Names, an instrument of and for power
Names are not just terms used to refer someone or something. They play a very deeper and important role in today's society. Along with the names, the process of naming reflects a lot about the community and the individuals. The essay by Sunil Kumar, titled "Naming", taken from the book, "The Present in Delhi's Pasts" while talking about names of people, says that names are used as a tool to classify the people "socially and culturally" (93). A certain degree of power is manifested by the names. Let it be in terms of identity, indicators of social groups, representation of a nation, etc,. In this paper, I would like to bring out the connection between the names and power they manifest in different ways …show more content…
Names were also subjected to corruption, which involved "contradictory perception of people concerning the significance of the same site."(96) Taking up the example from the essay about the Jami Masjid would provide a better insight. According to a chronicle written in the mid-thirteenth century, the Sultanate city of Delhi was named "Qubbat al-Islam" and the minar was named after a sufi saint named "Qutb al-Din Bakhtiyar Kaki". These names were corrupted by the interference of the scholars who, in the middle of the nineteenth century, sought to discover the actual name of Jami masjid. They concluded that the authentic name of "Qubbat al-Islam" was "Quwwat al-Islam". But according to the history, it is believed that Muslims wanted to celebrate the "Might of Islam"(97) by naming the Delhi's first congregational mosque. This example shows that the locals had no significant role to play in the process renaming of the minar, due to their lack of awareness about the minar. The power the scholars had, was used in renaming the minar with respect to their so called research. This is a clear example of how power was used in the process of …show more content…
Initially, the names of a place might have been given to the place taking into account the peoples' choice of identity and interests. But eventually, due to the rapid growth in the size and population of the place and also the turn in the historical events, naming found a new trend. Considering the example of India especially Delhi, at the end of the colonial rule, the leaders at that particular period of time found it extremely necessary to "erase the memory of 'foreigners' who had subverted the country's independence."(98) So the best solution they came up with was to name or rename the sites after the remarkable heroes from the Indian history. This was done not only to erase the colonial rule and their memories, but also to showcase the great qualities of the freedom fighters and the heroes from the history of the country. It created a sense of unity in people, as they started to recognise themselves as residents of the place with the new names which were given to them by their new leaders. In this case the power exercised by the leaders to bring the sense of unity has to be
Names are not just terms used to refer someone or something. They play a very deeper and important role in today's society. Along with the names, the process of naming reflects a lot about the community and the individuals. The essay by Sunil Kumar, titled "Naming", taken from the book, "The Present in Delhi's Pasts" while talking about names of people, says that names are used as a tool to classify the people "socially and culturally" (93). A certain degree of power is manifested by the names. Let it be in terms of identity, indicators of social groups, representation of a nation, etc,. In this paper, I would like to bring out the connection between the names and power they manifest in different ways …show more content…
Names were also subjected to corruption, which involved "contradictory perception of people concerning the significance of the same site."(96) Taking up the example from the essay about the Jami Masjid would provide a better insight. According to a chronicle written in the mid-thirteenth century, the Sultanate city of Delhi was named "Qubbat al-Islam" and the minar was named after a sufi saint named "Qutb al-Din Bakhtiyar Kaki". These names were corrupted by the interference of the scholars who, in the middle of the nineteenth century, sought to discover the actual name of Jami masjid. They concluded that the authentic name of "Qubbat al-Islam" was "Quwwat al-Islam". But according to the history, it is believed that Muslims wanted to celebrate the "Might of Islam"(97) by naming the Delhi's first congregational mosque. This example shows that the locals had no significant role to play in the process renaming of the minar, due to their lack of awareness about the minar. The power the scholars had, was used in renaming the minar with respect to their so called research. This is a clear example of how power was used in the process of …show more content…
Initially, the names of a place might have been given to the place taking into account the peoples' choice of identity and interests. But eventually, due to the rapid growth in the size and population of the place and also the turn in the historical events, naming found a new trend. Considering the example of India especially Delhi, at the end of the colonial rule, the leaders at that particular period of time found it extremely necessary to "erase the memory of 'foreigners' who had subverted the country's independence."(98) So the best solution they came up with was to name or rename the sites after the remarkable heroes from the Indian history. This was done not only to erase the colonial rule and their memories, but also to showcase the great qualities of the freedom fighters and the heroes from the history of the country. It created a sense of unity in people, as they started to recognise themselves as residents of the place with the new names which were given to them by their new leaders. In this case the power exercised by the leaders to bring the sense of unity has to be