Change Name

There have been big discussions in the media about the changing names of the roads, cities etc, by the present NDA government at the centre. During the regime of earlier governments at the centre, there were changes of names, like Bombay became Mumbai, Madras became Chennai, Calcutta became Kolkata, Bangalore became Bengaluru, and many more. There was no uproar at the time because the earlier name was given by the British rulers. Recently the name changing is happening in those places whose names were changed by Mughals and other Muslim rulers, and they are being changed to their earlier names. This is not liked by a certain section of media and some so-called secular parties.

Let us go back to the history of changing names. As per the information available, the politics of changing names is more than seven hundred years old. Let us see some examples

• In the year 1303 Allaudin Khilji after capturing Chittorgarh fort, changed its name to Khijrabad (named after his son Khijr). But Rajputs captured this fort and changed the name back to Chittorgarh.
• Mughal ruler Aurangzeb changed the name of maximum places, due to political and personal differences. In the year 1669, the name of Gujarat city Jamnagar was changed to Islamnagar.
• Tipu Sultan and the British also changed the names of many cities. In 1782, they changed the name of Mysore to Nazrabad, after that Mangalore was named Jalalabad, Dharwad to Khurshid-Swad, Calicut to Islamabad, Madikeri to Jafrabad. After the death of Tipu Sultan, It was the British who reinstated the original names. Nazrabad name was not changed.
• After independence, when the legacy of the British ended, Delhi’s Kingsway was named Rajpath and Curzon Road as Kasturba Gandhi Marg. In 1947 Jubalpur’s name was changed to Jabalpur. But along with this, there were many places/roads in Delhi that were named for Mughal Rulers.
• In 1956, after state reorganization, many places’ names were changed, like Benaras was changed to Varanasi.
• The name of Kanpur city till now has been changed 21 times-its names were like Karanpur, Kanhaiyapur, Khanpur. The British changed the name to Cawnpur. Since 1948 it is known as Kanpur.
• Congress Party has changed the name of many places/institutions to the names of their 3 top leaders Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, and Rajiv Gandhi. In 1996, Delhi’s famous Canaught place name was changed to Rajiv Chowk.

Now there is a demand from a certain section of the society, that Hyderabad’s name should be changed to Bhagyanagar. Now, how Hyderabad and Bhagyanagar or Bhagnagar are connected. Few historical facts/stories are being put in the media in this connection;

1 The 5^th Sultan of Golconda Sultante, Prince Kuli once say a Hindu Girl Bhagmati in Chichlam village. Bhagmati was very beautiful, and Prince Kuli started chasing Bhagmati, which was not liked by his father. His father put the prince captive in Golconda Fort, where the prince wrote many poems/ghazals on his beloved Bhagmati. The court poet of Kuli Qutab Shah, Mulla Vajhi in his book Qutub Mushtari, mentioned the love story of  Bhagmati and prince Kuli. Historian and writer Narendra Luthar has also written about the existence of Bhagmati, and three foreign travelers Warnier, Manuchi, and Methwald have also mentioned Bhagmati in their memories. When in 1580, Kuli Qutubshah decided to build a new capital city, he chose the name of Baghnagar. But when the city was built in 1591, it was decided that it should be named Hyderabad, Hyder being one of the names of Prophet Ali. The Qutubshahis of Golcunda were followers of the Shia faith, and the city was named as an attribute to Prophet Ali

2 Because this city was full of gardens, therefore it was known as Baghnagar (Bagh is the Hindi word for garden). The French diamond merchant jean Baptiste Tevnier in his travel book also mentioned that this city should be named Baghnagar. A 16th-century astrologer Babadi Panthlu in his book Rayavachkam also mentioned the name of the city as Baghnagram.

3 During the Nizam rule in the early 20^th century, there was the majority of Hindus in the region as compared to the Muslim population. But 80% of government jobs were with Muslims, and there was discontentment and resentment among Hindus. Hindus started demanding democratic rule, and after this, there was an attempt by Nizams to portray Hyderabad as an idealized Islamic state. Along with Hyderabad State Congress, Communists, and the Arya Samaj were at the forefront of the opposition to Nizam’s government. To counter the narrative of Hyderabad’s Islamic identity, the story of Bhagyanagar named after ‘Goddess Bhagyalakshmi began to gain popularity. A parallel native was created of an original Hindu city that had to be reclaimed from the Muslims. But the story of ‘ Bhagyanagar’ gained new life and a new angle. Right next to historic Charminar, a new temple dedicated to Goddess Bhagyalakshmi emerged. The temple has since become the source of communal conflict in the Old city of Hyderabad. Hindu leaders claim that the temple predates the construction of the Charminar and the town was named Bhagyanagar.

Recently Maharashtra cabinet approved that the name of Aurangabad is changed to ‘Sambhaji Nagar’.

As we are not been educated about true Indian history how many temples were destroyed, and how many cities’ names were changed by Islamic rulers. With the present NDA government at the centre, many historical facts are coming into the open. But there is one fact which can not be denied that earlier governments headed by Congress at the centre were not very secular and they had more leaning towards Muslims, and hence they were reluctant to change the name of the places with Muslim names, knowing that their original names were of Hindu nature.

Friends, what are your views on this matter.

Anil Malik

Mumbai, India

14^th July 2022