's Just say that similarly the violence Hindus and Sikhs in Pakistan... Even today the idea of CAA & NRC threatens people all because we have tried to cement the idea that some people belong to this region only we have trying to impose and idea of ethno national state which is not very healthy in a diverse historically fluid society that ours is. This book will tell you the struggle of such various communities the, the hardships they faced and the violence (deaths and sexual violence)they faced. The story of princely States is also very interesting... And how they played such a crucial role in defining the border of modern state of India and Pakistan. How different those borders could have been and how such princely states were incorporated. And this did not ended in 47... The question of Hyderabad was taken in 1948... The Gwadar Port city was still a part of Oman till 1958. Interestingly, other than Jinnah...the only time Pakistan has expanded is under another civilian leader who was Feroz Khan Noon who got Gwadar from Oman. In the end, it is so important to understand how fluid and different our history is then we will like to understand. One more fascinating thing...For example, this book also highlights that how some of the ex INA aka Subhash Chandra Bose Indian national Army ec soldiers who became Pakistanis..Actually had a prominent role in leading the tribal Militia enter Kashmir.... Khurshid Anwar the officer's name was... Just shows the complicated history which is not told usually. Similarly in 1971 war the Pakistani is were using Chittagong Buddhist soldiers in East Pakistan and the Indian state against them had used strikingly enough Tibetan Buddhist refugee battalion which was formed for China actually... So two different Buddhist communities for fighting for Pakistan and India in a region of Bengal... Such are the complex human stories that we have. I have tried telling you some aspects of this book... But this book is very vast and it is a definite read to understand our region and people's history better.

[Leonor Borges · Rating 5 out of 5]

um livro realmente interessante e bem escrito sobre as partições do império britânico entre Adem e a Birmânia e o conturbado nascimento de novas nações, algumas cujas fronteiras foram criadas a régua e esquadro por desconhecedores do terreno e história.
entre nacionalidades, fés, grupos étnicos e linguísticos, que definiram um desenvolvimento conturbado.
inevitável não pensar em como a história se repete!

[Nirbhay Kanoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sam Dalrymple's non-fiction, Shattered Lands, is one of the best debut works I have ever read. I would be remiss if I didn't say it is probably one of the best non-fiction books I've read in recent times.

It covers the five partitions that changed South Asia during the British Raj - beginning with Aden and Burma being separated from the Indian Empire and culminating in West and East (now Bangladesh) Pakistan's division.

There was much to learn while reading this book. I had absolutely no idea that Dubai, Aden, etc. were once part of the Indian Empire and there was a possibility that they, and Burma, could have been India's Western and Eastern most states (goes to show how poor the history we were taught in school is).

The whole Junagadh/Kashmir/Hyderabad sagas are now oft told - yet they never stop being incredulous. Reading of the Nizam of Hyderabad's desire, and subsequent actions, to make Hyderabad the seat of the global Islamic Caliphate was fascinating, and then to realise it was considered of equal importance as Jerusalem and Mecca - my mind was blown.

I enjoyed how Dalrymple built up the complex tapestry that is South Asia and delved into the myriad connections, many of which were strange and unexpected - such as that between social reformist Sultan and Osama bin Laden, or of how Jinnah's grandson was instrumental in the rise of the BJP, or then how the fall of Aden lead to the rise of Dhurubhai Ambani.

South Asian history has been kind to Mountbatten, but this book really drives home how badly he and the Empire handled the 'Great Partition'. While not getting into whether or not it could have been avoided, it certainly could have been done better with less bloodshed, more intelligence, and a great deal more empathy.

I could write paragraphs more on the book, but naturally, there is only so much space, so just do yourself a favour and go read it.

[J · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a remarkable book. I am a newbie to the history of Partition, with my only real prior knowledge from the short story Toba Tek Singh, the film Earth, the boardgame Gandhi, an A-level history project on Bangladeshi independence and conversations of better-informed friends. In any case, this book was a tour-de-force introduction and in the span of just 50 years and 450 pages, Dalrymple guides you along every cut of the dismemberment of the Raj. His thesis of five partitions is compelling and the connections between Sultan Ghalib al-Qu'aiti and Mir Osman Ali Khan especially struck me - having met the former living and the latter in his grave.

The book begins with the partition of Burma, where nationalism first rears its bloodthirsty, barbaric head, and proceeds through the partitioning off of the Arabian Raj before dealing with 'Partition' as we know it and ending in the aftermath of 1971. This is a painful book. Dalrymple's artful writing bears one through it, and his talented interweaving of interviews, diaries and other first-hand accounts deeply illuminates and personalises his narrative, but none of this dulls the agony. As the violence of Partition and its irrevocable consequences continue to compound, I found myself having to stop sometimes simply to try and process the sickening numbers of dead and crimes committed that follow in rapid succession.

What seemed most apparent was how absolutely unnecessary, and in many cases avoidable, so much of the disaster was, and three figures in particular stood out: Jinnah, Mountbatten and Patel. Jinnah cuts a tragic figure, both in his personal and political life, and Dalrymple depicts a man beset by a mistrust which repeatedly leads him in error, even as he achieves his mission. Mountbatten, meanwhile, is revolting in his overconfidence and cavalier attitude, all the while self-pitying and self-congratulating. His utterly shortsighted and simpleminded approach further dashes any chance of a successful withdrawal, while Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel - whose cruelly ironic "Statue of Unity" now towers 600 feet over the Narmada River - appears an entirely hateful and odious creature, whose malice gladly plays off the initial Muslim League and Pakistani disadvantage and incompetence, while playing Nehru for a fool.

That was only my impression from a first reading however and I felt Dalrymple gave an on the whole sincere, balanced and deeply sympathetic account of the whole story, keen as always to flesh out and personalise his subjects. I really enjoyed this book and would heartily recommend it. I am so glad to have picked it up at Bradford Literature Festival and greatly look forward to reading more from Dalrymple father and son.

