When we think of partition, two cities often dominate the conversation: Delhi and Lahore. They were the epicenters of chaos, migration, and political maneuvering, and their stories are immortalised in history books and films alike. But the reality of 1947 stretched far beyond these two capitals.

Across the Indian subcontinent, lesser-known towns and villages bore the weight of displacement, violence, and shattered identities, their stories often fading into the margins of history.

These were the places where trainloads of desperate and broken refugees arrived. These towns were also where homes were abandoned overnight, their walls echoing with the lives they once held. Generations of people were uprooted, forced to start over in unfamiliar lands. Yet, these towns and their tragedies rarely find space in our cinematic retellings of partition.

Today, we’re shining a light on those forgotten cities. Places that witnessed the greatest migration in human history but remain absent from the screen.

1. Gujranwala

In the summer of 1947, the industrial city of Gujranwala, now in Pakistan, became a battleground of communal violence. The once-thriving Hindu and Sikh populations were targeted in brutal attacks, forcing them to flee in the dead of night. The city, known for its bustling bazaars and factories, was reduced to a landscape of smoldering homes and looted shops.

Despite its significance, Gujranwala has barely been acknowledged in partition films. Although the city suffered immense loss, it remains confined to scattered footnotes in historical books.

2. Sialkot

Partition was not just about physical displacement; it was also about the erasure of cultural legacies. Sialkot, once a thriving literary and intellectual hub, saw its entire Hindu and Sikh populations vanish overnight. Among those forced to leave was the legendary poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz, who wrote extensively about the heartbreak of exile and the pain of separation.

Despite its deep emotional and historical significance, Sialkot rarely features in partition films. The stories of its lost poets, displaced intellectuals, and fractured communities remain largely untold.

3. Amritsar

Unlike other cities on this list, Amritsar does feature prominently in partition history but mainly as a transit point, a station where refugees arrived, broken and bloodied, before moving elsewhere. What’s often overlooked is how deeply Amritsar itself was affected. Of course, we’re all aware of the tragedies that Amritsar suffered, but the pain runs deeper than that.

The city was at the very edge of the newly drawn border, its streets running red with communal violence. Trains arrived packed with corpses. Families huddled in makeshift camps, not knowing where they would end up. Amritsar wasn’t just a witness to partition, it was its frontline.

Yet, in most films, it serves as a backdrop rather than the central narrative. The stories of those who stayed and fought for survival in Amritsar remain, unfortunately, covered in the shadows.

4. Rawalpindi

Before partition, Rawalpindi was home to a vibrant Sikh community, deeply woven into the city’s fabric. But as political tensions erupted, this peaceful coexistence unraveled. March 1947 saw an outbreak of violence so severe that Sikhs and Hindus were forced to abandon their ancestral homes, seeking refuge across the border in India.

In films about partition, the focus is often on Punjab as a whole, but rarely does Rawalpindi; one of the first cities to experience large-scale violence, get its due. Its story remains buried beneath broader narratives, despite the thousands who were displaced from its soil.

5. Alwar & Bharatpur

While partition’s violence is often associated with Punjab and Bengal, the princely states of Alwar and Bharatpur in Rajasthan saw one of the most brutal, yet least discussed, episodes of 1947. Here, the Meo Muslim community was targeted in mass killings, forcing entire populations to flee.

Unlike cities like Delhi or Lahore, which had media and political attention, these princely states had no one to document their horrors. No films, no books, no major public accounts. Their stories remain locked in the memories of survivors, waiting to be acknowledged.

Why Haven’t These Stories Been Told?

Partition films have traditionally focused on major metropolitan centers; Delhi, Lahore, and sometimes Kolkata, because these were the places where history was “written.” Political speeches were made here, national borders were decided here, and power changed hands here.

But the real cost of partition was felt elsewhere. In small towns where people didn’t have the means to flee by train or plane. In villages where families disappeared overnight. In cities where once-thriving communities were wiped off the map.

Cinema has the power to unearth forgotten histories, to tell the stories that textbooks often neglect. It’s time for filmmakers to look beyond the well-known narratives and shine a light on the places that history left behind.

Giving the Forgotten a Voice

Partition was not just a political event; it was a human tragedy that stretched across borders, affecting people in ways we still struggle to comprehend. Cities like Gujranwala, Rawalpindi, Sialkot, Amritsar, Alwar, and Bharatpur carry scars that have yet to be fully acknowledged in mainstream storytelling.

It’s not too late to change that.

Films like The Delhi Files are beginning to push the boundaries, exploring the lesser-told stories of 1947. But there is still so much left unsaid, so many voices waiting to be heard.

Because partition didn’t just happen in Delhi and Lahore. It happened everywhere. And every place, every person, every story deserves to be remembered.