Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Tuesday that the state government has renamed the Karimganj district to Sribhumi.

He said the new name was inspired by Rabindranath Tagore’s description of the modern-day Karimganj.

Himanta Biswa Sarma said on X that the new name means the land of Goddess Lakshmi.

“Over 100 years ago, Kabiguru Rabindranath Tagore had described modern-day Karimganj District in Assam as ‘Sribhumi’- the land of Maa Lakshmi. Today the Assam Cabinet has fulfilled this long-standing demand of our people,” he said.

A poster shared by him said his government wants to restore the old glory of Assam’s southernmost district.

“Honouring the vision of Kabiguru Rabindranath Tagore who named the current geographical area of Undivided India as Sribhumi, Assam Cabinet has decided to rename Karimganj as Sribhumi district,” it said.

It further said that the decision will reflect the expectations and aspirations of the people of the district.

“We are gradually changing the names of places that lack historical mentions or dictionary meanings,” Himanta Biswa Sarma told India Today NE.

He cited the recent renaming of ‘Kalapahar’.

“The term ‘Kalapahar’ doesn’t appear in either Assamese or Bengali dictionaries, nor does ‘Karimganj’. Place names are typically rooted in linguistic meaning, and many such names have already been revised, including several villages like Bhasoni Chowk in Barpeta,” he told the website.

He said the renaming of Karimganj will preserve the cultural context because the new name has a meaning in both Assamese and Bengali dictionaries.

Himanta Biswa Sarma said more places can be renamed to reflect Assam’s history and linguistic roots.