State Formation in India: Formation of States in India in Chronological Order, 28 States

State Formation in India

State Formation in India was the reorganisation of States on a linguistic basis, development basis, and administrative convenience. In 1960, following the violence and agitation, the state of Bombay was divided to form Gujarat and Maharashtra. In 1963, the state of Nagaland was created for the Nagas. It was meant to protect their culture and ethnicity. However, the division was also done based on geographical reasons.

State Formation in India UPSC Notes

The regions under France and Portugal colonies, namely-Chandernagore, Mahe, Yaman, Karaikal, Goa, Dam, and Diu, were either made to join with neighboring states or union territories once they joined with India.

• Punjab reorganization act was passed in 1966. According to this, the state of Punjabi-speaking areas was made Haryana, and the hilly regions joined with Himachal Pradesh. In addition, Chandigarh was made to serve as the joint capital for Punjab and Haryana.
• On December 18, 1970, the Himachal Pradesh state act was passed, and by January 25, 1971, Himachal Pradesh became the 18th state of India.
• On January 21, 1972, Tripura, Meghalaya, and Manipur became states under the North Eastern region reorganization act of 1971.
• On May 15, 1975, Sikkim acquired the status of state and became the 22nd state of India.
• As per the statehood act of 1986, Mizoram became the 23rd state on February 20, 1987.
• In 1987, Arunachal Pradesh acquired the status of state.
• On May 30, 1987, Goa attained statehood.
• Under the Bihar reorganization act, Jharkhand was formed on November 15, 2000.
• The Madhya Pradesh reorganization act enabled the formation of Chhattisgarh on November 1, 2000.
• By November 9, 2000, Uttaranchal became the 27th state of India.
• Telangana became the 29th Indian state on June 2, 2014, under the Andhra Pradesh reorganization act.

Formation Dates of Indian States

Below is the complete list of the State Formation In India after independence, along with the dates. Also, go through the States of India and their Capitals to understand the total number of Indian States and their states as per 2022.

Chronological Order of Formation of Indian States
State Formation in India Year Wise	Indian State Formation Year	Details
Punjab	1947	Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966
Assam	1950	Originally known as the Ahom Kingdom was a part of the Kamarupa Kingdom. It was reorganized as the North-East Frontier Province in 1874, then Eastern Bengal and Assam in 1905. In 1912, Assam Province was formed before becoming a state in 1950.
Bihar	1950	Originally was Bihar and Orissa Province. In 1936, Bihar Province was formed, leading to statehood in 1950.
Odisha	1950	Founded as Orissa Province in 1936, achieved statehood in 1950, and was renamed Odisha on 1st November 2011.
West Bengal	1950	Was a part of the Bengal Province
Himachal Pradesh	1971	In 1950, Himachal Pradesh was a Part C State and became a state in 1971. Himachal Pradesh Union Territory was formed in 1956 before statehood.
Rajasthan	30 March 1949	It was known as the Rajputana agency – the princely state
Uttar Pradesh	24 January 1950	United Provinces of Agra and Oudh was created in 1937, and later UP State was formed in 1950.
Madhya Pradesh	1 November 1950	Achieved statehood in 1950
Andhra Pradesh	1 November 1953	Andhra Pradesh was a part of Hyderabad and Andhra State. States Reorganisation Act of 1956 formed the new state.
Karnataka	1 November 1956	Founded by the States Reorganisation Act, 1956 as Mysore State, renamed Karnataka in 1973
Kerala	1 November 1956	Founded by the States Reorganisation Act, 1956
Tamil Nadu	1 November 1956	Founded by the States Reorganisation Act, 1956 as Madras State, renamed Tamil Nadu in 1969
Gujarat	1 May 1960	Bombay Reorganisation Act, 1960
Maharashtra	1 May 1960	Founded by the Bombay Reorganization Act, 1960.
Nagaland	1 December 1963	Founded by the State of Nagaland Act, 1962
Haryana	1 November 1966	Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966
Manipur	21 January 1972	Founded by the North-Eastern Areas (Reorganisation) Act, 1971
Meghalaya	21 January 1972	Founded by the North-Eastern Areas (Reorganisation) Act, 1971
Tripura	21 January 1972	Founded by the North-Eastern Areas (Reorganisation) Act, 1971
Sikkim	16 May 1975	36th Amendment of the Constitution of India in 1975
Arunachal Pradesh	20 February 1987	North-Eastern Areas (Reorganisation) Act, 1971 created a UT and later was given a state status by State of Arunachal Pradesh Act, 1986
Mizoram	20 February 1987	Created as a Union Territory by the North-Eastern Areas (Reorganisation) Act, 1971. Converted to a state by the State of Mizoram Act, 1986
Goa	30 May 1987	State of Goa Act, 1986
Chhattisgarh	1 November 2000	Madhya Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2000
Uttarakhand	9 November 2000	Founded by the Uttar Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2000 as Uttaranchal, renamed Uttarakhand in 2007.
Jharkhand	15 November 2000	Bihar Reorganisation Act, 2000. Earlier, it was a part of Bihar
Telangana	2 June 2014	Founded by the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014

