| Part of a series on the | |
| History of Modern India | |
| Pre-Independence | |
| British Raj (1858–1947) | |
| Indian independence movement (1857–1947) | |
| Partition of India (1947) | |
| Post-Independence | |
| Political integration of India (1947–49) | |
| States Reorganisation Act (1956) | |
| Non-Aligned Movement (1956– ) | |
| Green Revolution (1970s) | |
| Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 | |
| Emergency (1975–77) | |
| 1990s in India | |
| Economic liberalisation in India | |
| 2000s in India | |
| See also | |
| History of India | |
| History of South Asia | |
The States Reorganisation Act of 1956 was a major reform of the boundaries of India's states and territories, organising them along linguistic lines.
Although additional changes to India's state boundaries have been made since 1956, the States Reorganisation Act of 1956 remains the single most extensive change in state boundaries since the independence of India in 1947.
The Act came into effect at the same time as the Constitution (Seventh Amendment) Act, 1956, which (amongst other things) restructured the constitutional framework for India's existing states.
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The British Indian Empire, which included present-day India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, was divided into two types of territories: the Provinces of British India, which were governed directly by British officials responsible to the Governor-General of India; and princely states, under the rule of local hereditary rulers who recognised British suzerainty in return for local autonomy, in most cases as established by treaty. As a result of the reforms of the early 20th century, most of the British provinces had directly-elected legislatures as well as governors, although some of the smaller provinces were governed by a chief commissioner appointed by the Governor-General. Major reforms put forward by the British in the 1930s also recognised the principle of federalism, which was carried forward into the governance of independent India.
On 15 August 1947, British India was granted independence as the separate dominions of India and Pakistan. The British dissolved their treaty relations with more than five hundred princely states, who were encouraged to accede to either India or Pakistan, while under no compulsion to do so. Most of the states acceded to India, and a few to Pakistan. Bhutan and Hyderabad opted for independence, although the armed intervention of India conquered Hyderabad and brought it into the Indian Union.
Between 1947 and about 1950, the territories of the princely states were politically integrated into the Indian Union. Most were merged into existing provinces; others were organised into new provinces, such as Rajputana, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Bharat, and Vindhya Pradesh, made up of multiple princely states; a few, including Mysore, Hyderabad, Bhopal, and Bilaspur, became separate provinces. The Government of India Act 1935 remained the constitutional law of India pending adoption of a new Constitution.
The new Constitution of India, which came into force on 26 January 1950, made India a sovereign democratic republic. The new republic was also declared to be a "Union of States".[1] The constitution of 1950 distinguished between three main types of states:
The sole Part D state was the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, which were administered by a lieutenant governor appointed by the central government.
Political movements for the creation of new, linguistic-based states developed around India in the years after independence. The movement to create a Telugu-speaking state out of the northern portion of Madras State gathered strength in the years after independence, and in 1953, the 16 northern, Telugu-speaking districts of Madras State became the new State of Andhra.
Other small changes were made to state boundaries during the 1950-1956 period. The small state of Bilaspur was merged with Himachal Pradesh on 1 July 1954, and Chandernagore, a former enclave of French India, was incorporated into West Bengal in 1955.
In December 1953, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru appointed the States Reorganisation Commission to prepare for the creation of states on linguistic lines. This was headed by Justice Fazal Ali and the commission itself was also known as the Fazal Ali Commission. The efforts of this commission were overseen by Govind Ballabh Pant, who served as Home Minister from December 1954. The commission created a report in 1955 recommending the reorganisation of India's states.
The States Reorganisation Act was enacted on 31 August 1956. Before it came into effect on 1 November, an important amendment to the Constitution was also enacted; this amendment (the Seventh) was timed to come into force on the same day.
Under the Seventh Amendment, the existing distinction between Part A, Part B, Part C, and Part D states was abolished. The distinction between Part A and Part B states was removed, becoming known simply as "states". A new type of entity, the union territory, replaced the classification as a Part C or Part D state.
A further Act also came into effect on 1 November, transferring territories from Bihar to West Bengal.[2]
The following list sets out the states and union territories of India as reorganised on 1 November 1956: