White Paper on Indian States (1950)/Part 5/Provincially-merged States/Gujarat States
102. Merger of Gujarat States.—Another group of States that has merged with the Bombay Province consists of the Gujarat States. The fact that some of these States are situated close to the Indian border made it essential that a stable and efficient administration should be established in this area. The formation of a Union of the Gujarat States by themselves had to be ruled out on account of the fact that these States united together would not have constituted a viable unit. Geographically the territories of these States were interlaced and interspersed with the Baroda State territories and the Ahmedabad and Khera Districts of Bombay. The lack of geographical cohesion also rendered it difficult to unite and integrate the territories of these States into one unit. After prolonged discussions in Bombay, on 17th March, 1948, the Rulers of the jurisdictional Gujarat States agreed that merger with the Bombay Province was the only solution of their constitutional problem. The form of merger agreement was the same as that adopted for Deccan States (Appendix XIII). The total area covered by the States, estates, talukas and thanas in Gujarat numbering 144 (or 289 if the units are subdivided according to the number of the shareholders) was nearly 17,680 square miles, with a population of about 2.7 millions and a total revenue of rupees 16.5 millions. The administration of these States was taken over by the Bombay Government on 10th June, 1948. In November, 1948, the Bombay Government also took over the administration of Danta, a small State in Western Rajputana.