Oikonyms in Western and South Asia
s in Western, Central, South, and Southeast Asia can be grouped according to various components, reflecting common linguistic and cultural histories. Toponymic study is not as extensive as it is for placenames in Europe and Anglophone parts of the world, but the origins of many placenames can be determined with a fair degree of certainty.
One complexity to the study when discussing it in English is that the Romanization of names, during British rule and otherwise, from other languages has not been consistent.
Names after natural features
In Rajasthan, names are frequently given after rock, stone, ravine, and embankment. In the Gangetic plain, the predominant natural features are trees, grass prairies, and bodies of water. Prominent trees, visible from a long way off, would often serve as landmarks and give their name to places before there was any permanent settlement there. This was especially the case where a large tree indicated a ford across a river; for example, the name Gaighāṭ indicates a ford next to an agai tree. Tree names are especially common in areas that were historically under dense forest cover until recent centuries.Common affixes
Common affixes used in South Asian oikonyms can be grouped based on their linguistic origin :Dravidian
''wal'', ''wali'', ''wala'', ''wara'', ''wada'', ''warree'', ''vli'', ''vadi'', ''vali'', ''pady'' and ''palli''
Means hamlet — e.g. Dombivli; Kasan Wala; Sandhilianwali; Gujranwala; Chhindwara; Tiruchirappalli; Saraipali''Kot''
Means "fort" — Pathankot; Sialkot''Patnam'', ''patham'', ''pattana''
Means "city", or "city of" — e.g. Visakhapatnam'Indo-Aryan
''Alay''
Means "abode"; from Sanskrit ā-laya. e.g. Meghalaya, Himalaya, Lokā-laya.''-aulī'', ''-olī''
These suffixes are very common, especially -aulī. In many cases, they are probably derived from Sanskrit palli, referring to a hamlet or small village. For example, Bārḍolī in Gujarat is attested in a Rashtrakuta-era inscription as Vāraḍapallikā. Names with these suffixes may also come from Sanskrit valli, meaning "section" or "part"; either origin is plausible.At some point, it seems that -aulī became regarded as a distinct morpheme by itself, and apparently used independently as a suffix without being derived from an earlier form. For example, the names Shamsaulī and Shekhauliyā must have coined after the Muslim conquest to simply mean something like "Shams ud-Dīn's village".
The form -aulī also seems to have become standardised and absorbed similar forms by analogy. For example, Dubaulī is a common village name in eastern Uttar Pradesh, but it is not the regular, expected form of the name. The regular form would be Dubelī, which exists but is far less common. In most cases, the name was assimilated to -aulī by analogy with other places with names ending in -aulī.
''Bāns''
Means bamboo, from Sanskrit . It was historically common for villages to be surrounded by bamboo groves that were planted as a form of defence. In many cases, it can be hard to distinguish between places named with bāns from places named with bās, since bās sometimes becomes nasalised and bāns sometimes becomes de-nasalised. Examples of places named with bāns are Bānsgāon and Bānsī.''Baṛ'', ''Bargad'', ''Vaḍ''
The names baṛ and bargad both refer to the banyan tree, ultimately from Sanskrit vaṭa. This is a very common place name element; according to Sankalia, many towns and villages may have originally started out as temporary shelters underneath the wide canopy of a banyan tree. As they grew into more permanent settlements, they kept the name. Baṛ has the common variations baḍ and baṭ. Another variant is vaḍ, as in Vaḍodarā.''Chak''
A common prefix, especially in eastern Uttar Pradesh. The Oxford Hindi-English Dictionary defines chak with several meanings, including "a piece of assigned or rent-free land"; "the detached or unconsolidated fields of a village"; and simply "a sub-division of land". It derives the term from Sanskrit ', meaning "circle". Whalley, on the other hand, preferred a derivation from Persian ', noting that "Chak" is frequently followed by a Muslim name.''Desh''
Means village, land, country; from Sanskrit देश for "space" — e.g. Bangladesh. In Indonesia it becomes Desa which is another Indonesian word for "village".''-ehrā''
In many cases, this ending is probably a "worn-down" descendant of earlier -kheṛa.''Gaṛh''
Means fortress — Chandigarh, Ramgarh''Gaṛhī''
According to Whalley, Gaṛhī when used as a prefix probably in most cases originally referred to a village surrounded by a ditch.''Maū'', ''-mai''
In many cases, the place name element Maū may be derived from Sanskrit , meaning "shore" or "bank". This name is usually given to places by a river, stream, or jhil. Examples of these names are Arghaṭmaū, Bhainsmai, or Pathrāmai. In other cases, maū is a contraction of mahuā: the mahua tree, Madhuca longifolia.Some places have Maū as a standalone name, while in other cases -maū is a suffix or even a prefix. The name Māwai is a variant of Maū.
