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The establishment of the city of Chandigarh was the result of the crises and chaos in northwestern India in the aftermath of its independence from British colonial rule.[24][25] During the partition of India in 1947, the province of Punjab was divided into two: the majority Hindu and Sikh eastern portion that remained in India and the majority Muslim western portion that became part of Pakistan. Lahore, the provincial capital of undivided Punjab, though fiercely contested during partition, was eventually ceded to Pakistan.[26] The provincial government of independent India’s East Punjab state was left without an administrative center or capital.[24]

The loss of Lahore, the need for the rehabilitation of refugees from West Pakistan and a mounting exodus of business communities from the state created a sense of urgency.[27][28] Shimla, the former summer capital of both British India and the Punjab province, partially housed the government of East Punjab state. Shimla’s inability to fully contain the administrative machinery resulted in government offices to be scattered at several places across the state,[c] imposing difficulties and costs on the public as well as the government.[29]

Conception and initial planning

It was decided by representatives of the government of India and of the state of East Punjab to build a new capital for the state,[30] because attaching capital functions to an existing city—all of which were considered inadequate and had swollen in size due to migration of refugees from West Pakistan—was considered as costly as building a new city.[30][31]

The new capital needed to have enough space for government machinery, for resettlement of refugees and their businesses, for expansion, and adequate rail, road and air connectivity; it also had to assuage the psychological loss of partition, its construction supposed to stimulate the state's devastated economy, as well as being a 'symbolic gesture' of unity, stability, and an assertion of India’s newfound sovereignty. India’s erstwhile Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru personally endorsed the project, remarking

Let this be a new town, symbolic of the freedom of India, unfettered by the traditions of the past … an expression of the nations faith in the future."

The capital was to be located in the most populous part of the state, between the Doaba and Ambala districts, and projected to hold about 500,000 people. Several existing cities and towns across the state were considered for the possible development of the new capital, but all rejected for different reasons. Political lobbying also made the selection of an existing city as the new capital difficult. The absence of political consensus on the location of the new capital and the large costs involved threatened the project.

In 1948, three possible sites were settled upon, one lying in the Ambala district, one in Ludhiana, and one, the most preferred of the three, being partially in Ambala and Patiala state which was then not part of the East Punjab state. The first site, in Ambala district’s Kharar tehsil, was ultimately selected to be the location of the new capital after aerial reconnaissance by Parmeshwari Lal Varma and Prem Nath Thapar. The name of the new city derived from a temple dedicated to Hindu goddess Chandi present in one of these villages. The location was praised by the later team of the city's architects for being beautiful and practical.

Agricultural lands, including large mango groves, of fifty-eight villages with a population of 21,000 people were to be affected by the construction of the city, involving the displacement of many of them. The affected villagers, encouraged and supported by political parties such as the Socialist Party and Akali Dal, began agitating against the project. Political opposition to the project also stemmed from a desire for relocation of the new capital to sites favourable to the opponents. The government reached an agreement with the affected villagers in October 1950, and established a local committee to advise on rehabilitation of displaced people, thus ending the agitation.

After the Indo-Pakistani war of 1947–1948, three distinct areas of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir were under Indian control: Muslim-majority Kashmir Valley, Hindu-majority Jammu region, and Buddhist-dominated Ladakh district. These regions were constituted as Jammu and Kashmir state and accorded special status by Article 370 of the Constitution of India, adopted in 1950. In contrast to other states of India, Jammu and Kashmir established its own constitution, flag, and administrative autonomy. In 1954, Article 35A was introduced via a Presidential Order under Article 370, empowering the Jammu and Kashmir Legislature to define permanent residents and bar Indian citizens from other states from purchasing property. The Constituent Assembly, tasked with drafting the constitution and deciding Article 370's future, adopted the constitution of Jammu and Kashmir in 1957 and then dissolved without recommending 370's abrogation, leading to the provision's indefinite continuation. From the early 1950s, Jammu and Kashmir used the titles of Prime Minister and Sadr-e-Riyasat for its executive heads, as permitted under Article 370 and formalised in the Delhi Agreement of 1952. In 1965, through a Presidential Order, the Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad-led Congress government in Jammu and Kashmir amended the constitution to replace the titles of Prime Minister and Sadr-e-Riyasat with Chief Minister and Governor, aligning them with other Indian states.

In 1953, Sheikh Abdullah, the first Prime Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, was dismissed and jailed by the Indian government over charges of conspiracy, accused of espousing the creation of an independent country. Abdullah was released in 1968 and, following the Indira–Sheikh Accord of 1975, returned to power as chief minister after a political reconciliation with the central government. After his death in 1982, unrest and violence persisted in the Kashmiri Valley and, following a disputed state election in 1987, an insurgency persisted in protest over autonomy and rights. In the early 1990s, amid the rise of militancy and targeted violence, a mass exodus of Kashmiri Hindus occurred from the Kashmir Valley. Through the 1990s and 2000s, the region witnessed prolonged violence between insurgent groups and Indian security forces.

While Article 370 had come to be seen as effectively permanent, it historically faced ideological opposition. In the 1950s, Syama Prasad Mookerjee, founder of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh BJS, opposed Article 370 on grounds that it hindered national integration and created unequal constitutional treatment. In their 2019 Indian general election manifesto, the Bharatiya Janata Party successor to the BJS pledged its revocation. After its victory, the Parliament of India passed resolutions to repeal Article 370 in August 2019, and Article 35A was abolished through suspension of the 1954 Presidential Order. At the same time, a reorganisation act was also passed to reconstitute the state into two union territories: the new union territory of Ladakh, with the residual state continuing as the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The reorganisation took effect from 31 October 2019. In the days that followed, nearly 4,000 people, including two former Chief Ministers and hundreds of other politicians, were arrested by the Indian authorities in Kashmir; the state was put under a lockdown and communication and internet services were suspended.

In April 2020, the government notified a domicile law to replace the previous 'permanent residents' scheme. Under the new law, any one that resided in Jammu and Kashmir for 15 years, or studied for seven years and appeared for Class 10 and Class 12 exams, would be deemed to be a domicile. Government officials that served in Jammu and Kashmir for 10 years and their children also become eligible for domicile status. In April 2025, it was revealed that over 83,000 people received domicile certificate under the new law who would not have qualified under the old laws.

On 11 December 2023, the Supreme Court of India unanimously upheld the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A, while also directing the union government to restore the statehood of Jammu and Kashmir and hold legislative assembly elections no later than September 2024. The assembly election was held from September to October 2024. The alliance led by Jammu & Kashmir National Conference formed the first government of the residual union territory with Omar Abdullah as chief minister.