Formation of States in India on Linguistic Grounds

Several attempts were made and rejected to form States in India based on linguistic grounds. Two distinct bodies were set up to evaluate the requirements for the division and State formation in India based on the languages of the folks.

Formation of States Dhar Commission – Linguistic Provinces Commission

On June 17, 1948, the linguistic province’s commission was set by the constituent assembly to look into the need to form states on a linguistic basis. S. K. Dhar, the judge of Allahabad High Court, was appointed as the head. On December 10, 1948, the commission submitted a report.

The Dhar Commission rejected the idea of reorganization based on language and suggested it be done based on administrative convenience, including historical and geographical considerations.

India State Formation JVP Committee

By December 1948, the JVP Committee was formed to re-examine the need for reorganising Indian states on a linguistic basis and study the recommendations of the Dhar Commission. The committee consisted of Jawaharlal Nehru, Vallabhbhai Patel, and Pattabhi Sitaramayya. The committee submitted its report in April 1949, according to which the plan of division based on language got rejected.

Linguistic State Formation in India

As the government dissolved the plan for State formation in India based on linguistic division, there were protests in several regions. The Kannada, Malayalam, and Marathi-speaking people wanted their state. Over time the agitation got intense. The most vigorous protest came from that of the Telugu-speaking people from the region, which was back then the Madras Presidency.

During the 1952 general election propaganda, the people of this region showed their disagreement with Nehru with black flags and raised the demand for a separate state of Andhra for the Telugu-speaking people.

The Hunger Strike: By October, an individual named Potti Sriramalu, a veteran Gandhian, went on a hunger strike seeking a separate state of Andra for the Telugu speakers. The strike went on for 58 days. More people gathered for support, and there were protests in various towns.

Finally, on December 15, 1952, Potti Sriramalu faced death due to a hunger strike. Unable to control the widespread protest, the government was forced to accept their demand. The state of Andhra Pradesh was formed on October 1, 1953. It was the first state to be included on a Linguistic basis.

Reorganization Commission for State Formation in India

With the formation of the linguistic state of Andhra Pradesh, there were similar demands for state formation in India based on language. By December 1953, Jawaharlal Nehru formed the States Reorganization Commission (SRC) to study the new demands. The commission consisted of Fazil Ali, H.N. Kunzru, and K.M. Panikkar.

The commission submitted its report by 1955. Its main idea was to protect unity, integrity, linguistic and cultural homogeneity, and financial, economic, and administrative viability. Based on its report, it came up with a recommendation of dividing the country into 16 states and three centrally administered areas.

States Reorganization Act, 1956

The government didn’t agree with the recommendation of the state reorganization commission to divide the country into 14 states and six union territories under the States Reorganization Act, 1956. According to this act, the boundaries of Indian states and territories were organized on linguistic lines. The states formed under States Reorganization Act were:

1. Andhra Pradesh
2. Assam
3. Bihar
4. Bombay
5. Jammu and Kashmir
6. Kerala
7. Madhya Pradesh
8. Madras
9. Mysore
10. Orissa
11. Punjab
12. Rajasthan
13. Uttar Pradesh
14. West Bengal

The union territories formed under States Reorganization Act were:

1. Andaman and Nicobar Islands
2. Delhi
3. Himachal Pradesh
4. Laccadive
5. Minicoy
6. Amindivi Islands
7. Manipur
8. Tripura

Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act

Until 2019 Jammu and Kashmir exercised special powers under Article 35A. It empowered the state’s legislature to define permanent residents of the state and enable them to exercise extraordinary powers and privileges. In addition, the state has its constitution and separate land inheritance law. On August 5, 2019, the Minister of Home Affairs, Amit Shah, introduced the Jammu and Kashmir reorganization bill in the Rajya Sabha.

