Names for India

Last updated

The geographic region containing the Indian subcontinent India 78.40398E 20.74980N.jpg
The geographic region containing the Indian subcontinent

The Republic of India has two principal official short names, each of which is historically significant: India and Bharat. A third name, Hindustan, is also used commonly when Indians speak among themselves. The usage of "Bhārat", "Hindustān", or "India" depends on the context and language of conversation.

Contents

The name "India" is originally derived from the name of the river Sindhu (Indus River) and has been in use in Greek since Herodotus (5th century BCE). The term appeared in Old English by the 9th century and reemerged in Modern English in the 17th century.

"Bhārat" gained popularity in India during the nineteenth century. It is the shortened form of the term "Bhāratavarṣa" which is extensively used in the literature of the native religions. "Bhāratavarṣa" is derived from the name of the Vedic tribe of Bharatas who are mentioned in the Rigveda as one of the principal peoples of Aryavarta (Land of the Aryans). At first the name Bhāratavarṣa referred only to the western part of the Gangetic Valley, [1] [2] but was later[ when? ] more broadly applied to the Indian subcontinent.[ citation needed ] In 1949, it was adopted as an official name for the Republic of India by the Constituent Assembly along with "India".

"Hindustān" is another common name for the Republic of India and is also derived from the name of the river Sindhu. It gained popularity in India in the 11th century in Islamic literature and became the common name for the northern Indian subcontinent in Indian languages, though it has been in Persian usage since at least the 3rd century CE while its earlier form "Hindush" was used as early as 6th century BCE. The term 'Hindu' was the Old Persian adaption of "Sindhu". "Hindustan" is still commonly used in the subcontinent to refer to the modern day Republic of India by Hindustani speakers.

India

India was the lower Indus basin in Herodotus's view of the world. Herodotus world map-en.svg
India was the lower Indus basin in Herodotus's view of the world.

The English term is from Greek Indikē (cf. Megasthenes' work Indica) or Indía ( Ἰνδία ), via Latin transliteration India. [3] [4] [5]

The name derives ultimately from Sanskrit Sindhu, which was the name of the Indus River as well as the lower Indus basin (modern Sindh, in Pakistan). [6] [7] The Old Persian equivalent of Síndhu was Hindu. [8] Darius I conquered Sindh in about 516 BCE, upon which the Persian equivalent Hinduš was used for the province at the lower Indus basin. [9] [10] Scylax of Caryanda who explored the Indus river for the Persian emperor probably took over the Persian name and passed it into Greek. [11] The terms Indos for the Indus river as well as "an Indian" are found in Herodotus's Geography. [12] The loss of the aspirate /h/ was probably due to the dialects of Greek spoken in Asia Minor. [13] [14] Herodotus also generalised the term "Indian" from the people of lower Indus basin, to all the people living to the east of Persia, even though he had no knowledge of the geography of the land. [15]

By the time of Alexander, Indía in Koine Greek denoted the region beyond the Indus. Alexander's companions were aware of at least India up to the Ganges delta (Gangaridai). [16] [17] Later, Megasthenes included in India the southern peninsula as well. [17]

Latin India is used by Lucian (2nd century CE).[ citation needed ]India was known in Old English language and was used in King Alfred's translation of Paulus Orosius. In Middle English, the name was, under French influence, replaced by Ynde or Inde, which entered Early Modern English as "Indie". The name "India" then came back to English usage from the 17th century onward, and may be due to the influence of Latin, or Spanish or Portuguese.[ citation needed ]

Sanskrit indu "drop (of Soma)", also a term for the Moon, is unrelated, but has sometimes been erroneously connected.[ citation needed ]

Indies

The term "Indies" refers to the land east of river Indus. It is fully interchangeable with the word India. Portuguese initially described the entire region they discovered as the Indies. Caribbean islands were initially described as "Indies" as they were thought to be India. When they became known to be in western hemisphere, they were renamed as West Indies. Thus West Indies means India in the western hemisphere. Indonesia's former name is Dutch East Indies which means India in southeast Asia. East Indies is a former Dutch colony.

Bharat

Bharat is another name of India, as set down in Article 1 of the Constitution, adopted in 1950, which states in English: "India, that is Bharat,..." [18] Bharat, which was predominantly used in Hindi, was adopted as a self-ascribed alternative name by some people of the Indian subcontinent and the Republic of India. [19]

Bharat is derived from the name of the Vedic community Bharatas, who are mentioned in the Rigveda as one of the original community of the Āryāvarta and notably participating in the Battle of the Ten Kings.

The designation Bharat appears in the official Sanskrit name of the country, Bhāratagaṇarājya. The name is derived from the ancient Hindu Puranas, which refer to the land that comprises India as Bhāratavarṣa and uses this term to distinguish it from other varṣas or continents. [20] For example, the Vayu Purana says "he who conquers the whole of Bhāratavarṣa is celebrated as a samrāṭa (Vayu Puran 45, 86)." [21]

The Sanskrit word Bhārata is a vrddhi derivation of Bharata, which was originally an epithet of Agni. The term is a verbal noun of the Sanskrit root bhr-, "to bear/to carry", with a literal meaning of to be maintained (of fire). The root bhr is cognate with the English verb to bear and Latin ferō. This term also means "one who is engaged in search for knowledge". Barato, the Esperanto name for India, is also a derivation of Bhārata.

