Who was the British officer Archibald Blair, after whom the capital of Andaman-Nicobar was named…

The Modi government at the Centre has changed the name of Port Blair, the capital of Andaman and Nicobar, to ‘Shri Vijayapuram’.

It was named after Archibald Blair, an officer of the East India Company in 1789. Home Minister Amit Shah announced it on the social media platform X on Friday.

He said that to free the country from colonial imprint, it has been decided to change the name of Port Blair to ‘Shri Vijaya Puram’.

The earlier name had a colonial touch. Now the new name is a symbol of the victory of the freedom struggle. Andaman and Nicobar used to have a naval base during the Chola Empire.

Apart from this, Subhash Chandra Bose had hoisted the tricolor here and VD Savarkar was kept in the cellular jail here.

Who was the British officer after whom Port Blair was named

The city of Port Blair was once a fishing hub. The island was named after Lieutenant Archibald Blair, a British naval officer who played a major role in establishing the East India Company and Britain’s colony.

In fact, the British named it after the officer because the Andaman and Nicobar Islands were very important for colonial rule. It was easy to keep an eye on remote areas from here.

In 1789 the Bengal government colonised Chatham Island in the Gulf of Andaman. It was named after Archibald Blair.

Blair played an important role in developing Andaman and Nicobar. It was important for the British to capture Port Blair to establish their supremacy in the eastern Bay of Bengal.

Apart from this, administrative and business activities were also carried out from here. Port Blair was necessary to establish authority over all the islands.

Within a short time, under Blair’s leadership, the islands were transformed into the hub of the British maritime network.

This place was earlier also known for fishing. The British also benefited a lot from this. Now the government has changed its name to ‘Shri Vijayapuram’ to erase the colonial marks.