Chapter 09 · 1947 to today
The Republic and its states
गणराज्य और उसके राज्य
At midnight on 15 August 1947 two dominions replaced the Raj, and within days the Radcliffe awards had cut the Punjab and Bengal in two. The Constitution of 1950 made India a republic; the States Reorganisation Act of 1956 redrew its internal lines along language, and the redrawing has not stopped since.
This chapter follows the modern boundary and the making of the states: 1956, 1960, 1966, Himachal Pradesh in 1971 and the north-eastern states in 1972, the three new states of 2000, Telangana in 2014, and the division of Jammu and Kashmir in 2019.
Events in this chapter
1947 · Red Fort, Delhi
Independence
The Indian Independence Act takes effect at midnight on 15 August; Nehru tells the Constituent Assembly India keeps its tryst with destiny.
1947 – 1948 · Attari-Wagah crossing, Punjab
Partition and the Radcliffe Line
The Radcliffe award, published two days after independence, splits Punjab and Bengal; about 14.5 million people cross the new lines.
1950 · Parliament House, New Delhi
The Constitution comes into force
On 26 January India becomes a sovereign democratic republic; its constitution, drafted under B. R. Ambedkar, is the world's longest.
1951 – 1952 · Kalpa (Chini), Kinnaur, Himachal Pradesh
The first general election
The first votes are cast in snowbound Chini on 25 October 1951; by February 1952 an electorate of 173 million has chosen the first Lok Sabha.
1956 · Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh
States Reorganisation Act
After Potti Sriramulu's fatal fast and the Fazl Ali commission, India is redrawn into 14 states and 6 union territories, largely by language.
1960 · Mumbai, Maharashtra
Bombay State becomes Maharashtra and Gujarat
The Samyukta Maharashtra and Mahagujarat movements split bilingual Bombay State into Maharashtra and Gujarat on 1 May.
1962 · Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh
The war with China
China attacks in Ladakh and the North-East Frontier on 20 October; after a month of Indian defeats it declares a ceasefire and keeps Aksai Chin.
1966 – 1972 · Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana
The Green Revolution begins
Mexican dwarf wheat, tube wells and fertiliser lift Punjab's wheat harvest from 1.9 to 5.6 million tonnes between 1965 and 1972.
1971 · Suhrawardy Udyan (Ramna Race Course), Dhaka
The 1971 war and Bangladesh
After nine months of civil war and ten million refugees, Indian troops and the Mukti Bahini reach Dhaka; Pakistan's eastern command surrenders on 16 December.
1974 – 1998 · Pokhran Test Range, Rajasthan
Nuclear tests at Pokhran
India sets off a "peaceful nuclear explosion" on 18 May 1974, then five devices on 11 and 13 May 1998, and declares itself a nuclear weapon state.
1975 – 1977 · Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi
The Emergency
Two weeks after a court voids her election, Indira Gandhi has a national emergency proclaimed on 25 June 1975; civil liberties are suspended for 21 months.
1984 · Union Carbide plant, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh
The Bhopal gas disaster
On the night of 2-3 December 1984 methyl isocyanate leaks from Union Carbide's pesticide plant; thousands die in the crowded settlements around it.
1991 · North Block, New Delhi
Economic liberalisation
Facing a balance-of-payments crisis, the Rao government devalues the rupee, scraps most industrial licensing and opens trade.
1992 – 2024 · Ram Janmabhoomi and Babri Masjid site, Ayodhya
Ayodhya, 1992 to 2024
Kar sevaks demolish the Babri Masjid on 6 December 1992; after a 2019 Supreme Court verdict, a Ram temple on the site is consecrated on 22 January 2024.
1999 · Kargil, Ladakh
The Kargil war
Pakistani troops occupy heights on India's side of the Line of Control above Kargil; by 26 July 1999 the Indian Army has retaken them.
2010 – 2018 · Tembhli, Nandurbar, Maharashtra
Aadhaar and the digital state
Ranjana Sonawane of Tembhli receives the first Aadhaar number on 29 September 2010; by April 2016 a billion of the biometric IDs have been issued.
2014 · Hyderabad, Telangana
Telangana becomes the 29th state
After a movement going back to 1969, Andhra Pradesh is split on 2 June; Hyderabad serves as joint capital for up to ten years.
2019 · Leh, Ladakh
Jammu and Kashmir reorganised; Ladakh a union territory
Article 370 is made inoperative in August; on 31 October Jammu and Kashmir becomes two union territories, one of them Ladakh.
2020 · Galwan valley, near Patrolling Point 14, Ladakh
Clash in the Galwan valley
Indian and Chinese troops fight with clubs and stones on the night of 15 June 2020; twenty Indian soldiers die, the first border deaths in 45 years.
2023 · Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh
Chandrayaan-3 lands near the lunar south pole
Launched from Sriharikota on 14 July, Vikram lands near 69°S on 23 August, at the time the closest soft landing to the Moon's south pole.
2024 · Parliament House, New Delhi
The 2024 general election
Some 640 million people vote in seven phases; the BJP wins 240 seats, short of a majority, and Narendra Modi begins a third term at the head of the NDA.
2025 · Baisaran meadow, Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir
Pahalgam and Operation Sindoor
Gunmen kill 26 people near Pahalgam on 22 April 2025; India strikes nine sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir on 7 May; firing stops on 10 May.
2026 – 2027 · Office of the Registrar General, Mansingh Road, New Delhi
Census 2027 begins
India's first census since 2011 opens with houselisting on 1 April 2026; it is the first digital count, and its second phase will also record caste.