Today with the growth and development of Country not only the GDP of the country has increased during the past years but the continuous growth is also an indication that many places and many things are being changed from their past names to a new name. A new and latest change in such a name can be seen is “Port Blair” from now to be known as “Shri Vijaya Puram” .
Port Blair is the capital and largest city of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a union territory of India located in the Bay of Bengal. It serves as the administrative, cultural, and tourism hub. The city has a rich history of Indian freedom struggle. Port Blair is a modern and well established city of Andaman island with all the basic and necessary amenities.
Port Blair consists of Veer Savarkar international Airport, to boost connectivity of air travel and transport. Educational institutions and most importantly serves as a gateway to India’s naval and military in the Indian Ocean region.
History of Veer Savarkar International Airport
Vinayak Damodar Savarkar was an Indian politician, activist and writer and a lawyer by profession. The airport was later renamed after him in 2002 and was known as Port Blair Airport earlier.
Later Savarkar was sentenced to two life imprisonments dreaded cellular jail also known as “Kala pani ki saza.” by the British court, Savarkar is arrested for his revolutionary activities, including smuggling weapons and inciting rebellion. In the cellular jail the prisoners were made to do labour all day long and were given just one meal a day, they were tortured very hard, tied will chains and cuffs, the rooms they were locked in were too small even for a single person to accommodate, prisoners were hanged without any prior notice or information.
A person could not even see another person and were not even allowed to talk. The history says that, “it was impossible to escape from kala pani ki saza”, as the jail was all surrounded by water so no one could even swim for too long making it impossible to escape. But all these problems could not stop Savarkar and he still continued to fight for his motherland “(purna swaraj).” To always remind the contributions made by him in in the Indian freedom later the Airport was named after him.
History of Port Blair
Port Blair is the capital city of Andaman and Nicobar islands, has a mixture of both rich complex history and culture with a major role play in the Indian freedom struggle. The Andaman Islands were originally inhabited by indigenous tribes, such as the Great Andamanese, Onge, and Jarwa, who had little to no contact with the outside world for thousands of years. These tribes lived in isolation, relying on hunting and gathering for survival, and resisted contact with outsiders, including traders and explorers.
The British East India Company first showed interest in the Andaman Islands during the late 18th century due to their strategic location in the Bay of Bengal. The First Settlement by the British Captain Archibald Blair of the British East India Company, after whom Port Blair was named, established the first British settlement in 1789 at Chatham Island (near modern Port Blair).
This settlement was abandoned in 1796 due to the harsh conditions, diseases, and difficulties posed by the indigenous population. Following the Indian Rebellion of 1857 (the First War of Independence), the British sought a remote and isolated location to punish Indian freedom fighters and convicts. In 1858, they established Port Blair as a penal colony, using the islands to house political prisoners, particularly those involved in the rebellion. During World War II, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands were occupied by the Japanese forces (1942 to 1945). The Japanese used Port Blair as a military base, and during this period, the local population suffered from atrocities and executions.
Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s Visit
During the Japanese occupation, Indian nationalist leader Subhas Chandra Bose visited Port Blair in 1943. Under Japanese supervision, Bose, who led the Indian National Army (INA), briefly raised the Indian tricolor, symbolizing the islands’ liberation from British rule, though it was more symbolic due to Japanese control. After India’s independence in 1947, Port Blair became the administrative capital of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The islands were integrated into the Indian Union, and the Cellular Jail was eventually declared a national memorial to honor the sacrifices of the Indian freedom fighters. Later it was included as the Union Territory of the country.
Shri Vijaya Puram
The renaming of Port Blair was announced by Union home minister Amit Shah in September 2024. The move is being taken to promote the Indian culture and tradition over the long time prevailing colonial rule. The name “Shri Vijayapuram” symbolizes victory, a sign of victory for our freedom fighters, as Andaman and Nicobar islands plays a very crucial role in the Indian freedom struggle.
