As found in Wikipedia, before Independence, regions of India were either directly ruled by the British or as Princely States ruled by local rajas. Independence in 1947 largely preserved these divisions. Following independence, instability soon arose in India. Many of the provinces as such did not reflect either the will of India's citizens or the ethnic divisions found throughout the subcontinent. Ethnic tensions spurred the Indian Parliament to reorganize the country along ethnic and linguistic lines in 1956 by means of the States Reorganisation Act.
After 1956,
> In 1960, Bombay State was split into the linguistic states of Gujarat and Maharashtra.
> In 1962, the former French and Portuguese colonies in India were incorporated into the Republic as the union territories of Pondicherry (later renamed as Puducherry), Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Goa and Daman & Diu.
> In 1963, Nagaland was made a state.
> In 1966, Punjab was divided along linguistic and religious lines, creating a new Hindu and Hindi-speaking state of Haryana, the northern districts of Punjab became Himachal Pradesh, and Chandigarh was designated, the shared capital of Punjab and Haryana, a union territory.
> In 1971, statehood was conferred upon Himachal Pradesh.
> In 1972, Manipur, Meghalaya and Tripura were conferred statehood.
> In 1975, the Kingdom of Sikkim joined the Indian Union as a state.
> In 1987, Arunachal Pradesh, Goa and Mizoram became states.
> In 1987 itself, northern exclaves of Daman and Diu became a separate union territory.
> In 2000, Chhattisgarh (out of Madhya Pradesh), Uttaranchal or Uttarakhand (out of Uttar Pradesh) and Jharkhand (out of Bihar) were created.
And now on 9th of December 2009, the Central Government gave the nod for a separate state of Telangana (to be separated from Andhra Pradesh) which, according to Economist, caused a wave of protests even bigger than the one it sought to calm.
I just wanted to go a little behind all these. I wanted to know as to how many other statehood aspirants are there. I wanted to know what actually is the reason behind similar demands. I investigated on internet as this is what I found out.
There are more than a dozen statehood aspirants:
1) Telangana: Telangana comprises the northern, non-coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh, and includes the state capital, Hyderabad. The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), which is currently the chief proponent of this demand.
2) Rayalaseema: Andhra Pradesh comprises of 3 divisions - Telangana, Rayalseema & Andhra.
3) Gorkhaland : Gorkhaland enjoys some measure of autonomy under the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council. Gorkha Janmukti Morcha is its chief proponent.
4) Kamtapur: In northern parts of West Bengal, the proposed state consists of the districts of Koch Behar, Jalpaiguri, and southern plains of Darjeeling including Siliguri city.
5) Bodoland: Per that agreement of February 10, 2003 between the Indian Government and Assam, the Bodoland Territorial Council, an entity subordinate to the government of Assam, was created to govern four districts covering 3082 Bodo-majority villages in Assam.
6) Vidarbha: Vidarbha comprises the Amravati and Nagpur divisions in eastern Maharashtra. After British conquests from Mughals and Marathas in central India, in 1953 "Nagpur Province" was formed with Nagpur as capital. Though State reorganization act 1956 recommended Vidarbha as state with Nagpur as capital, Maharashtra state was formed with Vidarbha as part of new state, under pressure from leaders of western Maharashtra.
7) Bundelkhand: It encompasses parts of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. Mayawati has recommended it.
8) Harit Pradesh: It comprises of the western districts of Uttar Pradesh. Mayawati has recommended it too, with Ajit Singh of RLD as its chief proponent.
9) Purvanchal: Purvanchal is a geographic region of north-central India, which comprises the eastern end of Uttar Pradesh state. It is bounded by Nepal to the north, Bihar state to the east, Bagelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh state to the south, the Awadh region of Uttar Pradesh to the west. Purvanchal comprises three divisions - Awadhi region in the west, Bhojpuri region in the east and the Baghelkhand region in the south. Purvanchal area is represented by 23 Members of Parliament to the lower house of Indian Parliament, and 117 legislators in the 403 member Uttar Pradesh state assebly or Vidhan Sabha. Mayawati has proposed to carve Purvanchal out of Uttar Pradesh.
10) Mithilanchal: It is for the Maithili speaking people of Bihar. Mailthili is an Indo-Aryan language with 45 million speakers. It has its own traditional script.
11) Seemanchal : Eastern districts of Bihar with Bhagalpur as its capital.
12) Union territory status for Jammu, Kashmir & Ladakh.
13) Kodagu: The demand for creation of a separate Kodava state, a region of Karnataka, is based on the region having a distinct culture.
14) Tulu Nadu: The demand for creation of a separate state of Tulu Nadu, a prosperous region of Karnataka and Kerala, is based on having a distinct culture and language (Tulu). Tuluvas are culturally very distinct from the rest of Karnataka.
15) Greater Nagaland: Comprising of Nagaland and the Naga dominated districts of nearby states. It also calls for independence from India.
