Why was Bombay state divided into Maharashtra and Gujarat in 1960?

The division of the former Bombay state into the states of Maharashtra and Gujarat in 1960 was driven by linguistic differences and the resulting political pressure to reorganize administrative boundaries along language lines.12

Following the States Reorganization Act of 1956, the enlarged Bombay state remained linguistically divided, with a majority of Gujarati-speaking people residing in the north and a majority of Marathi-speaking people in the south. This arrangement led to significant public agitation and demands from both language groups for the state to be partitioned.132

In response to these protests, the government divided the region on May 1, 1960, creating Gujarat in the north and the newly renamed Maharashtra in the south, with Bombay serving as the capital of Maharashtra. This reflected a broader national trend during the post-independence era, where the Indian National Congress sought to reorganize provincial borders to ensure that India’s major regional languages were reflected in state administration.132