Bombay State

Province of Bombay (1947 - 1950)
State of Bombay (1950 - 1960)
State of India
↓ 1947–1960 →
 
→
Bombay State, 1956-1960
History
 • Abolition of the Bombay Presidency, Deccan States Agency and Baroda, Western India and Gujarat States Agency (partial) 1947
 • Merged Kutch State 1956
 • Merged Saurashtra State 1956
 • Divided into Maharashtra and Gujarat states 1960
Area
 • 1956 494,358 km2 (190,873 sq mi)
Population
 • 1956 48,264,622 
Density 97.6 /km2  (252.9 /sq mi)
Preceded by 		Succeeded by
Bombay Presidency
Deccan States Agency
Baroda, Western India and Gujarat States Agency
Saurashtra State
Kutch State
 Maharashtra
Gujarat
States of India since 1947
Bombay Presidency in 1909, southern portion
Bombay Presidency in 1909, northern portion

Bombay State was a large state of India created at the Independence of India with the merger of the British territories of the Bombay Presidency with the princely states of the Baroda, Western India and Gujarat States and Deccan States political agencies.

On 1 November 1956, Bombay State was re-organized under the States Reorganisation Act, absorbing various territories including the Saurashtra and Kutch States, which ceased to exist. Bombay State was split along linguistic lines in 1960, and some princely states which had formerly belonged to this agency became part of Gujarat and others of Maharashtra.[1]

History

During British rule, portions of the western coast of India under direct British rule were part of the Bombay Presidency. In 1937, the Bombay Presidency became a province of British India.[2][3]

After India gained independence in 1947, Bombay Presidency became part of India, and Sind province became part of Pakistan. The territory retained by India was restructured into Bombay State. It included princely states such as Kolhapur in Deccan, and Baroda and the Dangs in Gujarat, which had been under the political influence of the former Bombay Presidency.[4]

Expansion of the state

As a result of the States Reorganisation Act on 1 November 1956, the Kannada-speaking districts of Belgaum (except Chandgad taluk), Bijapur, Dharwar, and North Canara were transferred from Bombay State to Mysore State.[5] but the State of Bombay was significantly enlarged, expanding eastward to incorporate the Marathi-speaking Marathwada region of Hyderabad State, the Marathi-speaking Vidarbha region of southern Madhya Pradesh, and Gujarati-speaking Saurashtra and Kutch states. The Bombay state was being referred to by the local inhabitants as "Maha Dwibhashi Rajya", meaning, "the great bilingual state".[3]

In 1956, the States Reorganisation Committee, against the will of Jawaharlal Nehru, recommended a bilingual state for Maharashtra-Gujarat with Bombay as its capital. Thus in Lok Sabha discussions in 1955, the Congress party demanded that the city be constituted as an autonomous city-state.[6] In the 1957 elections, the Samyukta Maharashtra movement opposed these proposals, and insisted that Bombay be declared the capital of Maharashtra.[7]

Dissolution of Bombay state

Bombay State was finally dissolved with the formation of Maharashtra and Gujarat states on 1 May 1960.[8]

Following protests of Samyukta Maharashtra Movement, in which 105 people were killed by police, Bombay State was reorganised on linguistic lines.[9] Gujarati-speaking areas of Bombay State were partitioned into the state of Gujarat following Mahagujarat Movement.[10] Maharashtra State with Bombay as its capital was formed with the merger of Marathi-speaking areas of Bombay State, eight districts from Central Provinces and Berar, five districts from Hyderabad State, and numerous princely states enclosed between them.[11]

Chief ministers

Bombay State had three chief ministers after the independence of India:

Governors

In 1960, the designation of the "Governor of Bombay" was transmuted as the Governor of Maharashtra.[12]

# Name Assumed office Left office Years in Office
1 Raja Sir Maharaj Singh 6 January 1948 30 May 1952 4
2 Sir Girija Shankar Bajpai 30 May 1952 5 December 1954 2
3 Harekrushna Mahatab 2 March 1955 14 October 1956 1
4 Sri Prakasa[f] 10 December 1956 16 April 1962 6

Sources: Raj Bhavan (Maharashtra)[12] and Greater Bombay District Gazetteer[13]

Graphical

See also

References

  1. ↑ Ramachandra Guha, India after Gandhi: The History of the World's Largest Democracy. HarperCollins, 2007
  2. ↑ Yagnik, Achyut; Suchitra Sheth (2005). The Shaping of Modern Gujarat: Plurality, Hindutva, and Beyond. Penguin Books India. p. 226. ISBN 978-0-14-400038-8. Retrieved 24 November 2012.
  3. 1 2 Grover, Verinder; Ranjana Arora (1994). Federation of India and States' Reorganisation: Reconstruction and Consolidation. Deep and Deep Publications. p. 392. ISBN 978-81-7100-541-3. Retrieved 24 November 2012.
  4. ↑ Bhattacharya, Sanjoy (2006), Expunging Variola: The Control and Eradication of Smallpox in India, 1947–1977, Orient Blackswan, p. 18, ISBN 978-81-250-3018-8, retrieved 8 January 2009
  5. ↑ "States Reorganization Act 1956". Commonwealth Legal Information Institute. Retrieved 1 July 2008.
  6. ↑ "The battle for Bombay". The Hindu. 13 April 2003. Retrieved 12 November 2008.
  7. ↑ "Samyukta Maharashtra". Government of Maharashtra. Retrieved 12 November 2008.
  8. ↑ Political and administrative integration of princely states By S. N. Sadasivan.
  9. ↑ "Sons of soil: born, reborn". Indian Express Newspapers (Mumbai) Ltd. 6 February 2008. Retrieved on 12 November 2008.
  10. ↑ "Gujarat". Government of India. Retrieved 16 January 2008.
  11. ↑ "Maharashtra". Government of India. Retrieved 16 January 2008.
  12. 1 2 "Previous Governors List". Raj Bhavan (Maharashtra). Retrieved 23 December 2008.
  13. ↑ "List of the Governors of Bombay", Greater Bombay District Gazetteer, Maharashtra State Gazetteers I, Government of Maharashtra, 1986, retrieved 13 August 2008

Coordinates: 18°58′30″N 72°49′33″E / 18.97500°N 72.82583°E / 18.97500; 72.82583

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