On midnight of 15th August 1947, Britain handed India its formal political Independence. A short time after that, Gandhi, who was aging and ill, died from a bullet fired by a Hindu extremist named Nathuram Godse. The national leadership was then passed to his chief lieutenant, Jawaharlal Nehru. On 3rd June 1947, the Viceroy Lord Mountbatten announced partition of India into two countries: union of India, and an Islamic Pakistan. In this partition, many people died while others were separated from their families. On 26th January 1950, India adopted their constitution, the longest constitution in the world.