-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 "cultivated place" (village, city), and commonly attached to the name of the city's founder or patron. The root of this word is from the Persian word āb (آب) meaning 'Water'. 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.

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, named after Allah, the name of God in Arabic
• Ashgabat, capital of Turkmenistan
• Fyzabad, Trinidad and Tobago, named after the Faizabad, India
• 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, Telangana, India
• Hyderabad, Sindh, Pakistan
• Jalalabad, Nangarhar, Afghanistan, named for Pir Jalala, son of the Pashtun leader Pir Roshan
• Khorramabad, capital of Lorestan Province, Iran
• Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India
• Stalinabad, Tajikistan, the name of Dushanbe from 1921 to 1961, named after Soviet leader Joseph Stalin
• Türkmenabat, Lebap, Turkmenistan

Common -abad names

Multiple places by the same name:

• Abbasabad
• Ahmadabad
• Akbarabad
• Allahabad
• Aliabad
• Faizabad
• Hajjiabad
• Hoseynabad
• Hyderabad
• Jahanabad
• Khorramabad
• Nizamabad
• Rezaabad
• Shahabad
• Sahibabad

See also

• -stan – another Persian placename suffix