What makes India a federal country? · Part 3

to the nature of democratic politics in our country. This ensured that the spirit of federalism, respect for diversity and desire for living together became shared ideals in our country. Let us look at some of the major ways in which this happened. Linguistic States The creation of linguistic States was the first and a major test for democratic politics in our country. If you look at the political map of India when it began its journey as a democracy in and that of , you will be surprised by the extent of the changes. Many old States have vanished and many new States have been created. Areas, boundaries and names of the States have been changed. In , the boundaries of several old States of India were changed in order to create new States. This was done to ensure that people who spoke the same language lived in the same State. Some States were created not on the basis of language but to recognise differences based on culture, ethnicity or geography. These include States like Nagaland, Uttarakhand and Jharkhand.  Has your village / town / city remained under the same State since Independence? If not, what was the name of the earlier State?  Can you identify names of three States in that have been changed later?  Identify any three States which have been carved out of bigger States.