Step 1: Understanding the Concept:
Following Indian independence, there was a widespread demand for reorganizing provincial boundaries, which had been drawn arbitrarily by the British.
The primary basis for this reorganization was the "Linguistic Principle," ensuring that people speaking the same language belonged to the same state.
Step 2: Detailed Explanation:
We can map the states to their formation years based on historical legislative acts:
1. Andhra Pradesh (1953): The movement for a Telugu-speaking state became intense after the death of Potti Sreeramulu.
The Government of India was forced to concede and create the first linguistic state, Andhra, in October 1953 (1-Q).
2. Gujarat (1960): The bilingual Bombay State faced agitations from both Marathi and Gujarati speakers.
In 1960, the Bombay Reorganisation Act split the state into Maharashtra and Gujarat (2-P).
3. Punjab (1966): The demand for a "Punjabi Subha" led to the division of the erstwhile Punjab state.
In 1966, the Hindi-speaking areas were separated to form Haryana, and the Punjabi-speaking areas remained as Punjab (3-S).
4. Uttarakhand (2000): This state was created due to regional developmental concerns and geographical uniqueness.
It was carved out of Uttar Pradesh in the year 2000 (4-R), along with Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh.
Step 3: Final Answer:
The final mapping is: 1-Q, 2-P, 3-S, 4-R.
This matches option (B).