Famous Indian city names that were changed after the British Administration, and some others that are still awaiting a change. These name changes are based on reclaming from the original historical name.
City (Current Name) | Previous (British) Name | Year of Change | Reason for Change |
---|---|---|---|
Mumbai | Bombay | 1995 | Reclaiming original Marathi name and removing colonial association |
Chennai | Madras | 1996 | Restoring Tamil name used historically |
Kolkata | Calcutta | 2001 | Reclaiming Bengali name and moving away from colonial pronunciation |
Thiruvananthapuram | Trivandrum | 1991 | Correcting anglicized spelling to reflect Malayalam pronunciation |
Pune | Poona | 1978 | Resuming original Marathi name |
Ahmedabad | Ahmadabad | 1960 | Correcting spelling to reflect pronunciation in Gujarati |
Allahabad | Prayagraj | 2017 | Reclaiming historical name associated with Hindu pilgrimage site |
Visakhapatnam | Waltair | 1972 | Restoring Telugu name after original British settlement name |
Kanpur | Cawnpore | 1948 | Correcting anglicized spelling to reflect Hindi pronunciation |
Bangalore | Bengaluru | 2020 | Restoring Kannada name used historically and reflecting local pronunciation |
Jabalpur | Jubbulpore | 1947 | Correcting anglicized spelling to reflect Hindi pronunciation |
Cities Pending Name Change:
- Mangalore: Proposed change to Mangaluru to reflect Kannada pronunciation.
- Coimbatore: Proposed change to Koyamuthur to reflect Tamil name used historically.
- Ujjain: Proposed change to Avanti to reclaim older name associated with historical kingdom.
- Darjeeling: Proposed change to Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council after demand from Gorkha community.
- Lucknow: Proposed change to Lakhnau to reflect Awadhi pronunciation.
These are the information about both confirmed and proposed changes to Indian historical city names. If you have anything to add, feel free to comment.