This realm of Bharat, which has been referred to as Bhāratavarṣa in puranas - after Bharata, the son of Rishabha. He is described to be a Kshatriya born in the Solar dynasty. [22] This has been mentioned in Vishnu Purana (2,1,31), Vayu Puran (33,52), Linga Purana (1,47,23), Brahmanda Purana (14,5,62), Agni Purana (107,11–12), Skand Purana (37,57) and Markanday Purana (50,41), all using the designation Bhāratavarṣa.

The Vishnu Purana mentions:

Uttaraṃ yat samudrasya himādreścaiva dakṣiṇam.
varṣaṃ tad bhārataṃ nāma bhāratī yatra santatiḥ.
The country that lies north of the ocean and south of the snowy mountains is called Bhāratam there dwell the descendants of Bharata.
—Vishnu Purana (2,3,1)

The Bhagavat Puran mentions (Canto 5, Chapter 4) [23] - "He (Rishabha) begot a hundred sons that were exactly like him... He (Bharata) had the best qualities and it was because of him that this land by the people is called Bhāratavarṣa"

Bharat Khand (or Bhārat Kṣētra [24] ) is a term used in some of the Hindu texts.

In the Sanskrit epic, the Mahabharat (200 BCE to 300 CE), a larger region of North India is encompassed by the term Bharat, but much of the Deccan and South India are still excluded. [25] Some other Puranic passages refer to the same Bhārata people, who are described as the descendants of Dushyanta's son Bharata in the Mahabharata . [26]

The use of Bharat often has political overtones, appealing to a certain cultural conception of India. [27] In 2023, President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi used the Bharat name in connection with a G20 gathering, which caused speculation on a name-change for the country. [28] [29] Such a change would need a constitutional amendment, meaning two-thirds of the vote in each of the two houses of parliament, [30] and an official notice to the UN, advising how to write the name in the UN's six official languages. [31]

Epigraphical references

The earliest recorded use of Bhārata-varṣa (lit. 'Bharat mainland') in a geographical sense is in the Hathigumpha inscription of King Kharavela (first century BCE), where it applies only to a restrained area of northern India, namely the part of the Ganges west of Magadha. The inscription clearly mentions Bharat was named after Bharata, the son of first Jain tirthankar Rishabhanatha. [1] [2]

Hind / Hindustan

H-n-d-w-y "India" written in Egyptian hieroglyphs on the Statue of Darius I, circa 500 BCE. Darius I statue India.jpg
Names for IndiaNames for IndiaNames for IndiaNames for IndiaNames for IndiaNames for India
H-n-d-wꜢ-y
"India" written in Egyptian hieroglyphs on the Statue of Darius I, circa 500 BCE.
The words Hindū (Persian : هندو) and Hind (Persian : هند) came from Indo-Aryan/Sanskrit Sindhu (the Indus River or its region). The Achaemenid emperor Darius I conquered the Indus valley in about 516 BCE, upon which the Achaemenid equivalent of Sindhu, viz., "Hindush" ( 𐏃𐎡𐎯𐎢𐏁 , H-i-du-u-š) was used for the lower Indus basin. [9] [10] The name was also known as far as the Achaemenid province of Egypt where it was written
Names for IndiaNames for IndiaNames for IndiaNames for IndiaNames for IndiaNames for India
 (H-n-d-wꜣ-y) on the Statue of Darius I, circa 500 BCE. [32] [33] [34]
Umayyad Caliphate coinage temp Suleiman ibn Abd al-Malik al-Hind (possibly Multan) mint. Dated AH 97 (AD 715-6).jpg
India in Abd al-Malik al-Hind coin 715 CE.jpg
The name "al-Hind" (here بالهند Bil'Hind, "In India") on an Umayyad coin minted in India, from the time of the first Governor of Sindh Muhammad ibn Qasim in 715 CE. [a]

In middle Persian, probably from the first century CE, the suffix -stān (Persian : ستان) was added, indicative of a country or region, forming the name Hindūstān. [35] Thus, Sindh was referred to as Hindustān in the Naqsh-e-Rustam inscription of Sassanid emperor Shapur I in c. 262 CE. [36] [37]

Emperor Babur of the Mughal Empire said, "On the East, the South, and the West it is bounded by the Great Ocean." [38] Hind was notably adapted in the Arabic language as the definitive form Al-Hind (الهند) for India, for example, in the 11th-century Tarikh Al-Hind ('History of India'). It occurs intermittently in usage within India, such as in the phrase Jai Hind (Hindi : जय हिन्द) or in Hind Mahāsāgar (हिन्द महासागर), the Standard Hindi name for the Indian Ocean.

Both the names were current in Persian and Arabic, and from that into northern Indian languages, from the 11th century Islamic conquests: the rulers in the Delhi Sultanate and Mughal periods called their Indian dominion, centered around Delhi, "Hindustan". In contemporary Persian and Hindi-Urdu, the term Hindustan has recently come to mean the Republic of India. The same is the case with Arabic, where al-Hind is the name for the Republic of India.

"Hindustan", as the term Hindu itself, entered the English language in the 17th century. In the 19th century, the term as used in English referred to the Subcontinent. "Hindustan" was in use simultaneously with "India" during the British era.

Jambudvīpa

The name Jambudipasi for "India" (Brahmi script) in the Sahasram Minor Rock Edict of Ashoka, circa 250 BCE. Jambudiipasi.jpg
The name Jambudīpasi for "India" (Brahmi script) in the Sahasram Minor Rock Edict of Ashoka, circa 250 BCE.

