Mapping the states of India

Last week, we discussed the integration of the princely states with the Republic of India – a Herculean task indeed for it was like putting cheese and ...

Princely states in British India were accorded hierarchical significance through cannon salutes, depending upon their fealty to the crown

Building on the first part wherein dissatisfaction with ‘United Provinces’ was highlighted, this part shows how a new name came out of the blue, ruling out other considerations

The need for a new noun was felt as ‘United Provinces’ didn’t resonate with the identity of people and the profound metamorphosis of the state during the 1940s-50s

After changing many hands through the long passage of history, NCR in its new form remains a bustling centre of socio-economic and political life

Protest against the UP government’s reservation laws, though meant to counter political exclusion, finally transpired into a separate administrative unit

Against the backdrop of fading political support, dissatisfaction among locals grew to the extent of direct mass-scale intervention with a clear political and economic target

The demand for preservation of traditional rights over forest resources in the colonial period transpired into that for a separate administrative unit during independence

Chhattisgarh was finally carved out of MP with bipartisan consensus between BJP and Congress, preceded by the endeavours of diverse local outfits

Colonial encroachment of rights and resources partly united the forest locals in the historic region but concrete demand for a separate state could take shape only after Independence

Consent among leading parties capped the efforts of JMM and others to realise the formation of Jharkhand — though covering a narrower area

A series of agrarian and missionary uprisings were brought under a single roof by Jaipal Singh to realise the separate statehood for Jharkhand