Jaipur, Kanpur, Udaipur, and many more cities have a similar sound due to the suffix 'pur'. But have you ever wondered why some cities in India have 'pur' behind them? From royal kingdoms to modern cities, know the interesting story of why pur became a staple suffix for many popular Indian cities.
Why do cities like Kanpur, Rampur, Jaipur, and Udaipur have 'pur' in common?
To simply this, pur means city in Sanskrit. The suffix 'pur' comes from the ancient Sanskrit 'Pura' or 'Puram', which literally means city, settlement or fortified place. The pur was basically a stamp that conveyed 'this is a proper city or a kingdom'.
Not just the literal translation, interestingly, most pur cities were named after a king who founded them. For example, Jaipur was founded by Maharaja Jai Singh II and Udaipur by Maharana Udai Singh II.
Kanpur is named after Lord Krishna or Kanhiya, and Rampur being name after Lord Ram.
There are over 100 cities in India with their name ending with pur, for example: Gorakhpur, Nagpur, Jodhpur, among others.
Does pur have any other significance?
It should also be noted that pur does not always mean a big city, as the cities can have different meanings. For example, Fatehpur means city of victory. There are also many Rampur in India, which exist in Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, and even in West Bengal. Many rulers would name every new settlement after Lord Ram and pur behind it.
What are the other suffixes for Indian cities?
Apart from pur, you might have noticed other suffixes like nagar, garh, or abad for Indian cities. As pur means planned city or royal capital, other suffix have different significance.
Nagar means trading town like Srinagar and Garh means fort like Jaisalgarh.
Interestingly, the word 'abad' arrived in India around 800 years ago with Persian speaking rulers and then peaked for 400 years during the Delhi Sultanate and Mughal Rule. It means an inhabited place, city, or settlement and is equivalent to the Sanskrit 'pur'.
Examples of abad are: Allahabad, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Faridabad, Ghaziabad, among others.
Next time you notice a suffix in any Indian cities, note that it has an incredible history and signifcance dervied from India's rich culture.
(Image Credits: Magnific)
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