The Eastern States Union was a short-lived (1947–48) union of

princely states A princely state (also called native state or Indian state) was a nominally sovereign entity of the British Indian Empire that was not directly governed by the British, but rather by an Indian ruler under a form of indirect rule, subject to ...

in newly independent

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

that gathered most of the princely states of the former Orissa Tributary States and Chhattisgarh States Agency in order to fill the vacuum of power created after the departure of the British and the wrapping up of the

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was him ...

Creation

The union was formed right after the British Parliament decided to grant independence to

and

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

on 15 August 1947, following which the princely states became ''de facto'' independent as well. In the transitional period the provincial

Congress Party The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...

governments refused assistance to the princely states for they were hostile to the traditional princes and in fact were involved in popular agitations against them. In face of the situation of insecurity and continuous disturbances of the public order, the rulers of the states of the former Eastern States Agency formally founded the Eastern States Union in the Raj Kumar College building in

Raipur Raipur ( ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. Raipur is also the administrative headquarters of Raipur district and Raipur division, and the largest city of the state. It was a part of Madhya Pradesh before the state of Ch ...

. The goal was to establish a unit that would be large enough to exist as a state within the Indian Union, as well as to share the cost of maintenance of an adequate security and military force in order to restore law and order.

Institutions

The Eastern States Union had a Premier, a Chief Secretary, a joint police force and a

court of appeal A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much ...

, but it had no legislature. The union selected

as its capital and quickly took the cause of building a dam on the

Indravati River Indravati River is a tributary of the Godavari River, in central India. The Indravati River is a stream of the river Godavari. Its starting point, found to be the Ghats of Dandakaranya, range from a hilltop village Mardiguda of Thuamula R ...

Kalahandi Kalahandi (locally pronounced ''Kalahani'') is a district of Odisha in India. Archaeological evidence of Stone Age and Iron Age human settlement has been recovered from the region. Asurgarh offered an advanced, well civilised, cultured and u ...

. However, some of the larger states such as

Mayurbhanj Mayurbhanj district is one of the 30 districts in Odisha state in eastern India. It is the largest district of Odisha by area. Its headquarters are at Baripada. Other major towns are Rairangpur, Karanjia and Udala. , it is the third-most-pop ...

and Bastar, as well as some minor ones, opted not to join the common effort.

Demise and successor states

In the end the Eastern States Union proved an administrative failure and, following intense Praja Mandal movement agitations in

Hindol Hindol is a Hindustani classical ''raga'' from the Kalyan Thaat. According to Indian classical vocalist Pandit Jasraj, Hindol is an ancient raga associated with the spring season and is sung during the first part of the day. Origin The rag ...

, Nilgiri,

Dhenkanal Dhenkanal is a town and a municipality in Dhenkanal district in the state of Odisha, India. Geography Dhenkanal is at . It has an average elevation of 80 metres (262 feet). Demographics As per the 2011 India census, Dhenkanal had a ...

and Talcher in December 1947, it was dissolved early in 1948.D. P. Mishra, ''People's Revolt in Orissa: A Study of Talcher'', p. 185 The states that had formed the union then became part of the newly established states of

Orissa Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of S ...

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West ...

and

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...

. Following the demise of the Eastern States Union the states that became part of Orissa (now

Odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of ...

) were

Gangpur Gangpur is a census town in Burdwan II CD Block in Bardhaman Sadar North subdivision of Purba Bardhaman district in West Bengal, India. Geography Location The location code of Gangpur Villa is 320193, according to the 2011 census. The dista ...

, Bonai,

Bamra Bamra State or Bamanda State, covering an area of 5149 km2, was one of the princely states of India during the period of the British Raj, its capital was in Debagarh (Deogarh). Bamra State acceded to India in 1948. The state was located i ...

Keonjhar Kendujhar is a town with municipality in Kendujhar District in the Indian state of Odisha. It is the administrative headquarters of the Kendujhar district, and it is one of the fifth scheduled areas of Odisha. Climate Politics Mohan char ...

, Rairakhol, Sonepur,

Athmallik Athmallik is a town and a notified area committee and one of the four subdivisions of Angul district in the state of Odisha, India. History Athmallik was initially an estate (jagir) which was recognized as a princely state in 1874. Athmall ...