Now the Indian Government is tinkering with the idea of setting of a second States Reorganisation Commission to settle the plethora of demands for new states.
Nitish Kumar, the CM of Bihar, has called for the unification of the eastern districts of Uttar Pradesh, state of Jharkhand with the state of Bihar.
After 1956,
> In 1960, Bombay State was split into the linguistic states of Gujarat and Maharashtra.
> In 1962, the former French and Portuguese colonies in India were incorporated into the Republic as the union territories of Pondicherry (later renamed as Puducherry), Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Goa and Daman & Diu.
> In 1963, Nagaland was made a state.
> In 1966, Punjab was divided along linguistic and religious lines, creating a new Hindu and Hindi-speaking state of Haryana, the northern districts of Punjab became Himachal Pradesh, and Chandigarh was designated, the shared capital of Punjab and Haryana, a union territory.
> In 1971, statehood was conferred upon Himachal Pradesh.
> In 1972, Manipur, Meghalaya and Tripura were conferred statehood.
> In 1975, the Kingdom of Sikkim joined the Indian Union as a state.
> In 1987, Arunachal Pradesh, Goa and Mizoram became states.
> In 1987 itself, northern exclaves of Daman and Diu became a separate union territory.
> In 2000, Chhattisgarh (out of Madhya Pradesh), Uttaranchal or Uttarakhand (out of Uttar Pradesh) and Jharkhand (out of Bihar) were created.
And now on 9th of December 2009, the Central Government gave the nod for a separate state of Telangana (to be separated from Andhra Pradesh) which, according to Economist, caused a wave of protests even bigger than the one it sought to calm.
I just wanted to go a little behind all these. I wanted to know as to how many other statehood aspirants are there. I wanted to know what actually is the reason behind similar demands. I investigated on internet as this is what I found out.
There are more than a dozen statehood aspirants:
1) Telangana: Telangana comprises the northern, non-coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh, and includes the state capital, Hyderabad. The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), which is currently the chief proponent of this demand.
2) Rayalaseema: Andhra Pradesh comprises of 3 divisions - Telangana, Rayalseema & Andhra.
3) Gorkhaland : Gorkhaland enjoys some measure of autonomy under the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council. Gorkha Janmukti Morcha is its chief proponent.
4) Kamtapur: In northern parts of West Bengal, the proposed state consists of the districts of Koch Behar, Jalpaiguri, and southern plains of Darjeeling including Siliguri city.
5) Bodoland: Per that agreement of February 10, 2003 between the Indian Government and Assam, the Bodoland Territorial Council, an entity subordinate to the government of Assam, was created to govern four districts covering 3082 Bodo-majority villages in Assam.
6) Vidarbha: Vidarbha comprises the Amravati and Nagpur divisions in eastern Maharashtra. After British conquests from Mughals and Marathas in central India, in 1953 "Nagpur Province" was formed with Nagpur as capital. Though State reorganization act 1956 recommended Vidarbha as state with Nagpur as capital, Maharashtra state was formed with Vidarbha as part of new state, under pressure from leaders of western Maharashtra.
7) Bundelkhand: It encompasses parts of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. Mayawati has recommended it.
8) Harit Pradesh: It comprises of the western districts of Uttar Pradesh. Mayawati has recommended it too, with Ajit Singh of RLD as its chief proponent.
9) Purvanchal: Purvanchal is a geographic region of north-central India, which comprises the eastern end of Uttar Pradesh state. It is bounded by Nepal to the north, Bihar state to the east, Bagelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh state to the south, the Awadh region of Uttar Pradesh to the west. Purvanchal comprises three divisions - Awadhi region in the west, Bhojpuri region in the east and the Baghelkhand region in the south. Purvanchal area is represented by 23 Members of Parliament to the lower house of Indian Parliament, and 117 legislators in the 403 member Uttar Pradesh state assebly or Vidhan Sabha. Mayawati has proposed to carve Purvanchal out of Uttar Pradesh.
10) Mithilanchal: It is for the Maithili speaking people of Bihar. Mailthili is an Indo-Aryan language with 45 million speakers. It has its own traditional script.
11) Seemanchal : Eastern districts of Bihar with Bhagalpur as its capital.
12) Union territory status for Jammu, Kashmir & Ladakh.
13) Kodagu: The demand for creation of a separate Kodava state, a region of Karnataka, is based on the region having a distinct culture.
14) Tulu Nadu: The demand for creation of a separate state of Tulu Nadu, a prosperous region of Karnataka and Kerala, is based on having a distinct culture and language (Tulu). Tuluvas are culturally very distinct from the rest of Karnataka.
15) Greater Nagaland: Comprising of Nagaland and the Naga dominated districts of nearby states. It also calls for independence from India.
Now the Indian Government is tinkering with the idea of setting of a second States Reorganisation Commission to settle the plethora of demands for new states.
Nitish Kumar, the CM of Bihar, has called for the unification of the eastern districts of Uttar Pradesh, state of Jharkhand with the state of Bihar.
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