Mysore State (1956-1973)

The former Princely State of Mysore was one of the earliest royalties to accede to the Indian Union in 1947, without much hassle or trouble. Although not directly connected, the Princely States of Hyderabad and Travancore caused a series of headaches for the Indian government, particularly Hyderabad that exceeded till 1949. At present, the South Indian state of Karnataka has a total of 31 districts divided into four sub-regions: Belagavi (formerly Belgaum), Bengaluru (formerly Bangalore), Kalaburagi (formerly Gulbarga) and Mysuru (formerly Mysore). And that's what the post is about, the former names of Karnataka's districts. 

Karnataka is a state that was created by the addition and subtraction of districts from the neighbouring former Bombay and Madras states. The province of Coorg was annexed on the 15th of August 1947 along with other former British provinces. Bellary district used to be a large division that is now divided into Bellary (in Karnataka) and Chittoor (in Andhra Pradesh) districts. At the time of India's independence in 1947, the following were the administrative divisions of the former Mysore state: 

1. Shimoga
2. Chitaldrug
3. Kadur
4. Hassan
5. Mandya
6. Mysore
7. Bangalore
8. Kolar
9. Tumkur

The parts of Bombay province that are now part of Karnataka are as follows: 

1. Dharwar
2. Kanara
3. Belgaum
4. Bijapur

Adding to these, certain parts of the Deccan States were enclaves inside Belgaum, Dharwar and Bijapur districts. These were non-salute states that were tiny fragments of bigger states scattered among the neighbouring districts. Listing down the states and their current locations: 

1. Jamkhandi or Jumkundee (in Bagalkote district)
2. Mudhol (Muduoolalu, in Bagalkot district)
3. Ramdurg (in Belagavi district)
4. Savanur (in Haveri district)

Post-independence, till 1960, the districts of Bijapur, Belgaum, Dharwar and North Canara remained part of the Bombay State, the only Kannada speaking regions (except Belgaum) in a predecessor to a Marathi speaking state of Maharashtra. These districts are colloquially referred to as Bombay Karnataka but never in official usage. The district of Belgaum is still in a conflict between Maharashtra and Karnataka as it has been a Marathi majority region before its incorporation in the Karnataka state. In 1967, the Mahajan Commission report transferred a total of 267 villages of the Belgaum region to Maharashtra, while the remaining 247 remained in Karnataka. It's majorly also because the Princely States part of Belgaum-Bijapur-Dharwar regions belonged to the Marathi-speaking Deccan States Agency, majorly tributary to the bigger Kolhapur and Sangli states. 

Looking back at some of the maps of the 19th century, one would find the name Belganw denoting the entire bracket between Kolhapur to Mudgal or Mudhol, as per an 1861 map of India sketched by Alexander Keith Johnston (1804-1871). During the 19th-century, the territory of Beejapoor extended from Poonah (Pune) to Ballary (Bellary) while the Princely State of Satara had its boundaries touching the outskirts of Beejapoor city. During this time, the Princely State of Mysore was divided into the following divisions: 

1. Nagar or Kadur (Shimoga, Kadur, Chitaldrug districts)
2. Nandidrug (Tumkur, Bangalore, Kolar districts)
3. Ashtagram (Hassan, Mandya, Mysore districts)

The northern districts forming the 'Southern Maratha Country' or Bombay-Karnataka is marked as 'Karnatik', a nomenclature distant from the colonial Carnatic, giving a stark difference between Karnatik and Carnatic, although both of them have similar etymologies. 

Shifting focus on the northeastern part of Karnataka, which is also known as Hyderabad-Karnataka, comprising of the bigger districts of Gulbarga, Bidar and Raichur (or Raichore) that got bifurcated into various smaller districts. The reason why this area is called as Hyderabad-Karnataka is simply that these districts were part of the former Princely State of Hyderabad. If maps are compared, some parts of the bigger Raichur district was annexed to the Mahbubnagar district, which is in today's Telangana, the Gadwal Samsthannam being one of them. A major change in the map of the Bidar district took place that exchanged villages and talukas between the neighbouring Nanded and Osmanabad districts, that later went to Maharashtra. 

The former districts of South Kanara and Bellary are referred to as Madras-Karnataka since these were part of the erstwhile Madras (both province and state). South Kanara is the entire Konkan belt of Karnataka that are now Udupi and Dakshin Kannada, touching the Malabar district of Kasaragod. In the British era and till the 1956 State Reorganisation Act was enforced, Kasaragod was also part of South Kanara district. On 1st November 1956, Kasaragod became part of the state of Kerala and got a separate district in 1984. Along with Kasaragod, the Aminidivi Islands of the Lakshadweep group was also part of South Kanara (hence known as Cannaore Islands or South Kanara Islands) that got incorporated in the Union Territory of Lakshadweep post 1973. 

In the remaining areas, Mysore-Karnataka and the former province of Coorg, minor boundary exchanges took place between the newly incorporated State of Mysore and the neighbouring Madras State after independence. Coorg later became Coorg State between 1947 to 1956, after which it was incorporated in the Mysore State. The district of Coimbatore, Salem and Nilgiris touched the districts of Mysore, Mandya, Bangalore and Kolar. Comparing the maps, we notice that certain parts of the bigger Coimbatore district such as Kollegal, Yelandur and Nullur (all part of today's Chamarajanagara district, Karnataka) were annexed to the undivided Mysore district after the 1956 reorganisation period. The tiny Princely State of Sandur stretched at the northernmost tip of the former Chitaldrug district, surrounded by the bigger Bellary district. Sandur or Sanduru is today a part of the Bellary district of Karnataka. It's interesting as the last ruler of Sandur State who signed the Instrument of Accession with the Union of India in 1949, was Maharaja Srimant Yeshwantrao Hindurao Ghorpade, which by name belong to Marathi surnames of Ghorpade. 

Below here is a list of districts of the former Mysore State (1956-1973) with boundaries of today's Karnataka but internal districts still having former names. 

1. Bidar 
2. Gulbarga (Kalaburagi)
3. Bijapur (Vijayapura)
4. Belgaum (Belgaon / Belagavi)
5. Raichur
6. Dharwar (Dharwad)
7. Karwar or Carwar
8. Shimoga (Shivamogga)
9. South Kanara (Dakshina Kannada)
10. Chikmagalur (Chikkamagaluru)
11. Chitradurg (Chitradurga)
12. Bellary (Ballari)
13. Tumkur (Tumakuru)
14. Kolar 
15. Bangalore (Bengaluru)
16. Mandya 
17. Hassan
18. Mysore (Mysuru)
19. Coorg (Kodagu)