-abad
-abad is a suffix that forms part of many city names in Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India. It is derived from the Persian word ābād (آباد), meaning "city", and commonly attached to the name of the city's founder or patron. In India, -abads are generally legacies of Persianized Muslim rulers such as the Mughals.
The suffix is most common in Iran, which contains thousands of -abads, most of them small villages. As of 1954, its Markazi Province alone contained 44 Hoseynabads, 31 Aliabads, 23 Hajjiabads, 22 Hasanabads, and so on.[1]
Selected -abads
- Abbottabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, named after the colonial British Army officer James Abbott
- Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India, named for the Muzaffarid sultan Ahmed Shah
- Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, India
- Fyzabad, Trinidad and Tobago
- Islamabad, Islamabad Capital Territory, Pakistan, named for the religion of Islam
- Faisalabad, Pakistan, originally founded as Lyallpur after Sir James Lyall. Renamed in 1977 after King Faisal of Saudi Arabia.
- Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India
- Hyderabad, Sindh, Pakistan
- Jalalabad, Nangarhar, Afghanistan, named for Pir Jalala, son of the Pashtun leader Pir Roshan
- Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, India
- Stalinabad, Tajikistan, the name of Dushanbe from 1921 to 1961
- Türkmenabat, Lebap, Turkmenistan
Common -abad names
Multiple places by the same name:
- Abbasabad
- Ahmadabad
- Akbarabad
- Allahabad
- Aliabad
- Faizabad
- Hajjiabad
- Hoseynabad
- Hyderabad
- Jahanabad
- Nizamabad
- Rezaabad
- Shahabad
See also
- -stan, another Persian placename suffix