Bandar (port)


Bandar or Bunder is a Persian word meaning 'port' and 'haven'. Etymologically it combines Persian بند Band and در dar meaning 'an enclosed area' derived from Avestan Bandha and Dwara. The word travelled with Persian sailors over a wide area leading to several coastal places in Iran and elsewhere having Bandar as part of their names. In some Indian languages the word Bandargah means 'port'. In Malay the word has undergone a semantic drift and is now always taken to mean 'city'. However, the word syahbandar, a historical term for 'harbourmaster', still survives. In Indonesian the meaning 'port' is somewhat retained. In Assamese-Bengali languages bondor means 'port'.

Places

Various ports around the world derive their names from the word bandar. Some of them are listed below.

Bangladesh

India

The west coast of India, with its historic links to Persia, has several place names that include the word bunder.
The city of Bombay historically had a number of piers along its waterfronts, each named after the cargo it typically handled. The piers are long gone, but the place names continue to be used today. A coastal town in Andhra Pradesh by name Machilipatnam is also called Bandar by the local people over there. These include:
Similarly, in the state of Gujarat, several town names include the word bunder:

Indonesia

Iran

Malaysia

Oman

Pakistan

Somalia and the East African Coast

Other countries