Abstract
Dr Sanjiv Chopra, a distinguished civil servant, former Director, Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie, a role model for the Civil Services with over 35 years of experience in the government, has written a remarkable history of India’s unification, mining vast historical records to provide an animated and gripping account of modern India’s cartography. The Nation’s ability to negotiate its political and administrative boundaries with its citizens is depicted in the fact that nine provinces of the Dominion of India as well as 562 Princely States that existed in August 1947 are not reflected on the map in 2023. Most of the restructuring in the internal boundaries is marked by aspirations, assertions and adjustments of linguistic and ethnic groups seeking their place in the States and the Federal polity.
Dr Sanjiv Chopra’s book has been endorsed by fourteen eminent personalities, most of them being authors, with each one of them acknowledging the scholarly work, brilliant exposition and painstaking analysis. The book covers the period 1947 to 2019. Professor Makrand R. Pranjape says ‘maps reflect and influence how a Nation regards itself and the book is original, unique, even unprecedented in reimagining of post-independence India through its changing maps, looking especially at State formation and changing contours of Indian federalism’. The focus of the book is on boundaries of States and nomenclatures, each of which is impacted by politics and personalities. The lessons from this study are that language is a force that brings people together, there is a considerable difference in the way pan-India parties and regional parties looked at issues. Political parties changed their perspectives with time and every story has multiple perspectives.
The book has eighteen chapters, each one dealing with a changing map and administrative boundaries. The first Hindi map of Independent India included Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand were created to meet the aspirations of sub-regions, prior to which Haryana (1966) and Himachal Pradesh (1971) were carved out as Hindi-speaking States out from Punjab. The appearance of China and the disappearance of Tibet in 1956 and the reappearance of Tibet in 1959 are discussed. 1952 witnessed linguistic agitations in several parts of the country, which resulted in the announcement of the States’ Reorganisation Commission (SRC). The year 1956 marked the foundational map of India with the origin of the linguistic States and the obliteration of Princely States and British Indian provinces. 1961 was marked by the integration of foreign territories of Goa, Daman and Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, and 1963 was marked by the creation of Nagaland and dismemberment of Assam. 1975 was marked by the merger of Sikkim, 2000 marked the statehood of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Uttaranchal and 2014 marked the acceptance of the demand for Telangana. 2019 marked the creation of the Union Territories of Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir.
The chapter ‘Riyasat-e-Jammu wa Kashmir was Ladakh wa Tibet Ha’ is rich with historical narrations of the region, with greatest focus on the Kashmir valley and other regions including Jammu, Ladakh, Chitral, Gilgit, Baltistan and Tibet. There is a comparison between Hyderabad and J&K both were twenty-one-gun salute rulers and both denied representation to the majority population (Hindus in the case of Hyderabad and Muslims in J&K). The accession of J&K to India was signed in October 1947 with the proviso that it would be submitted to a reference to the people after the State was cleared of invaders. A de facto boundary came into existence in January 1949 with the ceasefire between India and Pakistan, and the Chinese military first made its appearance in northwestern Tibet in 1951. In 1962, the Chinese troops were stopped by Indian soldiers near the present-day Line of Actual Control in Ladakh.
The chapter ‘The Nizam and His Farman presents the developments in the Hyderabad State where the Nizam bore the salutation of ‘His Exalted Highness’ in the British Empire with its own coinage, paper currency and stamps. He was also the ‘Faithful Ally of the British Government’ and even sent a delegation to meet Mountbatten to seek clarity on ‘dominion status’ after Independence. The Nizam’s delegation even mentioned the possibility of accession to the Dominion of Pakistan. Just before Independence, Hyderabad wanted a Standstill Agreement without signing the Instrument of Accession. Hyderabad witnessed a 108-hour military operation following which the Nizam issued three firmans in September 1948, reiterated by another firman in August 1949 and a third firman in December 1949, following which Hyderabad was integrated into Indian Union with the Nizam as the first Raj Pramukh and M. K. Vellodi, ICS, as the Chief Minister.
The chapter ‘India as a Republic’ deals with the transfer of power by the British Government to the Dominions of India and Pakistan and the Merger Agreements with States. Under the Government of India Act 1935, 216 States were amalgamated as Part A States, 275 States were amalgamated as Part B States, and the rest as Part C States. The Central Government had the authority to redraw the boundaries of the States.
The chapter ‘The First Hindi Map of India 1952’ presents the Hindi-speaking regions of India—UP, Rajasthan, Bihar and MP. The capital of UP was shifted to Lucknow in 1937 and the correction was made in 1950. Bihar’s boundaries were not affected except for the addition of the princely states of Kharsawan and Seraikela from Orissa. Till 1956, the capital of Madhya Pradesh was Nagpur, after which the Marathi-speaking regions were transferred to the State of Bombay, and Madhya Pradesh comprised of the princely States of Gwalior, Indore and Malwa. The United States of Kathiawar was inaugurated in February 1948.