, Pal Lahara,

Talcher Talcher is one of the 4 sub-divisions of Angul district in the Indian state of Odisha. History During the British Raj Talcher was the capital of Talcher State, one of the princely states of the Eastern States Agency.Malleson, G. B.: ''An his ...

Patna Patna ( ), historically known as Pataliputra, is the capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Patna had a population of 2.35 million, making it the 19th largest city in India. ...

, Baudh, Dhenkanal,

Daspalla Dashapalla, also known as Daspalla, is an archaeologically important site situated in Nayagarh district, Odisha, India. History Available records, writings, books reveal that at first there was no such place known as Daspalla. Rather it was a ...

Narsinghpur Narsinghpur is a city in Madhya Pradesh in central India. It comes under Jabalpur division. Narsinghpur has a large temple dedicated to Lord Narsingh As of 2001, Narsinghpur is the most literate district of the state. History Prehistory ...

, Baramba,

Athgarh Athgarh (ଆଠଗଡ) was one of the princely states of India during the period of the British Raj. The state was founded by Raja SriKaran Niladri Bebarta Patnaik in 1178 and had its capital in Athgarh (Athagad) town. It was made part of Cut ...

Tigiria Tigiria is a tehsil (block) of Cuttack district. There are 14 ''(panchayats)'' with a total of 50 villages under the Tigiria administrative division. Tigiria is part of the Athagarh Odisha Vidhan Sabha constituency which includes as well Athagad ...

Nayagarh Nayagarh is both a town and the municipality headquarters of the Nayagarh district in the Indian state of Odisha. Geography Nayagarh is located at with an average elevation of 178 metres (584 feet). It was the Rukhi mountain to the south ...

, Ranpur and

Kharsawan Kharsawan garh is a town and a notified area in the Seraikela Sadar subdivision of the Seraikela Kharsawan district in the Indian state of Jharkhand. History Kharsawan (also spelt as Kharsuan) was founded around 1650. It was one of the Oriya ...

and

Seraikela Saraikela (also spelled Seraikella) is the district headquarters and a nagar panchayat in the Seraikela Sadar subdivision of the Seraikela Kharsawan district in the Indian state of Jharkhand. It was formerly the capital of the Odia Saraikela Sta ...

, joined

in May 1948. The states that became part of Madhya Pradesh were

Changbhakar Changbhakar State, also known as Chang Bhakar, was one of the princely states of British Empire in India in the Chhattisgarh States Agency. It included 117 villages and had an area of with a 1941 population of 21,266 people. Bharatpur was the ...

Koriya Korea State, currently spelled as Koriya, was a princely state of the British Empire of India. After Indian independence in 1947, the ruler of Koreaccededto the Union of India on 1 January 1948, and Koriya was made part of Surguja District ...

Surguja Surguja district is a district of the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. The district is one of the oldest districts of Chhattisgarh. The headquarters of the district is Ambikapur. The district lies in its eponymous Surguja dialectal region (where ...

Jashpur Jashpur District is a district of the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh bordering Jharkhand and Odisha. Jashpur Nagar is the administrative headquarters of the district. The district was formerly a princely state before Indpendence. Highly mou ...

Udaipur Udaipur () ( ISO 15919: ''Udayapura''), historically named as Udayapura, is a city and municipal corporation in Udaipur district of the state of Rajasthan, India. It is the administrative headquarter of Udaipur district. It is the historic cap ...

, Raigarh,

Sarangarh Sarangarh is a New District in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. History During the British Raj era, Sarangarh State was one of several princely states governed by the Raj Gond dynasty of Rajputs. It was originally a dependency of the Ratan ...

Kawardha Kawardha is a town and a municipality in Kabirdham district in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. It is the administrative headquarters of Kabirdham district. Kawardha is also known for the "Temple of Bhoramdeo." The Member of Legislative asse ...

Khairagarh Khairagarh is a city in Khairagarh-Chhuikhadan-Gandai district. Formerly, it was the part of Rajnandgaon district. History Khairagarh State was a feudatory state of the former Central Provinces of British India. Pandadah (8 kilometer from ...

, Nandgaon and Kanker. Since 2000 most of the areas of the former princely states in eastern Madhya Pradesh belong to the state of Chhattisgarh.

References

{{coord, 21.2405, 81.6138, type:edu_region:IN-CG, display=title Former states and territories of India 1940s in Orissa History of Madhya Pradesh (1947–present) History of Chhattisgarh 1947 establishments in India 1948 disestablishments in India Princely states of India