Jambudvīpa (Sanskrit : जम्बुद्वीप, romanized: Jambu-dvīpa, lit.  'berry island') was used in ancient scriptures as a name of India before the term Bhārat became widespread. It might be an indirect reference to the Insular India. The derivative Jambu Dwipa was the historical term for India in many Southeast Asian countries before the introduction of the English word "India". This alternate name is still used occasionally in Thailand, Malaysia, Java and Bali to describe the Indian Subcontinent. However, it also can refer to the whole continent of Asia. It was used by Maurya Emperor Ashoka in his inscriptions to denote his realm.

Gyagar and Phagyul

Both Gyagar ("White expanse", analogous to the names Gyanak for China and Gyaser for Russia) and Phagyul are Tibetan names for India. Ancient Tibetan Buddhist authors and pilgrims used the ethnogeographic referents Gyagar or Gyagar to the south and Madhyadesa (central land or holy centre) for India. Since at least 13th century, several influential indigenous Tibetan lamas & authors also started to refer to India as the Phagyul, short for Phags yul, meaning the land of aryas i.e. land of noble, holy, enlightened & superior people who are the source of spiritual enlightenment. [40] Tibetan scholar Gendun Chopel explains that Tibetan word gyagar comes from the Indian sanskrit language word vihāra (buddhist monastery), and the ancient Tibetans applied the term Geysar mainly to the northern and central India region from Kuru (modern Haryana) to Magadha (modern Bihar). [41] The Epic of King Gesar, which originally developed around 200 BCE or 300 BCE and about 600 CE, describes India as the "Gyagar: The Kingdom of Buddhist Doctrine", "Gyagar: The Kingdom of Aru Medicine" (ayurveda), "Gyagar: The Kingdom of Pearls " and "Gyagar: The Kingdom of Golden Vases ". [42] The Central Tibetan Administration, often referred to as the Tibetan Government-in-Exile, asserts "Tibet is inextricably linked to India through geography, history, culture, and spiritually, Tibetans refer to India as ‘Gyagar Phagpay Yul’ or ‘India the land of Aryas.’" Dalai Lama reveres India as the guru with Tibet as its chela (shishya or disciple) and "refers to himself the ‘Son of India’ and a true follower of Mahatma Gandhi. He continues to advocate the revival of India's ancient wisdom based on the Nalanda tradition." [43]

Tianzhu

Tiānzhú (Chinese : 天竺 originally pronounced *qʰl'iːn tuɡ) is one of several Chinese transliterations of the Sanskrit Sindhu via Persian Hindu [44] and is used since ancient times in China and its peripheries. Its Sino-Xenic reading is Tenjiku in Japanese, Cheonchuk (천축) in Korean, and Thiên Trúc in Vietnamese. Devout Buddhists in the Sinosphere traditionally used this term and its related forms to designate India as their "heavenly centre", referring to the sacred origins of Buddhism in the Indian subcontinent. [45] [46]

Other forms include Juāndú ( 身毒 ), which appears in Sima Qian's Shiji. Another is Tiāndǔ (天篤), which is used in the Hou Hanshu (Book of the Later Han). [47] Yìntèjiā or Indəkka (印特伽) comes from the Kuchean Indaka, another transliteration of Hindu. [44]

A detailed account of Tianzhu is given in the "Xiyu Zhuan" (Record of the Western Regions) in the Hou Hanshu compiled by Fan Ye (398–445):

The state of Tianzhu: Also named Shendu, it lies several thousand li southeast of Yuezhi. Its customs are the same as those of Yuezhi, and it is low, damp, and very hot. It borders a large river. The inhabitants ride on elephants in warfare; they are weaker than the Yuezhi. They practise the way of Futu (the Buddha), [and therefore] it has become a custom among them not to kill or attack [others]. From west of the states Yuezhi and Gaofu, and south until the Western Sea, and east until the state of Panqi, all is the territory of Shendu. Shendu has several hundred separate towns, with a governor, and separate states which can be numbered in the tens, each with its own king. Although there are small differences among them, they all come under the general name of Shendu, and at this time all are subject to Yuezhi. Yuezhi have killed their kings and established a general in order to rule over their people. The land produces elephants, rhinoceros, tortoise shell, gold, silver, copper, iron, lead, and tin. It communicates to the west with Da Qin and (so) has the exotica of Da Qin. [47]

Tianzhu was also referred to as Wǔtiānzhú (五天竺, literally "Five Indias"), because there were five geographical regions in India known to the Chinese: Central, Eastern, Western, Northern, and Southern India. The monk Xuanzang also referred to India as Wǔ Yìn or "Five Inds". [44]

The name Tianzhu and its Sino-Xenic cognates were eventually replaced by terms derived from the Middle Chinese borrowing of *yentu from Kuchean, though a very long time elapsed between that term's first use and its becoming the standard modern name for India in East Asian languages. Pronounced Yìndù (Chinese : 印度) in Chinese, it was first used by the seventh-century monk and traveler Xuanzang. [48] In Japanese for example, the name Indo (インド, 印度, or occasionally 印土) had been found occasionally in 18th and early 19th-century works, such as Arai Hakuseki's Sairan Igen (1713) and Yamamura Saisuke  [ ja ]'s Indoshi (印度志, a translation of a work by Johann Hübner). However, the use of the name Tenjiku, which was heavily associated with the image of India as a land of Buddhism, was not completely displaced until the early 20th century: scholars such as Soyen Shaku and Seki Seisetsu  [ ja ] who travelled to India for pilgrimages to Buddhist historical sites, continued to use the name Tenjiku to emphasise the religious aspect of their travels, though most of their contemporaries (even fellow Buddhist pilgrims) adopted the name Indo by then. [49] [50]

India is nowadays also called Indo (인도) in Korean, and Ấn Độ in Vietnamese. Similar to Hindu and Sindhu, the term Yin was used in classical Chinese much like the English Ind.

