States And Union Territories Of India

India is a federal union comprising 28 states and 8 union territories, with a total of 36 entities. The states and union territories are further subdivided into districts and smaller administrative divisions.

History

Pre-independence

The Indian subcontinent has been ruled by many different ethnic groups throughout its history, each instituting their own policies of administrative division in the region. The British Raj mostly retained the administrative structure of the preceding Mughal Empire. India was divided into provinces (also called Presidencies), directly governed by the British, and princely states, which were nominally controlled by a local prince or raja loyal to the British Empire, which held ''de facto'' sovereignty ( suzerainty) over the princely states.

1947–1950

Between 1947 and 1950 the territories of the princely states were politically integrated into the Indian union. Most were merged into existing provinces; others were organised into new provinces, such as Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Bharat, and Vindhya Pradesh, made up of multiple princely states; a few, including Mysore, Hyderabad, Bhopal, and Bilaspur, became separate provinces. The new Constitution of India, which came into force on 26 January 1950, made India a sovereign democratic republic. The new republic was also declared to be a "Union of States". The constitution of 1950 distinguished between three main types of states:
* Part A states, which were the former governors' provinces of British India, were ruled by an elected governor and state legislature. The nine Part A states were:
** Assam (formerly Assam Province),
** Bihar (formerly Bihar Province),
** Bombay (formerly Bombay Province),
** East Punjab (formerly Punjab Province),
** Madhya Pradesh (formerly the Central Provinces and Berar),
** Madras (formerly Madras Province),
** Orissa (formerly Orissa Province),
** Uttar Pradesh (formerly the United Provinces), and
** West Bengal (formerly Bengal Province).
* The eight Part B states were former princely states or groups of princely states, governed by a rajpramukh, who was usually the ruler of a constituent state, and an elected legislature. The rajpramukh was appointed by the President of India. The Part B states were:
** Hyderabad (formerly Hyderabad Princely State),
** Jammu and Kashmir (formerly Jammu and Kashmir Princely State),
** Madhya Bharat (formerly Central India Agency),
** Mysore (formerly Mysore Princely State),
** Patiala and East Punjab States Union (PEPSU),
** Rajasthan (formerly Rajputana Agency),
** Saurashtra (formerly Baroda, Western India and Gujarat States Agency), and
** Travancore–Cochin (formerly Travancore Princely State and Cochin Princely State).
* The ten Part C states included both the former chief commissioners' provinces and some princely states, and each was governed by a chief commissioner appointed by the President of India. The Part C states were:
** Ajmer (formerly Ajmer-Merwara Province),
** Bhopal (formerly Bhopal Princely State),
** Bilaspur (formerly Bilaspur Princely State),
** Coorg State (formerly Coorg Province),
** Delhi,
** Himachal Pradesh,
** Kutch (formerly Cutch Princely State),
** Manipur (formerly Manipur Princely State),
** Tripura (formerly Tripura Princely State), and
** Vindhya Pradesh (formerly Central India Agency).
* The only Part D state was the