Formation Dates of Indian States

Accession of the states had been a big issue after the division of the subcontinent into two major countries India, and Pakistan. At the time of the British withdrawal, 565 princely states were officially recognized in the Indian subcontinent, apart from thousands of zamindari estates and jagirs. The era of the princely states effectively ended with Indian independence in 1947. By 1950, almost all of the principalities had acceded to either India or Pakistan.

Later in 1956 the States Reorganisation Act essentially sought to define the boundaries of Indian states and territories and organize them based on linguistic lines. The new States formed as a result of the reorganization of States in 1956 are Andhra Pradesh, Bombay Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Madras, Mysore, Punjab, and Rajasthan.

Thereafter the Parliament had also enacted various Reorganisation Acts from time to time i.e the Bombay Reorganisation Act in 1960; The Punjab Reorganisation Act in 1966; the State of Himachal Pradesh Reorganisation Act in 1970 and the North-Eastern States reorganization Act in 1971. The latest in this category is the Reorganisation Acts of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Bihar which were enacted by the Parliament in November 2000. On June 2, 2014, Telangana officially became India’s 29th state.

Presently, India has 28 states and 8 union territories. The states are Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal, West Bengal, and Telangana. The union territories are Delhi, Chandigarh, Puducherry, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Daman and Diu, and Dadra and Nagar haveli.

List of Formation Dates of Indian States

List of Formation Dates of Indian Union Territories