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Date: Fri, 06 Aug 1999 09:45:45 -0500
From: Paul Stout <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Calcutta Changes Name to Kolkata
Sender: Paul Stout <[log in to unmask]>



In case you missed it, you might be interested in the following article
from Associated Press, July 21, 1999.

"Calcutta will soon join a rising number of Indian cities trying to
shrug off their colonial legacy by reverting to its indigenous name.
The capital of India's West Bengal state will be known by the Bengali
version of its name, Kolkata, as of next month when it celebrates its
309th birthday, the state legislature decided Tuesday.

"The house also motioned to change the state's name from West Bengal to
Bangla, but the motion requires approval from both the parliament and
the president.  All government departments and agencies will change
their names to comply with the directive, made after more than 50 years
of independence from Great Britain.  "It's a red letter day because we
have not only freed ourselves from the colonial hangover, but also
rendered justice to history," Beddhadev Bhattttacharjee, West Bengal's
information minister said.

"Bombay, India's financial capital, was renamed Mumbai three years ago
by the Hindi nationalist Shiv Sena government.  Most Indians, though,
still call it Bombay.  Many other cities followed its example.  Madras
in southern India was renamed Chennai, and Trivandrum was changed to
Thiruvananthapuram.  For Calcutta, the change may not be so big.
Bengali speakers have always called it Kolkata, preferring the local
pronunciation."

Columbia Gazetteer of the World, 1998, has entries for Mumbai (1995) and
Chennai (1996) and several other renamed Indian cities.  However there
is no entry for Kolkata.  Merriam Webster's Geographical Dictionary, 3rd
ed., 1997, has an entry for Mumbai, but not for Chennai.

Also proposed is a name change for Delhi (an anglicism) to Dilli (the
Hindi form).  If that happens, India's four largest cities will be
renamed.

Paul Stout
Map Librarian
Ball State University
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