[Christine Maughan · Rating 5 out of 5]

No matter how much a reader might think they know about the breakup of the British Empire in the East, they are certain to have learnt a great deal more after reading Sam Dalrymple’s Shattered Lands. Growing up in India in the fifties and sixties, I knew the basic facts of Indian independence, but nothing of the many parallel movements outside the Indian subcontinent—from the separation of Burma from India to the formation of the Gulf states. The connection between Hyderabad and the Qu’aiti sultanate is a fascinating example of this.
Dalrymple’s thorough archival research and numerous interviews with survivors,or their families,of the upheavals and mass killings give the events of the past poignancy and immediacy. The devastating events following the formation of Pakistan and later Bangladesh, the religious massacres, and the shattering of long-established communities are not played down, but there are also heartwarming stories of courage and friendship. Ishar Das Arora, with his mixed Sikh and Hindu family, was saved by his Muslim neighbours. This,and many other personal experiences give a human perspective on the effect of arbitrary decisions, often contentiously arrived at, and provide a better understanding of the problems that continue to arise. This gripping book provides an explanatory background to conflicts of modern times, for example, the situation of the Rohingya people in Myanmar.
Ultimately, Dalrymple succeeds in weaving these disparate strands of history into a cohesive and powerful narrative. By illuminating the human cost behind the drawing of maps, Shattered Lands forces the reader to confront the lasting legacy of the British Empire's retreat. It is a work of great scholarship and deep humanity that not only educates but urges us to look with fresh eyes at the borders—and the broken lives—that define the region today.

[ناسازگار · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was so gratifying when I finally got my hands on a hard copy the very day this released in India; even Sam Dalrymple’s captions on Instagram to photos of places he visits were learning experiences to me that I’d rate higher than some full-length books I’ve read. My expectations were therefore really high, and this book managed to exceed them.

I have always been critical of nationalizing lore in post-colonial South Asia that tried to create distinctions where there weren’t any, reshaping religion, language, and belonging in addition to geography. However, I realized after reading this how there is much, much more nuance beyond what I thought of as my fairly detailed understanding of this. Burma’s separation, its involvement in the Indian nationalist movement, or the demographic and economic impact of its departure (from mass-displacement that was unprecedented, but quickly overshadowed by 1947, to the emergence of rava idlis in Bangalore(!)) has just never been part of my imagination of ‘India’s’ history. Yet, as you begin to realize as you go along, there’s nothing inherently more self-evident about Burma’s identity as a separate nation, than about Mizoram or Nagaland’s modern status as Indian states.

The links between ‘Arab India (!)’ and the mainland, the fact that Hyderabad had a vassal state in the Arabian peninsula, or that in the wake of the Indian annexation of Hyderabad, thousands of Arabs would be forced to migrate from Hyderabad to Yemen or elsewhere; ending an era where ‘Arab’ could be an ‘Indian ethnicity’ just like Punjabi or Bengali.

The orientalist, patronizing rhetoric of the newly independent Indian state, insisting that Mizo performers in the Republic Day parade dress in more exotic clothes than their actual traditional garb to conform to mainland imaginations of the ‘wild northeast’. The layers behind mass support for Pakistan, where it was not just disillusioned Muslims, but often also Dalits who are typically counted as Hindus, who were vary of Brahminical domination in an India they get to rule and define.

Revelation after revelation, brilliantly cited (I kept flipping back and forth between the text and the citations, eventually getting myself an ebook in addition to my hard copy so the shunting back and forth becomes easier) and strung together.

This is a sobering, impactful, devastating work, more important now than ever as ideas of ‘India’ and ‘Indianness’ are made narrower by the day. I’m holding my breath for whatever Sam Dalrymple writes next, even if it’s more photo captions for the time being.

[Natasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

We tend to think of "Indian Empire" as the Indian subcontinent, roughly coinciding with present day India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, but the author looks at it as all the areas which used Indian postal stamps and where people were issued Indian passports. Even a century ago, this geopolitical entity was huge stretching from Aden to Burma, and the book traces the political movements and the sovereign actions which resulted in the area being carved up into what are now a bunch of autonomous states which do not even recognise a shared history.
The premise is, of course, interesting and, to me, novel. I knew virtually nothing about the history of Burma despite having read a few historical novels set in the country. And I knew even less about the history of the Middle Eastern countries of South Yemen and UAE. So I loved reading about the 'partitions' that led to the formation of each of those countries, and of the tension arising out of botched divisions.
I also enjoyed reading the history of the formation of Bangladesh, something I know a bit about, but not in depth. Which the players involved in the formation of India and Pakistan are well known, this account stripped them of the layers of idolatry and presented them as differently flawed human beings.
However, despite the subject being as engaging as it was, there was something lacking. Perhaps it was the fact that the book read as a dry piece of historical writing with no flashes of humour or insight liven it. One certainly does not read history to be entertained, but the book came across as a paper turned in by an earnest and diligent student. Definitely a book I would recommend to someone who wants to learn about this chapter of world history.

[Baburaj · Rating 4 out of 5]

While Sam Dalrymple’s Shattered Lands offers a compelling narrative that humanizes the many partitions of South Asia and critiques nationalist mythmaking, a crucial dimension risks being underplayed in the book: the foundational role of British colonial divide-and-rule policies.

These imperial strategies deliberately sowed communal divisions and fostered distrust among South Asia’s diverse communities, creating the fertile ground upon which nationalism and, ultimately, partition violence took root. Ignoring or minimizing this colonial legacy risks framing nationalism—and by extension, the communities caught in the violence—as the primary architects of their own suffering.

Such an omission can inadvertently veer towards a form of victim blaming, where systemic and structural forces are overshadowed by narratives of indigenous responsibility. To fully grasp the tragedy of partition, it is essential to center colonial policies as the key driver that shaped the fractured political and social landscape, rather than treating nationalism’s emergence as an isolated or inevitable phenomenon. Victims of Shattered Lands needs to be seen in the proper historical context—as people caught in a web woven by imperial design as much as by nationalist ambitions.

[Anshul · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the great ironies is that in the twenty-first century it is easier for Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis to meet in England, their former colonial power, than to meet in the subcontinent itself.

A meticulous, well researched and easy to follow account of events materialized into Sam's debut book. An undeniable part of history not just for South Asia but for the whole world, a chain of events that set in motion in the heyday of the British Empire and the subsequent decline of the same colonial power that led to Five Partitions of Indian Empire out of which 12 nations were born.


