State of Bombay (1956 - 1960)

In the year 1960, the Bombay State was divided into Gujarat and Maharashtra, with Ahmedabad serving the capital of the former (later shifted to Gandhinagar in 1970) and Bombay as of Maharashtra. In addition to this, the adjoining districts of Mysore State (now Karnataka) such as Belgaum, Karwar, Dharwad and Bidar and even the then Portuguese Goa was to merge into Maharashtra, but it didn't exactly happen that way. Going roughly six years back, the Bombay State was created by adding Marathwada territory from the former Nizam's Dominions (or Hyderabad) and Vidarbha from Central Provinces (that got renamed to Madhya Pradesh). A small portion of Abu taluka was taken from Gujarat and added to the newly formed Rajasthan state. Although most of the districts of today's Maharashtra remains the same, there was a considerable change in the Gujarati part. This post shall discuss the districts of Bombay State between 1956 to 1960 and how each inculcated into the adjoining areas. 

Let's first look at the list of districts of Bombay State with its (headquarters) as listed below:

1. Banaskantha (Palanpur)
2. Kutch (Bhuj)
3. Halar (Nawanagar)
4. Sorath (Junagadh)
5. Amreli (Amreli) 
6. Madhya Saurashtra (Rajkot)
7. Mehsana (Mehsana)
8. Gohelwad (Bhavnagar)
9. Ahmadabad (Ahmadabad)
10. Kaira (Kaira / Kheda) 
11. Jhalawad (Surendranagar)
12. Panch Mahals (Godhra)
13. Sabarkantha (Himatnagar)
14. Baroda (Baroda / Vadodara)
15. Broach (Broach / Bharuch) 
16. Surat (Surat)
17. Dangs (Ahwa)
18. West Khandesh (Dhulia / Dhule)
19. East Khandesh (Jalgaon)
20. Nasik (Nasik / Nashik)
21. Thana (Thana / Thane)
22. Bombay or Greater Bombay / Mumbai (Bandra)
23. Poona (Poona / Pune)
24. Ahmednagar (Ahmednagar)
25. North Satara (Satara)
26. South Satara (Sangli)
27. Sholapur (Sholapur / Solapur)
28. Ratnagiri (Ratnagiri)
29. Kolaba (Alibag)
30. Bhir (Bhir / Beed)
31. Osmanabad (Osmanabad)
32. Nanded (Nanded)
33. Parbhani (Parbhani)
34. Yeotmal (Yeotmal / Yavatmal)
35. Buldana (Buldana / Buldhana)
36. Aurangabad (Aurangabad)
37. Akola (Akola)
38. Wardha (Wardha)
39. Nagpur (Nagpur)
40. Bhandara (Bhandara)
41. Chanda (Chanda / Chandrapur)
42. Rajura (Rajura)

As on 1st May 1960, the districts of Banaskantha, Mehsana, Sabarkantha, Ahmedabad, Kaira, Panch Mahals, Baroda, Broach, Surat, Dangs, Amreli, Sorath, Halar, Madhya Saurashtra, Gohelwad, Jhalawad and Kutch went to become the state of Gujarat. Additionally, Umbergaon (or Umargam) taluka of Thana (or Thane) district, villages in Nawapur (today in Nandurbar district, Maharashtra) and Nandurbar talukas of West Khandesh and the villages in Akkalkuwa (today in Nandurbar district, Maharashtra) and Taloda (or Talode; today in Nandurbar district, Maharashtra) talukas of West Khandesh would be included in Gujarat as well. The remaining would be henceforth called Maharashtra state. 

But the complexity of Gujarati districts was far simpler post-independence than it was before. The entire state of Gujarat was a labyrinth of various Princely States clubbed together into two broad divisions - States of Western India and the Gujarat States. They even had enclaves of British territories such as Ahmedabad, Kaira, parts of Surat etc. Moreover, even after independence, the Portuguese territories of Diu, Damâo (Daman), Dadra and Nagar Avely were cramped between the various Princely States. The Konkan region of Maharashtra also had pockets of what was then known as the Deccan States such as Bhor, Kolhapur, Sawantwadi, Jath etc.

However, although the district names of Maharashtra remained more or less unchanged, certain names from Gujarati maps were disappeared or clubbed under a larger district. The princely States of Rajpipla was soaked in the Broach district. The smaller Kathiawadi states such as Porbander, Gondal, Western Kathiawar etc. were grouped as Sorath district with its headquarters at Junagadh. The Princely State of Junagadh itself had caused a great deal of trouble when the Nawab had signed the Instrument of Accession with Pakistan just around the 15th of August 1947 and ultimately fled to Karachi leaving the state into Indian hands, that too after slight military aggression. Another example would be the amalgamation of the Princey States such as Morvi, Dhrangadhra, Dhrol etc. into Madhya Saurashtra. This entire chaos took a good 2-3 years to settle down and when we look at today's map of Gujarat, it's much simpler and evenly spaced. 

The concept of enclaves and exclaves existed in the Marathwada region as well. When Osmanabad was part of Nizam's Hyderabad, exclaves of the neighbouring Sholapur district (which was then part of Bombay Province) would be scattered in the former. This had resulted in great border skirmishes in 1948, a precursor event to Operation Polo that got Indian Army in conflict with the Razakars and Hyderabad Army. Another interesting exclave (or geographically separated from the homeland) would be the Portuguese territory of Diu and its exclave Pani Kota (Forte de Santo António de Simbor / Fortim-do-Mar / Forte Simbor) that was at the tip of Junagadh State. Another example would be an exclave of Ahmedabad district in Gohelwad, which was previously the Princely State of Bhavnagar. It's interesting as Ahmedabad was directly controlled by the British and having it surrounded by a Princely State gave it a unique position. But this wasn't the only case. British enclaves of Ahmedabad would also be scattered in between the former Princely States of Idar, Mehsana, Limbdi and Eastern Kathiawar. The Government of India had to clean this mess which it ultimately did till 1960. 

Another district that was reshaped was Nanded or Nander as it was known before independence. It was a district of Hyderabad State adjoining Adilabad and Nizamabad in the east, while Bidar and Parbhani in the west. A portion of Adilabad was added to Nanded while the Rajura region of Adilabad was added as a separate district. Rajura was also one of the entry points of the Indian Army during Operation Polo in Hyderabad. Ultimately, Rajura was further absorbed in Chanda district and the name changed to Chandrapur with further bifurcation in 1982 when Gadchiroli district was formed. Territories from Bidar district was added to further expand Osmanabad and the exclaves of Sholapur was cleared as well. A similar clearing was done to exclaves of Ahmednagar in Bir (Beed). The district of Kolaba (or Colaba) was also renamed as Raigad. Interestingly, the southernmost neighbourhood of Mumbai is also called Colaba. 

Today both Gujarat and Maharashtra are among the most developed states of India with metropolitan commercial hubs such as Mumbai, Surat, Ahmedabad, Pune etc. attracting millions of citizens globally. Below here is a simplified map of the State of Bombay that existed between 1956 to 1960.