Vindhya Pradesh was a former

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

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 so ...

. It occupied an area of 23,603 sq. miles. It was created in 1948 as Union of Baghelkhand and Bundelkhand States, shortly after

n independence, from the territories of the

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

s in the eastern portion of the former

Central India Agency The Central India Agency was created in 1854, by amalgamating the Western Malwa Agency with other smaller political offices which formerly reported to the Governor-General of India. The agency was overseen by a political agent who maintained ...

. It was named as Vindhya Pradesh on 25 January 1950 after the Vindhya Range, which runs through the centre of the province. The capital of the state was firstly

Singrauli Singrauli is a city in Singrauli district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and Commissionaire of Rewa. It lies about from the district headquarters of Waidhan. It was also the capital of erstwhile princely state of Singrauli. Demographics ...

till 1953, secondly

Rewa Rewa may refer to: Places Fiji * Rewa (Fijian Communal Constituency, Fiji), a former electoral division of Fiji * Rewa Plateau, between the Kaimur and Vindhya Ranges in Madhya Pradesh * Rewa Province, Fiji * Rewa River, the widest river in Fiji ...

from 1953 onwards. It lays between

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

to the north and

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

to the south, and the enclave of

Datia Datia is the district headquarter of the Datia District in north central Madhya Pradesh,a state of Central India. It is an ancient town, mentioned in the Mahabharata ruled by King Dantavakra. The city is 78 km from Gwalior, 325 ...

, which lay a short distance to the west, was surrounded by the state of

Madhya Bharat Madhya Bharat, also known as Malwa Union, was an Indian state in west-central India, created on 28 May 1948 from twenty-five princely states which until 1947 had been part of the Central India Agency, with Jiwajirao Scindia as its Rajpramukh. ...

. Vindhya

Pradesh Pradesh refers to a province or territory in various South Asian languages. It derives from the Sanskrit प्रदेश ''pradeśa'', meaning "sub-region" or "sub-country". The same word was borrowed into: * Thai as ประเทศ ''prat ...

was merged into

in 1956, following the States Reorganisation Act.

History

Vindhya Pradesh state was formed on 12 March 1948 and the newly formed state was inaugurated on 4 April 1948. Following its formation 36

s were merged to form Vindhya Pradesh state: #

# Panna #

Orchha Orchha is a town, near city of Niwari in Niwari district of Madhya Pradesh state, India. The town was established by rajput ruler Rudra Pratap Singh some time after 1501, as the seat of an eponymous former princely state of covering parts of c ...

Ajaigarh Ajaigarh or Ajaygarh is a town and a nagar panchayat in the Panna District of Madhya Pradesh state in central India. Ajaigarh State was one of the princely states of India during the period of the British Raj. The state was founded in 1785, and ...

Baoni Kadaura is a town and a Nagar Panchayat in Jalaun District in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. During the British Raj, Kadaura was the capital of an 11-gun salute princely state. History During the British Raj era, Kadaura was the capital o ...

Baraundha Baraundha (also known as Pathar Kachhar) was a princely state of colonial India, located in modern Satna district of Madhya Pradesh. Although historically far larger, at the time of Indian independence in 1950, it was a saluted state of 9 guns. ...

Bijawar Bijawar is a city the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. It is the administrative headquarters of Bijawar Taluk, and was formerly the capital of a princely state of British India of the same name. The people of Bijawar are demanding the distri ...

# Chhatarpur #

Charkhari Charkhari is a city in Mahoba district in the state of Uttar Pradesh , India . This is the Kashmir of Bundelkhand . It was the capital of the Charkhari concession . There are lakes named Vijay Sagar, Malkhan Sagar, Vanshi Sagar, Jai Sagar, Rata ...

Maihar Maihar is a tehsil in Satna, Madhya Pradesh, India. Maihar is known for the temple of the revered mother goddess Sharda situated on Trikuta hill. Origin of the name It is said that when lord Shiva was carrying the body of the dead mother go ...

Nagod Nagod or Nagaud is a town and a nagar panchayat in Satna district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is located from the town of Satna. It is the administrative headquarters of Nagod Tehsil.It is believed that it was a small state owned b ...

Samthar Samthar is a city and a municipal board in Jhansi district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Historically before independence of India, it was also known as Samshergarh erstwhile capital of Samthar State Demographics census, Samthar had a ...

# Alipura # Tiroha # Banka-Pahari # Beri # Bhaisunda ( Chaube Jagir) # Bihat # Bijna # Dhurwai # Garrauli # Gaurihar # Jaso # Jigni # Khaniadhana # Kamta Rajaula (Chaube Jagir) # Kothi # Kirur (Kubje Jagir) # Lugasi # Naigawan Rebai # Pahra (Chaube Jagir) #

Paldeo Paldeo, also spelt 'Paldev', was a Jagir, princely estate (Jagir) in India during the British Raj. It was under the Bundelkhand Agency of the Central India Agency until 1896 when it was transferred to the Baghelkhand Agency. In 1931 it was transf ...