A division of land that divided almost a quarter of world population creating a wave of separatist nationalism that is born to resent and undermine the other that still persists to this day after more than 75 years.
Unimaginable to think that virtually this quarter of world population was once all 'Indian' no earlier than a century ago.


It is with a heavy heart that I manage to read through this shattered lands as someone who fails to see a cultural difference in India and Pakistan and continues to advocate peace and prosperity among the nations of the former empire.

[Zarish Fatima · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shattered Lands Sam Dalrymple 

This book was unexpectedly good. I would be first to admit that even though I have read a lot about independence and partition, I did not know the Middle East was also part of the Indian empire (I knew they were under Colonialism just not that they were administratively so attached to us). I knew Burma was part of it as quite a bit of my family was settled there until WW2. My paternal great-grandfather died there in 1938. We had heard that there was an injury he had during Japanese attacks and as he had diabetes he died because of his wounds festering. However, Japan did not attack Burma until 1941-1942. So, he probably got injured during racially charged skirmishes that were taking place against Indians/muslims in Burma. However, no one in my family seems to know anything about that even though most lived there (or it's selective amnesia) and only left when Japan actually invaded in 1942. 

This book sheds a lot of light on what went on in Burma which was part of the Indian Empire and was annexed in 1938 after a lot of ground struggle and rise of anti-indian sentiment because of a large amalgamation of reasons. It was the first of five partitions discussed in this book. I would admit that I was hooked completely by this chapter because of my own family's intertwined history with the region and the stories I have heard. I was reading about it for the first time in detail in a book discussing South Asia and it felt that finally there was representation of those silent stories, lost homes, and families. Whenever I said that my family was settled in Burma before the 1940s and my great-grandmother is actually from there I would be asked why there were a bunch of Potaharis in Burma! Now there is an official explanation.  


This book specifically discusses partitions and annexation of South Asia so the next one was of India and Pakistan along with independence. Which hits different in 2025 as we went to war again. How bloody this partition was is a well-documented fact but the writer really sheds light on the demographic change that took place because of it. The demographic change of Jammu that happened as a result of it was shocking. I feel that there is this tendency among Muslims of Pakistan to at least downplay the things we did and the things that were done to us during that period. Giving it a dimensional perspective really minimises the suffering. Sikh, Hindu bad, Muslim victim, is not a damaging point of view. It takes away nuance from the events of the time and also it means we never really solved the core issue of why people of this region resorted to such extreme violence. To this day the single brain cell mob mentality exists on both sides of the border for which there are 100 excuses but never really a question of why it exists?


The third partition or annexation was of princely states which was enlightening. The map given of the area covered by princely states also gives context for why the national building project in this part of the world is so hard. It's hard to merge dozens of regions and 100s of cultures and present them as one. Always thought annexation of Hyderabad was a quiet affair, but it turns out it was a very bloody one that resulted in so much brutality done by the Indian army and forces that the Sunderlal commission report of it was not made public until 2011. Who knew India had its own personal Hamoodur Rehman report alternative?


The next most important partition was that of Aden(now Yemen) and other regions of the Arab world from the Indian empire and British Colonialism. I would admit I didn't deeply care for it because I honestly know nothing about the history of modern Middle Eastern and North African countries. I have not been interested in it, so for me, this part of the book was a bit difficult as I had no context for these regions and people. I have decided to read about it though. 


The last partition was between Bangladesh and Pakistan.  It is something I have read about not extensively but I have. One thing is for sure that the more I read about that chapter of history, the angrier I get as a Pakistani. Pakistan owes an apology for the atrocities of 1971. There can be no justice but at least there can be some shame on our end. What makes the barbarism of that period different from partition violence is that it was institutionalised. The Army is an institution, hence it deserves the criticism it receives for its actions against the Bengalis. The chapter does a good job of portraying the characters of the three main politicians and army men (Pakistan side) as their personalities played a huge role in how the conflict began and ended. It's such a tragedy that the fates of millions can be subject to a few petty men's ambitions. Bangladesh was inevitable but maybe the partition did not need to be so violent again. We had learned nothing from 1947 and still no signs of growth on that front. 


This review has been long but this book isn't. This is such a well-researched book. I read it on Kobo, and it gives an option to open the indexing immediately to check the reference the author is using. I highly recommend using an e-reader if you feel the need to check the sources the writer is using. It is much easier to do on an e-reader than in physical books. 


P.S. There was one error I caught in this book. The author states that women in Pakistan voted for the first time in 1971. Which is false, they definitely voted in the elections of January 1965 the one that took place between Ayub Khan and Fatima Jinnah. My maternal grandfather at the time was an election officer in Sukkhar, Sindh. Women were definitely voting in that election, there was even a case of voter fraud at polling stations by women trying to cast multiple votes by hiding their identity through a burka which was eventually sorted by putting female teachers to check each female voter's face. 

[Aman Harshad · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible take on the several partitions that helped shape today’s South Asia. Shattered Lands is a masterfully written book that sheds important light on some of the forgotten aspects of the British Indian Empire’s twilight years. Filled with stories of atrocities as well as that of incredible kindness amongst people, Sam manages to keep humanity as the protagonist of the book as he takes us through the final decades of an empire that once stood from south-western Arabia to the eastern tip of Myanmar. A proper page turner, this book should absolutely serve as a must read for anyone who wishes to understand the origins of the complex social and political landscape of today’s South Asia.

[Iona Rowan · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredible exploration of a critical, yet hugely overlooked and relevant piece of global history. Masterfully written - immensely informative yet engaging throughout. Bravo to this new historian, can’t wait to see what comes next !!

[James Galileo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such an important work of history on how the modern political environment of South Asia developed. Elegantly written and structured logically, the contents of this book is easy and enjoyable to consume.

A must read for anyone interested in the legacies of colonialism, war, nationalism, post-colonialism and empire building!

[Sujanroy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just finished Shattered Lands by Sam Dalrymple, and it's clear the historical acumen runs deep in that family. William Dalrymple's son certainly upholds the legacy, demonstrating the same commitment to meticulous research, journeying across continents to unearth diverse perspectives from various national archives.

