why was Bombay changed to Mumbai?

Question

was watching a show about India this evening and noticed that most major places have changed their name. Bombay has become mumbai, Calcutta has become Kolkata, Madras has become Chennai. What is the reason? is it because the original were the british names?

Answer 1

The original...were the Indian names! These are the Indian names!

No Indian languages are written in Roman script like English so all spellings are phonetic in any case. That is why some restaurants will have Rojan Gosh, and others Rogan Gosht for the same dish.

Bombay was the closest the illiterate British could get to the phonetic sound of Mumbai.

Answer 2

Yes the names such as Bombay, Calcutta etc were imposed by the colonial rulers (the British) who in many cases just simplified and Anglicised the spelling of the place names that the Indians used.

There have been moves made over the last 10-20 years to restate them in the more authentic local spellings or in some cases change the name totally back to the original.

Its a laudable move but seems on one level a bit pointless as they have to state the British version as well so it takes up twice as much room/time!

Maybe over time we will get to a point where people will be able to say Mumbai and not have to refer to formerly know as Bombay etc. They will eventually also have to change the airlines' airport codes - Mumbai airport has the code BOM for example and Kolkata has the code CCU

Answer 3

I remember distinctly my mother used to pronounce bombay as mumbai and I thought she did not know how to pronounce bombay. However the original name was always mumbai till the British came along and changed it to suit their tongue. Its the same for Kolkata but not sure of Chennai.

It took a long time to go back to the old names principally because its to difficult administratively and too costly as you can imagine. Now that we have changed it do call these cites by their proper name, viz. Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai.

Answer 4

Officially the name change was made on anti-colonialist grounds - as many traditional Indian names had been changed or anglicised during British occupation and rule in India. Since independence in 1947, successive governments have attempted to change the names of the major cities back to their original ones - but because it was an administrative nightmare to do it, it has taken a long time.

Answer 5

It's high time we all went back to our real roots in india.the british are not there ruling us anymore.
so we can change the names of place's as and when we wish,cause we don't have to write and ask the queen for permission to do so.
we have our own law's and we live by them.
what you seen on tele was only the posh part of mumbai or banglore or cochi.
india has a rich culture,we all have high socoety and the poor people.
nothing change's like all over the world,the rich get richer-the poor get poorer.

Answer 6

The name Mumbai is an eponym, etymologically derived from Mumba or Maha-Amba— the name of the Hindu goddess Mumbadevi, and Aai — mother in Marathi.[4] The former name Bombay had its origins in the 16th century when the Portuguese arrived in the area and called the place with various names, which would finally take on the written form Bombaim, still common in current Portuguese use. After the British gained possession in the 17th century, it was anglicised to Bombay, although it was known as Mumbai or Mambai to Marathi and Gujarati-speakers, and as Bambai in Hindi, Urdu, and Persian.[5] The name was officially changed to Marathi pronunciation of Mumbai in 1995.

Answer 7

It went bankrupt

Answer 8

i dont know either