The Eastern States Union was a short-lived (1947–48) union of

princely states A princely state (also called native state or Indian state) was a nominally sovereign entity of the British Indian Empire that was not directly governed by the British, but rather by an Indian ruler under a form of indirect rule, subject to a ...

in newly independent

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

that gathered most of the princely states of the former Orissa Tributary States and Chhattisgarh States Agency in order to fill the vacuum of power created after the departure of the British and the wrapping up of the

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was him ...

Creation

The union was formed right after the British Parliament decided to grant independence to

and

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-la ...

on 15 August 1947, following which the princely states became ''de facto'' independent as well. In the transitional period the provincial Congress Party governments refused assistance to the princely states for they were hostile to the traditional princes and in fact were involved in popular agitations against them. In face of the situation of insecurity and continuous disturbances of the public order, the rulers of the states of the former

Eastern States Agency The Eastern States Agency was an agency or grouping of princely states in eastern India, during the latter years of the Indian Empire. It was created in 1933, by the unification of the former Chhattisgarh States Agency and the Orissa States Agen ...

formally founded the Eastern States Union in the Raj Kumar College building in

Raipur Raipur ( ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. Raipur is also the administrative headquarters of Raipur district and Raipur division, and the largest city of the state. It was a part of Madhya Pradesh before the state of Ch ...

. The goal was to establish a unit that would be large enough to exist as a state within the Indian Union, as well as to share the cost of maintenance of an adequate security and military force in order to restore law and order.

Institutions

The Eastern States Union had a Premier, a Chief Secretary, a joint police force and a

court of appeal A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of ...

, but it had no legislature. The union selected

as its capital and quickly took the cause of building a dam on the Indravati River in

Kalahandi Kalahandi (locally pronounced ''Kalahani'') is a district of Odisha in India. Archaeological evidence of Stone Age and Iron Age human settlement has been recovered from the region. Asurgarh offered an advanced, well civilised, cultured and ur ...

. However, some of the larger states such as Mayurbhanj and Bastar, as well as some minor ones, opted not to join the common effort.

Demise and successor states

In the end the Eastern States Union proved an administrative failure and, following intense Praja Mandal movement agitations in Hindol, Nilgiri, Dhenkanal and Talcher in December 1947, it was dissolved early in 1948.D. P. Mishra, ''People's Revolt in Orissa: A Study of Talcher'', p. 185 The states that had formed the union then became part of the newly established states of

Orissa Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of Sc ...

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of Wes ...

and

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital city, capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar, and Rewa, India, Rewa being the othe ...

. Following the demise of the Eastern States Union the states that became part of Orissa (now

Odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of Sc ...

) were Gangpur, Bonai, Bamra,

Keonjhar Kendujhar is a town with municipality in Kendujhar District in the Indian state of Odisha. It is the administrative headquarters of the Kendujhar district, and it is one of the fifth scheduled areas of Odisha. Climate Politics Mohan cha ...

, Rairakhol, Sonepur, Athmallik, Pal Lahara, Talcher,

Patna Patna ( ), historically known as Pataliputra, is the capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Patna had a population of 2.35 million, making it the 19th largest city in India ...

, Baudh, Dhenkanal, Hindol, Daspalla,

Narsinghpur Narsinghpur is a city in Madhya Pradesh in central India. It comes under Jabalpur division. Narsinghpur has a large temple dedicated to Lord Narsingh As of 2001, Narsinghpur is the most literate district of the state. History Prehistory ...

, Baramba, Athgarh, Tigiria, Nayagarh, Ranpur and

. Kharsawan and

Seraikela Saraikela (also spelled Seraikella) is the district headquarters and a nagar panchayat in the Seraikela Sadar subdivision of the Seraikela Kharsawan district in the Indian state of Jharkhand. It was formerly the capital of the Odia Saraikela ...

, joined

in May 1948. The states that became part of Madhya Pradesh were Changbhakar, Koriya,

Surguja Surguja district is a district of the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. The district is one of the oldest districts of Chhattisgarh. The headquarters of the district is Ambikapur. The district lies in its eponymous Surguja dialectal region (where ...

Jashpur Jashpur District is a district of the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh bordering Jharkhand and Odisha. Jashpur Nagar is the administrative headquarters of the district. The district was formerly a princely state before Indpendence. Highly mo ...

Udaipur Udaipur () (ISO 15919: ''Udayapura''), historically named as Udayapura, is a city and municipal corporation in Udaipur district of the state of Rajasthan, India. It is the administrative headquarter of Udaipur district. It is the historic capit ...

Raigarh Raigarh is a city in Eastern Chhattisgarh. History The tradition preserved by the ruling family of the erstwhile state of Raigarh maintains that the Raj Gond family migrated to this region from Bairagarh/Wariagarh of Chanda district of Mahara ...

, Sarangarh, Kawardha, Khairagarh, Nandgaon and Kanker. Since 2000 most of the areas of the former princely states in eastern Madhya Pradesh belong to the state of

Chhattisgarh Chhattisgarh (, ) is a landlocked state in Central India. It is the ninth largest state by area, and with a population of roughly 30 million, the seventeenth most populous. It borders seven states – Uttar Pradesh to the north, Madhya Pra ...

References

{{coord, 21.2405, 81.6138, type:edu_region:IN-CG, display=title Former states and territories of India 1940s in Orissa History of Madhya Pradesh (1947–present) History of Chhattisgarh 1947 establishments in India 1948 disestablishments in India Princely states of India