--- A Fresh Look at Partition

In Shattered Lands, Dalrymple challenges the common perception of Partition as a singular event tied solely to the formation of Pakistan in 1947. He posits that India, in fact, experienced five successive partitions.

The narrative spans from the conclusion of the First World War, leading up to the sequence of events leading to the creation of Bangladesh, the assassination of Mujibur Rahman, and General Zia-ur-Rehman's ascent to power in Dhaka.

He thoughtfully traces the trajectories of all these splintered regions, once part of the British Indian Empire, and contemplates the alternate realities had some remained integrated with present-day India.

Having extensively traveled and lived across South Asia and Eastern Arabia — geographies central to the book's narrative — I found the historical context particularly illuminating. It provided clarity on many intriguing facets I've observed in these nations. For anyone with a keen interest in the South Asian landscape, this book offers a compelling and insightful read. From the deserts and wadis of Oman to the gurdwaras of Punjab, the stunning sunrises of Nepal, the monsoons of Bengal, the serene gompas of Bhutan, and even the fascinating linguistic transition in Teknaf where Bangla gives way to Burmese – I've been fortunate enough to experience these diverse regions, and this book skillfully connects their historical threads.

The final question - Is he as good as his celebrated father? Not quite, but almost. William has a way of adding juicy morsels of historical facts, intrigue and scuttlebutt that make his writing so much more entertaining. For example, in The return of the King, an English lady who is seated next to the legendary Maharaja Ranjit Singh, writes to her friend back home in England, her thoughts about him and how he quite expertly flirts with her.

These asides are the mark of an expert raconteur. Sam will get there, I sure but even as he is now, I'd go out and buy the book if I were you and settle down for a weekend of wonderful reading as the monsoons pour over the Shattered Lands.

[Aditya Ansh · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book presents a deeply researched, story-rich narrative of political, cultural and human ruptures that have defined South Asia from the as early as 1930s to as later as 1970s. It also invites its readers to rethink how we remember the partition as for long our minds drift back to the Indo-Pak divide but is more of an ongoing, disjointed process of disintegration that continues to shape the geopolitical sphere.
The conventional Partition of 1947 was not the beginning of a divided South Asia but rather the third in a series of schisms, each with widespread bloodshed and consequences. Dalrymple identifies five major partitions beginning with the servance of Burma in 1937 and Aden (also 1937) moving through to the Indo-Pak divide, the separation of Arabian Raj and ending with the violent birth of Bangladesh. The initial chapters including ‘The Great Uprising’ and ‘The First Partitions of India’; challenges readers to reimagine the colonial India as a collection of entities fraying at the edges long before Nehru’s ‘tryst with destiny’ Burma’s estrangement is largely forgotten in the Indian history books, and is revealed as a traumatic separation filled with riots, racial resentment against the Indians and overlooked ethno-nationalism that would later sweep across Southern Asia. In the lush green hills of colonial Burma, Saya San led farmers in a revolt, giving an early sense of freedom against British rule. When Gandhi stepped off the boat in Rangoon, his presence was widely questioned and is considered controversial. While many locals believed that Gandhi would support Burma being a part of Indian subcontinent, he replied, "Burma must decide her destiny"
Sam collects the early history and shows how seeds of Hindutva were championed by figures like Vinayak Savarkar, as Jinnah continued to imagine a pluralistic India. As Gandhi fought for salt, Jinnah for federal compromise. In the subsequent chapters, “The Drums of War” and The Long March, Dalrymple excellently zooms into the chaos of the Second World War and the stories here are brutal as close to 600,000 Indians flee Burma through treacherous black routes. While India’s Bengal was hit by a deadly famine killing millions of people and Rangoon’s civic and military authority collapsed overnight. Sam points out that it was the disrupted rice supplies that prompted Bangalore's Mavalli Tiffin Room to invent the now-beloved Rava Idli by substituting rice with semolina. The most searing section lies in “Direct Action Day” where Dalrymple revisited the bloodshed events of 1946 and 47 through human stories and strange symbols. For example the Mohenjo-Daro necklace was split in half during the Indo-Pak division, trains of refugees were attacked in the night and temples were disassembled across borders. The book insists on multiplicity as Gandhi and Nehru are not elevated as flawless humans, while Jinnah is not reduced to either a victim or a villain. Instead, they are all humans experiencing personal pain, and political calculations. The book accounts intimate glimpses of history through letters like Jinnah's daughter writing to say she won't be joining him in Pakistan, choosing instead to wait in Bombay. This refusal to follow her father into a land newly created is more than just a familial rift and signifies Partition's personal violence. Meanwhile, exchanged notes between Nehru and Edwina Mountbatten reveals an uneven attraction between the two.
Dalrymple writes that post Indo-Pak division, Partition was less of a conclusion than a catalyst and talks about the forgotten annexation of Junagadh and belated insurgency that continues till date in Balochistan. The readers are made well aware that the line drawn by Radcliffe did not end the violence but intensified it further. In the later chapters, we see the slow emergence of other identities like Bengali nationalism leading to the birth of Bangladesh, the Nagas Mizos resisting with referendums and arms, the Arabian protectorates quietly serving ties leading to the birth of the UAE. Bangladesh had emerged from Pakistan and Jinnah’s dream was shattered as he himself used to say, “Pakistan is nothing without Bengal [East Pakistan]”, refugees kept flowing, women kept suffering and the borders kept moving, displacing millions.
Sam presents a fragmented South Asia which always contested but was deeply interlinked. He draws on rare archival materials, family memories and first hand accounts. He urges the readers to abandon linear narratives of rise and fall that offers a history shaped by rupture.
The book tells the stories we were never taught, presents us with the slow burn of tensions before 1947, forgotten Indian exodus from Burma, the rebellion, betrayals and human costs that never made it to textbooks. History however when taught to students, is perceived in binary: Heroes and Traitors, Shattered Lands however brings truth back to conversation. The book is deeply relevant today as Partition still continues to shape the subcontinent's politics, identities, and borders. The refugee crises of the Northeast, rise of exclusionary nationalism, cultural amnesia around South Asia is interlinked intensely with the past.

