Indian Cities That Dumped Their English Names

2. Calcutta/Kolkata: Calcutta, which is one of the world's 25 largest cities, became Kolkata in January 2001, also during the same time its state name changed from West Bengal to Bangla . It is said that the city derived its name from Kalikata, which is one of three villages present in the area where the city is today before the British arrived. The city was always called "Kolkata", according to the Bengali pronunciation prior to the arrival of the British who changed it to Calcutta, The city’s name changed from Calcutta to Kolkata is an attempt to get back to its earlier, non-anglicized version.

3. Madras/Chennai: In 1996 another city that witnessed a name change after Mumbai was Chennai, which was initially called Madras. During 1639 the Raja of a suburb in South India, named Chandragiri, permitted the British to build a fort near the town of Madraspattinam. At the same time, the localities built another town close to the site of the fort which was named as Chennappatnam, which was named after the father of one of the early rulers. Later, both the fort and the town grew together but the British shortened their colony's name to Madras whereas the Indians changed it to Chennai. The city was renamed as Chennai in August 1996 because it is the language of the area’s original residents and Madras was seen as being a Portuguese name and was also related with the former British colony.