Hodu

Hodu (Hebrew : הֹדּוּHodû) is the Biblical Hebrew name for India mentioned in the Book of Esther part of the Jewish Tanakh and Christian Old Testament. In Esther, 1:1 and 8:9, [51] Ahasuerus had been described as King ruling 127 provinces from Hodu (India) to Ethiopia . [52] The term seemingly derives from Sanskrit Sindhu, "great river", i.e., the Indus River, via Old Persian Hiñd°u. [53] It is thus cognate with the term India.

Historical names

Some historical definitions prior to 1500 are presented below. [54]

YearNameSourceDefinition
c. 440 BCEIndia Herodotus "Eastward of India lies a tract which is entirely sand. Indeed, of all the inhabitants of Asia, concerning whom anything is known, the Indians dwell nearest to the east and the rising of the Sun."
c. 400–300 BCEHodû Book of Esther (Bible)"Now it took place in the days of Ahasuerus, the Ahasuerus who reigned from Hodu (India) to Cush (Ethiopia) over 127 provinces" [55] [56] [57]
c. 300 BCEIndia/Indikē Megasthenes "India then being four-sided in plan, the side which looks to the Orient and that to the South, the Great Sea compasseth; that towards the Arctic is divided by the mountain chain of Hēmōdus from Scythia, inhabited by that tribe of Scythians who are called Sakai; and on the fourth side, turned towards the West, the Indus marks the boundary, the biggest or nearly so of all rivers after the Nile."
200 BCEJambudvīpa Chanakya
Arthashastra 		"This (Brahmaputra) is the eastern boundary of Jambudvipa, its western boundary being the mouths of the Indus and its southern boundary being the Indian Ocean or Rama Sethu." [58]
Between first century BCE [59] and ninth century CE [60] [61] Bhāratavarṣ (realm of Bhārat) [62] [63] [64] Vishnu Purana "उत्तरं यत्समुद्रस्य हिमाद्रेश्चैव दक्षिणम् ।

वर्षं तद् भारतं नाम भारती यत्र संततिः ।।"
i.e. "The country (varṣam) that lies north of the ocean and south of the snowy mountains is called Bhāratam; there dwell the descendants of Bharat."

100 CE or laterBhāratam Vishnu Purana "उत्तरं यत्समुद्रस्य हिमाद्रेश्चैव दक्षिणम् ।

वर्षं तद् भारतं नाम भारती यत्र संततिः ।।"
i.e. "The country (varṣam) that lies north of the ocean and south of the snowy mountains is called Bhāratam; there dwell the descendants of Bharat."

c. 140Indoi, Indou Arrian "The boundary of the land of India towards the north is Mount Taurus. It is not still called Taurus in this land; but Taurus begins from the sea over against Pamphylia and Lycia and Cilicia; and reaches as far as the Eastern Ocean, running right across Asia. But the mountain has different names in different places; in one, Parapamisus, in another Hemodus; elsewhere it is called Imaon and perhaps has all sorts of other names; but the Macedonians who fought with Alexander called it Caucasus; another Caucasus, that is, not the Scythian; so that the story ran that Alexander came even to the far side of the Caucasus. The western part of India is bounded by the river Indus right down to the ocean, where the river runs out by two mouths, not joined as are the five mouths of the Ister; but like those of the Nile, by which the Egyptian delta is formed; thus also the Indian delta is formed by the river Indus, not less than the Egyptian; and this in the Indian tongue is called Pattala. Towards the south this ocean bounds the land of India, and eastward the sea itself is the boundary. The southern part near Pattala and the mouths of the Indus were surveyed by Alexander and Macedonians and many Greeks; as for the eastern part, Alexander did not traverse this beyond the river Hyphasis. A few historians have described the parts which are this side of the Ganges and where are the mouths of the Ganges and the city of Palimbothra, the greatest Indian city on the Ganges.(...) The Indian rivers are greater than any others in Asia; greatest are the Ganges and the Indus, whence the land gets its name; each of these is greater than the Nile of Egypt and the Scythian Ister, even were these put together; my own idea is that even the Acesines is greater than the Ister and the Nile, where the Acesines having taken in the Hydaspes, Hydraotes, and Hyphasis, runs into the Indus, so that its breadth there becomes thirty stades. Possibly also other greater rivers run through the land of India."
c. 650Five Indies Xuanzang "The circumference of 五印 (Modern Chinese: Wǔ Yìn, the Five Indies) is about 90,000 li; on three sides it is bounded by a great sea; on the north it is backed by snowy mountains. It is wide at the north and narrow at the south; its figure is that of a half-moon."
c. 950Hind Istakhri "As for the land of the Hind it is bounded on the East by the Persian Sea (i.e. the Indian Ocean), on the W. and S. by the countries of Islām and on the N. by the Chinese Empire... The length of the land of the Hind from the government of Mokrān, the country of Mansūra and Bodha and the rest of Sind, till thou comest to Kannauj and thence passest on to Tibet, is about 4 months and its breadth from the Indian Ocean to the country of Kannūj about three months."
c. 1020Hind Al-Biruni "Hind is surrounded on the East by Chín and Máchín, on the West by Sind (Baluchistan) and Kábul and on the South by the Sea."
Hindustan John Richardson, A Smaller Manual of Modern Geography. Physical and Political"The boundaries of Hindustan are marked on every side by natural features; e.g., the Himalayas, on the N.; the Patkoi Mountains, Tippera Hills, &c., on the N.E.; the Sea, on the E., S., and W.; and the Hala, and Sulaiman Mountains, on the N.W." [65]