[Manohar Burra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally done !!!

For Exactly a month - this was the only book that I wanted to read

Such was the power of the storytelling and such was the power of the narrative

Feels like I just aged 50 years (1921-71) or rather relived that tumultuous period

Very well researched & nicely written; lots & lots of anecdotes and 1st hand sourced account information - this is what I like in a good history book

1. British Indian Empire - by 1930, extending from Aden (presently Yemen) to the entire Burma and most Indians not considering them or wanting those parts as Akhand Bharat (historical boundaries of the land) - Moreover, British never wanted to give all these lands to India anyway - not to have such a strong state in Asia (as a forethought?)

2. Life story of Jinnah - separation from wife, initial advocacy of Hindu-Muslim unity, (estranged) wife's early death, staying away from Politics for sometime, then aligning with Muslim League after Nehru belittled him leading to a personal rivalry with Nehru, never imagining that Pakistan will be an independent country one day, at best wanted an autonomous federal state within a larger Indian nation (like Scotland or Wales in UK)

3. Nehru getting passionate about freedom struggle only after a chance encounter of overhearing a drunk Gen Dyer (of Jallianwala Bagh massacre infamy) in a train compartment; cozying up with Sarojini Naidu's daughter Padmaja after Kamala Nehru's death - "Nehru used to find love in many weird places" (Later, Edwina!)

4. MK Gandhi - Umm! Musalodu maamolodu kaadu .....even Sarojini Naidu (his close associate) badmouthed him (justifiably so, mostly!) every now & then - erratic, unstable mind after Kasturba’s death

5. A lot of anti-separation from India feelings among Burmese population but slowly that was replaced by anti-Indian sentiment post Burma becoming a separate entry (Apr 1, 1937); Burma being ruled (self-representation at that time by some crackpot dictators) - a lot explains why Myanmar is the dysfunctional state that it is ...

6. More details around the 1947 year - There were a lot of Ego/Personality clashes & just mistrust all round!

In hindsight, assuming we would’ve got independent in 1946 itself or early 1947, would such a federation have lasted long?

Would it have led to later Partitions? Would it have prevented the lakhs of deaths or displacements later? Or the 5 wars so far?

How would an alternate history have looked like?

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

May be we are repeating historical mistakes all over again? Just may be…If only Nehru/Gandhi had shook hands with Jinnah …

But, Others will argue

“If Only Patel instead of Nehru, then things could have been different …”


Similarly, History would’ve been so much different if atleast one of the wives of Jinnah, MK Gandhi or Nehru had lived longer 🤯

On the Random whim of a single guy, we celebrate our Independence Day

7. It took a miracle to have what we today as the borders of our country - Hyd, Travancore, Calcutta, Balasore, few princely states of Rajasthan, J&K, Junagadh etc - to not have to take a visa to go to all these places ….😤

And one guy whose presence was a lot more than comes out usually - *Sardar*

We all know how he & VP Menon are hugely responsible for the integration of states

But, two things I came to know from this book:
a. As the Home Minister of the Interim Govt, he took full control of the Central Intelligence and withheld info from Nehru & even Mountbatten too - the latter realising that he had very little de facto control as the Viceroy on the country anyway - so, better to give it all away sooner than later (hence, hurriedly thought of Aug’47)
b. ⁠His tacit support to RSS (quite against Nehru’s ideology) in their role in inciting and perpetrating communal violence & refusal to sanction or ban them - which ultimately led to Nehru-Patel relations breakdown (and could only be temporarily repaired with MKG’s death!)

So, yes! When ppl say that IF ONLY Patel would’ve been India’s PM instead of Nehru …India would’ve been quite a different country

8. The story of end of the British rule in Arabian Gulf and the independence and the modern boundaries of the present Gulf states was entirely eye-opening for me. And with a lot of connection to mainland India.

9. Then, lastly the story moves to Bangladesh - the final partition of the British Indian Empire and the “debunking of the two-nation theory in the Bay of Bengal” and the entire tragedy association with it is very vividly narrated, touching all aspects of the Muktijuddho.

Got to know so many new facts abt the early to mid 1900s in Middle to South to Southeast Asia that I wasn't aware of till now ...

Great Start for a 1st book, Sam!

[Himanshu Damle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had deliberately parked reading Sam Dalrymple’s Shattered Lands until having read Philip Woods’ Forgotten Indo-Burma War that took place between 1941-45 as part of the South-East Asian Theater of the Second World War. The tag ‘forgotten’ is applied for the relative obscurity compared with the conflict in Europe, and involved a potpourri of regiments from West Africa, Britain, Gurkhas and India, specifically focusing on the 14th Army. This was British Commonwealth’s longest involvement at a stretch in the global war, resulting in the Battles of Kohima and Imphal paving the way towards the end of the Asian Theater. These four years were particularly known for media manipulation of the ground realities in order to keep the morale boosted for the Allies. Though, this book was a much delayed sequel to my personal list on Burma, following Burmese Days by George Orwell, I had a faint idea of Burma’s severance from India in the latter half of the 1930s. Admittedly, this faint idea had blurred beyond recognition until Sam’s book hit the shelves.

‘Five Partitions’? There was something fundamentally mistaken in how historiography came down to us in dribs and drabs during school days learning the subject. Shattered Lands is a respite in a way history ought to be written. The scarred partitions of 1947 and 1971 (of Pakistan) are fomented to synthesize jingoism from wounded memories, are formulaically employed by the cine-industry in Mumbai to incite and instigate mass hysteresis, and set into momentum the endless division by multiplying adherents to a particularly fraught ideology. That hearsay could be heresy is testimonial to the unfolding. So, which are the remaining three partitions? Burma, Princely States and Protectorates in the Arabian-Gulf Region, the last of which is an absolute wild card.

The disintegration of the British Empire in Asia (India) was a deracination of the trunk, the branches of which spread from the middle-east to the south-east leaving in its wake a bloody trail, irresponsibly cartographed by the hubristic commitment to speedily leave the residuum of the Empire to its devices. The gross miscalculation five times over is the price still being abjectly paid by the once colonized.

