The states of India are self-governing administrative divisions, each having a state government. The governing powers of the states are shared between the state government and the union government. On the other hand, the union territories are directly governed by the union government.[a]
History
1876–1919
The Indian Empire was a very complex political entity consisting of various imperial divisions and states and territories of varying autonomy. At the time of its establishment in 1876, it was made up of 584 constituent states and the directly ruled territories of the Crown. The entire empire was divided into provinces and agencies.
A province consisted of territory under the direct rule of the Emperor of India (who was also the King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions) and a few minor states, ruled by Indian princes under the suzerainty of the Emperor. A Governor or Lieutenant-Governor acted as the representative of the Emperor to that province and head of government of the directly ruled territories in the province. The governor or lieutenant-governor also served as the Emperor's representative to the constituent states of the province. The first three of the lieutenant-governorships were territories annexed to India from other powers and temporarily governed by the erstwhile Bengal Presidency before being made into their own separate provinces. Agra and Bengal were still considered de jure parts of the defunct Bengal Presidency for judicial and legal purposes. Agra was finally separated in 1878 and merged with Oudh. The Bengal Presidency was re-established in 1912 as a governorship. All these provinces had their own legislatures established by the Indian Councils Acts and high courts established by Indian High Courts Acts. Laws passed by these legislatures needed the dual assent of the governor or lieutenant-governor of the province and the governor-general of India who functioned as the representative of the Emperor.
There were three governor's provinces in 1912, styled "Presidencies" as a historical memento that they had been once governed by presidents. These were:
In addition to these, there were certain territories ruled directly by the Government of India through nominated chief commissioners. These were former independent states annexed to India and since ruled directly by the Supreme Government.
There were the three chief commissioner's provinces. These did not have a legislature or a high court. These were:
A vast majority of the Indian states in the late nineteenth century were, in terms of imperial divisions, organised within the provinces. However a good number of states were organised into imperial structures called agencies (or residencies). An Agent to the Governor-General (AGG) functioned as the Emperor's representative to all the states in the agency.
At the time of establishment of the empire, there were only two agencies:
In 1919, the fourth Government of India was enacted by the Crown. This saw many major changes. The legislatures of the provinces were made elected ones rather than nominated ones. Some provinces were given bicameral legislatures. All provinces were elevated to governorships and all lieutenant governors were made governors. Burma was given a special status and made an autonomous province.
There were ten governor's provinces now. These were:
The Chamber of Princes was established by Emperor George V in 1920. One the major consequences of this was the creation of many more agencies from the states of the provinces, thus granting them direct relations with the Emperor instead of with the Governors.
There were now 8 imperial agencies and residencies. These were:
This saw the separation of all the states from the provinces and addition to before-mentioned agencies. This left all the provinces with only territories under direct Crown rule.
Some states were with direct relations with the Emperor. These were:
The latter years of the Indian Empire saw the enactment of the last Government of India Act by the Crown. This act granted full autonomy to Indian provinces. Provincial laws no longer needed the assent of the governor-general. This act also created the office of a Premier in each province who functioned as the new head of government and was responsible to the provincial legislature. Bengal, Madras and Bombay which had been till now styled Presidencies, were now officially styled as provinces. The provinces of Orissa and Sind were created from Bihar and Bombay respectively. The Province of Burma which had previously functioned as an autonomous province of India was now separated from the Indian Empire and established as the Crown Colony of Burma.
Between 1947 and 1950 the territories of the princely states were politically integrated into the new Indian Union. Most were merged into existing provinces; others were organised into new provinces and states, such as Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Malwa Union, Baghelkhand and Bundelkhand States Union, and Patiala and East Punjab States Union, made up of multiple princely states; a few, including Mysore, Hyderabad, Bhopal, and Bilaspur, became separate states. The new Constitution of India, which came into force on 26 January 1950, made India a sovereign democratic republic. The new republic was also declared to be a "Union of States". The constitution of 1950 distinguished between three main types of states:[3]
Part A states, which were the former governors' provinces of India, were ruled by an elected governor and state legislature. The nine Part A states were:
The eight Part B states were former princely states or groups of princely states, governed by a rajpramukh, who was usually the ruler of a constituent state, and an elected legislature. The rajpramukh was appointed by the President of India. The Part B states were:
The ten Part C states included both the former chief commissioners' provinces and some princely states, and each was governed by a chief commissioner appointed by the President of India. The Part C states were:
Bombay State was split into the linguistic states of Gujarat and Maharashtra on 1 May 1960 by the Bombay Reorganisation Act.[10] The former Union Territory of Nagaland achieved statehood on 1 December 1963.[11] The Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966 resulted in the creation of Haryana on 1 November and the transfer of the northern districts of Punjab to Himachal Pradesh.[12] The act also designated Chandigarh as a union territory and the shared capital of Punjab and Haryana.[13]
Madras State was renamed Tamil Nadu in 1969. The north-eastern states of Manipur, Meghalaya and Tripura were formed on 21 January 1972.[14] Mysore State was renamed Karnataka in 1973. On 16 May 1975, Sikkim became the 22nd state of the Indian Union and the state's monarchy was abolished.[15] In 1987, Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram became states on 20 February, followed by Goa on 30 May, while erstwhile union territory of Goa, Daman and Diu's northern exclavesDamão and Diu became a separate union territory as Daman and Diu.[16]
In November 2000, three new states were created, namely:
Pondicherry was renamed Puducherry in 2007 and Orissa was renamed Odisha in 2011. Telangana was created on 2 June 2014 from ten former districts of north-western Andhra Pradesh.[21][22]
^Andhra Pradesh was divided into two states, Telangana and a residual Andhra Pradesh on 2 June 2014.[42][21]Hyderabad, located entirely within the borders of Telangana, is to serve as the capital for both states for a period of time not exceeding ten years.[43] The Government of Andhra Pradesh and the Andhra Pradesh Legislature completed the process of relocating to temporary facilities in the envisaged new capital city Amaravati in early 2017.[44]
^Bengali and Nepali are the official languages in the Darjeeling and Kurseong sub-divisions of the Darjeeling district.