(Chaube Jagir) # Sarila # Sohawal # Tori-Fatehpur ( Hasht-Bhaiya Jagir) On 25 January 1950, 11 erstwhile princely states, namely, Bihat, Banka Paharee, Baoni, Beri, Bijna, Charkhari, Jigni, Samthar, Sarila, Tori-Fatehpur and parts of Kirur Kubje were transferred to

and

. Vindhya Pradesh, together with the states of

and

Bhopal State Bhopal State (pronounced ) was an Islamic principality founded in the beginning of 18th-century India by the Afghan Mughal noble Dost Muhammad Khan. It was a tributary state during 18th century, a princely salute state with 19-gun salute ...

, was merged into Madhya Pradesh on 1 November 1956.

Divisions

After formation, the state was divided into two divisions, which were further divided into 8 districts. Bundelkhand Division with its headquarters at

Nowgaon Nowgong is a city of Chhatarpur district of Madhya Pradesh. The town had a population of 11,507 in 1952. Vindhya Pradesh was merged into Madhya Pradesh on 1 November 1956. Nowgaon was declared capital of Madhya Pradesh, but after six months Bho ...

comprised the following 4 districts: # Panna district # Chhatarpur district # Tikamgarh district #

Datia district Datia District is in Gwalior Division in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. The town of Datia is its district headquarters. History It is an ancient town, mentioned in the Mahabharata. Sahadeva; one of the Pandava brothers had won this kingdom ...

Baghelkhand Division with its headquarters at

and then

comprised the following 4 districts: #

Rewa district Rewa district is a district of the Madhya Pradesh state in central India. The city of Rewa is the district headquarters. Rewa is known for world famous beetle nut toys. Rewa is also known as the 'Land of White Tigers' as the first White Tiger w ...

Satna district Satna District is a district of Madhya Pradesh state in central India. The city of Satna is the district headquarters. The district has an area of 7,502 km², and a population of 22,28,935(2011 census), 20.63% of which is urban. The distric ...

# Sidhi district #

Shahdol district Shahdol District is a district of Madhya Pradesh state in east central India. It old name was Matsya raj or Virat kingdom in the name of great king Maharaja Virata. With a total area of and a population of 10,66,063. Shahdol is an important dist ...

Singrauli District Singrauli district is one of the districts in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. History It was previously ruled by the Maharajas of Singrauli State till 1971, after which the monarchy was abolished. Singrauli district has its headquarters at ...

, the largest district in the Baghelkhand Division

Politics

The nominal heads of the state were the

Rajpramukh Rajpramukh was an administrative title in India which existed from India's independence in 1947 until 1956. Rajpramukhs were the appointed governors of certain Indian provinces and states. Background The British Indian Empire, which inclu ...

from 1948–49, the Chief Commissioner from March 1949–1952 and the Lieutenant Governor from March 1952–October 1956. The state had a

Vidhan Sabha The State Legislative Assembly, or Vidhan Sabha, or also Saasana Sabha, is a legislative body in the states and union territories of India. In the 28 states and 3 union territories with a unicameral state legislature, it is the sole legislati ...

comprising 60 members elected from 48 constituencies (36 single-member and 12 double-member). There were 4

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-past ...

constituencies in the state (2 single-member and 2 double-member). Following the formation of the state in 1948, Rameshwar Prasad Singh, the last ruler of Singrauli became the

but he shortly died after so

Martand Singh Martand Singh (15 March 192320 November 1995) was an Indian wildlife conservationist, parliamentarian and the last ruling Maharaja of the princely state of Rewa. Born in 1923 to Gulab Singh at Fort of Govindgarh, then the Maharajah of Rewa, he ...

, the last ruler of the princely state of

became the

and Yadvendra Singh, the last ruler of the princely state of Panna became the Uparajpramukh. Initially

Awadhesh Pratap Singh Captain Kunwar Awadhesh Pratap Singh (born October 1888, Rampur Baghelan–died 16 June 1967, Kanpur) was an Indian politician and Indian independence activist.N.B. Bonerji, took over on 15 April 1949 as Chief Commissioner. He was succeeded by S. N. Mehta. In the first general election in 1951, the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...

won 40 seats and the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of t ...

won 11 seats. S.N.Shukla of

became the Chief Minister of the state on 13 March 1952, Shivanand became the Speaker and Ram Kishore Shukla of

the leader of the opposition of the house. The house dissolved on 31 October 1956. Nowadays the voices of separation of Vindhya Pradesh from Madhya Pradesh, are stoked by

MLA Narayan Tripathi and social worker, Kuldeep Agnihotri, who is associated with the Agni Shakti Education Foundation, in Rewa, Madhya Pradesh.

References

{{Coord, 24.53, N, 81.3, E, display=title Regions of India Historical Indian regions History of Madhya Pradesh (1947–present) Proposed states and union territories of India 1948 establishments in India 1956 disestablishments in India Former states and territories of India

History

Divisions

Politics

See also

References