Sam’s contribution is a compelling narrative of these forgotten severances, and is archival research at its finest, exposing the undercurrents of the period anyone rarely pays any attention to.

While every line is probing across the 431 pages of text, there are two overwhelming ones, I’d like to point out -On page 203, SD writes about the princely states,

“...Although none had gained international recognition, the 15th of August saw the birth of over three hundred new countries from the wreckage of Indian Empire, not just India and Pakistan”.

This number was dizzyingly high back then, implying the country was waiting to implode with its princely pods resulting in a nightmarish scenario for the cartographers. The situation somehow confounded with declension until Indira Gandhi dissolved the princely authorities in the aftermath of the Bangladeshi liberation.

Two hundred and eighteen pages later comes the most unbelievable line I came across, when SD echoes Christoph Jaffrelot,

“...For a strange twelve months, Pakistan was the only democracy in the former Indian Empire."

This was a reference to when India was undergoing the emergency declared by Indira Gandhi, and the western neighbor, which since its breakaway from India in 1947 hasn’t had a single premier complete a full term of five years. These two instances are a microcosm of discursive treasures the book is studded with. My personal favorites are the Arabian episodes, hitherto lesser known, and illuminated to attract the uninitiated towards the missing jigsaw puzzle.

Shattered Lands is Sam Dalrymple’s research credentials hitting a very high note, a friend’s and fellow traveler’s first offering that is an absolute must have and must read.

[Rahul Vishnoi · Rating 5 out of 5]

-A history of modern South Asia told through five partitions that reshaped it-
Review of 'Shattered Lands'

Quote Alert
"𝐉𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐚𝐡 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐆𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐡𝐢 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐆𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐡𝐢’𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 ‘𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐢𝐬𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐮 𝐑𝐚𝐣’. 𝐇𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐆𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐡𝐢 𝐚 𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐚 𝐮𝐩𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐀𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐬𝐚𝐝𝐡𝐮 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 ‘𝐟𝐢𝐱’ 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐆𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐡𝐢’𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐚𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐉𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐚𝐡’𝐬 𝐨𝐰𝐧, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟗𝟐𝟎 𝐉𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐚𝐡 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐆𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐡𝐢 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 ‘𝐌𝐚𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐦𝐚’ 𝐨𝐫 ‘𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐥’. 𝐈𝐧 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧, 𝐉𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐚𝐡 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐆𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐡𝐢 𝐰𝐚𝐬 ‘𝐚 𝐟𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐨𝐠𝐮𝐞’."


How many years does it take to fracture an empire? Especially if it stands on stilted limbs, balanced upon the borrowed colonized bones that have started to crumble. Fifty years, answers Sam Dalrymple in his historical non-fiction of epic proportions and scale.

Upto 1928, did you know that not just Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan, but also Burma, Yemen, Oman, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait were a part of what was called an 'Indian Empire', coalesced together under the banner of the land where sun never set.

Those who lived in this behemoth portion of land, all of them not only used the Indian rupee, but also the passports that bore the stamp of 'Indian Empire'. They all were Indian. But then, in as little time as half a century (it's little in context of an entire continent and the plan to shatter it into pieces.) New borders were sketched by people like Simon who knew nothing of the land nor of the people. For them, most of the Indians were one thing- savages. Out of these borders, Dalrymple writes, were birthded wars and skirmishes including civil wars in Burma and Sri Lanka, ongoing insurgencies in Kashmir, Baluchistan, Northeast India, and the Rohingya genocide.

An exhaustive account of of how the map of modern Asia was drawn in the drawing rooms by the people at best aline to the land and at worst apathetic to the people. The author shares many illuminating anecdotes from the history, like how Gandhi was in favour of the separation of Burma from India while most of Burma wanted to remain in India. He shares how Jinna's failed marriage led him to considering his role in birth of Pakistan.

According to the blurb, Shattered Lands is based on deep archival research, previously untranslated private memoirs, and interviews in English, Hindi, Urdu, Bengali, Punjabi, Konyak, Arabic and Burmese. It is one thing to dive into the sea of available material but quite another to pick and spin a yarn that's not dry to read, throws light on an old subject in a fresh angle and propels the reader forward.

Not to be missed.

[Abhishek Shetty · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my first historical non-fiction book after a long hiatus. I found this writer on Substack and then discovered his book. The premise was really interesting and it promised to teach me parts about my own country I had not understood completely. I grew up in Bahrain and spent most of my adulthood in India. So I was intrigued by their inter twining histories going back to the 1920s. The breadth of this book is vast. Here is a short passage from the blurb on the book jacket,

"As recently as 1928, a vast swathe of Asia – India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Burma, Nepal, Bhutan, Yemen, Oman, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait – were bound together under a single imperial banner, an entity known officially as the ‘Indian Empire’, or more simply as the Raj."

By 1971 (less than 50 years later) all these countries would become independent through violent and peaceful partitions. Who were the people that first conceptualized the idea of these countries? What was their underlying personal and professional motivations behind the demand for an independent country? Why did some countries chose a secular path while others chose a specific religious path? How did language bring people and separate them during these partitions? How did World War 2 impact the fate of each of these countries? How did the personal lives, family upbringing, education and cultural background of the political leaders shape their political thinking? Why did so many lawyers become important political leaders and freedom fighters in these partitions? How did the British Empire exploit these former colonies for their selfish benefit for 150+ years? Why was developing a strong army and defence system so vital to the independence campaigns of these countries? How did 565+ princely states disappear or join these larger countries? The author answers some of these questions among many others in this book.

I think each of the partitions in this book could be a book of their own. The author had a detailed footnotes and references section where you can explore other such historical texts on the history of these partition movements. I love books that leave you with more questions than answers. This book taught me a lot about the history of the sub-continent. But it also left me with a lot of unanswered questions about the people impacted by these partitions. I would recommend this book for anyone interested in South Asia, politics, language, colonialism, migration and history.

[Nitin Nair · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is a brilliant first book. it got me through a 3 hour flight. fascinating amount of detail!

I finished Shattered Lands: Five Partitions and the Making of Modern Asia with a strong sense that I had read an important book—one that reshaped how I think about borders, nations, and the long shadows cast by imperial exits. The book’s greatest strength lies in its ambition. By treating multiple partitions as part of a single historical phenomenon rather than isolated tragedies, it offers a compelling framework for understanding modern Asia as a product of repeated political fractures rather than organic nation-building.

