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{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2020}}
{{Use Indian English|date=April 2017}}
{{Infobox former subdivision
| native_name =
| conventional_long_name = Eastern States Union
| common_name = Eastern States Union
| nation = the [[Dominion of India]]
| subdivision = Union of [[princely state]]s
| era =
| capital = [[Raipur]]
| year_start = 1947
| date_start =
| event_start = [[Independence of India]]
| year_end = 1948
| date_end =
| event_end = Failure of the union
| event1 =
| date_event1 =
| p1 = Eastern States Agency
| s1 = Bihar
| s2 = Orissa
| s3 = Madhya Pradesh
| flag_p1 = British Raj Red Ensign.svg
| flag_s1 = Bihar Government Banner.png
| flag_s2 = Orissa Flag(INDIA).png
| flag_s3 = ..Madhya Pradesh Flag(INDIA).png
| image_flag =
| image_coat =
| image_map =
| image_map_caption =
| stat_area1 =
| stat_year1 =
| stat_pop1 =
| footnotes =
| today = [[Chhattisgarh]]<br>[[Odisha]]<br>[[Jharkhand]]
}}
The '''Eastern States Union''' was a short-lived (1947–48) union of [[princely states]] in newly independent [[India]] that gathered most of the princely states of the former [[Orissa Tributary States]] and [[Chhattisgarh States Agency]] in order to fill the vacuum of power created after the departure of the British and the wrapping up of the [[British Raj]].<ref>Schwartzberg, Joseph E., ed.: ''A Historical Atlas of South Asia'', 2. A., New York/Oxford 1992, {{ISBN|0-19-506869-6}}</ref>

[[File:Rajkumar College Raipur.jpg|thumb|The [[Rajkumar College, Raipur]], the place of foundation of the Eastern States Union]]
== Creation ==
The union was formed right after the British Parliament decided to grant independence to [[India]] and [[Pakistan]] on 15 August 1947, following which the princely states became ''de facto'' independent as well.<ref>[[Ramachandra Guha]], ''[[India after Gandhi]]: The History of the World's Largest Democracy.'' HarperCollins, 2007</ref> In the transitional period the provincial [[Indian National Congress|Congress Party]] governments refused assistance to the princely states for they were hostile to the traditional princes and in fact were involved in popular agitations against them. In face of the situation of insecurity and continuous disturbances of the public order, the rulers of the states of the former [[Eastern States Agency]] formally founded the Eastern States Union in the [[Rajkumar College, Raipur|Raj Kumar College]] building in [[Raipur]]. The goal was to establish a unit that would be large enough to exist as a state within the Indian Union,<ref>Frederick George Bailey, ''Politics and Social Change: Orissa in 1959''. p. 179</ref> as well as to share the cost of maintenance of an adequate security and military force in order to restore law and order.<ref>Sadhna Sharma ed. ''States Politics in India'', 1995, p. 273</ref>

== Institutions ==
{{Princely states topics}}
The Eastern States Union had a Premier, a Chief Secretary, a joint police force and a [[court of appeal]], but it had no legislature. The union selected [[Raipur]] as its capital and quickly took the cause of building a dam on the [[Indravati River]] in [[Kalahandi]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://kddfonline.com/2010/04/05/aftermath-of-merger-of-princely-states-in-orissa/ |title=Aftermath of Merger of Princely States in Orissa |access-date=15 October 2015 |archive-date=26 October 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161026232952/http://kddfonline.com/2010/04/05/aftermath-of-merger-of-princely-states-in-orissa/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> However, some of the larger states such as [[Mayurbhanj State|Mayurbhanj]] and [[Bastar State|Bastar]], as well as some minor ones, opted not to join the common effort.

== Demise and successor states ==
In the end the Eastern States Union proved an administrative failure and, following intense [[Praja Mandal]] movement agitations in [[Hindol State|Hindol]], [[Nilagiri|Nilgiri]], [[Dhenkanal, India|Dhenkanal]] and [[Talcher]] in December 1947, it was dissolved early in 1948.<ref>D. P. Mishra, ''People's Revolt in Orissa: A Study of Talcher'', p. 185</ref>

The states that had formed the union then became part of the newly established states of [[Orissa, India|Orissa]], [[Bihar]] and [[Madhya Pradesh]].

Following the demise of the Eastern States Union the states that became part of Orissa (now [[Odisha]]) were [[Gangpur State|Gangpur]], [[Bonai State|Bonai]], [[Bamra]], [[Keonjhar State|Keonjhar]], [[Rairakhol State|Rairakhol]], [[Sonepur State|Sonepur]], [[Athmallik State|Athmallik]], [[Pal Lahara State|Pal Lahara]], [[Talcher State|Talcher]], [[Patna State|Patna]], [[Baudh State|Baudh]], [[Dhenkanal State|Dhenkanal]], [[Hindol State|Hindol]], [[Daspalla State|Daspalla]], [[Narsinghpur State|Narsinghpur]], [[Baramba State|Baramba]], [[Athgarh State|Athgarh]], [[Tigiria State|Tigiria]], [[Nayagarh State|Nayagarh]], [[Ranpur State|Ranpur]] and [[Kalahandi State|Kalahandi]].

[[Kharsawan State|Kharsawan]] and [[Saraikela State|Seraikela]], joined [[Bihar]] in May 1948.

The states that became part of Madhya Pradesh were [[Changbhakar State|Changbhakar]], [[Koriya State|Koriya]], [[Surguja State|Surguja]], [[Jashpur State|Jashpur]], [[Udaipur State, Chhattisgarh|Udaipur]], [[Raigarh State|Raigarh]], [[Sarangarh State|Sarangarh]], [[Kawardha State|Kawardha]], [[Khairagarh State|Khairagarh]], [[Nandgaon State|Nandgaon]] and [[Kanker State|Kanker]]. Since 2000 most of the areas of the former princely states in eastern Madhya Pradesh belong to the state of [[Chhattisgarh]].

== References ==
{{reflist}}

{{Princely states of the Eastern States Agency}}
{{coord|21.2405|81.6138|type:edu_region:IN-CG|display=title}}

[[Category:Former states and territories of India]]
[[Category:1940s in Orissa]]
[[Category:History of Madhya Pradesh (1947–present)]]
[[Category:History of Chhattisgarh]]
[[Category:1947 establishments in India]]
[[Category:1948 disestablishments in India]]
[[Category:Princely states of India]]

Eastern States Union - Revision history

CleanupBot at 05:37, 22 March 2026