Centre changes name of Andaman & Nicobar capital Port Blair, it will now be called Sri Vijaya Puram

The Centre on Friday renamed Port Blair, the capital city of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, to "Sri Vijaya Puram."

Union home minister Amit Shah said that the decision was taken in the spirit of freeing the nation of its colonial imprint.

"Inspired by the vision of PM Narendra Modi, to free the nation from the colonial imprints, today we have decided to rename Port Blair as 'Sri Vijaya Puram," he said on X.

Shah added: "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 home minister further said that Andaman & Nicobar Islands have an unparalleled place in India's freedom struggle and history.

The new name is inspired by Sri Vijaya Empire, a powerful maritime dynasty in Southeast Asia which flourished from the 7th to 13th centuries.

"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. It is also the place that hosted the first unfurling of our Tiranga 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 said.

Port Blair was named after Captain Archibald Blair, a British colonial navy official who surveyed the Andaman Islands and the Chagos Archipelago.

The East India Company had appointed Blair in 1788 to survey the Andaman Sea. He reached the islands in 1789.