The making of Himachal Pradesh, 1948–1971

Himachal Pradesh did not exist before 1948. It was built, over 23 years, out of some thirty princely states and a slice of Punjab — a slow assembly that only finished when the state was granted full statehood in 1971.

1948: the Chief Commissioner's province

As the princely states acceded to India after Independence, the rulers of the small hill states of the Simla and Punjab hills signed away their sovereignty. On 15 April 1948 their territories were combined into a new centrally administered unit, Himachal Pradesh, with its headquarters at Shimla and Y. S. Parmar as its first premier. Bilaspur, which had acceded separately, was merged in in 1954.

1956: Union Territory

The 1956 States Reorganisation reduced Himachal from a Part C state to a Union Territory, governed from Delhi. Through the late 1950s new districts were carved out, including Kinnaur in 1960.

1966: the Punjab hill areas

When Punjab was reorganised on linguistic lines on 1 November 1966, its hill districts — Kangra, Kullu, Lahaul and Spiti, Shimla, and parts of others — were transferred to Himachal Pradesh. This roughly doubled the state's size and population and gave it its present shape.

1971: statehood

The State of Himachal Pradesh Act was passed in 1970, and on 25 January 1971 Himachal became the eighteenth state of India, with Parmar as its first Chief Minister. The date is now marked as Himachal Day.

Sources

• Wikipedia — Himachal Pradesh
• Wikipedia — Yashwant Singh Parmar
• Wikipedia — Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966