Vindhya Pradesh (Hindī: विन्द्य प्रदेश, Urdū: وِندے
پردیش) is a former state of India
. Area
23,185 sq. miles. It was created in 1948, shortly after Indian
independence, from the territories of the
princely states in the eastern portion of the
former
Central India Agency.
It was
named for the Vindhya
Range
, which runs through the center of the
province. The capital of the state was
Rewa.
It lay between Uttar Pradesh
to the north and Madhya Pradesh
to the south, and the enclave of Datia
, which lay a
short distance to the west, was surrounded by the state of Madhya Bharat.
History
In 1948 following 35 princely states were merged to form Vindhya
Pradesh -
- Rewa,
- Panna,
- Datia,
- Orchha,
- Ajaygarh,
- Baonee,
- Baraundha,
- Bijawar,
- Chhatarpur,
- Charkharee,
- Maihar,
- Nagod,
- Samthar,
- Alipura,
- Banka Paharee,
- Beri,
- Maisundha,
- Baihath,
- Bijona,
- Dhukhai,
- Garhaulee,
- Gaurihar,
- Jaso,
- Jagnee,
- Khaniadhana,
- Kamtarajaula,
- Kothi,
- Lugasee,
- Naigwan rewai,
- Pahraa,
- Paldeo,
- Sareela,
- Sohawal,
- Taraun Pathraulee,
- Tauree Fatehpur.
Vindhya
Pradesh, together with the states of Madhya Bharat and Bhopal
, was merged
into Madhya Pradesh on November 1, 1956.
Divisions
After merger 8 districts were created in the state -
- Rewa district,
- Satna district,
- Sidhi district,
- Shahdol district,
- Panna district,
- Chhatarpur district
,
- Tikamgarh district,
- Datia district.
Politics
The nominal heads of the state were the
Rajpramukh from 1948-49, the Chief Commissioner
from 1949-March, 1952 and the Lieutenant Governor from March,
1952-31 October, 1956. The state had a
Vidhan Sabha comprising 60 members elected from
48 constituencies (36 single-member and 12 double-member). There
were 4
Lok Sabha constituencies in the
state (2 single-member and 2 double-member).
Following the formation of the state, Martand Singh became the
Rajpramukh and Awadhesh Prasad Singh became the first Chief
Minister. In the first general election in 1951, the
Indian National Congress won 40
seats and the
Socialist
Party won 11 seats. Shambhunath Shukla of
Indian National Congress became the
Chief Minister of the state on 13 March, 1952. He was in office
till 31 October, 1956.
Recent movement for separte state
In 2000,
Sriniwas Tiwari, speaker of
the Madhya Pradesh assembly, advocated that nine districts be
separated from Madhya Pradesh to re-create a new state of Vindhya
Pradesh.
Vindhaya Ekata Parishad, Bhopal is actively working for the
separate "Vindhya Pradesh". C.M. Singh is the President of the
Parishad.
Notes