| State of Madras | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| State of India | |||||||||||||||
| 1950–1969 | |||||||||||||||
.svg) Madras State (1947–1953) | |||||||||||||||
 Map ofSouthern India (1953–1956) before theStates Reorganisation Act of 1956 with Madras State in yellow | |||||||||||||||
| Capital | Madras(Chennai) | ||||||||||||||
| Area | |||||||||||||||
| • Coordinates | 13°05′N80°16′E / 13.09°N 80.27°E /13.09; 80.27 | ||||||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||||||
• Madras Province integrated intoUnion of India | 15 August | ||||||||||||||
• Establishment of Madras state | 26 January 1950 | ||||||||||||||
• Separation ofAndhra | 1 October 1953 | ||||||||||||||
• Separation ofKerala and re-organization | 1 November 1956 | ||||||||||||||
• Renamed asTamil Nadu | 14 January 1969 | ||||||||||||||
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| States of India since 1947 | |||||||||||||||
Madras State was a state in theIndian Republic, which was in existence during the mid-20th century as a successor to theMadras Province ofBritish India. The state came into existence on 26 January 1950 when theConstitution of India was adopted and included the present-dayTamil Nadu, parts of neighbouring states ofKerala,Andhra Pradesh andKarnataka.
Andhra state was separated in 1953. The state was further re-organized with theMalabar District being merged with the newly formed state of Kerala as well as five Tamil-majority taluks being incorporated into Madras State from the erstwhileTravancore–Cochin when states were redrawn linguistically in1956. On 14 January 1969, the state was renamed Tamil Nadu.
Archaeological evidence points to the region being inhabited by hominids more than 400 millennia ago.[1][2] AncientTamilakam, a region roughly on par with the Madras state, was ruled by atriumvirate of monarchical states,Cheras,Cholas andPandyas.[3] The kingdoms had significant diplomatic and trade contacts with other kingdoms to the north andRomans.[4] The region was later ruled byKalabhras,Pallavas,Hoysalas andVijayanagara.[5][6][7]
Europeans started to establish trade centers from the 16th century along the eastern coast.[8] By the middle of the 18th century, theFrench and theBritish were involved in a protracted struggle for military control over South India.[9] After theFourth Anglo-Mysore War in 1799 and the end of theSecond Polygar war in 1801, theBritish Indians consolidated their power over much of the region and established the Madras State with Madras (Chennai) as the capital.[10][11] TheBritish Raj took control of the region from theEast India Company in 1857.[12] Failure of the summer monsoons and administrative shortcomings of theRyotwari system resulted in two severe famines in the Madras State, theGreat Indian Famine of 1876–1878 and theIndian famine of 1896–97 which killed millions and the migration to other British countries.[13] TheIndian Independence Movement gathered momentum in the early 20th century.[14][15]
After theIndian Independence in 1947, the erstwhile Madras presidency was integrated into theUnion of India as Madras Province.[16] The province became Madras state following the adoption of theConstitution of India on 26 January 1950.[17] The state was split in 1953 and further re-organized in 1956.[18][19] On 14 January 1969, Madras State was renamed Tamil Nadu.[20][21]
Madras state covered an area of 127,790 mi2 (331,000 km2) and consisted of the present-dayTamil Nadu,Malabar district ofKerala,Rayalaseema andCoastal Andhra ofAndhra Pradesh andSouth Canara ofKarnataka. It was located on the south of theIndian peninsula, straddled by theWestern Ghats in the west, separated from theArabian Sea byMalabar coast, theEastern Ghats in the north-east, theEastern Coastal Plains lining theBay of Bengal in the east, theGulf of Mannar and thePalk Strait to the south-east, theIndian Ocean at the southerncape of the peninsula.[22][23] It enclosedPuducherry and shares an internationalmaritime border with theNorthern Province ofSri Lanka atPamban Island. ThePalk Strait and the chain of low sandbars and islands known asRama's Bridge separate the region fromSri Lanka, which lies off the southeastern coast.[24][25] The southernmost tip of mainland India is atKanyakumari where the Indian Ocean meets the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea.[26]Andhra state was split from the state in 1953 and the state was further re-organized in1956 whenKerala was formed by the merger ofTravancore-Cochin state (exceptSengottai taluk) with theMalabar district andKasaragod taluk of South Canara district. The southern part ofTravancore-Cochin,Kanyakumari district, along with Taluk, was transferred to Madras State. TheLaccadive andMinicoy Islands were separated fromMalabar District to form a new Union Territory namelyLaccadive,Amindivi, andMinicoy Islands.[18][19] The area shrank to 60,362 mi2 (156,340 km2) and 50,216 mi2 (130,060 km2) in 1956.[22]