As a result, Article 370, including Article 35A, got revoked. Further, the bill aimed at reorganizing the state of Jammu and Kashmir into the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir (with assembly) and the union territory of Ladakh (without assembly).

The major takeaways after Article 370 revoke are:

• No dual citizenship
• Central law can directly apply
• No separate laws
• Indian citizens from other states can buy land and property
• No two flags
• An election every five years
• The center can declare a financial emergency under Article 360
• The center will manage police

Read:

• Why was Article 370 removed?
• Number of States in India after the Abolition of Article 370

Challenges in State Formation in India

Prime Minister Nehru and Deputy Prime Minister Vallabhbhai Patel were against forming linguistic states. It was evident that during the freedom struggle, the most influential parties of the time – the Indian National Congress in 1920, had promised the formation of provinces on a linguistic basis right after independence. But later, the party’s ideas changed; they were against the formation of the linguistic state.

The change in the decision was mainly due to the communal riots that broke out during the post-colonial period. Freedom came along with partition, which caused lots of bloodshed. The entire country was divided into two parts based on religion. There was forced displacement, and many crimes were committed, killing millions of people.

• This created distress in the minds of people. Nehru and Vallabhbhai Patel feared that the linguistic formation of states would once again cause a division among people.
• They perceived linguistic states as obstacles that would divide people.
• So they wanted to promote the idea of nationalism to have everyone united and reject any place that would bring about division.

Union Territories of India Formation Date

Go through the timeline for how union territories (UTs) in India were formed along with their foundation dates. There are a total of 8 union territories in 2023, the first one was Puducherry (formed in 1954), and the last one was Dadra and Nagar Haveli, and Daman and Diu were added to the list in 2020.

Indian Union Territories	Formation Dates of Indian Union Territories	Foundation
Puducherry	1 November 1954	Achieved union territory status in 1962, renamed Puducherry in 2007
Andaman and Nicobar Islands	1 November 1956	States Reorganisation Act, 1956
Delhi	1 November 1956	States Reorganisation Act, 1956
Lakshadweep	1 November 1956	States Reorganisation Act, 1956
Chandigarh	1 November 1966	Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966
Jammu and Kashmir	31 October 2019	Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019
Ladakh	31 October 2019	Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019
Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu	26 January 2020	Founded by the Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu (Merger of Union Territories) Act, 2019

State Formation in India UPSC

State formation in India describes the chronological order of the formation of Indian states after independence. India had more than 500 provinces and princely kingdoms at the time of independence and the partition came with independence. It comes under the Indian History Syllabus of UPSC, which contains information about the history of states and union territories formation in India, the state reorganization act, and the former special status of Jammu and Kashmir (revoke of Article 370).

Aspirants need to cover all the information related to this topic as per its relevance to the UPSC syllabus and must revise its crucial points regularly. To understand the topic from the basic level, you can refer to the NCERT Books for UPSC.

State Formation in India Sample Questions

Question: How many states and union territories were formed under the reorganization act 1956? (1) 15 states and six union territories, (2) 14 states and six union territories, (3) 15 states and five union territories, (4) 17 states and seven union territories
Answer: 14 states and six union territories

Question: Consider the following State: (1) Manipur, (2) Nagaland, (3) Sikkim, (4) Goa. Arrange the States in chronological order in terms of their formation years after 1956. (a) 3-1-4-2, (b) 2-1-3-4, (c) 2-3-1-4, (d) 1-2-3-4, (e) None of the above/More than one of the above
Answer: 2-1-3-4

Question: Which one of the following States was formed in the year 1987? (a) Nagaland, (b) Mizoram, (c) Meghalaya, (d) Manipur
Answer: Mizoram

Question: In which year was the first Indian state recognized on linguistic basis? (a) 1950, (b) 1951, (c) 1953, (d) 1956
Answer: 1953

Question: Arrange in appropriate order (formation of the States): (a) Mizoram, (b) Nagaland, (c) Meghalaya, (d) Maharashtra. (1) d, b, a, c; (2) c, d, b, a; (3) d, b, c, a; (4) a, d, b, c
Answer: d, b, c, a

UPSC Notes
India China Relations	Missiles in India
Press Information Bureau	Competition Commission of India
Non Tax Revenue	New Economic Policy 1991
Economic Growth And Development Upsc	Genetic Engineering
Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act	Marginal Standing Facility Rate
Mountain Passes in India	Right Against Exploitation
Article 370	Article 12