Indian Place Names: Origins, Meanings and History
Explore more than 1,000 Indian and Sri Lankan place names and discover the languages, meanings and histories behind them.
Indian place names and Sri Lankan place names reflect more than three thousand years of linguistic and cultural history. Sanskrit, Dravidian, Persian, Arabic, Portuguese, Dutch, English and other colonial influences all appear in the names of the cities, towns, rivers and regions of India and Sri Lanka.
This website explores the origins, meanings and histories of Indian place names, bringing together research on states, cities, districts, archaeological sites and historic regions across the subcontinent.
How Indian Place Names Work
Most Indian place names follow a simple structure: a specific element combined with a generic element.
The generic element describes the type of place — a settlement, landscape feature, fort, market, shrine or cultural site. Common examples include -pur ‘town’, -nagar ‘city’, -abad ‘settlement’, -palli ‘village’ and -garh ‘fort’.
The specific element distinguishes one place from another. It may refer to a ruler, dynasty, community, geographical feature, deity, temple, river or older settlement.
Taken together, these elements form names that are not arbitrary labels but compact historical records.
India contains millions of place names, drawn from dozens of languages and thousands of years of settlement. Understanding them reveals patterns: common elements such as -abad, -garh, -giri, -kudi, -nagar, -palayam, -palli, -pur and Sri- / Tiru- reveal patterns of settlement, geography, political power and religious tradition.
Every place name has a story.
How Sri Lankan Place Names Work
Sri Lankan place names reflect the island’s long history of settlement, religion, irrigation, trade, kingship and colonial rule. Sinhala, Tamil, Sanskrit, Pali, Portuguese, Dutch and English influences all appear in the names of Sri Lanka’s towns, villages, rivers, mountains and sacred sites.
Like many Indian place names, Sri Lankan place names often combine a specific element with a generic element. Some describe landscapes: tanks, fields, rocks, rivers, forests and hills. Others preserve the names of kings, temples, monasteries, ports, communities and older settlements.
Common elements include Sinhala forms such as -gama ‘village’, -pitiya ‘open ground’, -wela ‘field’, -kanda ‘hill’, -gala ‘rock’ and -wewa ‘tank’, alongside Tamil elements such as -kudi ‘settlement’, -kulam ‘tank’ and -palli ‘village, shrine or settlement’.
Sri Lankan place names are not merely labels on a map. They record language, landscape, religion, trade, irrigation, migration and political change.
Discover the Key to Indian and Sri Lankan Place Names
This site gathers research on the origins of place names across India and Sri Lanka: states, union territories, provinces, cities, towns, districts, rivers, mountains, archaeological sites and historic regions.
It attempts the impossible, because the subcontinent contains millions of place names drawn from dozens of widely spoken languages and thousands of years of history. But it seemed to me that someone should make a start. A site that included all places large enough to be a district, or interesting enough to attract tourists, historians and archaeologists, seemed about right.
What is contained here is more than a simple collection of names and their origins. Every place name is a door which, when opened, can reveal its unique history and geography.
It is also a map of political, religious, economic, social, natural and cultural history, showing how personalities, events, communities and changing landscapes have shaped modern India and modern Sri Lanka.
Explore the key elements in Indian and Sri Lankan place names
How to use this site
You can search Indian and Sri Lankan place names on the HOME page (this one) using the search box above or by state using the states list on the right. If you select Uttar Pradesh, for example, you can explore the history and meaning of this name and then scroll down to select important towns, cities, regions or rivers such as Varanasi or Agra.
On the PLACE NAMES page (see Menu above) you can also search Indian and Sri Lankan place names or browse alphabetically from Abhayapuri (Assam) and Adam’s Peak (Sri Lanka) to Yavatmal (Maharashtra) and Zunheboto (Nagaland).
On the CONTACT ME page (see Menu above) you can follow me on Substack and Facebook or you can suggest changes or new Indian and Sri Lankan place names you think should be included.
The LANGUAGES/DICTIONARIES page (see link in the bar below) lists the languages referred to on this site, their abbreviations, and dictionaries consulted.
SOURCES (see link in the bar below) is a useful list of books and references used on this site.
The PLACE NAMES ELEMENTS page (see link in the bar below) lists 50 of the most important elements in Indian and Sri Lankan place names, from -abad, -ganj and -garh to -pur, Sri- / Tiru- and -wada / -wara.
A Growing Resource
This is a growing reference resource, with more than 1,000 place-name entries and new research added regularly. If you spot an error, have additional information or know of a place name that should be included, please get in touch.
For more on Indian place names and history, see Toponymy on the Ashoka Express
For a journey through tribal India and Sri Lanka, see Headhunting with Marguerite
