Today on 30 March Rajasthan celebrates its 75th anniversary. On this day in 1949, 19 princely states and 3 states were merged to form the state of Rajasthan after a process that took eight and a half years.

Before independence, the region was known as 'Rajputana'. After the integration of the princely states was completed in seven phases, the name of the region was changed to 'Rajasthan'. Today, Rajasthan is the largest state in India in terms of area and is known for its rich history.

History of Rajasthan Diwas

On January 14, 1949, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel announced the merger of the princely states of Jaipur, Bikaner, Jodhpur, and Jaisalmer in a public meeting in Udaipur. To implement this announcement, Patel inaugurated Greater Rajasthan in a ceremony in Jaipur on March 30, 1949.
With this merger and formation of Greater Rajasthan 30 March is celebrated every year as Rajasthan Day.
Before independence, Rajasthan was known as 'Rajputana'. The name 'Rajputana' was given by George Thomas in the year 1800 AD. However, historians claim that Colonel James Tod named this state Rajasthan. The province where the kings resided was called Rajasthan in the local literary language.
There were 22 princely states in Rajasthan at the time of independence. Rajasthan had 19 princely states ruled by kings, whereas there were chiefships in three princely states (Neemrana, Luv, and Kushalgarh). The Ajmer-Merwara province was ruled by the British rulers.
The process of merging the erstwhile princely states was completed in seven stages from March 18, 1948, to November 1, 1956.
On November 1, 1956 the Government of India merged the British-ruled Ajmer-Merwara province with Rajasthan. The merger was based on the recommendation of the States Reorganization Commission headed by Afzal Ali.
During this period, village Suneltappa of Mandsaur tehsil of Madhya Pradesh was also included in Rajasthan. In contrast, village Sironj of Jhalawar district of Rajasthan was included in Madhya Pradesh.
On September 7, 1949, the Government of India made Jaipur the capital of Rajasthan state based on the recommendations of the Satyanarayana Rao Committee.