Changes In The Political Map of India Since 1947

James Rennel, the leading British Geographer, constructed the first nearly accurate map of India and published “A Bengal Atlas (1779) and Memoir of a Map of Hindoostan (1782)”. Renell is responsible for producing the first accurate map of Bengal at one inch to 5 miles as well as accurate outlines of India and served as a Survey General of Bengal. He is also known as the “Father of Oceanography”. Read the article below to learn more about the changes of the Map of India from 1947.

What Are The Changes Made In The Political Map of India Since 1947?

India incorporates a total of 37 states and Union Territories. This includes constitutional changes brought up by the Government of India in August 2019. On October 31, 2019, the state of Jammu & Kashmir made an exit, and two Union Territories - UT of Jammu & Kashmir and UT of Ladakh came into existence, making a total of 28 states and 9 Union Territories.

The political Map of India in 1947 was quite different in comparison to the previous one. During British rule, India included provinces that were directly under the rule of the British Government and the princely states which were managed by the Local Kings. However, these local kings were inferior to the British rulers. 

Following the Independence of India in 1947, it became a tedious task for the newly formed Government to include all the Princely states in British rule. All the princely states were incorporated in the Indian Union between the years 1947 and 1950. Many of the former princely states either made new states or were attached with the retaining provinces of the country.

The state named Andhra Pradesh was introduced on October 1, 1953. On November 1, 1954, the Union Territories of Puducherry were established.

According to the State Reorganization Act in 1956, the states in India were arranged on a lingual basis. This made the creation of new states. The state of Andhra Pradesh was created by merging it with the Telugu-speaking area of Hyderabad states. The state Travancore was merged with the Malabar district of the Madras state to incorporate Kerala state. Patiala and East Punjab state Union have merged with the state Punjab. The state Madhya Pradesh was created with the merger of the Vindhya range, Bhopal State, and Madhya Pradesh Province.

The state Madras was renamed Tamil Naidu in 1968. The three states of Meghalaya, Manipur, and Tripura in the Northeast state were formed. The state Sikkim, an independent nation was merged with the Indian Union as the 22nd state on May 16, 1975. Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh were introduced as Indian states on February 20, 1987.  Goa which was previously a part of the U.T. of Goa, Daman, And Diu became a state on May 30 of the same year while Diu and Daman became a separate Union Territory.

The three states of Chattisgarh, Uttaranchal, and Jharkhand were created in November 2000. The state Chattisgarh was cut out from Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand from Bihar, and Uttaranchal from Uttar Pradesh. The state Uttaranchal was renamed Uttarakhand in 2007. On June 2, 2014, the state Telangana was cut from Andhra Pradesh. It includes 10 districts that were part of the undivided Andhra Pradesh’s North Western region.

Inclusion of Princely State In Indian Territory

British India was divided into British India Provinces and the Princely States. The British Indian Provinces were directly under the control of the British Government. On the other hand, several small and large states ruled by Princes, known as Princely states enjoyed independence over their internal affairs as long as they accepted British supremacy. This was called the supremacy of the British State. The Princely State covered one-third of the land area of the British Indian Empire and one out of the four Indians lived under the Princely rule.

Why Was The Inclusion of Princely State In Indian Territory Necessary?

The Britishers before Independence announced that with the end of their rule in India, the supremacy of British rule over India would also lapse. This implies that all the 565 states would legally become Independent. The British Government took this view that all these states were free to join either India or Pakistan or remain independent as they desire. This decision was not left to the people but the princely ruler of these states. This was a serious issue and could pressurize the existence of United India.

The issues started very soon. At first, the ruler of Travancore had announced that the state had decided on Independence. Similar announcements were made by the Nizam of Hyderabad. The rulers like Nawab of Bhopal were against joining the Constituent Assembly. This response made by the rulers of Princely States means that after Independence, there was a very real possibility that India could divide into several small countries. The possibility of democracy for the people of these states also looked gleamy. This was an unfamiliar situation, as the Indian Independence was aimed at self-determination, unity, as well as democracy. In most of these princely states, the government operated in a communal manner and the rulers were not willing to give democratic rights to their population.

Government Approach

The interim government took a firm decision against the possible division of India into small principalities of different sizes. 

The then India’s Deputy Minister and Home Minister Sardar Patel played a historic role in negotiating with the rulers of Princely States energetically and involving most of them into the Indian Union.

The Government approach was followed by the following three considerations:

1. Most of the people of Princely states became part of the Indian Union.

2. The government was well prepared to be flexible in issuing autonomy to few regions.

3. Thirdly, during the stage of partition, which spotlight the contest over demarcation over tertiary, the integration and consolidation of territorial boundaries of the nation had assumed supreme importance.

Before Independence, the peaceful consolidation had brought almost all the states whose territories were infectious to the new boundaries of India, into the Indian Union.

A document “ Instrument of Accession” was signed by the rulers of most of the states which means that their state agreed to become a part of the Union of India. Read below to know the princely states who joined the Indian territory.

List of The Inclusion of Princely State In Indian Territory

Following are some of the princely states included in the Indian Territory:

• Hyderabad State

• Jammu & Kashmir State

• Bhopal 

• Junagarh State

• Jodhpur State

Division of State On The Basis of Language

Indian civilization is a unique civilization. India is a nation of Linguistic diversities. Earlier, Sanskrit was considered the mother of all languages. But different languages have different dialects. After Independence, the Government felt the best way of division of state on the basis of language.

Earlier, the country was divided into A, B, and C categories. This was found undesirable and hence another category ‘D” was created. But people believed that this division of state on the basis of language negatively impacted the human right assured to all the citizens by the constitution.  

The Government of India was forced by public opinion for the division of state on a linguistic basis.  The communist in the Telegu area set up the slogan “ Andhra For Telugu”.  Similarly, people speaking Marathi, Gujarat, and Sikhs demanded a separate state for themselves.  In order to meet the demand of the public, states were reorganized on the basis of languages.

The Linguistic survey shows a list of 225 different languages. The primary language of India can be easily observed on the basis of the linguistic state. Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel, the then Home Minister, played a significant role in integrating the states into the Union of India. 

The division of state on the basis of Language occurred in 1956. At present, Hindi is observed as the national language. This has emerged several oppositions specifically in the Southern Part.

Although the Constituent Assembly accepted Hindi as the official language there was an elongated controversy.  Even at present,  Hindi is not very much accepted by the South Indians.

Internal Boundary Changes In Map Of India

Internal boundary changes in the map of India were made over the past seven decades. The State Reorganization Act 1956 was a major change of the internal boundary of Indian states and territories, arranging them along linguistic lines. Seventy-two years after India got independent, the country’s internal boundary continues to change, with the major announcement of the creation of two Union Territories by bisecting the state of Jammu and Kashmir. With this bifurcation, India has now two new Union Territories namely Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh state.