Hin: जबलपुर jabalapura
‘Hill Town’ [Jubbulpore] City/District, Madhya Pradesh (MP)
From Ara: jabal/jebel, ‘mountain’, ‘hill’; and Skt: pur, ‘fort’, ‘village’, ‘city’.
There are 12 hill stations near Jabalpur – so the name fits. There is also a mountainous district, Jabal Saraj, in Afghanistan with a similar name.
Madan Mahal is a rocky hilltop fort which was built here in the early 12th century by Raja Madan Singh. It is also called the Rani Duravati fort after the Gondwana queen who died fighting the Mughals in the 16th century.
Local historians have proposed a number of alternative derivations:
(1) Jabalpur may have been named after a famous rishi called Jabali, althoufgh there is no evidence put forward for this.
(2) Jauli Pattala is a district mentioned in Kalachuri inscriptions. Jauli also refers to the Huna queen of the Kalachuri king, Karna.
For related place names see Indian Place names and Madhya Pradesh place names.