Historical definitions of a Greater India

Writers throughout history, both Indian and of other nationalities have written about a 'Greater India', which Indians have called either Akhand Bharat or Mahabharat. [66]

YearNameSourceDefinition
944Al-Hind Al-Masudi
Muruj adh-dhahab wa ma'adin al-jawhar		"The Hindu nation (Al-Hind) extends from the mountains of Khorasan and of es-Sind (Baluchistan) as far as et-Tubbet (Tibetan Plateau.)" [67]
982–983HindistānAuthor Unknown
Hudud al-'Alam 		"East of it (Hindistān) are the countries of China and Tibet; South of it, the Great Sea; west of it, the river Mihran (Indus); north of it, the country of Shaknan belonging to Vakhan and some parts of Tibet." [68]
1205HindHasan Nizāmī"The whole country of Hind, from Peshawar in the north, to the Indian Ocean in the south; from Sehwan (on the west bank of the Indus) to the mountains on the east dividing from China."
1298India the Greater
India the Minor
Middle India		 Marco Polo "India the Greater is that which extends from Maabar to Kesmacoran (i.e. from Coromandel to Mekran) and it contains 13 great kingdoms... India the Lesser extends from the Province of Champa to Mutfili (i.e. from Cochinchina to the Krishna Delta) and contains 8 great Kingdoms... Abash is a very great province and you must know that it constitutes the Middle India."
c. 1328IndiaFriar Jordanus Catalani"What shall I say? The greatness of this India is beyond description. But let this much suffice concerning India the Greater and the Less. Of India Tertia I will say this, that I have not indeed seen its many marvels, not having been there..."
1404India MinorRuy González de Clavijo"And this same Thursday that the said Ambassadors arrived at this great River (the Oxus) they crossed to the other side. And the same day... came in the evening to a great city which is called Tenmit (Termez) and this used to belong to India Minor, but now belongs to the empire of Samarkand, having been conquered by Tamurbec."
1590Hindustān Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak
Ain-i-Akbari 		"Hindustan is described as enclosed on the east, west and south by the ocean, but Sarandip (Sri Lanka), Achin (Indonesia), Maluk (Indonesia) and Malagha (Malaysia) and a considerable number of islands are accounted for within its extent." [69]
16th centuryIndostānIgnazio Danti"The part of India beyond the Ganges extends in length as far as Cathay (China) and contains many provinces in which are found many notable things. As in the Kingdom of Kamul near Campichu (Cambodia)...And in Erguiul...In the Ava Mountains (Burma)..., and in the Salgatgu mountains...In Caindu...In the territory of Carajan..." [70]

Republic of India

The name and logo of state-owned petroleum companies of India India-Bharat-Hindustan.svg
The name and logo of state-owned petroleum companies of India

The official names as set down in article 1 of the Indian constitution are:

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ بالهند Bil'Hind appears upside-down at 6h (bottom) on the circular legend of the obverse side of the coin. The complete circular legend is "In the name of Allah, struck this dirham in al-Hind in the year seven and ninety."

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indus River</span> River in Asia

The Indus is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans-Himalayan river of South and Central Asia. The 3,180 km (1,980 mi) river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in Western Tibet, flows northwest through the disputed region of Kashmir, bends sharply to the left after the Nanga Parbat massif, and flows south-by-southwest through Pakistan, before emptying into the Arabian Sea near the port city of Karachi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sarasvati River</span> River mentioned in the Vedas and ancient Indian epics

The Sarasvati River is a mythologized and deified ancient river first mentioned in the Rigveda and later in Vedic and post-Vedic texts. It played an important role in the Vedic religion, appearing in all but the fourth book of the Rigveda.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hindustan</span> Historic and geographic term for the whole or part of the Indian subcontinent

Hindūstān was a historical region, polity, and a name for India, historically used to refer to the northern Indian subcontinent later expanded to the entire subcontinent, used in the modern day to refer to the Republic of India. Being the Iranic cognate of the Indic word Sindhu, it originally referred to the land of lower Indus basin during the ancient era, but was later extended to refer to northern Indian subcontinent. It finally referred to the entire subcontinent since the early modern period. Since the Partition of India in 1947, Hindustan continues to be used to the present day as a historic name for the Republic of India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indo-Scythians</span> Nomadic Iranian peoples of Saka and Scythian origin

The Indo-Scythians were a group of nomadic people of Iranic Scythian origin who migrated from Central Asia southward into the northwestern Indian subcontinent: the present-day South Asian regions of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Eastern Iran and northern India. The migrations persisted from the middle of the second century BCE to the fourth century CE.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Āryāvarta</span> Historical landscape

Āryāvarta is a term for the northern Indian subcontinent in the ancient Hindu texts such as Dharmashastras and Sutras, referring to the areas of the Indo-Gangetic Plain and surrounding regions settled by Indo-Aryan tribes and where Indo-Aryan religion and rituals predominated. The limits of Āryāvarta extended over time, as reflected in the various sources, as the influence of the Brahmanical ideology spread eastwards in post-Vedic times.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jambudvīpa</span> Sanskrit endonym of the Indian subcontinent

Jambudvīpa is a name often used to describe the territory of Indian Subcontinent in ancient Indian sources.

