Genesis is defined as the process by which something comes/came into existence to its present form. In this article, we would learn about how Himachal Pradesh came into being. Here is the brief genesis of the state of Himachal Pradesh.
15th April 1948 - A total of 30 princely states (4 Punjab Hill states and 26 Shimla Hill states) were merged and the 'Chief Commissioner's Province of Himachal Pradesh' was created as a political entity. This newly created entity had four districts - Chamba, Sirmaur, Mandi, and Mahasu. The first Chief Commissioner of Himachal Pradesh was Mr. N.C. Mehta, and the Deputy Chief Commissioner of Himachal Pradesh was Mr. E.P. Moon. As Himachal Pradesh emerged as a political entity on this very day, 15th April is ever since celebrated as the Himachal Day.
26th January 1950 - With the implementation of the Constitution of India, the 'Chief Commissioner's Province of Himachal Pradesh' now became a Part-C state of India with the name officially changing to Himachal Pradesh. Vide Section 3 of Government of Part C States Act (1951), Himachal Pradesh was brought under the administrative control of Lieutenant Governor. The first Lieutenant Governor of Himachal Pradesh was Maj. Gen. K. S. Himmatsinghji (Retd.).
1st July 1954 - Another Part-C state of India, the state of Bilaspur, adjoining HP, was merged with Himachal Pradesh. Before the implementation of the Consitution, Bilaspur state was also a Chief Commissioner's Province, just like Himachal Pradesh. With this, the count of districts of HP increased by one to five.
1st November 1956 - With the abolishment of Part-A, Part-B, and Part-C categorization of Indian states and the implementation of the States Reorganisation Act (1956) with the aim to geographically reorganize Indian states, Himachal Pradesh became a Union Territory of India (UT).
1st May 1960 - A part of Mahasu district of Himachal Pradesh was sliced and Kinnaur district was formed, increasing the count of districts to six.
1st November 1966 - With the Punjab Reorganization Act (1966) coming into force, the Punjab state was reorganized, and Kangra, Kullu, Lahaul-Spiti, and Shimla were carved out of Punjab and were knitted with the Himachal Pradesh (UT). Prior to this, Shimla was part of the Hoshiyarpur district of Punjab and Dalhousie was part of the Gurdaspur district. Because of this new territorial addition, Himachal Pradesh's area increased by 106% and population by 108% roughly in just a single day. With this, the count of districts of HP increased to ten.
18th December 1970 - The State of Himachal Pradesh Act (1970) was passed by the Parliament of India.
25th January 1971 - A new full-fledged state, Himachal Pradesh, came into being and became the 18th state of the Union of India. The declaration of full-fledged state status of Himachal Pradesh came from the then Prime Minister of India Mrs. Indira Gandhi made from the historic Ridge Maidan of Shimla. As Himachal Pradesh achieved completed statehood on this day, 25th January is ever since celebrated as the Himachal Statehood Day every year.
The first Governor of Himachal Pradesh was Shri. S. Chakravarti.
1st September 1972 - Following the full-fledged status of HP, Kangra district was trifurcated and Hamirpur and Una were carved out from it. On the same day, the left-over area of Mahasu district was added to Shimla district and the south-western part of Shimla was carved out to create a new district, Solan. With this, Mahasu district ceased to exist.
Finally, Himachal Pradesh, composed of twelve districts, came into being which has remained unchanged ever since.