Port Blair renamed as Sri Vijaya Puram

New Delhi | Desk: Centre renamed Port Blair, a city in Union Territory of Andaman Nicobar as ‘Sri Vijaya Puram’ to free the nation from the colonial imprints.

He stated, “Driven by the Prime Minister’s commitment to liberating the nation from remnants of colonialism, the Home Ministry has decided to rename Port Blair as ‘Shri Vijay Puram’ today.”

Home Minister Amit Shah took to X and said, While the earlier name had a colonial legacy, Sri Vijaya Puram symbolizes the victory achieved in our freedom struggle and the A&N Islands’ unique role in the same.

Andaman & Nicobar Islands have an unparalleled place in our freedom struggle and history.

The island territory that once served as the naval base of the Chola Empire is today poised to be the critical base for our strategic and development aspirations, he added.

It is also the place that hosted the first unfurling of our Tiranga by Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Ji and also the cellular jail in which Veer Savarkar Ji and other freedom fighters struggled for an independent nation.

Port Blair derives its name from Captain Archibald Blair, a British naval officer who conducted surveys of the Andaman Islands and the Chagos Archipelago during the colonial era.

In 1788, the East India Company tasked Blair with surveying the Andaman Sea, and he arrived on the islands in 1789.