365 Villages and areas of Delhi still bearing the names of Islamic invaders

Editorial comment

• The Villages and areas in the NCT of Delhi, the seat of National Capital are still bearing the names of Islamic invaders, which is very shameful for rulers of all the parties after Independence. Still retaining Villages, Cities and roads in the names of Islamic invaders is a symbol of slavery. The nationalists feel that the Central Government should take immediate steps to change all such names.

Delhi – In the NCT of Delhi, the actual names of Villages/areas named after invaders like Humayun, Taimur, Aurangzeb or Mohammad Ghori are different. Based on historical evidence and documents in this regard, it has come to light that the villages were named after the Hindu Deities or great men.

Presently there is a discussion going on to change the name of the Village ‘Mohammadpur’. The ancient name of this Village was ‘Madhavpur’. Historian Manish Kumar Gupta told that after defeating Prithviraj Chauhan, Mohammad Ghori handed over the power of North India to his slave Qutubuddin Aibak and left. After this, according to Ghori’s wishes, Qutbuddin Aibak started changing the names of places there to propagate Islam in India. Accordingly, the name of the Village ‘Madhavpur’ was changed to ‘Mohammadpur’ in honour of Mohammad Ghori, his owner, and the name is still prevalent.

According to Dr Dharamveer Sharma, former director of the Archaeological Department of Delhi, ‘about 365 Villages in Delhi are named after foreign invaders. The present-day Mehrauli named by Islamic invaders was earlier Mihirawali, named after the famous astronomer Acharya Mihir.

According to the mythological historian Neera Mishra, during the time of the Mughals, the names of many areas of Delhi were changed. Hauz Khas and Siri Fort areas were earlier called Shahpur Jat. According to Manish Kumar Gupta, Patparganj was Sahibganj during the Mughal period, named after the mistress of the then Mughal emperor.

South Delhi’s Humayunpur Village dates back 350 years. It was earlier known as Hanumanpur. As per the historians the invaders used to change the names of Villages and Cities as a sign of their victory.