''Nagar''
Means city, land, country, village; from Sanskrit नगर — e.g. Ahmednagar, Biratnagar. In Indonesian, the word Negara means "country" and the word Nagari is a term used in West Sumatra referring to "village". Also used in Borneo island, e.g. Negara Brunei DarussalamMany modern names using nagar in full are relatively recent origin; older names with nagar have often been shortened to nār or ner.
At least in northern India, nagar is not used as a prefix. Instead, the forms Naglā or, more rarely, Nagrā, are used. About 100 places also have the feminine forms Nagariyā and Nagariyā.
''Nawādā''
Apparently derived from Sanskrit , "dwelling", combined with the Persian name Nauābād. Nawādā, along with its feminine variant Nawādiyā, is a very common village name by itself, and it is also used as a prefix for other names.''-on''
In many cases, this ending is probably a "worn-down" descendant of earlier -gāon or -ban.''-padra'', ''-vadra'', ''-darā''
The Sanskrit term padra denoted a roadside village or residence. Beginning around the 5th century, a regular sound change took place where /p/ became /v/ between vowels, turning this suffix into -vadra in many place names. In many modern place names, -vadra has further morphed into -darā. For example, Vaḍodarā is from an earlier attested form Vaṭapadra, Talodrā is from Talapadra or Talapadraka, and Lāṭhodrā is from Lāṭhivadra. Similar names like Saḍodarā and Raṇodarā probably share the same origin, although their older forms are not directly attested.''Pahāṛ'' and ''Pahār''
Pahāṛ, with the retroflex ṛ, means a hill, cliff, or overhanging river bank. Pahār with a non-retroflex r is a personal name, derived from Sanskrit . It can be hard to tell these place name elements apart because they can be easily confused in other scripts.''Paṭṭī''
From Hindi , meaning "strip", itself derived from Sanskrit paṭṭikā. As a place name element, it is used in the sense of "a strip of land". In some cases it refers to a share of land held in joint tenure by a pattidar.''Pilkhu'', ''Pilkhan'', ''Pākaṛ'', ''Pākhaṛ''
These are all names for the pilkhan tree, one of several varieties of fig tree viewed as sacred in Hinduism. The forms pilkhu and pilkhan come from Sanskrit plakṣā, while pākaṛ and pākhaṛ come from Sanskrit . One place with this name is Pilkhuwā.''Pind''
literally "lump" or a small altar of sand''Pīpal''
The pīpal tree, Ficus religiosa, is a common place name element.''Pur'', ''Purī''
Means village, town, state, country; from Sanskrit — e.g. Jamalpur; Kanpur; Khanpur. In Southeast Asian and some south Asian countries, it is known as pura, e.g. Anuradhapura, Singapura, and Indonesian cities such as Jayapura, Siak Sri Indrapura, etc. In Indonesia, pura also refers to a Hindu temple.In ancient times, the word pura strictly referred to a fort, but its meaning was gradually broadened to include any town regardless of its particular function. By the early medieval period, pura was often used to denote a commercial centre – especially in southern India, where the typical form was puram.
In many cases, old names originally ending in -pura have become shortened to -or over the centuries. In the case of Mangrol, the suffix has become -rol instead.
The variant purā often originally referred to a suburb, or to a Muslim colony.
Pur is not used as a prefix. Instead, the form Purā is used. In west-central Uttar Pradesh, around Kanpur and Etawah, the prefix takes the form Purwā. Farther east, toward Basti, it takes the form Pure. The feminine form Purī is rarely found as a prefix.
''Semal'', ''semar'', ''simra'', ''sambal''
Many places are named after the semal tree. There are many variations of this place name. One place with this name is Sambhal, where the form sambal ended up becoming aspirated.''-vāḍā''
According to Sankalia, this suffix has two possible origins: from -pāṭaka, which originally designated "a large, but private house, or settlement within a village"; and -vāṭaka, which denoted "a temporarily enclosed place, such as a garden, plantation, or an enclosure of a village consisting of boundary trees". The shortened form pāḍā appears early on in Ardhamāgadhī Prakrit, and in early Jain literature refers to a suburb of a larger town. In Gujarat, the present form -vāḍā first appears in inscriptions dating to the Chaulukya period. -Vāḍā continued to be used productively to form new place names; it would have been originally given to private settlements "characterised either by a personal name or a prominent physiographical feature". Modern names ending in -vāḍā are descended from either ancient names that originally ended in either -pāṭaka or -vāṭaka, or more recent names that originally ended in -vāḍā.An example is Delvāḍā. This name is attested in a Maitraka inscription as Devakula-pāṭaka, which would have later been contracted to *Devalvāḍā and then Deülavāḍā before finally reaching the present form.
In Maharasthra, the term vāḍā refers to a built-up area, with or without an enclosure, belonging to a private citizen.