The writing is clear and confident, and the author does an excellent job of guiding the reader through complex historical terrain without oversimplifying it. The structure works particularly well: each section builds logically on the previous one, and the narrative momentum never really falters. I found the transitions between regions and time periods smoother than expected for a book covering such vast ground, and the conclusion brings the arguments together in a way that feels earned rather than rushed.

That said, the book is not uniformly strong across all its parts. Some chapters feel more vivid and fully realised than others, and there were moments where I wanted deeper engagement with certain themes rather than a rapid move to the next case. At times, the human dimension—while present—felt secondary to the geopolitical analysis, which may leave some readers wanting a more intimate emotional connection.

Still, the ideas linger long after the final page. The book is intellectually stimulating, highly relevant to contemporary debates, and remarkably cohesive given its scope. I would readily recommend it to readers interested in history, politics, or Asia’s modern formation, especially those willing to trade simple narratives for a more unsettling, but ultimately richer, understanding of how nations are made—and broken.

[Ravi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is the definition of what makes history fun. I studied history in college. The dry dense boring textbooks put me off history for life.

Then after several decades, I got back into history through narrative history books, written by people like William Dalrymple and Manu Pillai and others. History was brought to life again for me.

And then Sam Dalrymple showed up with Shattered Lands. What a thriller. History is something that is in the past. We know how it ended. Yet, Shattered Lands reads like a thriller. It’s an unputdownable page turner. You want to know what happened, even if you know what happened.

Shattered Lands hugely widens the lens through which we see the Partition of India. I always thought of just India-Pakistan when I thought of partition. Partly because my family were partition refugees who migrated from what became Pakistan to the new truncated India. And partition always meant a frozen-in-time event around 1947. And it almost always meant a line drawn by Cyril Radcliffe. But Sam Dalrymple has shown us that the grand partition of 1947 was only one of several splits of the mighty Raj. He shows us how events in Aden and Dubai and Burma and the princely states and Bengal, all were parts of the partitions, plural, not a singular partition. And that it was a rolling heartbreaking tragedy that went on from 1931 to 1971. That 1947 was just one of those years, not THE year.

I have come out of this book with my mind expanded beyond recognition. With me realising that the partition my grandfather used to talk about, tragic certainly, was not the only partition. That events in Burma, and in Bengal, the events in Hyderabad, and in Aden, were as tragic and as consequential.

Read this book now. And be prepared to have your mind blown. And your heart broken. While still being enthralled by a writing style reminiscent of suspense thrillers.

[Tanvi Bagadiya · Rating 5 out of 5]

It might sound obvious to say many of us resonated with Shattered Lands due to a lack of awareness beyond the Indo-Pak partition, but that’s only part of it. To say that alone would be a disservice to the incredible effort and insight the author brings to this work.

The book dives deep into the erasure of South Asian history, and it’s genuinely shocking to discover just how much has been forgotten or purposefully left out. The scale and reach of the Indian empire, the overlooked migrations, the voices we've never heard. It all comes together powerfully through vivid, unapologetic storytelling.

Unlike most books I blow through, I found myself constantly checking the time left in this one just to slow down: to pace it, to savour it..

What I loved most was the deeply human lens. Stories like Uttam Singh’s harrowing journey from Burma to India stayed with me long after the audio stopped. Not just for its emotional weight, but also for how the author brings interpersonal struggles to the forefront. It’s not just historical; it's deeply personal. There are many such stories; this is just one.

The use of pop culture references is such a clever touch; it anchored the history in something tangible and familiar, making the timelines and emotions even more relatable.

Most importantly, Shattered Lands isn't afraid to present an unpopular narrative. It challenges the polished images of some of India’s most renowned figures and adds layers we’re rarely exposed to.

If anything, I only wish there was more. It's bold, essential, and refreshingly real. This should absolutely be made required reading in Indian history courses. It expands not just what we know, but how we think about our past.

[Preeta · Rating 5 out of 5]

History is not necessarily about only what has happened. But history is what is presented, what is taught.

And we live by the narratives given. And that narrative goes on to become the professed, limited past until something else comes up.

“Shattered Lands” by Sam Dalrymple questions those narratives. Digging deep into the crevices of the past and coming up with a clear, concise introduction as to what could have been.

The book brilliantly brings to light the shattering and Partition of the former Indian empire from 1930s to 1971 which comprised of a vast swathe of lands -India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Burma, Nepal, Yemen, Bhutan, Oman, the UAE, Qatar, Bahran and Quwait – bound together under a single imperial banner, an entity known officially as the Indian Empire.

The book describes the making of modern South Asia through a series of rebellions, wars and some hasty bureaucratic decisions. It is an overwhelming, intense portrayal of displaced regions and their boundaries. Of what was, what could have been, and what is now. The past and the present so deeply intertwined across borders, religion and humanity.

The research is immense and outstanding. And the style of narration, conversational. Small anecdotes about the people make the times come alive, lending an authenticity and real flavour to the book.

The secession of Burma makes up Chapters 2 and 3 of the book, providing details of Burma’s breakaway from the Indian Empire. Stories of princely accession to India, and its rebellion (Hyderabad and Kashmir), give an idea of the mammoth exercise undertaken by the Indian leaders to create the Indian banner.

Chapter 7 narrates the Partition of Indian and Pakistan and Lord Mountbatten’s hasty decisions on the date. Ironically, “But in June 1947, Partition was seen as a way to stop the violence. ‘We were tired men and were getting on in years, ‘Nehru later admitted. “The plan for Partition offered a way out and we took it.”

Displacements and rebellions mark the establishment of newer boundaries. “an astonishingly 1.2 million people would be displaced across the borders of Hyderabad, almost double those displaced in the Palestinian Nakba the same year.”

Newer geographies gave rise to newer resentments, such as the fostering unrest of North East India, which finds its roots in those days. The last Partition of Bangladesh from Pakistan marked the final shattering of the Indian empire.

