Maidan

Maidan is an originally Persian word for a town square or public gathering place (Persian: میدان), adopted by various other languages: Urdu میدان (maidān); Arabic مَيْدَان (maydān); Turkish meydan; Georgian მოედანი (moedani); Bangla ময়দান, meaning field, and Crimean Tatar, from which Ukrainian also borrowed maidan.[1] Its ultimate source is Proto-Indo-European *médʰyos - compare Avestan maiδya, Sanskrit मध्य (madhya) and Latin medius. Various versions include maydan, midan, meydan, majdan, mayadeen and maydān. It also means field (मैदान) in Hindi.[2] It became a loanword in other South Asian languages to give similar means, such as in Tamil in which the word is maidhanam.

The broad geographical footprint of the use of Maidan in toponymy, from Central Europe to South-East Asia, is a reflection of the Turkish rule in these areas.[citation needed]

Places

In the Persian and Central Asian space

  • Maidaan-e naqsh-e jehaan or Naqsh-e Jahan Square, a square in the centre of Isfahan, Iran

Towns and villages in Iran:

In South Asia and Southeast Asia

  • Maidan (Tirah), a remote valley in Khyber District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
  • Maidan, Nepal, a municipality in southern Nepal
  • Maidan, Lower Dir District, a valley in Lower Dir District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
  • Asramam Maidan, the first airport of Kerala state, in Kollam, India
  • Medan, Indonesia - capital city of North Sumatra province
  • Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium, Hyderabad, India, originally named Fateh Maidan ("Victory Square")
  • Maidan (Kolkata), India, also referred to as the Brigade Parade Ground

In the former Ottoman / Mamluk space

  • Meydan, Gölbaşı, a village in the district of Gölbaşı, Adıyaman Province, Turkey
  • Meydan, Kurucaşile, a village in the district of Kurucaşile, Bartın Province, Turkey
  • Sultanahmet Square (Sultanahmet Meydanı), formerly Atmeydanı ("Horse Square"), in the center of Istanbul, Turkey
    • Taksim Meydanı or Taksim Square, another central public square in Istanbul, Turkey
  • Midan at-Tahrir or Tahrir Square, the central public space of Cairo, Egypt
    • The esplanade formerly known as Maydan or Hippodrome outside the Cairo Citadel

In Poland

Poland took up the word majdan from its numerous exchanges with the Ottoman and other Persianate-influenced cultures.[3]

In Romania

  • Maidan, a village in Cacica Commune, Suceava County
  • Maidan, the former name of Brădișoru de Jos village, Oravița Town, Caraș-Severin County

In Ukraine

  • Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Майдан Незалежності) or Independence Square, the central square of Kyiv
    • Maidan Nezalezhnosti, a metro station on line M2
  • Maidan Konstytutsii (Kharkiv Metro), or Constitution Square, a metro station in Kharkiv
  • Maidan Pratsi (Kryvyi Rih Metrotram)
  • Staryi Maidan, village in Khmelnytskyi Raion, Khmelnytskyi Oblast
  • Viche Maidan (Ivano-Frankivsk), a city square
  • Maidan, a village in Berehomet rural hromada, Vyzhnytsia Raion, Chernivtsi Oblast
  • Maidan, a village in Vyzhnytsia urban hromada, Vyzhnytsia Raion, Chernivtsi Oblast
  • Maidan, a village in Tysmenytsia Raion, Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast

Other uses in Ukraine

See also

  • Majdany, the plural form of Majdan.

Notes

  1. ^ Kim, Ronald (2021). "Slavic-Iranian Contacts, Linguistic Relations". In Yarshater, Ehsan (ed.). Encyclopædia Iranica, Online Edition. Encyclopædia Iranica Foundation. Retrieved July 13, 2023.
  2. ^ "(Maidan) मैदान meaning in English | Matlab | Definition".
  3. ^ Thomas M. Prymak (October 25, 2016). "The word "Maidan", where it comes from and what it means". Toronto Galician Genealogy Group.
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