The Rishikas was an ancient Kingdom of Central Asia and South Asia, who are mentioned in Hindu and Sanskrit literary texts, including the Mahabharata, the Ramayana, the Brhat-Samhita, the Markendeya Purana and Patanjali's Mahabhashya.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Khasas</span> Ancient Indo-Aryan ethno-linguistic group

Khasas were an ancient Indo-Aryan tribe and a late Janapada kingdom from Himalayan regions of northern Indian subcontinent mentioned in the various historical Indian inscriptions and ancient Indian Hindu and Tibetan literature. European sources described the Khasa tribe living in the Northwest Himalayas and the Roman geographer Pliny The Elder specifically described them as "Indian people". They were reported to have lived around Gandhara, Trigarta and Madra Kingdom as per the Mahabharata.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the Indo-Greek Kingdom</span>

The History of the Indo-Greek Kingdom covers a period from the 2nd century BCE to the beginning of the 1st century CE in northern and northwestern Indian subcontinent. There were over 30 Indo-Greek kings, often in competition on different territories. Many of them are only known through their coins.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tushara</span> Ancient kingdom located beyond north-west India

The kingdom of Tushara, according to ancient Indian literature, such as the epic Mahabharata, was a land located beyond north-west India. In the Mahabharata, its inhabitants, known as the Tusharas, are depicted as mlechchas ("barbarians") and fierce warriors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Sindh</span>

The history of Sindh refers to the history of the modern-day Pakistani province of Sindh, as well as neighboring regions that periodically came under its sway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indian people</span> Citizens and nationals of India

Indian people or Indians are the citizens and nationals of the Republic of India. In 2022, the population of India stood at 1.4 billion people, of various ethnic groups. According to United Nations forecasts, India overtook China as the world's most populous country by the end of April 2023, containing 17.50 percent of the global population. In addition to the Indian population, the Indian overseas diaspora also boasts large numbers, particularly in the Arab states of the Persian Gulf, former British colonies, and the Western world.

Indigenous Aryanism, also known as the Indigenous Aryans theory (IAT) and the Out of India theory (OIT), is the conviction that the Aryans are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent, and that the Indo-European languages radiated out from a homeland in India into their present locations. It is a "religio-nationalistic" view on Indian history, and propagated as an alternative to the established migration model, which considers the Pontic–Caspian steppe to be the area of origin of the Indo-European languages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hindush</span> Province of the Achaemenid Empire

Hindush was an administrative division of the Achaemenid Empire in modern-day Pakistan. According to the Greek historian Herodotus, it was the "easternmost province" governed by the Achaemenid dynasty. Established through the Persian conquest of the Indus Valley in the 6th century BCE, it is believed to have continued as a province for approximately two centuries, ending when it fell to the Macedonian Empire during the Indian campaign of Alexander the Great.

Tianzhu is the historical Chinese name for the Indian subcontinent.

Hindustan Zindabad is a Hindi phrase and battle cry most commonly used in the Republic of India in speeches and communications pertaining to or referring to patriotism towards India, and has been used since the British Raj in the colonial India. It translates to "Long Live India". It is a nationalistic slogan, and has been used in nationalist protests such as radical peasant movements in post-colonial India. Another variation of the slogan is Jai Hind. Such slogans are common while cheering the Indian team in cricket matches.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Epic-Puranic chronology</span> Timeline of Hindu mythology based on the Hindu Epics and the Puranas

The Epic-Puranic chronology is a timeline of Hindu mythology based on the Itihasa and the Puranas. These texts have an authoritaive status in Indian tradition, and narrate cosmogeny, royal chronologies, myths and legendary events. The central dates here are the Kurukshetra War and the start of the Kali Yuga. The Epic-Puranic chronology is referred to by proponents of Indigenous Aryans to propose an earlier dating of the Vedic period, and the spread of Indo-European languages out of India, arguing that "the Indian civilization must be viewed as an unbroken tradition that goes back to the earliest period of the Sindhu-Sarasvati Valley traditions ."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ancient scripts of the Indian subcontinent</span> Ancient Indian scripts

Ancient Indian scripts have been used in the history of the Indian subcontinent as writing systems. The Indian subcontinent consists of various separate linguistic communities, each of which share a common language and culture. The people of the ancient India wrote in many scripts which largely have common roots.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sindhu-Sauvīra</span> Ancient people in the western South Asia

Sindhu-Sauvīra was an ancient Indo-Aryan kingdom in the western region of the subcontinent whose existence is attested during the Iron Age in India. The inhabitants of Sindhu were called the Saindhavas, and the inhabitants of Sauvīra were called Sauvīrakas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">India (Bible)</span> India in biblical geography

In biblical geography, India is described as bordering the Achaemenid Persian Empire under Ahasuerus, as referenced in the Book of Esther. 1 Maccabees, which is located in the Deuterocanonon/Aprocrypha, references "the Indian mahouts of Antichus's war elephants [second century B.C.]". Archaeological findings in the cities of Sumer, including Kish, Lagash, and Ur, confirm trade between India and Mesopatamia. For example, ivory objects crafted in India have been found in Mesopotamia.

