The Madhya Pradesh government on Wednesday issued a notification announcing that the name of Bhopal’s Islam Nagar village will be changed to Jagdishpur with immediate effect. The Centre gave its no objection last year, the notification said. Islam Nagar is located at a distance of around 12 km from Bhopal and is famous for forts. According to several accounts, the name of Islam Nagar used to be Jagdishpur 308 years ago.
One account says in 1719, Islam Nagar became the capital of the Bhopal region after ruler Dost Mohammad Khan took control of the area. In 1715, Jagdishpur was renamed Islam Nagar.
According to the website of the Madhya Pradesh Raj Bhawan, the State of Bhopal was established by Dost Mohammed Khan, an Afghan soldier, in 1724. “He rose to prominence by taking advantage of the disintegration of the Mughal Empire. This was when the predominantly Hindu City of Bhopal began to come under the influence of Islamic culture and architecture,” it reads. The account says Dost Mohammed Khan established his capital 10km away from modern Bhopal, at Jagdishpur and named it Islam Nagar (meaning the city of Islam).
“He built a small fort and some palaces at Islamnagar. A part of the fort has been restored to its original glory only recently. After a few years, he built a bigger fort on the northern bank of the Upper Lake. This new fort was named Fatehgarh (the fort of victory). Later on, he shifted his capital to the current city of Bhopal,” it said.
