From Kerala’s “Kerala Piravi” to Karnataka’s “Rajyotsava”, and Andhra Pradesh’s Formation Day, large parts of India light up with parades, cultural events and public celebrations every year today, November 1. 

The occasion traces back to 1956, when the States Reorganisation Act came into effect, redrawing India’s internal boundaries largely along linguistic lines. 

The Act, which emerged as a pragmatic solution to cultural tensions and the consequences of British political administration, is now the foundation of the federal structure that defines India today.

Indian states pre-Independence

British India, which comprised modern-day India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Bhutan, was a patchwork of Provinces and Princely States. 

Following the Government of India Act of 1858, the Crown of England took administrative and political control over the Indian subcontinent from the East India Company, and divided British India into provinces. These provinces were administered by either a Governor, Lieutenant Governor, or a Chief Commissioner. 

Notable provinces included the Bengal Presidency, the Madras Presidency, the Bombay Presidency, Punjab, United Provinces of Agra and Oudh, British Baluchistan, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, and more. 

Indian princely states were semi-autonomous kingdoms in the Indian subcontinent that were nominally ruled by local monarchs, but functioned as vassal states for the British Empire. 

These included the Hyderabad State, the Baroda State, Gwalior, Jammu & Kashmir, the Kingdom of Mysore, the Travancore Kingdom, the Kingdom of Burma, and others. 

This dual arrangement resulted in a complex polity, with states divided not based on linguistic or ethno-religious lines, but based on administrative boundaries. 

For instance, constituents in the Travancore & Cochin Kingdoms, and the Malabar district in the Bombay Presidency, spoke Malayalam. Similarly, there were Telugu-speaking constituents in both the Madras Presidency, and the Hyderabad State. 

The arrangement served colonial interests, but ignored the cultural and linguistic diversity of India’s population.

Partition & national integration

At the time of Independence in 1947, the Indian Subcontinent had 17 Provinces and 562 Princely States. With the Partition of India and the creation of Pakistan resulting in mass deaths, communal riots, and widespread displacement, the newly created nation of India had another looming problem — the integration of the Princely States into India. 

Through political negotiation, persuasion, and occasional force, the then Home Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Secretary to the Government of India VP Menon led a remarkable campaign to unify these territories using Instruments of Accession.

While most princely rulers signed these documents, some resisted. Junagadh, Hyderabad, and Kashmir, in particular, became political flashpoints. These warranted tailored responses from the Government of India.

For instance, ‘Operation Polo’, a full-scale military and economic seige, was devised to annex Hyderabad from its obstinate Nizam, Mir Osman Ali Khan. Furthermore,  the Government of India promised military protection against invading tribal militias from Pakistan to Jammu & Kashmir’s Maharaja Hari Singh to get him to sign the Instrument of Accession.

By 1949, the vast majority of India’s territory had been integrated, with most princely states joining India or Pakistan, and the Kingdom Bhutan choosing to be a sovereign nation. 

The process was completed through annexations, mergers, and the formation of administrative units such as the United State of Travancore-Cochin and Patiala and East Punjab States Union (PEPSU).

Rise of linguistic states

While India was finally united politically, states still existed based on colonial administrative boundaries. There was a demand for states to be reorganised to reflect the linguistic and cultural realities of India. 

This demand would first be raised by the Telugu-speaking constituents in the State of Madras, who wanted a separate state for themselves. The death-by-fasting of freedom fighter Potti Sriramulu in 1952, led to widespread protests, and forced the government to create Andhra Pradesh, the first Indian state to be formed on linguistic lines, in 1953. 

This triggered similar demands across the country. Recognising the need for a systematic approach, the government set up the States Reorganisation Commission in 1953, headed by Justice Fazl Ali. Its recommendations led to the States Reorganisation Act of 1956, which came into effect on 1 November 1956.

The map of India would thus change dramatically: 

• Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema in Madras would be joined with the Hyderabad State to create Andhra Pradesh

• The Travancore-Cochin State would join the Malabar state to form Kerala 

• The Mysore State (later renamed Karnataka) was created, bringing together Kannada-speaking regions.

• The Bombay State expanded, later to be divided into Maharashtra and Gujarat in 1960.

• Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Punjab were reorganised, aligning more closely focussing on linguistic boundaries.

However, the newly-formed states did not remain as they did in 1956. Goa would gain recognition as a state from a union territory in 1987, and separatist movements in Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh would lead to the establishment of Jharkhand, and Chhattisgarh in 2000. 

In 2014, a decades-long agitation in Andhra Pradesh led to the formation of Telangana, India’s youngest state. 

While there’s no guarantee of whether India’s federal structure would remain the same as it is today, November 1 remains the symbolic day when the principle of linguistic self-determination was realised. It is a day to mark our varied cultures, yet shared history.