Integration of India in four paragraphs
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The political integration of India established a united nation for the first time in centuries from a plethora of princely states, colonial provinces and possessions. Despite partition, a new India united peoples of various geographic, economic, ethnic, linguistic and religious backgrounds. The process began in 1947, with the unification of 565 princely states through a critical series of political campaigns, sensitive diplomacy and military conflicts. India was transformed after independence through political upheaval and ethnic discontent, and continues to evolve as a federal republic natural to its diversity. The process is defined by sensitive religious conflicts between Hindus and Muslims, diverse ethnic populations, as well as by geo-political rivalry and military conflicts with Pakistan and China.
When the Indian independence movement succeeded in ending the British Raj on August 15, 1947, India's leaders faced the prospect of inheriting a nation fragmented between medieval-era kingdoms and provinces organised by colonial powers. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, one of India's most respected freedom fighters, as the new Minister of Home Affairs was the man responsible for employing political negotiations backed with the option (and the use) of military force to ensure the primacy of the Central government and of the Constitution then being drafted.
India's constitution pronounced it a Union of States, exemplifying a federal system with a strong central government. Over the course of the two decades following Independence the Governement of India reclaimed the possessions of the French Empire and Portugal. But the trend changed as popular movements arose for the recognition of regional languages, and attention for the special issues of diverse regions. A backlash ensued against centralization — the lack of attention and respect for regional issues resulted in cultural alienation and violent separatism. The Central government attempted to balance the use of force on separatist extremists with the creation of new States in order to reduce the pressures on the Indian State. The map has been redrawn, as the nature of the federation transforms. Today, the Republic of India is a Union of 28 states and 7 territories
Created by the British, Madras was composed of five different linguistic groups and parts of five modern states.
British colonization of the Indian subcontinent began in the early 18th century. By the mid-19th century, most of the subcontinent was under British rule. With the arrival of Lord Mountbatten (the former Lord Louis Mountbatten later created Viscount Mountbatten of Burma, then promoted to Earl) as the Viceroy of India in early 1947, the British government under Prime Minister Clement Attlee made a clear indication that the independence of India was imminent. India's top political parties, the Indian National Congress and the All India Muslim League were both negotiating the impending transfer of power as well as the make-up of the new Indian government. To this end, elections were held for the Constituent Assembly of India. In June 1947, the Congress and the League agreed to the planned partition of British India into two independent British Commonwealth dominions: India and Pakistan. Burma had been separated from British India in 1937 and it became independent along with Ceylon (never a part of British India) in 1948.
Without the princely states, the Dominion of India would comprise the provinces of Bombay Presidency, Madras Presidency, the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh, the Central Provinces and Berar, Assam, Orissa, Bihar, and the chief commissioners' provinces of Coorg, Ajmer-Merwara, Panth-Piploda, and Delhi. The North West Frontier Province, Sind, and the chief commissioners' province of Baluchistan would go to Pakistan. The provinces of Bengal and Punjab had been partitioned in 1946, with India retaining West Bengal and East Punjab, the Hindu-majority portions of the larger provinces. West Punjab and East Bengal were heavily Muslim, and went to Pakistan. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands and the Lakshadweep Islands would be turned over to the control of India.