How many principalities were merged in the 'Saurashtra Sangh' on 15th February, 1948?
- (a)220
- (b)221
- (c)222
- (d)223
Correct — C, 222. On 15 February 1948, 222 princely states and estates of the Kathiawar (Saurashtra) peninsula in present-day Gujarat were merged into a single union named Saurashtra State (Saurashtra Sangh) — one of the largest such mergers carried out by the States Department under Sardar Patel and V.P. Menon during post-Independence integration.
- (a)220 — Below the documented count of 222 states merged into the Saurashtra union.
- (b)221 — One short of the official figure of 222.
- (d)223 — One more than the official figure of 222.
Saurashtra State was formed by uniting the numerous small princely states of the Kathiawar peninsula — one of the most fragmented regions of princely India — into a single administrative union in February 1948. It functioned as a separate 'Part B' state with a Rajpramukh until the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, merged it into the bilingual Bombay State; Bombay State itself was later split in 1960 into Gujarat and Maharashtra, placing the Saurashtra region in Gujarat.
Questions on princely-state integration test two things: the specific numbers/dates for named unions (Saurashtra: 222 states, 15 February 1948) and the eventual chain of state reorganisation each union passed through (Saurashtra → Bombay State, 1956 → Gujarat, 1960). Precision on the count — 222 — is the direct discriminator in this question.
- Saurashtra Sangh / Saurashtra State formed 15 February 1948 from Kathiawar-peninsula princely states
- 222 princely states and estates were merged into this single union
- Saurashtra State was merged into Bombay State under the States Reorganisation Act, 1956
- Bombay State was bifurcated into Gujarat and Maharashtra in 1960, placing Saurashtra in Gujarat
222 Kathiawar principalities merged into Saurashtra State in Feb 1948; it later passed through Bombay State (1956) into Gujarat (1960).
- Mixing up the Saurashtra count (222) with counts for other unions (e.g., PEPSU or the Matsya Union)
- Assuming Saurashtra directly became Gujarat in 1948, skipping the intermediate 1956 Bombay State stage and the 1960 bifurcation
MPPSC/UPSC test exact numbers/dates for named princely-state unions, and separately the chain of reorganisation each passed through before reaching its present-day state.
No directly related past PYQ was found.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The integration of the princely states of the Kathiawar region into Saurashtra State was overseen chiefly by:
- (a)Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and V.P. Menon
- (b)Jawaharlal Nehru
- (c)Rajendra Prasad
- (d)C. Rajagopalachari
Answer(a) Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and V.P. Menon — through the States Department's integration drive, 1947–49.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Saurashtra State (formed 1948) was merged into Bombay State in which year, prior to Gujarat's formation in 1960?
- (a)1950
- (b)1953
- (c)1956
- (d)1958
Answer(c) 1956 — under the States Reorganisation Act, Saurashtra and Kutch were merged into the bilingual Bombay State.