How India's States Were Formed: From Princely States to Linguistic States and the Changing Map Since 1947
1 November is the foundation day of several states, because the States Reorganisation Act, 1956 came into force on 1 November 1956. A recent explainer looked back at how the Indian map has changed since 1947.
At independence, India was a patchwork of British-ruled provinces and more than 560 princely states (areas ruled by Indian kings under British overlordship). Almost all of them joined India by 1949–50.
In 1956, states were redrawn mainly on the basis of language. This created 14 states and 6 Union Territories.
Since then, Parliament has created many new states, from Gujarat and Maharashtra (1960) to Telangana (2014).
The last big change came in 2019, when the state of Jammu and Kashmir was turned into two Union Territories: Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh. Today India has 28 states and 8 Union Territories.
Integration of Princely States into India
When the British left in August 1947, India was not one neat country. About two-fifths of its land was made up of princely states: areas ruled by Indian kings (Maharajas, Nawabs, Nizams) who accepted British supremacy. There were more than 560 of them, from huge Hyderabad to tiny estates of a few villages. The integration of princely states is the story of how almost all of them joined the Indian Union within about two years, mostly peacefully, so that India became one political unit.
The first big change in India's map after 1947 was the joining of hundreds of princely states. Their unions (Part B states) were the starting point that the 1956 reorganisation later redrew. The 2019 change in Jammu and Kashmir also traces back to how that state joined India in 1947.
States Reorganisation Act, 1956 and the Fazl Ali Commission
The States Reorganisation Act, 1956 is the law that redrew India's internal map, mainly on the basis of language. It came into force on 1 November 1956 and created 14 states and 6 Union Territories. It was based on the report of the States Reorganisation Commission, often called the Fazl Ali Commission after its chairman. Together with the Seventh Constitutional Amendment of 1956, it gave India the basic shape of states we know today.
1 November is celebrated as foundation day by several states, such as Karnataka, Kerala and Madhya Pradesh, because the 1956 Act took effect on that date. The look back at India's changing map starts here, since this Act set the pattern that later changes followed.
Article 3 of the Constitution: Parliament's Power to Reorganise States
Article 3 gives Parliament the power to change the map of India's states. Using an ordinary law, Parliament can form a new state, enlarge or reduce the area of a state, change its boundaries or change its name. Every change since 1950, from the 1956 reorganisation to the 2019 Jammu and Kashmir change, used this power.
Article 3 is the legal tool behind every change to the Indian map that the explainer describes, which is why the Union is often called an "indestructible union of destructible states".
- Princely states at independence: more than 560
- States Reorganisation Act, 1956 in force: 1 November 1956 (14 states, 6 UTs)
- Fazl Ali Commission: appointed December 1953; report 30 September 1955 (16 states, 3 territories recommended)
- First linguistic state: Andhra State, 1 October 1953
- Maharashtra and Gujarat: 1 May 1960; Nagaland: 1963; Haryana: 1966; Sikkim: 1975 (36th Amendment)
- Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand: November 2000; Telangana: 2 June 2014
- Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh UTs: 31 October 2019
- Today: 28 states and 8 Union Territories
- Article 3 law: simple majority, President's recommendation, state's views not binding