Odisha

Odisha, officially formed on April 1, 1936, emerged from the unification of Odia-speaking districts from the Madras, Central Provinces, and Bihar and Orissa regions, marking a significant milestone in recognizing linguistic identities within British India. Prior to its formation, the area consisted of the Orissa Tributary States under the Eastern States Agency. Following India’s independence, the dissolution of the Eastern States Union in 1948 facilitated the integration of numerous princely states into Odisha, further enhancing its cultural coherence.

The state remained administratively stable until the 1990s when it underwent significant changes, including the creation of new districts and the renaming of some. A landmark moment occurred in 2008 with the Orissa (Alteration of Name) Act, which replaced ‘Orissa’ and ‘Oriya’ with ‘Odisha’ and ‘Odia’, reflecting a renewed commitment to the state’s linguistic and cultural identity.

The state of Odisha was born on 1 April 1936, formed by bringing together Odia-speaking districts from the states of Madras, Central Provinces, and Bihar and Orissa.The remaining areas of present-day Odisha existed as Orissa Tributary States within the Eastern States Agency.

At the time of Independence, the 42 princely states that were part of the Eastern States Agency decided to form an Eastern States Union. This Union included 26 states under the Orissa States Agency, 14 states under the Chhattisgarh States Agency, and Cooch Behar and Tripura under the Bengal States Agency.

However, the union was dissolved in 1948, and 24 of its states soon joined the state of Odisha.

Note: Kharsawan and Seraikela from the Eastern States Agency, which were among the original Orissa Tributary States, became part of Bihar in 1948 and are now in present-day Jharkhand.

On 17 October 1948, the Maharaja of Mayurbhanj, who had independently attempted to run a responsible government but had failed, signed a Merger Agreement with India. On 1 January 1949, the States Ministry merged Mayurbhanj with Odisha due to its linguistic and cultural links.

The state of Odisha remained unchanged until 1992, with no alterations in its district administration. However, in 1993 and 1994, 17 new districts were carved out of 9 existing districts in the state.

Recently, the most significant change for the state has been the replacement of ‘Orissa’ and ‘Oriya’ with the spellings ‘Odisha’ and ‘Odia’, as per the Orissa (Alteration of Name) Act of 2008.

Sources: 

1. Administrative Atlas of India (2011)

2. Origin Story of India’s States - Venkata Raghavan Subha Srinivasan (2020)

3. British Administration in Orissa - Bandita Devi

4. Mapping Place Names of India (2019) - Anu Kapur

5. Gujarat Government - District Website/s

6. Some Aspects of British Administration in Orissa (1912–1936) - Bandita Devi (1992)

7. White Paper on Indian States (1950).