Port Blair, the capital of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, will now be called Sri Vijaya Puram. Minister of Home Affairs Amit Shah took to X (formerly Twitter) to announce this renaming on Friday. This name change is to honour India’s freedom struggle, history, and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands’ role in it. Read on to know more about this.
Port Blair Will Now Be Called Sri Vijaya Puram
On Friday, Minister of Home Affairs Amit Shah announced that Port Blair will be renamed Sri Vijaya Puram. He took to X (formerly Twitter) to make this announcement. According to him, the name change of Andaman and Nicobar’s capital is a symbol of the victory that India achieved in the freedom struggle and an attempt to “free the nation from the colonial imprints.”
As per his tweet, the name Sri Vijaya Puram also symbolises Andaman and Nicobar’s role in the freedom struggle of India. He mentioned Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose hosting the “first unfurling of our Tiranga” along with Veer Savarkar and other freedom fighters who struggled for India’s freedom from the cellular jail here.
Amit Shah talked about the Union Territory’s history and how it was once the “naval base of the Chola Empire” and is now a “critical base for India’s strategic and development aspirations.” It is to be noted that in January 2023, Prime Minister Narendra Modi named 21 large unnamed islands in Andaman and Nicobar after Param Vir Chakra awardees to honour them.
How Andaman & Nicobar Capital Got Its Name In The First Place?
Before it was renamed Sri Vijaya Puram, Port Blair was named after Captain Archibald Blair, a British colonial naval officer. As per a NDTV, Captain Archibald joined the Bombay Marine as a lieutenant in 1771. He spent a large part of his career surveying and exploring remote regions under British control, particularly the Andaman Islands. Reportedly, his findings played an important role in the British East India Company’s decision to colonise the islands.
During one of his expeditions on the island, he found a natural harbour in the southern part of Andaman Island. He named the region Port Cornwallis, as an honour to Commodore William Cornwallis, the then Commander-in-Chief of the British-Indian Navy. Later, the port was renamed Port Blair in his honour.
Also Read: Andaman And Nicobar Islands To Now Allow Tourists With E-Visas To Enter Through Port Blair
Over the years, several Indian cities and states have been renamed to have a more Indianised name. What are your thoughts on this name change? Let us know in the comments.
Cover Image Courtesy: Canva
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