The British divided India into provinces in a way that disrupted linguistic and cultural balances. Since the 1920s, nationalist congress leaders have wanted to reorganise provinces based on language. At the 1920 Nagpur session of the Indian National Congress, they agreed to this idea. However, after India gained independence in 1947, the new leaders, including the Constituent Assembly, hesitated to this idea of linguistic reorganisation of the state. Historian Bipin Chandra says at the time of Independence the leaders felt that national unity was their top priority.

The push for linguistic reorganisation came back with the demand for a separate Andhra state. This led to the creation of Andhra Pradesh in October 1953, the first state reorganised based on language after independence. The States Reorganisation Committee (SRC) supported this principle and in 1955 recommended redrawing state boundaries based on language, while also considering administrative and economic factors and national unity. The States Reorganisation Act, passed in November 1956, created 14 states and 6 centrally administered territories. This was followed by the division of Bombay State into Gujarat for Gujarati speakers and Maharashtra for Marathi speakers.

You may further read  “Interrogating Reorganisation of States: Culture, Identity, and Politics in India” by Asha Sarangi and Sudha Pai.