"While the earlier name had a colonial legacy, Sri Vijaya Puram symbolises the victory achieved in our freedom struggle and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands' unique role in the same".
Some historical records suggest that the Andaman Islands were used as a strategic naval base by the 11th century Chola emperor, Rajendra I to carry out an attack on Srivijaya, which is in present day Indonesia.
As per an inscription found at Thanjavur dated to 1050 CE, the Cholas referred to the island as Ma-Nakkavaram land (great open/ naked land), which possibly led to the modern name of Nicobar under the British.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced the renaming of Port Blair, the capital of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, as Sri Vijaya Puram.
The renaming was done to "free the nation from colonial imprints" as part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision.
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A file photo of PM Modi - 2018 - paying tribute to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose at Marina Park in Sri Vijay Puram (earlier Port Blair), (Hindustan Times/PTI snap)
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday, Sept 13 (2024) announced that Andaman and Nicobar Island's capital Port Blair has been renamed as "Sri Vijaya Puram."
"Inspired by the vision of PM @narendramodi Ji, to free the nation from the colonial imprints, today we have decided to rename Port Blair as “Sri Vijaya Puram. While the earlier name had a colonial legacy, Sri Vijaya Puram symbolises the victory achieved in our freedom struggle and the A&N Islands' unique role in the same,” the minister posted on X.
"It is also the place that hosted the first unfurling of our tiranga (tricolour) by Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Ji and also the cellular jail in which Veer Savarkar Ji and other freedom fighters struggled for an independent nation," he added.
"Andaman and Nicobar Islands have an unparalleled place in our freedom struggle and history. The island territory that once served as the naval base of the Chola Empire is today poised to be the critical base for our strategic and development aspirations," Amit Shah further said.
In 2018, PM Modi announced the renaming of three islands of the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago as a tribute to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. The three islands -- Ross Island, Neil Island and Havelock Island -- were renamed as Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Dweep, Shaheed Dweep and Swaraj Dweep, respectively.
Since assuming office in 2014, the Narendra Modi-led government has renamed places and streets with those having historical significance to shed the colonial legacy and also the glimpses of Mughal and other Muslim rulers.
New Delhi's Aurangzeb Road has been renamed as Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Road and likewise Allahabad and Mughalsarai railway stations have new names.
In 1789 the Government of Bengal established a penal colony on Chatham Island in the southeast bay of Great Andaman, named Port Blair in the honour of Archibald Blair of the East India Company.
After two years, the colony moved to the northeast part of Great Andaman and was named Port Cornwallis after Admiral William Cornwallis. However, there was much disease and death in the penal colony, and the government ceased operating it in May 1796.
In 1824 Port Cornwallis was the rendezvous of the fleet carrying the army to the First Anglo-Burmese War. In the 1830s and 1840s, shipwrecked crews who landed on the Andamans were often attacked and killed by the natives, alarming the British government.
In 1855, the government proposed another settlement on the islands, including a convict establishment, but the Indian Rebellion of 1857 forced a delay in its construction.
However, since the rebellion provided the British with a lot of new prisoners, it made the new Andaman settlement and prison an urgent necessity. Construction began in November 1857 at the renovated Port Blair, avoiding the vicinity of a saltwater swamp that seemed to have been the source of many of the old colony's problems.
The penal colony was originally on Viper Island. The convicts, mostly political prisoners, suffered life imprisonment at hard labour under cruel and degrading conditions. Many were hanged, while others died of disease and starvation.
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