<Tr> <Td> <Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> </Td> </Tr> <Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> <P> The history of the Republic of India begins on 26 January 1950 . The country became an independent nation within the British Commonwealth on 15 August 1947 . Concurrently the Muslim - majority northwest and east of British India was separated into the Dominion of Pakistan, by the partition of India . The partition led to a population transfer of more than 10 million people between India and Pakistan and the death of about one million people . Indian National Congress leader Jawaharlal Nehru became the first Prime Minister of India, but the leader most associated with the independence struggle, Mahatma Gandhi, accepted no office . The new constitution of 1950 made India a secular and a democratic country . </P> <P> The nation faced religious violence, casteism, naxalism, terrorism and regional separatist insurgencies, especially in Jammu and Kashmir and northeastern India . India has unresolved territorial disputes with China, which in 1962 escalated into the Sino - Indian War, and with Pakistan, which resulted in wars in 1947, 1965, 1971 and 1999 . India was neutral in the Cold War, but purchased its military weapons from the Soviet Union, while its arch - foe Pakistan was closely tied to the United States and the People's Republic of China . </P>

When did the indian constitution come into being