Hin: बुरहानपुर burahānapur
‘Burhan’s Town’ City/District, Madhya Pradesh (MP)
From Burhan-ud-Din; and Skt: pur, ‘(fortified) town’.
Burhanpur is on the banks of the Tapti river.
Nasir Khan Faruqi, Sultan of Khandesh, founded Burhanpur in the 14thC following the capture of the nearby Asirgarh Fort. The town was named after Burhan-ud-Din, a well-known medieval Sufi saint; and Zainabad, the town/village of the other side of the river, was named after another saint, Zain-ud-din.
Under the Moghuls Burhanpur became the HQ of Deccan Khandesh Province with its own Governor.
From the mid-18thC the town was controlled by the Marathas until the British took over in 1818.
This important power loom and textile city has another claim to fame: it gets a mention in Jules Verne’s Around the World in 80 Days:
At half-past twelve the train stopped at Burhampoor where Passepartout was able to purchase some Indian slippers, ornamented with false pearls, in which, with evident vanity, he proceeded to encase his feet.