References

  1. 1 2 Dwijendra Narayan Jha, Rethinking Hindu Identity (Routledge: 2014), p.11
  2. 1 2 Upinder Singh, Political Violence in Ancient India, p.253
  3. ↑ Harris, J. (2012), Indography: Writing the "Indian" in Early Modern England, Palgrave Macmillan US, p. 8, ISBN   978-1-137-09076-8
  4. ↑ Mukherjee, Bratindra Nath (2001), Nationhood and Statehood in India: A historical survey, Regency Publications, p. 3, ISBN   978-81-87498-26-1 : "Apparently the same territory was referred to as Hi(n)du(sh) in the Naqsh‐i‐Rustam inscription of Darius I as one of the countries in his empire. The terms Hindu and India ('Indoi) indicate an original indigenous expression like Sindhu. The name Sindhu could have been pronounced by the Persians as Hindu (replacing s by h and dh by d) and the Greeks would have transformed the latter as Indo‐ (Indoi, Latin Indica, India) with h dropped..."
  5. ↑ "Etymology of the Name India". World History Encyclopedia. 13 January 2011.
  6. ↑ Mukherjee, Bratindra Nath (2001), Nationhood and Statehood in India: A historical survey, Regency Publications, p. 3, ISBN   978-81-87498-26-1 : "In early Indian sources Sindhu denoted the mighty Indus river and also a territory on the lower Indus."
  7. ↑ Eggermont, Alexander's Campaigns in Sind and Baluchistan (1975) , p. 145: "Sindhu means a stream, a river, and in particular the Indus river, but likewise it denotes the territory of the lower Indus valley, or modern Sind. Therefore, the appellation Saindhavah, means "inhabitants of the lower Indus valley".... In this respect Sindhu is no tribal name at all. It denotes a geographical unit to which different tribes may belong."
  8. ↑ Thieme, P. (1970), "Sanskrit sindu-/Sindhu- and Old Iranian hindu-/Hindu-", in Mary Boyce; Ilya Gershevitch (eds.), W. B. Henning memorial volume, Lund Humphries, pp. 447–450, ISBN   9780853312550
  9. 1 2 Eggermont, Alexander's Campaigns in Sind and Baluchistan (1975): 'The Persians coined the name of Hindush after the current Sanskrit geographical name of Sindhu. Neither the Old Persian inscriptions, nor the Avesta make use of the word hindu in the sense of "river".'
  10. 1 2 Dandamaev, M. A. (1989), A Political History of the Achaemenid Empire, Brill, p. 147, ISBN   90-04-09172-6 : "The new satrapy, which received the name of Hindush, extended from the centre to the lower part of the Indus Valley, in present-day Pakistan."
  11. ↑ Mouton, Alice; Rutherford, Ian; Yakubovich, Ilya (2013), Luwian Identities: Culture, Language and Religion Between Anatolia and the Aegean, BRILL, ISBN   978-90-04-25341-4
  12. ↑ Herodotus, with an English Translation by A. D. Godley, Volume II, London: William Heinemann, 1921, III.97–99
  13. ↑ Horrocks, Geoffrey (2009), Greek: A History of the Language and its Speakers (Second ed.), John Wiley & Sons, pp. 27–28, ISBN   978-1-4443-1892-0 : "Note finally that the letter H/η was originally used to mark word-initial aspiration... Since such aspiration was lost very early in the eastern Ionic-speaking area, the letter was recycled, being used first to denote the new, very open, long e-vowel [æ:] ... and then to represent the inherited long e-vowel [ε:] too, once these two sounds had merged. The use of H to represent open long e-vowels spread quite early to the central Ionic-speaking area and also to the Doric-speaking islands of the southern Aegean, where it doubled up both as the marker of aspiration and as a symbol for open long e-vowels."
  14. ↑ Panayotou, A. (2007), "Ionic and Attic", in A.-F. Christidis (ed.), A History of Ancient Greek: From the Beginnings to Late Antiquity, Cambridge University Press, p. 410, ISBN   978-0-521-83307-3 : "The early loss of aspiration is mainly a characteristic of Asia Minor (and also of the Aeolic and Doric of Asia Minor)...In Attica, however (and in some cases in Euboea, its colonies, and in the Ionic-speaking islands of the Aegean), the aspiration survived until later... During the second half of the fifth century BC, however, orthographic variation perhaps indicates that 'a change in the phonetic quality of [h] was taking place' too."
  15. ↑ Arora, Udai Prakash (2005), "Ideas of India in Ancient Greek Literature", in Irfan Habib (ed.), India — Studies in the History of an Idea, Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers, p. 47, ISBN   978-81-215-1152-0 : "The term 'Indians' was used by Herodotus as a collective name for all the peoples living east of Persia. This was also a significant development over Hekataios, who had used this term in a strict sense for the groups dwelling in Sindh only."
  16. ↑ Eggermont, Alexander's Campaigns in Sind and Baluchistan (1975) , pp. 13–14
  17. 1 2 Mukherjee, Bratindra Nath (2001), Nationhood and Statehood in India: A historical survey, Regency Publications, pp. 3–4, ISBN   978-81-87498-26-1
  18. ↑ Clémentin-Ojha, Catherine (2014). "'India, that is Bharat…': One Country, Two Names". South Asia Multidisciplinary Academic Journal. 10.
