Here are some facts:
1. You will find a Sadar Bazaar in almost all North Indian cities which at one time had a British Cantonment office.
2. The word Sadar does not mean anything in Hindi or its variants
3. Sadar Bazaar is always located to the south of the city Center (unless the city center has moved over the decades)
Well a friend of mine has an interesting theory. He says that in Pre British era, the Britishers usually preferred to live to the south of the main city. The market that caters to their needs was called Southern Market. This market because of its elite clientele was the posh market and in many places still is. However the locals could not pronounce the word Southern and ended up calling it Sadar.
I could not find a credible online link to substantiate this theory, but it seems to be making sense
7 replies on “Sadar Bazaar”
1. Seems plausible
2. Typos in your blog…how come?
I think I’ll go with your friend’s version.
hmm.. sounds plausible 🙂
@skabeesh…
well the theory came up while we were driving to the barbeque nation.
nice theory.sounds plausible.even in Delhi it was the southern part that the British built as their capital New Delhi. but why this pattern? since in southern cities like bangalore and chennai they built their cantonment to the north of the existing city. is it that they felt vulnerable in the north of the country being so deep into the country and so far from the sea and they felt that by staying in the southern half of the city they could make a quick getaway towards bombay or calcutta in case of an uprising against them?
have to check.
1. Several Britishers were stuffed in a small room and suffocated to death in Calcutta. So that did made them very cautious.
2. It could be because that was the part of the town where large tracks of land was available. Hence Britishers could build buildings and do town planning.
3. Access to rail/roads could be another reason.
But frankly I am sure need to research on it.
ankur,
that might be true in case of Delhi. but i’am not sure whether it would be the same in every town. and as an aside their idea of town planning is not what we assume in the normal sense. it merely meant building a Europeans only living area. where indians were generally unwelcome unless they were servants or other staff.i’am yet to see any evidence of their public works in areas where indians lived.
regarding pt 3 it is they who built the first railroads and they could have built it anywhere to suit their purposes.
anyways. this is an interesting subject. makes for a nice research topic :).