On September 13, 2024, the Indian government officially gave a new name to Port Blair, the capital of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Union Home Minister Amit Shah took to X (formerly Twitter) to make the announcement, declaring that the renaming is a meaningful step in reclaiming India’s cultural and historical heritage. “Shri Vijaya Puram stands as a tribute to our freedom struggle and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands’ contribution to it,” said Shah.
This renaming follows in the footsteps of a similar revision of history seen across India, including Visakhapatnam. As India shed its colonial past, cities like Visakhapatnam were quick to discard their British-assigned name to break free from colonial legacies. The assigning of the new name to Port Blair now brings to mind the transformation Visakhapatnam’s own name
underwent in the wake of Independence.Before the British left their mark, Vizag almost became a French colony in the mid-1700s. In 1740, the French cartographer Jacques-Nicolas Bellin, part of the French East India Company, mapped the region during a voyage to the Bay of Bengal. He referred to the town as ‘Vifipatagam’, indicating the French interest in the region, a path that could have altered the city’s fate had history unfolded differently. A French map from 1777 also captions the city as ‘Visigapatam’.
By the mid-17th century, the British East India Company had established a presence in ‘Vizagapatam’, or ‘Vizagapatnam’ – as they called it on various maps. They called the city Vizagapattam as they could not pronounce the word Visakhapatnam in their accent. Today, Visakhapatnam’s beloved nickname, ‘Vizag’, is a shortened version of that name.
Another prominent name in Visakhapatnam’s colonial past is ‘Waltair’, the residential area that was synonymous with the British settlement. The British established their quarters in Waltair, fortifying the area to protect their goods and themselves from local threats. Waltair itself traces its name back to two hamlets, Chinna Valteru and Pedda Valteru, divided by a stream, ‘Valuteru Gedda’. British officials began settling in the Waltair Uplands as early as 1727, renaming the area as they occupied it.
The original name, Valuteru Gedda, has since faded into history, but the modified ‘Waltair; remains a part of Visakhapatnam’s identity, even as the city continues to grow beyond its colonial past.
Before the French and the English made their way here, the city’s original name had been Visakhapatnam. After Independence, sometime before 1953, Vizagapatam was officially reverted to Visakhapatnam.
The above article has been crafted on the basis of contributions to Yo Vizag made by INTACH historian Edward Paul, and Vizag heritage enthusiast John Castellas.
Stay tuned to Yo! Vizag website and Instagram for more city and news updates.
This post was last modified on 16/09/2024 12:49 pm
In an era where K-drama directors are exploring highly emotional territories and leaving us with…
When the first train wheeled into Visakhapatnam (Waltair) Railway Station in 1893, it signalled the…
Choreographer Jani Master, against whom the POCSO case has been registered in Narsingdi police station,…
The free gas cylinders scheme, one of the 'super six guarantees' promised by the TDP-Jana…
Life is short, perhaps too short to watch long K-dramas! But these short and sweet…
The AP Cabinet has taken the key decision to rename the Bhogapuram (GMR Visakhapatnam International)…
Leave a Comment