List of Sources of the Indian Constitution  

The Constituent Assembly adopted the Indian Constitution on 26th November 1949 and it came into effect on 26th of January 1950.The Constitution of India has borrowed most of its provisions from various Constitutions of the countries as well as from the Government of India Act of 1935. The structural part of the Constitution is to a large extent and derived from the Government of India Act of 1935. The political part of the Constitution is derived from the British Constitution. The philosophical part of the Constitution is derived from the Irish and American Constitution respectively. The other provisions of the Constitution have been drawn from various countries’ Constitutions such as Canada, France, Germany, USSR, Japan, South Africa, and so on.

The Federal Scheme, Judiciary, Governors, emergency powers, the Public Service Commissions and most of the administration details are drawn from the Government of India Act, 1935.

After the making of the Constitution of India, Dr. B R Ambedkar proudly claimed that the Constitution of India had been prepared after ‘ransacking all the known constitutions of the world’.

To know about the sources of the Indian Constitution, refer to the table below.

The Constitution of India contains various provisions borrowed from other nations, but they are absorbed in the Indian Constitution to suit its polity and governance. They are not exactly copied. The Indian Constitution is the longest written constitution of the world. The Indian Constitution, originally, had 395 Articles (divided into 22 parts) and 8 Schedules. Now, with 104 amendments till 25 January 2020, it has 470 Articles (divided into 25 parts) and 12 Schedules.