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How a 26-year-old Nehru aide gave Chanakyapuri its name in 1951

Soon after, Chanakyapuri paved the way for Shanti Path, Nyaya Marg, Vinay Marg, Satya Marg and Niti Marg — roads named after Chanakya’s principles.

Shanti Path, Nyaya Marg, Vinay Marg, Satya Marg, Niti Marg were named after Chanakya’s principles. (Amit Mehra)

In 1951, a young official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs found himself pondering over the name of a vast area in Delhi which would be home to ambassadors from 44 countries, and their embassies. Lined with trees and shrubbery, the area had no name, and the closest landmark was the Prime Minister’s residence.

That’s when 26-year-old Maharajakrishna Rasgotra, who was then the assistant chief of protocol at the Ministry, suggested the name ‘Chanakyapuri’, after 4th Century BC statesman and philosopher Chanakya. Soon after, Chanakyapuri paved the way for Shanti Path, Nyaya Marg, Vinay Marg, Satya Marg and Niti Marg — roads named after Chanakya’s principles.

Seated in his study at his Vasant Vihar house, Rasgotra, now 94, went back to that meeting in 1951 when he suggested the name.

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“Pandit Nehru wanted to send ambassadors to 44 countries, and those 44 countries too wanted to send their ambassadors to India. The issue was that we didn’t have a designated area for their residences or embassies. That’s when the area, which we now call Chanakyapuri, was zeroed in on by Nehru for this purpose,” said Rasgotra, who retired as Foreign Secretary in 1985.

He was also the High Commissioner of India to the UK from 1988-90, and has worked with Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi. Rasgotra had been in the Foreign Services for less than three years when a meeting on naming the area was held by Chief of Protocol Indrasen Chopra. It was attended by officials of various ministries, town planners and architects.

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“I was sitting in a corner as Chopra asked for suggestions for naming the area. Someone said ‘Diplomatic Enclave’, while another person said road name references could come from the Mahabharata. Chopra shot down these ideas, and asked me ‘You Sanskrit scholar, Rasgotra! Have you any idea?’” he recalled.

It was then that Rasgotra suggested that the area be named after “an Indian authority on diplomacy and foreign policy like Kautilya; Kautilya Nagari, for example”, as he mentioned in his 2016 book, A Life in Diplomacy.

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He wrote: “Mr Chopra thought about it for a while, muttered Kautilya Nagari two or three times and said it sounded a bit ‘heavy’, a bit pedestrian also. I then recalled Kautilya’s other name — Chanakya — and suggested Chanakyapuri.” Chopra carried forward the suggestion to Nehru, who liked the name.

About the roads that stem out of Chanakyapuri, Rasgotra remembered getting a call from Chopra one evening, asking him to come over. “I was due to leave for my posting in Washington, and Chopra wanted to know what to name the roads. I suggested we go back to Chanakya’s book, Arthashastra, and name the roads after his policies. I left but my suggestion stayed, including a road named Kautilya Marg,” said Rasgotra, who is also a Padma Bhushan-awardee.

In 2015, when Rasgotra’s son was leafing through the book’s manuscript, he read about his father’s role in naming Chanakyapuri. “I never told anyone, not even my son. When he read it, he was surprised,” said Rasgotra.

First uploaded on: 01-03-2019 at 02:47 IST
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