On January 24, 1950, the name of United Province was changed to Uttar Pradesh.
The Constituent Assembly changed the name of United Province to Uttar Pradesh on 24 January 1950. Interestingly, celebrating the state’s foundation day on this date started in 2018 after a gap of 68 years. The initiative was taken by the then Maharashtrian Governor of the state, Ram Nayak. He had given this suggestion to SP’s Akhilesh Yadav government. But then it was not possible.
Yogi Aditya Nath implemented Nayak’s suggestion. During the British period, this state was known by four different names. After independence, demands began to be raised to get rid of the symbols and names of British slavery. The United Provinces Assembly suggested several names. But the naming of the state had to be decided by the Constituent Assembly, which named it Uttar Pradesh. On the occasion of the Foundation Day of Uttar Pradesh, read the history of its changing names and merging areas.
name changed again and again
Between 1775-1833, present Uttar Pradesh was under the Presidency of Fort William (Bengal). On 14 November 1834, it was separated from Fort William and named Agra Presidency. The capital was made Allahabad. On June 1, 1836, this province was placed under Lieutenant Governor Sir Charles Theophilus. This time the capital was shifted to Agra instead of Allahabad. In 1856, the British government annexed Awadh.
Major General Sir James Utram was given the responsibility as Chief Commissioner. The capital of the state kept changing at regular intervals. In 1858, Allahabad was once again shifted from Agra to the capital. In 1868, the High Court was also shifted from Agra to Allahabad.
Bada Imambara of Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh.
Constituent Assembly rejected the name Aryavarta
In 1877, the districts of Awadh were merged into the North Western Provinces. The name of the state was changed to North Western Provinces of Agra and Awadh. In 1902, the next name of the state was United Provinces of Agra and Awadh. The name of the state changed again in 1937 after a gap of 35 years. Now it has become a United Province. This was the last change in the name of the state during the British rule. In 1920, the capital of the state was made Lucknow in place of Allahabad. After independence, on 11 September 1947, Congress MLA Chandrabhal proposed to change the name of the state in the Assembly.
The debate on this subject dragged on for a long time. The state government was in favor of creating a consensus on the question of the name of the state. This responsibility was handed over to the cabinet. Opinion was also sought from the public. The State Congress Committee was also taken into confidence. About 20 names were proposed. But the final consensus was reached on the name of “Aryavarta”. It was sent to the Constituent Assembly for approval. From there this name was rejected and the name Uttar Pradesh was proposed. The State Assembly gave it recognition. The name of the state became Uttar Pradesh from 24 January. In 2000, Uttaranchal was separated from the state and another state Uttarakhand was established.
On June 1, 1836, the state came under Lieutenant Governor Sir Charles Theophilus and the capital was shifted from Allahabad to Agra.
Districts kept getting connected like this
There is also a history of joining various districts in the state. After the treaty of Nawab Asaf-ud-Daula and the East India Company in 1775, Banaras, Jaunpur, Ghazipur, Ballia and Mirzapur (except the southern part) were included in the state. On 10 November 1801, a subsidiary treaty was signed between the East India Company and Saadat Ali Khan. With this treaty, Gorakhpur, Azamgarh, Basti, Bijnor, Moradabad, Badaun, Bareilly, Shahjahanpur, Pilibhit, southern part of Mirzapur, Handia tehsil and the rest of Allahabad, Fatehpur, Kanpur, Etawah, Mainpuri, Etah and Farrukhabad became part of the state.
On 31 December 1802, with the Treaty of Bassein of Peshwa Bajirao II and the East India Company, Banda and Hamirpur joined the state in 1903. After the treaty with Bharatpur king Vishvendra Ranjit Singh, the remaining part of Agra became a part of the state in 1805 and with the Sugauli treaty with the Gorkhas on 18 November 1816, Dehradun, Nainital, Almora, Garhwal, Pithoragarh, Chamoli and North Kashi became part of the state. In 1816, Handia Tehsil (Allahabad) was transferred from Ghaziuddin Haider and in 1840, due to Govind Rao not having an heir, it was attached to Jalaun State under the Doctrine of Lapse. The treaty of Maharaj Jiyaji Rao Scindia and Company made Jhansi (Lalitpur) a part of the state.
In 1853, due to Gangadhar Rao not having an heir, the company included the remaining part of Jhansi in the state. After ousting Wajid Ali Shah, the company took over his Awadh province. On 13 February 1856, the districts of Awadh, Lucknow, Unnao, Rae Bareli, Sitapur, Hardoi, Lakhimpur-Kheri, Faizabad, Gonda, Bahraich, Sultanpur, Pratapgarh and Barabanki were annexed to the state. On 29 November 1949, the princely state of Rampur, Tehri Garhwal and Banaras State were also merged into the state.
The British changed the name of this state 4 times.
Demand to divide the state has been raised since independence
Due to the huge size of Uttar Pradesh, the country’s largest state, there has been a demand for its division since independence due to problems related to development. The first Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was in favor of dividing the state into four parts. Dr. Ambedkar’s suggestion was to divide it into three parts. Mayawati had gone even further. In 2011, when he was the Chief Minister, he had also passed a proposal in the state assembly to divide Uttar Pradesh into four parts and sent it to the Centre.
There were sporadic movements demanding division of the state. Other efforts also continued from time to time. The biggest movement in this direction took place in the hilly areas of the state. On 9 November 2000, the Atal government at the Center accepted the demand of the agitators and accepted the division of Uttar Pradesh and approved the formation of a separate Uttaranchal (later Uttarakhand) state.
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