Renaming of cities in India Quotes

“Wikipedia: Renaming of cities in India”

“Aurangzeb’s preposterous moves to rename Varanasi as Muhammadabad, as also Mathura as Islamabad, were as colossal a failure as his attempts to wipe off the faith of the Hindus. These new names ‘never found favour with the people, and only survived for a short period in official documents. It is also found in the coins of this and succeeding reigns, Benares having been a mint town from the days of Akbar’.”

“Here it may be mentioned that Aurangzeb had the dubious distinction of renaming more towns and forts than perhaps any other Muslim ruler. It seems he wanted to erase the memory of the past history of these places and give them a new beginning, coinciding with the ‘revival’ of Islamic faith, practices and Shari‘at laws under him. He thus renamed Nasik as Gulshanabad, Karnal as Qamarnagar, Devgarh as Islamgarh, Toran as Fatuh-ul-Ghaib, Nagpur as Bhagpur, DhÁrur as Fatahabad, Vrindavan as Mominabad, Mathura as Islamabad, Rampura as Islampur, and sometime in the last decade of his reign, he renamed Banaras as Muhammadabad. More instances of renaming of towns by him can be cited.”

“The truth is that when the Mughals ruled India, they crossed all limits of cruelty. They martyred Guru Arjan Dev Badshah Ji, Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib Ji, Guru Gobind Singh Sahib Ji’s younger brother, and even the elder one was also martyred. So this is a very big story of cruelty. I believe that when the country got independence, even before that, during British rule, and later when the Congress party came to power, they showed a completely different face of the Mughals. They named all the roads and big educational institutions after them. It was a matter of shame for this country that the rulers who martyred our Gurus, who demolished temples and built mosques here, were given so much respect in history. So this truth should have come to the fore. The truth should be known to our youth and children about the atrocities committed by the Mughals here. So, if they make changes in the syllabus and try to bring out the truth, then I would definitely welcome it.”