Delhi riots in September 1947 send Muslims into refugee camps

In September 1947, weeks after India became independent and was partitioned, Delhi was engulfed by communal violence. The capital had received large numbers of Hindu and Sikh refugees from West Pakistan, many of them carrying accounts of killings and loss, and tensions in the city rose sharply.

Muslim residents of Delhi became targets of attacks. Thousands left their homes and sought safety in improvised refugee camps, notably at Purana Qila (the Old Fort) and Humayun's Tomb, both historic monuments that became crowded shelters. Some Muslims also left for Pakistan.

The unrest alarmed the new government under Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Home Minister Vallabhbhai Patel, who deployed forces to restore order. Mahatma Gandhi, who arrived in Delhi in early September, visited affected areas and camps and pressed for calm and for protecting Muslims.

The violence mattered because it showed that Partition's bloodshed had reached the capital itself. It shaped Gandhi's final months in Delhi, including his reluctance to join celebrations while communal harmony remained broken.