Indian States After Independence

As of 2021, India has 28 states and 9 union territories. On  31^st October 2019, the government of India has bifurcated the state Jammu & Kashmir into two separate union territories for its administrative convenience. The Indian constitution had some set of rules to form a new state and union territories. This entire article is about the division of states in India, the history behind the evolution of Indian states, and the formation of Indian states after independence with their year are explained below. 

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India Before Independence 

India got Independence on August 15 1947. Before that, India and Pakistan were united as a country and consisted of about 584 princely states. The princely states in India are also termed native states. Most of the parts were under the control of the British, and some parts of the princely states were indirectly ruled by the British and other subsidiary alliances. 

How Many States In India Were There In 1947? 

After the bifurcation of India and Pakistan, India has 565 princely states. Many leaders around India faced huge obstacles to create a strong India. Division of states in India is mainly based on language, culture, demography and many more. During India’s Independence, India had three types of states.  They are territories of British India, Princely states and the colonial territories of France and Portugal.

After Indian independence, 562 princely states agreed to join the Indian confederation. Hyderabad, Junagadh, Bhopal and Kashmir are refused the Indian confederation. Many freedom fighters made efforts to draw the map of the entire India. So, year by year, the boundary of Independent India has kept on changing.  After partition, Princely states in independent India had 14 states and 6 union territories. In 2014, some more states were formed and contained 29 states and 7 union territories.  In 2019, the Indian government has bifurcated the state of Jammu & Kashmir into two union territories Jammu & Kashmir and Ladhak. So, now India has 28 states and 9 union territories. 

Indian States Formation Dates

Uttar Pradesh And Uttarakhand 

Uttar Pradesh was one of the oldest states in India, which was formed on 26^th Jan 1950. Uttar Pradesh is popular for its powerful empires. The state of Uttar Pradesh was created by uniting the Oudh and Agra region with the capital of Lucknow. People in this region are using Hindi and Urdu languages. Due to administrative convenience, some districts of Uttar Pradesh were divided and created as a new state and named Uttranchal on 09^th November 2000. In 2007, Uttaranchal was renamed Uttarakhand. 

Bihar & Jharkhand

Bihar is also one of the oldest states in India.  This state was formed by British people on 22^nd March 1912. But it got its complete statehood on 26^th January 1950. In 2000, Bihar state was bifurcated into two states and named as Jharkhand and Bihar. The current capital of Bihar is Patna, and Ranchi is the capital of Jharkhand. 

Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland & Mizoram 

In 1826, Assam came into the British protectorate. In 1874, Assam was separated from West Bengal.  People in Assam entered into reforms against British rule. In 1950, Assam got full statehood status on 26^th January 1950. The capital of Assam was Dispur. On 21^st January 1972, Meghalaya was separated from Assam and created a new state with the capital Shillong. On 1^st December 1963, Nagaland was separated from Assam and created as a new state with the capital Kohima. Mizoram was created as a new state on 20^th February 1987 with the capital of Aizwal. 

Odisha 

On 01^st April 1936, Orissa was created as a separate province by the British government. It was created as a new state on 26^th January 1950. In 2011, Orissa was renamed as Odisha. 

Tamil Nadu 

On 26^th January 1950, the entire Madras presidency became the Indian state. In 1969, the Madras presidency was renamed Tamil Nadu. 

Andhra Pradesh & Telangana

On 01^st November 1956, Andhra Pradesh was created by separating the area from the state of Madras. On 02^nd June 2014, Andhra Pradesh was bifurcated into two states and named Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. 

Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh 

On 01^st November 1956, Madhya Pradesh got full statehood with the capital of Bhopal. Panna district in Madhya Pradesh was popular for diamond mining. On 01^st November 2000, the state was bifurcated and formed Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Naya Raipur was the capital of Chhattisgarh. 

Kerala 

On 01^st November 1956, the Former states of Travancore, Cochin, and Malabar were united to create the state of Kerala. The capital of Kerala is Thiruvananthapuram, and people in Kerala speak Malayalam. 

Karnataka

On 01^st November 1956, the Mysore state was formed by uniting all Kannada speaking people together. In 1973, the Mysore state was renamed Karnataka. The capital of Karnataka was Bengaluru. 

Maharashtra & Gujarat

Initially, Maharashtra and Gujarat were part of the state of Bombay province. On 01^st May 1960, the Bombay provinces were divided into two states Maharashtra and Gujarat. The capital city of Maharashtra is Mumbai and the capital city of Gujarat is Gandhinagar.  The official language of people in Gujarat is Gujarati. The official language of people in Maharashtra is Marathi. Gujarat is also famous for the Asiatic lion. 

Punjab And Haryana 

On 01^st November 1956, the state Punjab was created by merging Patiala princely state with eight other princely states. On 01^st November 1966, Punjab was bifurcated into two states and named Punjab and Haryana. Chandigarh was the joint capital of both Punjab and Haryana states. 

Himachal Pradesh 

The state of Himachal Pradesh was created by merging 30 princely states in 1950. In 1956, Himachal Pradesh was declared as a union territory. On 25^th January 1971, Himachal Pradesh got full statehood with the capital of Simla. People in Himachal Pradesh will use English and Hindi as official languages. 

Manipur 

After India’s Independence, Manipur became a Union territory state in 1956. Later, on 21^st January 1972, Manipur got the full statehood status with the capital of Imphal. The official language of Manipur is Meitei and English. 

Tripura 

Till 1972, Tripura was considered as the Union territory of India.  Tripura was bounded by Bangladesh on three sides. On 21^st January 1972, Tripura became an independent state with the capital of Agartala. 

Sikkim 

On 16^th May 1975, Sikkim was merged with the Indian union. It is a landlocked state and the second smallest state of India. Sikkim is popularly known as the organic state of India, and its capital was Gangtok. 

Goa

Goa was under the control of the Portuguese even after India’s Independence. In 1961, the Indian Army fought with the Portuguese and liberated Goa, Diu and Daman from the Portuguese. On 30^th May 1987, Goa got full statehood under India. 

Arunachal Pradesh 

In 1972, Arunachal Pradesh became the union territory of India. In 1987, Arunachal Pradesh got statehood with Itanagar as the capital. People from Arunachal Pradesh use English as their official language. Arunachal Pradesh was the 24^th state of India. 

Jammu and Kashmir 

In 1948, the king who ruled Jammu and Kashmir signed the "Instrument of Accession" to India and became part of India. In 1956, Jammu and Kashmir got complete statehood status from the government of India. On 31^st August 2019, Jammu and Kashmir lost their statehood states and became union territories. Also, it was bifurcated into two union territories, namely  Ladhak and Jammu & Kashmir. 

Here the complete list of the formation of Indian states after independence is explained in detail. The states in India are created mainly for administrative convenience. The formation of states in India is mainly based on their geographical location, the culture of people and many more.