Lost in Transition

In the state of Tamil Nadu, around Chennai, to its west lies the districts of Thiruvallur, Ranipet, Kancheepuram, Tiruvannamalai, Chengalpattu and as we go south towards Puducherry, we have Villupuram, Cuddalore and Kallakurichi. A few decades ago, none of these districts existed (except Chengalpattu as Chingleput), and two larger districts engulfed these present day districts - North Arcot and South Arcot. Today, Arcot is a small town situated on the embankment of Palar River and belongs to the larger Ranipet district and is primarily clubbed with Vellore Fort as it's less than 40 minutes of travel time between the two. In fact, the older Arcot Kingdom had its capital at Vellore Fort that stood test of time during the famous 18th century Carnatic Wars. 

There are several such former districts whose identity is known only to the historians or someone deeply understanding the rich cultural roots of that place. The former Bombay state had two distinct districts - East and West Khandesh - that is today's Nandurbar, Dhule and Jalgaon districts. Khandeshi Marathi is a unique dialect that is spoken even today in these regions, but the name 'Khandesh' is now wiped out from political conversations, at least. The city of Hyderabad was the district headquarters of Atraf-i-Balda, that was surrounded by Mahbubnagar, Nalgonda, Medak, Bidar and Gulbarga. Today, the name doesn't exist and Hyderabad is a tiny district surrounded by newer names - Rangareddy, Yadadri, Siddipet, Medak, Medchal and Sangareddy; more Telugu, less Nizami. For centuries, the only British province in the interior of Rajputana was Ajmer-Merwara that in 1947 became Ajmer state. But Merwara was integrated in the Ajmer and Nagaur districts and while Ajmer is very much relevant, Merwara has lost its significance. 

If we go further back and compare a 1857 map of British India, there were several more such examples. Adjacent to Lucknow were two districts - Poorwah (Purwa) and Mulaon (Mallawan) - are now parts of Unnao and Hardoi districts respectively. The district of Gaya in Bihar was itself expanded in 'Behar' which was a much larger district and was found on numerous old maps as a separate and key administrative division. The Karnataka districts of Chikkamagaluru, Hassan, Mandya, Chamarajanagar, Mysuru and parts of Shivamogga and Tumakuru were clubbed together and known as Ashtagram. The entity Ashtagram doesn't exist today in any form, neither geographically nor historically. The remaining Shivamogga district, was known as 'Nagar'. Jaipur, as we all know, is the capital of Rajasthan but there is also another Jaipur, written as 'Jeypore' in Odisha's Koraput district. Back in the 19th century, Jeypore was a major district that covered today's Koraput, Malkangiri and Rayagada districts. 

The district Nanded in Maharashtra has an interesting geographical change. When it was part of the Hyderabad State, the Mahoor and Kinwat talukas were part of the larger Adilabad district. Back in the 19th century, Mahoor itself was a separate district, while Nanded (written as Nandair or Nander) was a much larger administrative block spread over various talukas and villages of today. There was another district around Nandair, known as Baithulwaddy, the Anglicised variant of Vetalwadigad Fort, that's in today's Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar district (formerly known as Aurangabad). At the time of independence and till the formation of Arunachal Pradesh as a state in 1987, it was divided into just two 'frontier tract' districts - Balipara in the west and Sadiya in the east. Today the state has 28 districts, while Balipara is in Lohitpur and Sadiya became part of Assam in 1950 with several alterations done between the then North East Frontier Agency and Assam states. The larger Santal Parganas of Bihar is now part of Jharkhand broken down as Sahibganj, Godda, Pakur, Jamtara, Dumka and Deoghar. Interestingly, the Santal Pargana is now a division of Jharkhand distributed among the above mentioned districts. 

But certain districts have not changed their boundaries for centuries and even today they exist in the same size. Majority of districts in Maharashtra - Pune, Ahmadnagar (or Ahilya Nagar), Satara, Solapur, Yavatmal (formerly, Yeotmal), Parbhani, Nagpur etc. remains unchanged. The Kachchh (or Kutch / Cutch) remains undivided and even existed as a temporary state after independence till its integration with Bombay State in 1956. Til 2022, the districts of Andhra Pradesh were more or less similar to that in 1947 and post independence, but in the last two years major divisions took place and today the state has 26 districts. Koch Bihar district of West Bengal hasn't changed its boundaries and remains the same as the former Princely State during colonial times. 

Talking about Princely States, several of them are now districts in the states they were absorbed between 1947 to 1956. Odisha, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Jammu & Kashmir are some great examples where several of these royalties have retained their legacies as individual districts. But there are several whose names couldn't be qualify as districts (because of their small sizes) or got bifurcated into several smaller districts. Plenty of such examples one can find in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh today. Makrai, Sakti, Khairagarh, Chhuikhadan, Kawardha are today submerged in Nandgaon and Kabeerdham districts of Chhattisgarh. It's interesting to note that there was one Udaipur as a Princely State also in today's Chhattisgarh which is now part of three districts - Jashpur, Surguja and Raigarh. Down south, one of the largest Princely States was Cochin-Travancore and while Cochin has retained it's identity to it's native name Kochi, the word Travancore doesn't exist any longer and is bifurcated into several smaller districts. The capital Trivandrum got renamed in 1991 as Thiruvananthapuram, but Travancore is restricted to certain commercial products and commodities but not on political cartography anymore. 

In reflection, the boundaries and divisions we recognise today were significantly shaped by colonial powers during their rule. These demarcations were initially crafted to serve imperial interests, such as administrative efficiency, revenue collection, and the consolidation of control. Simultaneously, they often facilitated agreements with local royal clans, providing clear territorial limits that resolved disputes and delineated British territories from princely states. This legacy continues to influence the present-day administrative framework of India, where districts are frequently restructured to ensure more effective governance. By breaking down larger regions into smaller, more manageable units, modern governments strive to distribute administrative responsibilities uniformly, fostering balanced development and accessibility. Thus, while these divisions originated from colonial objectives, they have evolved to meet the democratic and developmental aspirations of contemporary India.