# The Republic and its states **गणराज्य और उसके राज्य** - Canonical page: https://indianepics.online/chapter/republic/ - Track: evidence - Span: 1947 CE to 2026 CE - Boundary shown: india-republic (approximate unless marked traced) At midnight on 15 August 1947 two dominions replaced the Raj, and within days the Radcliffe awards had cut the Punjab and Bengal in two. The Constitution of 1950 made India a republic; the States Reorganisation Act of 1956 redrew its internal lines along language, and the redrawing has not stopped since. This chapter follows the modern boundary and the making of the states: 1956, 1960, 1966, Himachal Pradesh in 1971 and the north-eastern states in 1972, the three new states of 2000, Telangana in 2014, and the division of Jammu and Kashmir in 2019. ## Events (23) - 1947 CE — [Independence](https://indianepics.online/event/independence-1947.md): The Indian Independence Act takes effect at midnight on 15 August; Nehru tells the Constituent Assembly India keeps its tryst with destiny. - 1947 CE – 1948 CE — [Partition and the Radcliffe Line](https://indianepics.online/event/partition-1947.md): The Radcliffe award, published two days after independence, splits Punjab and Bengal; about 14.5 million people cross the new lines. - 1950 CE — [The Constitution comes into force](https://indianepics.online/event/constitution-1950.md): On 26 January India becomes a sovereign democratic republic; its constitution, drafted under B. R. Ambedkar, is the world's longest. - 1951 CE – 1952 CE — [The first general election](https://indianepics.online/event/first-election-1951.md): The first votes are cast in snowbound Chini on 25 October 1951; by February 1952 an electorate of 173 million has chosen the first Lok Sabha. - 1956 CE — [States Reorganisation Act](https://indianepics.online/event/states-reorganisation-1956.md): After Potti Sriramulu's fatal fast and the Fazl Ali commission, India is redrawn into 14 states and 6 union territories, largely by language. - 1960 CE — [Bombay State becomes Maharashtra and Gujarat](https://indianepics.online/event/bombay-split-1960.md): The Samyukta Maharashtra and Mahagujarat movements split bilingual Bombay State into Maharashtra and Gujarat on 1 May. - 1962 CE — [The war with China](https://indianepics.online/event/sino-indian-war-1962.md): China attacks in Ladakh and the North-East Frontier on 20 October; after a month of Indian defeats it declares a ceasefire and keeps Aksai Chin. - 1966 CE – 1972 CE — [The Green Revolution begins](https://indianepics.online/event/green-revolution-1966.md): Mexican dwarf wheat, tube wells and fertiliser lift Punjab's wheat harvest from 1.9 to 5.6 million tonnes between 1965 and 1972. - 1971 CE — [The 1971 war and Bangladesh](https://indianepics.online/event/bangladesh-1971.md): After nine months of civil war and ten million refugees, Indian troops and the Mukti Bahini reach Dhaka; Pakistan's eastern command surrenders on 16 December. - 1974 CE – 1998 CE — [Nuclear tests at Pokhran](https://indianepics.online/event/pokhran-tests.md): India sets off a "peaceful nuclear explosion" on 18 May 1974, then five devices on 11 and 13 May 1998, and declares itself a nuclear weapon state. - 1975 CE – 1977 CE — [The Emergency](https://indianepics.online/event/emergency-1975.md): Two weeks after a court voids her election, Indira Gandhi has a national emergency proclaimed on 25 June 1975; civil liberties are suspended for 21 months. - 1984 CE — [The Bhopal gas disaster](https://indianepics.online/event/bhopal-1984.md): On the night of 2-3 December 1984 methyl isocyanate leaks from Union Carbide's pesticide plant; thousands die in the crowded settlements around it. - 1991 CE — [Economic liberalisation](https://indianepics.online/event/liberalisation-1991.md): Facing a balance-of-payments crisis, the Rao government devalues the rupee, scraps most industrial licensing and opens trade. - 1992 CE – 2024 CE — [Ayodhya, 1992 to 2024](https://indianepics.online/event/ayodhya-1992.md): Kar sevaks demolish the Babri Masjid on 6 December 1992; after a 2019 Supreme Court verdict, a Ram temple on the site is consecrated on 22 January 2024. - 1999 CE — [The Kargil war](https://indianepics.online/event/kargil-1999.md): Pakistani troops occupy heights on India's side of the Line of Control above Kargil; by 26 July 1999 the Indian Army has retaken them. - 2010 CE – 2018 CE — [Aadhaar and the digital state](https://indianepics.online/event/aadhaar-2010.md): Ranjana Sonawane of Tembhli receives the first Aadhaar number on 29 September 2010; by April 2016 a billion of the biometric IDs have been issued. - 2014 CE — [Telangana becomes the 29th state](https://indianepics.online/event/telangana-2014.md): After a movement going back to 1969, Andhra Pradesh is split on 2 June; Hyderabad serves as joint capital for up to ten years. - 2019 CE — [Jammu and Kashmir reorganised; Ladakh a union territory](https://indianepics.online/event/ladakh-2019.md): Article 370 is made inoperative in August; on 31 October Jammu and Kashmir becomes two union territories, one of them Ladakh. - 2020 CE — [Clash in the Galwan valley](https://indianepics.online/event/galwan-2020.md): Indian and Chinese troops fight with clubs and stones on the night of 15 June 2020; twenty Indian soldiers die, the first border deaths in 45 years. - 2023 CE — [Chandrayaan-3 lands near the lunar south pole](https://indianepics.online/event/chandrayaan-3.md): Launched from Sriharikota on 14 July, Vikram lands near 69°S on 23 August, at the time the closest soft landing to the Moon's south pole. - 2024 CE — [The 2024 general election](https://indianepics.online/event/election-2024.md): Some 640 million people vote in seven phases; the BJP wins 240 seats, short of a majority, and Narendra Modi begins a third term at the head of the NDA. - 2025 CE — [Pahalgam and Operation Sindoor](https://indianepics.online/event/operation-sindoor-2025.md): Gunmen kill 26 people near Pahalgam on 22 April 2025; India strikes nine sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir on 7 May; firing stops on 10 May. - 2026 CE – 2027 CE — [Census 2027 begins](https://indianepics.online/event/census-2027.md): India's first census since 2011 opens with houselisting on 1 April 2026; it is the first digital count, and its second phase will also record caste.