The Indian state of Tamil Nadu has 38 districts after several splits of the original 13 districts at the formation of the state on 1 November 1956. The districts are further divided into taluks and smaller administrative units. History Pre-independence At the time of Independence, Madras Presidency in India was made up of 26 districts, of which 12 districts were found in the present-day Tamil Nadu, namely, Chingleput, Coimbatore, Nilgiris, North Arcot, Madras, Madura, Ramnad, Salem, South Arcot, Tanjore, Tinnevely, and Trichinopoly. 1947–1956 After Indian Independence, the Madras Presidency under British rule became the Madras Province on 15 August 1947. After Indian independence in 1947, the Pudukkottai Princely State was amalgamated with Indian Union on 4 March 1948 and became a division in Trichinopoly district. The new Constitution of India, which came into force on 26 January 1950, made India a sovereign democratic republic. According to this act, on 26 January 1950, Madras Province was formed as Madras State by the Government of India. At the time of formation of Madras State in 1950, it included the whole of present-day Tamil Nadu, Coastal Andhra, Rayalaseema, the Malabar region of North Kerala, Bellary and South Canara. Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema were separated to form Andhra State in 1953, while South Canara and Bellary districts were merged with Mysore State to form Karnataka state, and Malabar District with the State of Travancore-Cochin to form Kerala in 1956. 1956 As a result of the 1956 States Reorganisation Act, the state's boundaries were re-organized following linguistic lines. The Tamil speaking region of Kanyakumari was merged to Madras state which was earlier a part of Travancore-Cochin. Madras state was formed on 1 November 1956, with 13 southern districts of Madras Presidency. They are as follow : Chingleput, Coimbatore, Kanyakumari, Madras, Madurai, Nilgiris, North Arcot, Ramanathapuram, Salem, South Arcot, Thanjavur, Tiruchirappalli and Tirunelveli. 1960–1989 On 2 October 1966, Dharmapuri district was bifurcated from the erstwhile Salem district comprising Dharmapuri, Harur, Hosur and Krishnagiri taluks. In 1969, Madras State was renamed as Tamil Nadu. On 14 January 1974, Pudukkottai district was formed from the parts of Tiruchirappalli and Thanjavur districts comprising Kulathur, Thirumayam, Alangudi and Aranthangi taluks. On 31 August 1979, Erode district was bifurcated from the erstwhile Coimbatore district comprising Bhavani, Erode and Sathyamangalam taluks. On 8 March 1985, Sivaganga and Virudhunagar districts were trifurcated from the erstwhile Ramanathapuram district with Sivaganga district comprising Tirupattur, Karaikudi,