Latest News

  • Home
  • National
  • How 29 States in India got their Names: Origin and Interesting Facts
How 29 States in India got their Names: Origin and Interesting Facts
Thursday, May 9, 2019 IST
How 29 States in India got their Names: Origin and Interesting Facts

India derived its name from Indus River and the Aryan worshippers referred Indus River as Sindhu. The invaders of Persia converted it into Hindu. Therefore, the name ‘Hindustan’ combines with Sindhu and Hindu. Billions of people live together in India in 29 states where Language, History, Rulers etc. of particular regions has also contributed to the names. That is why we call it as Unity in diversity. Let see how Indian 29 States got their name.

 
 

India derived its name from Indus River and the Aryan worshippers referred Indus River as Sindhu. The invaders of Persia converted it into Hindu. Therefore, the name ‘Hindustan’ combines with Sindhu and Hindu. We all know India is a multilingual country with lots of varieties and changes not only in terms of area and population but also culturally or Traditionally, Modernity, Religions and Beliefs etc. That is why we call it as Unity in diversity. Billions of people live together in India in 29 states where Language, History, Rulers etc. of particular regions has also contributed to the names.
 
But have you ever thought how 29 States of India got their Names.
 
 
1. Jammu and Kashmir
 
It is a beautiful valley known as Valley of Rishi Kashyaya from which Kashmir word is originated. And in Sanskrit “Ka” means water and “shimeera” means to desiccate. Jammu word is originated from the name of its ruler Raja Jambu Lochan.
 
2. Himachal Pradesh
 
Its name has a Sanskrit origin i.e. Hima means ‘snow’ and achal means ‘mountain’ which as a whole means The Home of Snowy Mountains.
 
3. Punjab
 
The word “Punj” means five and “ab” means water i.e Land of Five Rivers which is an Indo-Iranian word.
 
4. Uttarakhand
 
Uttaranchal state is separated from Uttar Pradesh in 2000 which means ‘Northern Mountains’ i.e. Uttar means north and anchal is mountain. Later its name was changed to Uttarakhand which means ‘Northland’.
 
5. Haryana
 
Haryana splits in two words i.e. “Hari” means Vishnu or an incarnation of Lord Krishna and “ana” means to come. It is believed that during Mahabharata reign Lord Krishna came to this place and so, got the name Haryana.
 
6. Uttar Pradesh
 
Uttar means North and Pradesh means Province. So, we can say it as ‘Northern Province’.
 
7. Rajasthan
 
It is derived from Sanskrit word ‘Raja’ which means King. And earlier it was known as Rajputana means ‘Land of Rajputs’.
 
 
8. Bihar
 
It is derived from a Pali word ‘Vihara’ which means ‘abode’ and has a Sanskrit origin and with time it changed to Bihar. Earlier, it was known as Abode or Vihara of Buddhist monks.
 
9. West Bengal
 
It is derived from a Sanskrit word ‘Vanga’. And different versions came after it like in Persia it is called by Bangalah, in Hindi as Bangal and in Bengali as Bangla. Word West added to it after the Partition of Bengal in 1905 and in 1947 again partition took place in which West Bengal became a state in India and East Bengal as a separate nation as Bangladesh.
 
10. Jharkhand
 
It is derived from a Sanskrit word Jhar which means forest and Khand means land. So, in total it is said as Land of Forest and also known as ‘Vananchal’.
 
11. Odisha
 
It is derived from Sanskrit word ‘Odra Vishaya’ or ‘Odra Desa’ and it refers to the Odra people living in Central India.
 
12. Chhattisgarh
 
Earlier it was known by the name of Dakshin Kosala but have no concrete evidences regarding its name. Also, it has 36 forts and in Hindi 36 is chattis. So, named as Chattisgarh.
 
13. Madhya Pradesh
 
Madhya means Central and Pradesh means Province. So, Hindi version of Central Province is Madhya Pradesh. Before Independence most of the parts of the state as Central Provinces is administered by the Britishers. In 1950 the Central Province and Berar were combined with Makrai and Chattisgarh which is now known as ‘Central Province’.
 
 
14. Gujarat
 
It is originated from Gujara and this region was ruled by them in 700 and 800 and so known as land of Gujjars.
 

 
 

15. Maharashtra
 
There are several theories related to the origination of Maharashtra.
 
a) It is derived from Sanskrit word Maha means Great and Rashtra means Nation i.e. Great Nation.
 
b) Also, it is said that according to Ashoka inscription it is originated from a clan known as Rashtrika.
 
c) Rashtrakuta was a dynasty that ruled from 8th to 10th centuries and the word Rashtra originated from ‘Ratta’.
 
d) Even Rashtra word is also originated from Rathi or Ratha which means Chariotee.
 
16. Goa
 
It is not yet clear how and from where Goa name comes. May be it is originated from the Sanskrit word ‘go’ which means Cow. And some believes that it may be originated from the European or Portuguese language.
 
 
17. Telangana
 
It is derived from the word ‘Trilinga’ which means Three Shiva Lingas.
 
18. Andhra Pradesh
 
It is derived from Sanskrit word Andhra which means South. In this area there are tribes which are also known as ‘Andhras’. And in past Maurya officials, Satvahanas were known as Andhra-Bhrutya which means ‘Officers of South’.
 
19. Karnataka
 
It is derived from Karu means ‘Lofty’ and Naad means ‘Land’ which refers to the Deccan Plateau.
 
20. Tamil Nadu
 
Tamil Nadu means homeland of the Tamils. Also, Tamil means ‘Sweet nectar’ and Nadu is a Tamilian word means homeland or nation.
 
