Posted on 09/06/2023 11:55:58 AM PDT by Red Badger
NEW DELHI (AP) — Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has replaced the name India with a Sanskrit word in dinner invitations sent to guests attending this week’s Group of 20 summit, in a move that reflects his Hindu nationalist party’s efforts to eliminate what it sees as colonial-era names.
Indian President Droupadi Murmu is referred to as “President of Bharat” instead of “President of India” in the invitation sent to G20 attendees. The nation of more than 1.4 billion people is officially known by two names, India and Bharat, but the former is most commonly used, both domestically and internationally.
Bharat is an ancient Sanskrit word which many historians believe dates back to early Hindu texts. The word also means India in Hindi.
The change in nomenclature is backed by officials of Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party. They argue that the name India was introduced by British colonials and is a “symbol of slavery.” The British ruled India for about 200 years until the country gained independence in 1947.
“Another blow to slavery mentality,” the top elected official of Uttarakhand state, Pushkar Singh Dhami, said on X, formerly known as Twitter. Dhami, who is a leader of Modi’s governing party, shared the dinner invitation sent to G20 guests in his post.
Modi’s party has long tried to erase names related to India’s Mughal and colonial past.
In 2015, New Delhi’s famous Aurangzeb Road, named after a Mughal king, was changed to Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Road after protests from Modi’s party leaders. Last year, the government also renamed a colonial-era avenue in the heart of New Delhi that is used for ceremonial military parades.
Modi’s government says the name changes are an effort to reclaim India’s Hindu past.
(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.com ...
I noticed a town named "Maesteg" on my trip to Wales. That corresponds to maes(field), teg(fair). Fairfield. A fairly common name for town in English.
On the way into Wales from England, you pass through Bridgend. Literally end of the of the bridge. The Welsh place name is Penybont-->Pen(end), bont(bridge). The first letter of "pont" is mutated from "p" to "b" where it follows the vowel "y".
> they should recompose their national anthem
And require their citizens not just to sing it but to do a big Bollywood dance to it
“Remember you’re fighting for this woman’s honor. Which is more than she ever did!’’.
Sounds like Cleveland.
When the word ‘slavery’ disappears from our language(s), we will ALL BE SLAVES...................
OK that’s one I find fascinating. Mostly because of Tommy Tedesco of the wrecking crew. I wonder how they got a family name that was their country’s name for another country. Probably some great great grandfather came in over the mountain and the people where he settled just started calling him “the German”.
LOL! As good a guess as any! Until maybe sometime in the Middle Ages, people didn't roam far from their home village, and didn't have last names until some bureaucrat decided to make everyone take one. Creative names resulted!
All the very old civilizations and clans had a variety of naming customs, like Smith and Wright families in England named after the kind of work the father did, or Waters, Hillsborough, etc. after the land features where they lived. Same in Germany, most of Europe—I imagine it's the same everywhere.
"Esposito" in Italian came from the custom of leaving unwanted infants "exposed" to fate on the doorstep of a church or convent, in hopes the baby would be cared for. A birth document for the state would say "Esposito" where the names of the parents should have been.
Italian-Americans' nick-names often are literal translation for humorous effect. For instance, Giuseppe Vongole would be called "Joey Clams" by his friends!
Lots of those translation nicknames show up in mob movies, like Frank Pentangeli from The Godfather II — "Frankie Five Angels." Which is a shame that the incredibly wonderful, colorful, sensual, affectionate, artistic and hard-working Italian-American culture seems only known to outsiders through violent films.
The evolution of last names is always interesting. I always wonder about the era when the son postfix transformed from rotating to permanent. Because it would change, if you were Tom and named your kid James he’d be James Tomson, His kill William would be William Jameson, but then eventually we stopped moving through it, all of our -son -sen -sin last names come from that and I wonder when and how, and did it coincide with the rise of Jr.
Then of course there’s the “professional” last names. Like Smith, he was Smith because he was a smith.
It’s neat stuff.
English is in there among a few hundred languages we’ve never even heard of, and a few we have. Asia is too complicated linguistically to ever sort out. English just makes it manageable.
“Modi’s government says the name changes are an effort to reclaim India’s Hindu past.”
Will Sati be back in?
This is better than what happened to Burma in 1989, when the ruling junta changed the country’s name to Myanmar, and just about every place in it (except for Mandalay) got a new, Burmese-language name.
Given what the regime has done, Burma’s probably happy it isn’t the name any longer and hopes everyone forgets it ever was. :^)
India, which included Pakistan and Bangladesh wasn’t ruled by Britain for 200 years. Those losers were ruled by a bunch of English and Scottish pirates called the East India Company.
The British government only ruled for about 90 years.
Warszawa would be a great name for a metal band.
Because Bharmouse was too long........
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