Read the passage and answer the questions:
During colonial rule, the state boundaries were drawn either on administrative convenience or simply coincided with the territories annexed by the British government or the territories ruled by the princely powers. Our national movement had rejected these divisions as artificial and had promised the linguistic principle as the basis of formation of states.
The acceptance of the principle of linguistic states did not mean, however, that all states immediately became linguistic states. There was an experiment of ‘bilingual’ Bombay state, consisting of Gujarati- and Marathi-speaking people. After a popular agitation, the states of Maharashtra and Gujarat were created in 1960.
The formation of Andhra spurred the struggle for making of other states on linguistic lines in other parts of the country. These struggles forced Central Government into appointing a States Reorganisation Commission in 1953 to look into question redrawing the boundaries of a states. The Commission in its report, accepted that the boundaries of a state should reflect the boundaries of a different languages. On the basis of its report, States Reorganisation Act was passed in 1956. This led to creation 14 states and six union territories.
Language did not, however, remain sole the basis of for organization states. In later years, sub-regions raised demands for distinct states on the basis of a distinct regional culture or complaints regional imbalance in development. Three such states, Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand, and Jharkhand, were created in 2000. Telangana became a new state in 2014. The story reorganization not come to an end. There are many regions in the country where there are movements demanding separate and smaller states. These include Vidarbha in Maharashtra, Harit Pradesh, in the western region of Uttar Pradesh, and the northern region of West Bengal.
What was the basis for drawing of state boundaries during colonial rule?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → administrative convenience
Option (1) Self-determination — Incorrect. Self-determination means that a people decide their own political future. Colonial boundaries were drawn by the British, not by the people, which is why the national movement rejected them as artificial.
Option (2) Regional culture — Incorrect. A distinct regional culture became a basis for new states only in later years, after Independence.
Option (3) Religious majority — Incorrect. Religious majority was the principle of Partition in 1947, when areas with a Muslim majority were to form Pakistan. Colonial provinces were not drawn on that basis but on administrative convenience or the territories the British had annexed.
Option (4) administrative convenience — Correct. During colonial rule the state boundaries were drawn either on administrative convenience or coincided with the territories annexed by the British or ruled by the princely powers.
NCERT (2025-26): “Reorganisation of States The process of nation-building did not come to an end with partition and integration of Princely States. Now the challenge was to draw the internal boundaries of the Indian states. This was not just a matter of administrative divisions. The boundaries had to be drawn in a way so that the linguistic and cultural plurality of the country could be reflected without affecting the unity of the nation. During colonial rule, the state boundaries were drawn either on administrative convenience or simply coincided with the territories annexed by the British government or the territories ruled by the princely powers.” |