In the last few years, the names of many cities in India have been heavily reshuffled. Let us tell you that there are many such places in India, whose names have been changed many times. Before the independence of the country, the names of these cities were different, whereas, after the independence of India, their names were changed. In recent times also the names of many cities have been changed again. The list of these cities with changed names includes the names of famous places like Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Allahabad, Pune, and Panaji. Let us tell you about the cities of India whose names were changed by the British during the British Raj according to their convenience and after the independence of the country, the names of these cities were changed again for Indian names.
Allahabad
The Mughal ruler Emperor Akbar named the city of Allahabad Ilahab, although with time the city came to be known as Allahabad. After that, it was named Prayag for some time. However, later it was again changed to Allahabad. But the Yogi government once again changed the name of Allahabad to Prayagraj.
Kanpur
Let us tell you that the name of Kanpur city has changed 21 times so far. According to historians, the first name of Kanpur was ‘Kanhpur’, which was founded by the Hindu king Chandel Singh. Apart from this, Kanpur was also named Khanpur. Finally, after independence, in the year 1948, this city was named Kanpur, from then till today people know this city only by the name of Kanpur.
Thiruvananthapuram
The name of Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of the state of Kerala, has also been changed several times over time. In English, this city was known as Trivandrum. In the year 1991, the Government of Kerala decided to change the name of the city to Thiruvananthapuram.
Mumbai
Years ago Mumbai was known as Mumba Devi. The last one that has come to Mumbai means mother i.e. Mumbai means ‘Mumba Maa’. But during the reign of Aurangzeb, this city came to be called Bombay. However, in the year 1995, BJP and Shiv Sena together named this city Mumbai.
Panaji
The name of Panaji, the capital of Goa, has also been changed several times from time to time. The word Panaji means ‘the land that never floods. Let us tell you that initially, the Portuguese named this city Panjim. A few years later, the city was renamed ‘Nova Goa’, which means New Goa. But in the year 1961, the name of this city was changed to Panaji.
Chennai
The name of Madras was changed in the year 1996. The British changed the name of Madras from Madraspattinam to Madras. Even today there is a fishermen’s town of this name in Chennai. Some say that the city is named after the Telugu king Damarala Chenappa Nayakudu, while there is also a view that the name comes from the Chenna Kesava Perumal temple. However, now the name of Madras has been changed to Chennai.
Kolkata
Calcutta, one of the cultural cities of India, again adopted its Bengali name Kolkata in the year 2001. It is a shortened form of Kolkata. This was a village established here, which used to be here before the British occupation of it. Apart from this, the names of the two villages that Calcutta is made up of were Sutanuti and Govindpur. Now Calcutta is known as Kolkata.
Varanasi
The holy city of Banaras was first known as Kashi. But after independence, Banaras got its Indian name Varanasi in 1956. Due to being situated between the Varuna River and the Assi Ghat, this city came to be called Varanasi.
Pune
The nearest famous city to Mumbai, Pune was known as Poona till 1977. Poona means a city full of virtues. By the way, Pune got its name from Punya Giri Hills.
