Mapping Place Names of India

Book excerpt: This book is the first of its kind to chart the terrain of contemporary India’s many place names. It explores different ‘place connections’, investigates how places are named and renamed, and looks at the forces that are remaking the future place name map of India. Lucid and accessible, this book explores the bonds between names, places and people through a unique amalgamation of toponomy, history, mythology and political studies within a geographical expression. This volume addresses questions on the status and value of place names, their interpretation and classification. It brings to the fore the connections between place names and the cultural, geographical and historical significations they are associated with. This will be an essential read for scholars and researchers of geography, law, politics, history and sociology, and will also be of interest to policy-makers, administrators and the common reader interested in India.