Need for standardisation of spelling India has various local languages. Even (Romanised) English spellings in long and wide use often vary depending upon which government department or agency uses them. To the point, a few examples are Quilandy versus
Koyilandy (Malayalam: കൊയിലാണ്ടി), Cannanore versus
Kannur (Malayalam: കണ്ണൂർ), and Rangiya versus
Rangia (Assamese: ৰঙিয়া). Different departments of the government may have used official spellings in use at the time, while locations associated with Indian railways mostly maintained British-era spellings. The confusion inherent in such variations has often resulted in serious consequences like people having two "different" addresses (theoretically designating the same place) in their official records leading to legal disputes, or one house having residents of different house addresses due to differing place names. Many people argue that such confusion can lead to indeterminate and/or unintended consequences.
Renaming in local languages In the post-colonial era, several Indian states' names were changed. Some of these changes coincided with the
States Reorganisation Act of 1956, a major reform of the boundaries of India's states and territories that organized them along linguistic lines. At this time, for example,
Travancore-Cochin was renamed
Kerala (Malayalam: കേരളം). Later state name changes include the reorganization of Madhya Bharat into
Madhya Pradesh (Hindi: मध्य प्रदेश) in 1959; and the renaming of the
Madras State to
Tamil Nadu () in 1969, of the
Mysore State to
Karnataka (Kannada: ಕರ್ನಾಟಕ) in 1973, and of Uttaranchal to
Uttarakhand () in 2007. Name changes have varied with respect to the levels of language at which they have been applied, and also accepted. Some of these local name changes were changes made in all languages: the immediate local name, and also all India's other languages. An example of this is the renaming of predominantly Hindi-speaking Uttaranchal () to a new local Hindi name ( ). Other changes were only changes in some of the indigenous languages. For example, the renaming of the
Madras Presidency to
Madras State in 1947 and then Tamil Nadu in 1969 required non-Tamil speakers to change from an approximation of the British name (
Madras Presidency, then
Madras State ) to a native Tamil name ( , 'Tamil country'). In general, changes to the local names of cities in the indigenous languages are less common. However, a change in English may sometimes also be a reflection of changes in other Indian languages other than the specific local one. For example, the change of Madras () to Chennai () was reflected in many of India's languages, and incidentally in English, while the Tamil endonym had always been Chennai and remained unaffected by the change.
Renaming in English Change in official English spelling The renaming of cities is often specifically from English to
Indian English in connection with that dialect's internal reforms. In other words, the city itself is not actually renamed in the local language, and the local name (or endonym) in the indigenous
languages of India does not change, but the official spelling in Indian English is amended. An example is the change from English
Calcutta to English
Kolkata – the local Bengali name ( ) did not change. Such changes in English spelling may be in order to better reflect a more accurate
phonetic transliteration of the local name, or may be for other reasons. In the early years after
Indian independence, many name changes were affected in northern India for English spellings of Hindi place names that had simply been Romanized inconsistently by the British administration – such as the British spelling
Jubbulpore, renamed
Jabalpur () among the first changes in 1947. These changes did not generate significant controversy. More recent and high-profile changes – including renaming such major cities as Calcutta to Kolkata – have generated greater controversy. Since independence, such changes have typically been enacted officially by legislation at local or national
Indian government level, and may or may not then be adopted by the
Indian media, particularly the influential
Indian press. In the case of smaller towns and districts which were less notable outside and inside India, and where a well known English name (or exonym) could not be said to exist, older spellings used under
British India may not have had any specific legislation other than changes in practice on the romanization of indigenous Indian language names.
Realignment of the official Indian English name to an alternative local name Aside from changes to the official English spellings of local names there have also been renaming proposals to realign the official name, hence the English name with an alternative local name, typically changing a Muslim name to a Hindu one. Recent examples include the proposals by the
Bharatiya Janata Party (1990, 2001) to rename
Ahmedabad (Hindi: अहमदाबाद Gujarati: અમદાવાદ) to Karnavati and
Allahabad (Hindi: इलाहाबाद) to
Prayagraj (Hindi: प्रयागराज), the latter ultimately being officially adopted in 2018. Similarly, the cities of
Aurangabad (Marathi: औरंगाबाद) and
Osmanabad (Marathi: उस्मानाबाद) had been renamed
Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar (Marathi: छत्रपती संभाजी नगर) and
Dharashiv (Marathi: धाराशिव), by then Chief Minister of Maharashtra,
Eknath Shinde, in 2022. These proposals are changes from the Islamic name to a Hindu name. == Adoption ==