RAS question
On which date was the present-day Rajasthan finally formed (Greater Rajasthan + Matsya + Ajmer-Merwara + Abu)?
Correct answer: (A) 1 November 1956.
Present-day Rajasthan was finally formed on 1 November 1956, when the reorganisation stage merged Ajmer, Abu Road Taluka and related areas into Rajasthan under the States Reorganisation Act, 1956.
Explanation
Rajasthan's integration after Independence moved through seven stages, so the answer depends on the word "finally". Rajasthan Foundation's chronology treats Greater Rajasthan, formalised on 30 March 1949, and the later merger of Matsya Union on 15 May 1949 as earlier stages. It says the seventh stage, Re-organized Rajasthan, completed the formation of Rajasthan as a state under the State Re-organization Act of 1956. In that stage, the erstwhile part C state of Ajmer, Abu Road Taluka and other listed areas merged with Rajasthan. Therefore, the date for the present-day state's final formation is 1 November 1956, not the earlier integration milestones.
Why the other options are wrong
- (B) 30 March 1949 marks the formalisation of Greater Rajasthan, but Ajmer and Abu Road Taluka had not yet been added in the final reorganisation stage.
- (C) 26 January 1950 belongs to the sixth stage, when the United States of Greater Rajasthan and Sirohi merged, not to the final 1956 reorganisation.
- (D) 15 May 1949 marks the merger of Matsya Union with Greater Rajasthan, so it is an intermediate stage rather than the completion of present-day Rajasthan.
Concept
This tests Rajasthan's post-Independence integration chronology, especially the distinction between Greater Rajasthan and the final reorganised state. RAS repeats this theme because dates, stages and territorial additions are core factual anchors in Rajasthan history.