The chapter ‘The Andhra State and the SRC’ presents the aspirations of the Telugu-speaking population of Madras State’s eleven districts and the active campaign for a Telugu-speaking State of Andhra. In 1949, the Government felt that the demand for a province for Andhra was a perfectly legitimate demand. The Hunger Strikes in Andhra with the fast unto death of Gandhian Potti Sriramulu in December 1952, compelled the Government to announce the formation of Andhra State excluding Madras city which was fiercely contested by the Tamilians. Madras became a unilingual State with Oriya and Telugu-speaking regions carved out into separate States, and Kerala got Malabar.
The chapter ‘Linguistic States of the South’ presents the formation of the States of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala. The sovereign Dravidian Republic, federal in nature, was a brief idea in the early 1930s. The formation of the DMK, the rising aspirations of the Kannada-speaking people and the union of Travancore-Cochin into one Union led to the constitution of the States of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala.
The chapter ‘Roy-Sinha Proposals and the Boundaries of West Bengal’ presents the proposal for merger of West Bengal and Bihar as a novel attempt to settle inter-State border disputes by creating a supra-entity prepared by Chief Ministers Dr B. C. Roy and Srikrishna Sinha. However, the proposal was never formally submitted to the SRC and the SRC did not comment or record any suggestion on them.
The chapter ‘Questions of Bilingualism’ presents the hostile reception to the SRC Report in the bilingual States of Bombay and Punjab. Bombay was retained as a bilingual State and this recommendation resulted in many resignations and an outrage. The movements for unilingual Maharashtra continued and resulted in the creation of the two States of Maharashtra and Gujarat in 1960. The aspirations of the Hindi-speaking Hindus of Haryana for a separate Haryana were realised in 1955 and the hill State of Himachal Pradesh was formed in 1966.
The chapter ‘End of Foreign Jurisdictions’ presents the story of liberation of Goa from the Portuguese in 1961 and the peaceful transfer of the French settlements to India in Pondicherry, Chandernagore, Karaikal, Mahe and Yaman. From 1962 on, no territory of India was under the control of any colonial power.
The chapter ‘Frontiers of the North-East’ presents the narrative of the making and unmaking of Assam’s frontier boundaries from 1874. The partition of Bengal in 1905 resulted in the creation of East Bengal and Assam. This was annulled in 1915. The Government of India Act 1935 created an autonomous Hill District Council for the entire province to address the turmoil. The SRC was not in favour of any further division of Assam. To address the Naga aspirations in 1963, Nagaland was notified as the 16th State of India. Manipur and Tripura became Union Territories (UT) in 1963. The North-Eastern Areas (Reorganization) Act, 1971 provided for the establishment of the States of Manipur, Tripura, Meghalaya and UTs of Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh by reorganising Assam.
The chapter ‘Island Territories’ discusses the making of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands which are two archipelagos of 572 islands in the Bay of Bengal to India’s territories.
The chapter ‘From Subjects to Citizens—Sikkim Joins India’ presents the transition of Sikkim from one of the 562 Princely States to a Protectorate, then to an Associate State, and finally to an integral part of India.
In 1911, Delhi became the new capital of India, the name New Delhi was given in 1927 and in 1931 Lutyens’ Delhi came into existence. The National Capital was administered by the President through a Lieutenant Governor, the first Legislative Assembly was constituted in 1952, and in 1956 Delhi became a Union Territory.
In November 2000, regional aspirations resulted in the creation of Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand and Jharkhand. The largest States of India—Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar were bifurcated. Each of these States were formed with bipartisan support. Local agitations and people’s aspirations supported the formation of these States. The Chhattisgarh Rajya Nirman Manch in Chhattisgarh, the Chipko Movement in Uttarakhand, and the Jharkhand Coordination Committee in Jharkhand were at the forefront of the people’s movements for formation of the three States.
In 2020, the Odisha cabinet accorded the status of state anthem to a 108-year-old song ‘Bande Utkal Janani’ to be sung in all academic institutions and State functions. In November 2010, the enactment of the Orissa Bill gave the State the new name of Odisha and also changed the name of the language from Oriya to Odiya. The assertion of the Odiya identity primarily against the control of Bengalis and the strategies for a linguistic province emerged. The cult of Jagannath was a powerful symbol of Odiya nationalism and pride.
The formation of Telangana—the Second State for Telugu speakers—is a most recent memory. The Telangana agitation had reached a crescendo in 1969, but the State of Andhra Pradesh formed in 1969 was not partitioned. In 2009, the Central government announced the commencement of the process of creation of Telangana. The process was completed in 2014 after five years of political agitation by the Telangana Joint Action Committee comprising political and non-political groups.
The J&K Reorganisation Act in 2019 led to the creation of two Union Territories—J&K and Ladakh. Two districts of Leh and Kargil constituted the Union Territory of Ladakh; Leh with its monastries/stupas became synonymous with Ladakh. There were significant benefits with both Leh and Kargil coming under the ambit of the Smart Cities programme.
To conclude, the book presents an epilogue of ‘What Next?’ The demand for new states, autonomous councils and nomenclature changes will probably never cease as new states continue to contest their borders and make mutual claims to each other’s territories.
A thoroughly enjoyable read.