Bombay Reorganisation Act 1960

Polity & Governance glossary

Also called: Bifurcation of Bombay State · Topic: Challenges of Nation Building: Partition, Princely States and Reorganisation · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 7 "Federalism"; Class 12, Ch 1 "Challenges of Nation Building"

Meaning

The Bombay Reorganisation Act 1960 split the bilingual (two-language) Bombay state into two states: Marathi-speaking Maharashtra and Gujarati-speaking Gujarat. Both were created on 1 May 1960. Bombay state had been kept bilingual by the States Reorganisation Act 1956. Two strong movements forced the change.

Example

The Samyukta Maharashtra movement wanted a Marathi state with Bombay city as its capital. The Mahagujarat movement, led by Indulal Yagnik, wanted a Gujarati state. Together they broke up Bombay state. Maharashtra got Bombay city.

Don't confuse with

  • States Reorganisation Act 1956: it redrew most state boundaries by language but kept Bombay bilingual. The 1960 Act later split Bombay.
  • Punjab Reorganisation Act 1966: this was a separate split that created Haryana from Punjab, not Gujarat from Bombay.

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