21. Kerala
 
There are some theories related with its name.
 
a) It is originated from ‘Chernna’ means added and ‘alam’ which means land.
 
b) The keralam word is originated with the rulers of Chera dynasty from 1st to 5th century AD from word ‘chera alam’ and later it came to be known as Keralam.
 
c) In Sanskrit keralam word means as the land added on.
 
d) Geographically, Kerala is originated as an addition of land mass by the sea.
 
22. Sikkim
 
It is originated from Limbu origin in which ‘Su’ means new and ‘Khyim’ means palace i.e. New Palace. Also, Sikkim is a Tibetan language known as Denjong.
 
Now we will see the origination of 7-Sisters (North-Eastern India)
 
 
Do you have an idea how the sobriquet The Land of Seven Sisters came in to existence.
 
This sobriquet originally had been coined to coincide with the inauguration of new states in January 1972 by Jyoti Prasad Saikia who was a journalist in Tripura in the course of a radio talk show later compiled a book on the interdependence and commonness of the Seven Sister States and named it as the Land of Seven Sisters. From this publication only the name came in to existence.
 
23. Arunachal Pradesh
 
It is derived from Sanskrit word Aruna meaning ‘dawn lit’ and acha means ‘mountain i.e. Dawn Lit Mountain.
 
24. Assam
 
It is derived its name from ‘Ahoms’ rulers who ruled in Assam for about six centuries. And Ahom is also derived from the word Asama which is an Indo Aryan word means ‘uneven’.
 
25. Meghalaya
 
It is originated from the Sanskrit word ‘Megha’ which means cloud and ‘Alaya’ means Abode i.e. The land of Clouds.
 
26. Manipur
 
It is derived from Sanskrit word Manipur which means The land of Jewels or The Jewel city.
 
27. Mizoram
 
It is derived from ‘Mi’ which means people and ‘zo’ meaning highlander.
 
28. Nagaland
 
It is originated from the Burmese word ‘Naka’ i.e. Naga which means people with earring or pierced nose. Also, known as The land of Nagas.
 
29. Tripura
 
There are several theories related to its origination.
 
a) It is derived from Kokborok words ‘tui’ which means water and ‘para’ means near.
 
b) Also, it may derive its name from the diety Tripura Sundari at Udaipur.
 
c) It is also said that the state came from the name of the king Tripur who ruled this region. Do you know that Tripura is the third smallest state in India in terms of area?

 
 
 
 
 

Related Topics

 
 
 

Trending News & Articles

 Article
Here is the full list of 827 porn websites banned by the DoT

While the Uttarakhand High Court has asked to block 857 websites, the Ministry of Electronics and IT (Meity) found 30 portals without any pornographic content. ...

Recently posted . 61K views . 1 min read
 

 Article
Class XII Boys Raped 16-Year-old in Dehradun School After Watching Porn on Phone: Police

The four boys as well as five school officials, including the director and principal, were arrested after the incident. The minors were presented before the Juvenil...

Recently posted . 7K views . 1 min read
 

 Article
Sept 27,2001 Rahul Gandhi and his girl friend Veronique,was arrested in Logan airport in Boston

Rahul was having an Italian passport and was carrying suitcase full of dollars. Some say it was about was it $2 million. Rahul and his girl friend was th...

Recently posted . 7K views . 7 min read
 

 Article
TOP 10 GYM EQUIPMENT BRANDS IN INDIA 2017

True – Tr...

Recently posted . 6K views . 83 min read
 

 
 

More in National

 Article
Load-shedding will be a crime, discoms can't bill you for losses from 2019

NEW DELHI: In a bid to end the bane of power outages even at a time of surplus production, the government will bring in a law to penalise distrib...

Recently posted. 489 views . 2 min read
 

 Article
Why India's terrible loan issue is truly bad

Last week, Spain’s largest lender Banco Santander SA announced taking over struggling Banco Popular Espanol SA for a symbolic value of €1. Santander also...

Recently posted. 811 views . 45 min read
 

 Article
Veteran Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav dies aged 92

The veteran leader had been fighting illness for several days. His last rites were performed on Sunday in Uttar Pradesh's Auraiya district.

Recently posted. 467 views . 1 min read
 

 Article
Meet the 27-year-old set to be India's first woman to co-found a $1 billion start-up

• In four short years, she has grown her Southeast Asian e-commerce site Zilingo into a global platform with more than 7 million ...

Recently posted. 493 views . 2 min read
 

 Article
Nine-year-old girl raped, murdered by a priest and 3 others in Delhi

Police said the family expressed suspicions that the girl may have been sexually assaulted and murdered, given how her body was cremated in a hurry.

Recently posted. 739 views . 1 min read
 

 
 
 

   Prashnavali

  Thought of the Day

"Someone’s sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago."
Warren Buffett

Be the first one to comment on this story

Close
Post Comment
Shibu Chandran
2 hours ago

Serving political interests in another person's illness is the lowest form of human value. A 70+ y old lady has cancer.

November 28, 2016 05:00 IST
Shibu Chandran
2 hours ago

Serving political interests in another person's illness is the lowest form of human value. A 70+ y old lady has cancer.

November 28, 2016 05:00 IST
Shibu Chandran
2 hours ago

Serving political interests in another person's illness is the lowest form of human value. A 70+ y old lady has cancer.

November 28, 2016 05:00 IST
Shibu Chandran
2 hours ago

Serving political interests in another person's illness is the lowest form of human value. A 70+ y old lady has cancer.

November 28, 2016 05:00 IST


ads
Back To Top