As per the1951 census, the state had a population of 57,016,002 which later became 35,734,489 in 1953 after the split of Andhra and 30,119,047 in 1956.[22][27]Hinduism was the major religion with 86.8% followed byIslam at 9% andChristianity at 4%.[22] After 1953,Tamil was the major language followed byMalayalam (spoken in Malabar district before re-organization in 1956) andTelugu.[22]
O. P. Ramaswamy Reddiyar was thePremier of Madras Presidency during the Independence and served till 6 April 1949.[28]P. S. Kumaraswamy Raja was the chief minister till April 1952 till the first elections were held in1952.[29] As laid down by the constitution, the state had 375 seats in the assembly.[16] In 1952 elections, theIndian National Congress emerged as the single largest party in theassembly and formed the government withChakravarti Rajagopalachari as the chief minister.[28] In 1953,Potti Sriramulu went on a fast until death calling for a separate state forTelugu speaking people, which led to riots post his death.[30]Andhra state was carved out of the Madras state in 1953.[18]
Rajaji removed controls on food grains and introduced anew education policy based on family vocation in 1953.[31] According to this policy, students had to go to school in the morning and to compulsorily learn the family vocation practiced by their parents after school. It was opposed as casteist and opposed byPeriyar.[32] It was put on hold on 29 July 1953 and dropped altogether on 18 May 1954.[33]
On 13 April 1954, K. Kamaraj became the chief minister of Madras state.[28] The state boundaries were re-organized further in 1956.[19] Kamaraj opened a primary school for every square mile and eventually made school education free.[34] He expanded theMidday Meal Scheme to cover all public schools.[35] He introduced free school uniforms to weed out caste, creed and class distinctions among school children.[36] Theliteracy rate went up from 19% to 37% during his tenure.[37] Major irrigation schemes were planned in Kamaraj's period and more than ten dams and irrigation canals were built across the state.[37] He established more than 13 industrial estates and brought many industries and research facilities to the state includingNeyveli Lignite Corporation,BHEL atTrichy,Integral Coach Factory andIIT Madras.[37] Kamaraj remained chief minister forthree consecutive terms, winning elections in1957 and1962.[28] In 1949,C. N. Annadurai, a follower of Periyar, formed theDravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK).[38] On 2 October 1963, he resigned as the chief minister and proposed that all senior Congress leaders should resign from their posts to devote all their energy to the re-vitalization of the congress party which would later be known as theKamaraj Plan.[39]
M. Bhaktavatsalam became the chief minister post the resignation of Kamaraj.[28] During his tenure, the state witnessedAnti-Hindi agitations in response to theUnion Government'sOfficial Languages Act passed in 1963 which planned to introduceHindi as compulsory language and to rejected the demands to make Tamil the medium of instruction in colleges.[40] On 7 March 1964, Bhaktavatsalam recommended the introduction of athree-language formula comprising English, Hindi and Tamil.[41][42][43] The amendment to the original act was passed in November 1967, accepting the three language formula where-inEnglish will continue to be an additional language used for official communications.[44] TheAnti-Hindi agitations of Tamil Nadu led to the rise of Dravidian parties that formed Tamil Nadu's first government in1967.[45]
In 1967, the DMK won the elections and formed the first non-Congress government under Annadurai.[46] The 1967 elections also resulted in anelectoral fusion among the non-Congress parties to avoid a split in theOpposition votes with former chief minister Rajagopalachari leaving the Congress to found the right-wingSwatantra Party. In 1967, the state government legalizedself-respect marriages and announced the distribution ofrice at subsidized prices through thepublic distribution system.[47][48] In 1969, the state government proposed renaming the state to Tamil Nadu and on 14 January 1969, the state was renamed Tamil Nadu.[20]
Everywhere within Beloved-of-the-Gods, King Piyadasi's domain, and among the people beyond the borders, the Cholas, the Pandyas, theSatyaputras, the Keralaputras, as far as Tamraparni
Theosophical Society provided the framework for action within which some of its Indian and British members worked to form the Indian National Congress.
| Part A States |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Part B States | ||
| Part C States | ||
| Part D States | ||
