History

Since independence

Religions

Caste System

Languages

Politics

India since independence

Changing names of Indian places

The modern European forces began arriving in India since 1498. The Portuguese arrived first and later on the English arrived in 1600. Indians speak different languages and their general accents are different from that of the Europeans. The Europeans had some difficulties pronouncing Indian names and they renamed some Indians places so that it was easy for them to pronounce.

In the present wave of nationalism, many Indians places were officially renamed back to their original names or were given new names. But the former names are still used by the general public and sometimes the places are still recognized by their former names rather than by their new official names.


Former and present names of Indian places

Former name

Present official name

Alleppey

Alappuzha

Broach

Bharuch

Madras

Chennai

Cape Comorin

Kanyakumari

Cochin

Kochi

Cranganore

Kodungallur

Calcutta

Kolkata

Quillon

Kollam

Calicut

Kozhikode

Mamallapuram

Mahabalipuram

Bombay

Mumbai

New Bombay

Navi Mumbai

Panjim

Panaji

Aurangabad

Sambhajinagar

Tellicherry

Thalasseri

Tanjore

Thanjavur

Trivandrum

Thiruvananthapuram

Trichur

Thrissur

Trichy

Tiruchirappalli

Ooty

Udhagamandalam

Baroda

Vadodara


©Aharon Daniel

1999-2000

allowed to use