MTLNOVEL Chapter 671 (Optional) State Boundaries
26th March 1660
The security guards standing outside the Bharatiya Parliament were really surprised when the carriage of His Majesty the Emperor rolled in. The guards looked at each other with confused expressions on their faces, but upon seeing the royal guards approaching them, their expressions suddenly became solemn and stern. Their discipline and posture was no less than that of the famous King's Guard of London.
The routine security clearance was completed quickly.
Logically speaking, Vijay did not have to come to the Parliament today since the year-end summit had already come to an end. He should have been in his office monitoring the reaction of the people of the empire. However, yesterday, right after the summit ended, Vijay received a message from S. Jaishankar about the matter he had asked him to handle. So, Vijay had no choice but to come to the Parliament building once again in order to put forward an important policy for the election and officially legalize the borders between various states of the empire.
Vinod, who was also informed about the news, was naturally present in the building.
Vijay stood in front of the Bharatiya Empire's map with a bright smile on his face. The map had been printed only a few hours ago after receiving confirmation from Jaishankar. Even the smell of ink from the map hadn't dissipated yet.
Looking at the map with familiar states, Vijay did not feel surprised because it was actually he who had designated roughly the location of the states according to what he remembered from his previous life.
However, Vijay knew that boundaries could not be made randomly simply by just drawing lines on the map, just like certain frog eaters and tea drinkers, sitting in a closed room, never having been to the place, and just using rulers and pencils to draw the borders.
Countries like India, America, Canada, Australia, South Africa, and even Israel experienced the miracles created by these spice thieves who didn't know how to use it. At one time, they were even called the greatest mapmakers in the world. The maps they made were so good that people, decades down the line, constantly praised how amazingly they had made the maps and wondered from time to time what level of IQ the mapmakers might have had to be so transcendental and enlightened in their mapmaking prowess.
Making state boundaries in the southern part of the empire was simple, as there already existed a distinctive division between languages, cultures, and the way people behaved. Not to mention, the boundary had already been formed, and disputes had already been resolved. However, in the northern part of the empire, from an outside perspective, everyone was mixed up; distinctions could not be made. So Vijay had granted the local politicians the right to negotiate among themselves and decide on the state boundaries.
At first, this really worked wonders. The disputes over boundaries rapidly declined, and enclaves that various states had with their neighbours were quickly exchanged. But like all border disputes throughout the history of humankind, this dispute was also not fully settled.
A few states fought over a piece of city or a geographical location which they thought should belong to them and was in their strategic interest. Solving such problems was too difficult. Fortunately, Vijay was already prepared, and he assigned the Minister of External Affairs, S. Jaishankar, to use his skills in diplomacy and peacefully resolve the border disputes.
It was only now that everything was settled.
In the end, although in general major changes We're not observed throught the map, minor changes could be seen everywhere.
For example, even in the southern part of the empire, the political capital of Chera Nadu had been changed from Thiruvananthapuram to Thrissur, mainly because Thiruvananthapuram had become too big to be a capital of a state, and the atmosphere had become too commercial.
If there is something Vijay does not like, it is money and power staying in the same location. So, despite objections from the local Chera Nadu government, he decisively changed the political capital.
Another minor change is that the Andaman and Nicobar Islands were formally recognized as a state and renamed Samudra Nagari, meaning Ocean Kingdom in Bharati, with its educational and cultural capital being Ramkrishnapur, which was nothing but the Little Andaman Island renamed by Aditya Bhonsle. He said that he wanted to turn the small island into the cultural hub of the state. If Vijay remembered correctly, he even heard that Aditya had recently employed Vajra Karma part-time in order to construct a Venkateswara Temple on a 2,000-acre complex with a moat structure similar to the one in Angkor Wat, along with a tall 80-meter Garuda statue carved out of a rocky mountain.
Its political capital is Port Swaraj, and the new financial capital is Nakkavaram.
As far as the boundary division of states in the northern part of the empire is concerned, the whole southeast of the Bharatiya Empire, which includes the southeastern states of his previous life's India, is now a single state of Ahom, including the Kingdom of Bhutan and Sikkim, making it one of the largest states in the empire with a total area of over 345,000 square kilometers.
Both North and South Bengal of Vijay's previous life is now combined, along with the southern tip of Sikkim, to form the state of Pala Nagari, named after the great Pala dynasty, with a size of over 200,000 square kilometres.
The whole state of Jharkhand is no more. It has been combined with Bihar along with the eastern part of Uttar Pradesh to form the state of Maurya Nagari, with a size of over 235,000 square kilometres, named after one of the most prominent kingdoms in the world.
Uttar Pradesh has not changed too much, except for its eastern part being cut short a little, but it is still massive at a size of 200,000 square kilometers, named Gupta Nagari, naturally named after the Gupta Empire, another prominent ancient kingdom of Bharat.
Delhi exists as a special economic zone. Its size has not changed much, but its name has been reverted to its name in the Mahabharata, called Indraprastha.
Nepal is the same as in the last life; however, its size is bigger as it has also absorbed the land of Uttarakhand, making it a massive 210,000 square kilometres state. Naturally, it has been named Videha, after the kingdom Maa Sita originated from.
The northernmost state comprises Jammu, Kashmir, Ladakh, and Himachal Pradesh from Vijay's previous life, named Kashyap Amar after its historical name, with a massive size of 270,000 square kilometers.
Coming down, both eastern and western Punjab have been combined, along with Haryana from Vijay's past life, to form the state of Yudhaya Nagari, meaning Kingdom of Warriors, in honor of Sikh historical contributions to the peace and prosperity of the subcontinent.
Sindh from the past life has been renamed Sindhu, after the river Sindhu, with a size of 190,000 square kilometers.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from the previous life has remained unchanged, but its name has been changed to Pakthun Pradesh, named after the people living in the area, with a decent size of 170,000 square kilometers.
Balochistan has not been changed; it is still Balochistan, with a size of over 400,000 square kilometers, making it the largest state in the empire.
Rajasthan, the largest state of India in Vijay's last life, with a size of over 343,000 square kilometers, is now the second-largest state of Bharat. Its borders have not been tampered with, but its name has been changed to Pratihara Puri, in honor of the Pratihara dynasty that contributed immensely to the culture of Rajasthan.
The borders of Madhya Pradesh have remained relatively unchanged except for a few regions being exchanged with neighboring states. However, its size remains similar, with a total area of 320,000 square kilometers, and its name has been changed to Paramara Puri, named after the Paramara dynasty, which had the most influence over the region.
Finally, Gujarat has no changes in its borders. It is still over 200,000 square kilometers, but its name has been changed to Solanki Puri.
"So, this makes it a total of 23 states," Vijay muttered.
'Indraprastha could be considered a pseudo-state since it is too small, but it is too important to make it part of any state,' he thought to himself.
"Vinod, from now on, Bengaluru will be the political capital of the empire, Nagpur will be the heart of Bharatiya military, Indraprastha will be the capital of agriculture, and Mumbai, Mangaluru, Nakkavaram, and Kolkata will be the economic capitals of the empire."
Vinod nodded thoughtfully.
Vijay signed the bill, which would officially declare the borders of all states within the empire and grant them their own identities.
"From now on, in peace, the Bharatiya Empire is officially an absolute monarchy, absolute republican civilizational state founded on the pillars of 22 separate kingdoms run by absolute democratic governments."
"In war, Bharat is an absolute monarchy civilizational state founded on the pillars of 22 separate kingdoms run by 27 regiments of the military, commanded, supported, and monitored by the Kings of the empire."