Union territories
Former states and union territories
Former states
Former union territories
Responsibilities and authorities
The Constitution of India distributes the sovereign executive and legislative powers exercisable with respect to the territory of any state between the Union and that state.[62]
^Andhra State Act, 1953 (PDF). Parliament of India. 1953. Retrieved 15 October 2023.
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^"Nagaland History & Geography-Source". Government of India. Archived from the original on 7 July 2011. Retrieved 17 June 2013.
^Himachal Pradesh Tenth Five Year Plan (PDF) (Report). Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 May 2014. Retrieved 17 June 2013.
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^"Chhattisgarh state – History". Government of Chattisgarh. Archived from the original on 4 July 2010. Retrieved 17 June 2013.
^Chopra, Jasi Kiran (2 January 2007). "Uttaranchal is Uttarakhand, BJP cries foul". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 10 May 2013. Retrieved 22 January 2013.
^"About Us: Uttarakhand Government Portal, India". Government of Uttarakhand. 9 November 2000. Archived from the original on 13 May 2012. Retrieved 17 June 2013.
^ a bThe Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014 (PDF). Parliament of India. 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 January 2016. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
^"Telangana bill passed by upper house". The Times of India. 20 February 2014. Archived from the original on 15 April 2022. Retrieved 20 February 2014.
^Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Bill (No. XXIX of) 2019 (PDF). Parliament of India. 5 August 2019. Archived (PDF) from the original on 8 March 2021. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
^Dutta, Amrita Nayak (10 July 2019). "There will be one UT less as Modi govt plans to merge Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu". The Print. New Delhi. Archived from the original on 23 November 2021. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
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^The Dadra And Nagar Haveli And Daman And Diu (Merger Of Union Territories) Bill (PDF). Parliament of India. 2019. Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 February 2021. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
^List of states with Population, Sex Ratio and Literacy Census 2011 (Report). Census commissioner, Government of India. Archived from the original on 28 November 2018. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
^"Census 2011: Population in States and Union Territories of India". Jagran Josh. 14 October 2016. Archived from the original on 30 April 2023. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
^ a bReport of the Commissioner for linguistic minorities: 50th report (July 2012 to June 2013) (PDF) (Report). Commissioner for Linguistic Minorities, Ministry of Minority Affairs, Government of India. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 July 2016. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
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^Purkayastha, Biswa Kalyan (24 February 2024). "Assam recognises Manipuri as associate official language in four districts". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 15 September 2024.
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^Pratibha Chauhan (17 February 2019). "Bill to make Sanskrit second official language of HP passed". The Tribune. Shimla. Archived from the original on 18 February 2019. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
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^1977 Sikkim government gazette (PDF). Sikkim Legislative Assembly. p. 188. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 July 2018. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
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^"Jammu and Kashmir capital". Jammu and Kashmir Legal Services Authority. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
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^"Article 1". Constitution of India (PDF) (Report). Government of India. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
^Balwant Singh Malik (1998). "Territoriality of executive powers of states in India". Constitutional Law. Archived from the original on 31 December 2009. Article 73 broadly stated, provides that the executive power of the Union shall extend to the matters with respect to which Parliament has power to make laws. Article 162 similarly provides that the executive power of a State shall extend to the matters with respect to which the Legislature of a State has power to make laws. The Supreme Court has reiterated this position when it ruled in the Ramanaiah case that the executive power of the Union or of the State broadly speaking, is coextensive and coterminous with its respective legislative power
External links
Official Government of India website: States and Union Territories