Another irony. “And for a strange twelve months, Pakistan was the only democracy in the former Indian empire.” When India was under emergency, Bangladesh was under military rule, and Burma too.

“Shattered Lands” is a delightful visual prose, making the book an easy read, when it could have been a heavy historical treatise. The book scores on its heavy research and an inquisitive, insightful depiction of a significant past.

[Karan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unbiased, riveting, and the quintessential must-read to understand the context of the five partitions that shaped modern Asia, Sam Darlymple’s Shattered Lands is a monumental achievement in historical non-fiction. This is a book that transcends simple historical recounting, offering a panoramic yet intimate look at the forces that redrew maps and reordered lives across the continent.

Darlymple's work is superbly researched and masterfully drafted. He tackles the complex history of five major partitions—an ambitious scope—and demonstrates with clarity how these events ultimately led to the formation of twelve new countries. The author meticulously weaves together strands of geography, colonial legacy, and political motivations to explain why boundaries were drawn where they were, and the enduring effects of those decisions on modern Asian geopolitics.

What elevates Shattered Lands from a mere academic text is its powerful focus on the human stories. Darlymple skillfully punctuates his geopolitical analysis with beautifully narrated human accounts that reveal the devastating, personal cost of political division.
​These are the stories of millions of people displaced across arbitrary boundaries, of families permanently separated across multiple borders, and of lives brutally cut short. The raw testimonies transform abstract historical facts into palpable human tragedy, ensuring that the reader never forgets the suffering embedded in every treaty line and border crossing. This synthesis of grand strategy and individual experience is where the book truly shines and earns its 'must-read' status.

[Chaitra · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most anticipated book for me of the last few years, and it certainly lived up to all I hoped. Over the last year I’ve been on a personal journey to understand more about the history of South Asia, and particularly partition and Indian history. Sam Dalrymple’s first book has been a fantastic and informative study in so many ways. The narrative was easy to follow, despite complex events and range of time covered, I never struggled to keep up with the named individuals and their relevance in the back drop during the different events. The author did a great job of describing a thicker thread in chronological order, while weaving in relevant tangents that added depth and nuance. I had never even heard that there was a time when a greater South Asian federation had been proposed, and I can’t stop thinking about how different the subcontinent could have looked if this path had been successful. I was enthralled reading about the relationships that the most famous leaders of independence had with less well-known leaders in then Burma, and their views and vision for independence. Living in the present, it’s so difficult to imagine a different world, so I was so interested to learn about all the different routes that were on the table. Coming from a family who became British, but were originally from Mysore, I had always known the term “Princely State” but wasn’t aware of the lack of union of the other princely states in India, or what they went through to become part of the country. A wonderful read, and I already want to go back to start. Really looking forward to future works from Sam Dalrymple!

[Mohinder Pal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Five Partitions is ambitious in it's grand sweep across the British Empire, more specifically, the India Empire or the Raj.
Sam Dalrymple is a former film director,and he brings many cinematic techniques to this book. The narrative is Episodic than chronological, and unified by the over-arching theme of Partitions that Reshaped the Raj,into independent nation states.
However, one is left with the feeling that in some of the Five Partitions, it was more a case of Unwinding and Disintegration, than a well thought out Partition Plan.

Five Partitions.
Truly a tale of shattered lands, a fractured Indian Empire, and hasty decisions.

Chapter 7 narrates the Partition of Indian and Pakistan and Lord Mountbatten's hasty decisions on the date.
"But in June 1947, Partition was seen as a way to stop the violence. 'We were tired men and were getting on in years, 'Nehru later admitted. "The plan for Partition offered a way out and we took it."

Much food for thought.
And discussion.

But history is less about facts that happened,
And more about how it is told,
By whom,
And how it is recorded.

This book has a wealth of details, a sweeping perspective, and prose that sometimes soars into poetry.

Is it the last word ?
Most certainly not.
But it paints word pictures across a vast canvas, and rightly encapsulates the fractured map of the erstwhile Indian Empire as,

New Geographies that breed new conflicts.
Perhaps fertile material for a sequel to this book.

[മോസിൻ · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant work that offers a fresh point-of-view (for a popular history) on the 20th century formation of states from South Arabia to Myanmar.

We see this process as the disintegration of the British Raj, with the modern political map emerging from a sequence of fissures in this large region. Assuming that the connection among the peoples then living in different corners of this region was limited to trade or having the same colonial administrator would be a misconception, one that is shown to not be the case as we encounter "Indian nationalists" in Burma and Adenis being in awe of Gandhi.

In the end, what really strikes here is the common man's plight in each partition. The ones who lose their livelihoods and are uprooted from their lands. The ones who go from being a persecuted minority in their homelands to gaining new oppressors on the other side of a border. Sam Dalrymple does a good job in interspersing the core narrative with these stories as well; in fact, many of these personal stories were collected in private interviews by the author.

It's quite fascinating to see how connected the developments are across the region, much of it a consequence of people forging connections with various lands in the Raj. There is so much interesting information here, truly a great read.

[Akshat Upadhyay · Rating 2 out of 5]

God!!!!

If propaganda had a face, it would certainly resemble Sam Dalrymple. Having read almost all of Dalrymple Sr’s books, I can summarise that this bloke should move on to something else since serious history is not his forte.

The premise of the book’s cover is interesting: 5 partitions that shaped the Indian subcontinent. But when you take a closer look inside - all you find is this long yearning for the Good Ol Empire and a cliched representation of the ‘vile’ Hindus and the treacherous Congress. Almost all tropes have been applied here in copious amounts.

Take a look at what the author refers to Mr VP Menon as: chain smoking indentured labourer civil servant. This is not mentioned just once but driven home to the reader at least thrice in as many pages. Why this special treatment reserved for him? Since Mr Sam feels that Mr Menon was responsible for snatching away the ‘sovereign rights’ of the rajahs and the maharajahs and the sultans. There are much more such snippets that make this book feel more like an oral history project gone horribly wrong.

The Indian Army, Indian Government, Congress and its leaders are shown as devious crooks while the Muslim League and Mr Jinnah spout rainbows from (well you know from where).

A badly written book, undeserving of the fawning it’s received so far.