The government of India’s recent initiative to divide Andhra Pradesh into Seemandhra and Telangana has reignited the demand for new states across the country. The demand for division of states is not a new phenomenon in India. Many states were created through the States Reorganisation Act, 1956. Before that, Andhra Pradesh was carved out of Madras in 1953. Then, in 1956, as many as 14 states and six Union Territories were created. Bombay was split into Maharashtra and Gujarat in 1960. In 1963, Nagaland was carved out of Assam. In 1966, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh were carved out of Punjab, and in 1972 Meghalaya, Manipur and Tripura were formed. The states were initially reorganised along linguistic lines.

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