  19. ↑ Article 1 of the English version of the Constitution of India: "India that is Bharat shall be a Union of States."
  20. ↑ Pargiter, F. F. (1922), Ancient Indian Historical Tradition, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, p. 131
  21. ↑ Pargiter, F. F. (1922), Ancient Indian Historical Tradition, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, pp. ff. 8 p. 40
  22. ↑ Jain, Champat Rai (1929). The Practical Dharma. p. 92.
  23. ↑ "S'RÎMAD BHÂGAVATAM : "The Story of the Fortunate One" : Third revised version 2012". Ia801005.us.archive.org. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
  24. ↑ Dikshitar, Ramachandra (1 January 1993). The Gupta Polity. Motilal Banarsidass Publ. ISBN   9788120810242.
  25. ↑ D.N. Jha (2014), p.11
  26. ↑ Dineschandra Sircar (1971). Studies in the Geography of Ancient and Medieval India. Motilal Banarsidass. p. 3. ISBN   978-81-208-0690-0.
  27. ↑ "How Hindu is India's foreign policy?". The Economist. 18 January 2024. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
  28. ↑ Singh, Akanksha (20 September 2023). "Opinion: It's not just about its colonial past. Here's what India's possible name change is all about". CNN. Retrieved 21 September 2023.
  29. ↑ SHEIKH SAALIQ (8 September 2023). "'India' or 'Bharat'? A G-20 dinner invite sparks rumors of a national rebrand". Los Angeles Times. Associated Press. Retrieved 2 July 2024.
  30. ↑ "Will India change its name to Bharat?". The Economist. ISSN   0013-0613 . Retrieved 2 July 2024.
  31. ↑ Weiner, Eric (28 November 2023). "Why do countries change their name?". BBC. Retrieved 3 October 2024.
  32. ↑ National Museum of Iran notice
  33. ↑ Yar-Shater, Ehsan (1982). Encyclopaedia Iranica. Routledge & Kegan Paul. p. 10. ISBN   9780933273955.
  34. ↑ "Susa, Statue of Darius – Livius". www.livius.org.
  35. ↑ Habib, Irfan (2011), "Hindi/Hindwī in Medieval Times", in Aniruddha Ray (ed.), The Varied Facets of History: Essays in Honour of Aniruddha Ray, Primus Books, p. 105, ISBN   978-93-80607-16-0
  36. ↑ Mukherjee, Bratindra Nath (1989), The Foreign Names of the Indian Subcontinent, Place Names Society of India, p. 46: "The term Hindustan, which in the Naqsh-i-Rustam inscription of Shapur I denoted India on the lower Indus, and which later gradually began to denote more or less the whole of the subcontinent..."
  37. ↑ Ray & Chattopadhyaya, A Sourcebook of Indian Civilization (2000) , p. 553: "Among the countries that fell before Shapur I the area in question appears as Hndstn, India and Hindy respectively in the three languages mentioned above [Middle Persian, Greek and Parthian]."
  38. ↑ P. 310 Memoirs of Zahir-ad-Din Muhammad Babur: Emperor of Hindustan By Babur (Emperor of Hindustan)
  39. ↑ Inscriptions of Asoka. New Edition by E. Hultzsch (in Sanskrit). 1925. pp. 169–171.
  40. ↑ Toni Huber, 2008, The Holy Land Reborn: Pilgrimage and the Tibetan Reinvention, University of Chicago Press, p.74-80.
  41. ↑ Gendun Chopel (translated by Thupten Jinpa and Donald S. Lopez Jr.), 2014, Grains of Gold: Tales of a Cosmopolitan Traveler, University of Chicago Press, p.73-74.
  42. ↑ Jianbian Joacuo (translated by Liang Yanjun, Wu Chunxiao and Song Xin), 2019, 降边嘉措著, ‎梁艳君, ‎吴春晓 A study of Tibetan epic Gesar, Liaoning Normal University, Dalian, China.
  43. ↑ Thank you India, Central Tibetan Administration, published: Jan 2018, accessed: 19 Dec 2022.
  44. 1 2 3 Cheung, Martha Pui Yiu (2014) [2006]. "Zan Ning (919–1001 CE), To Translate Means to Exchange". An Anthology of Chinese Discourse on Translation: From Earliest Times to the Buddhist Project. Routledge. pp. 179, 181. ISBN   978-1-317-63928-2.
  45. ↑ An Invitation to Indian Architecture
  46. ↑ How the Japan-India alliance could redraw the political map
  47. 1 2 Yu, Taishan (November 2013). "China and the Ancient Mediterranean World: A Survey of Ancient Chinese Sources" (PDF). Sino-Platonic Papers (242): 73, 77.
  48. ↑ Khair, Tabish (2006). Other Routes: 1500 Years of African and Asian Travel Writing. Signal Books. p. 36. ISBN   9781904955115.
  49. ↑ Rambelli, Fabio (2014). "The Idea of India (Tenjiku) in Pre-Modern Japan". In Sen, -Tansen (ed.). Buddhism Across Asia. ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute. p. 262. ISBN   9789814519328.
  50. ↑ Jaffee, Richard M. (2019). Seeking Sakyamuni: South Asia in the Formation of Modern Japanese Buddhism. University of Chicago Press. pp. 12–13, 114–115. ISBN   9780226391151.
  51. ↑ Esther 1:1 and 8:9
  52. ↑ "THE BOOK OF ESTHER". Uskojaelama.net. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
  53. ↑ Brown–Driver–Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon at BibleHub
  54. ↑ "Hobson-Jobson". Archived from the original on 28 June 2012. Retrieved 28 June 2012.
  55. ↑ "Esther 1:1 This is what happened during the time of Xerxes, the Xerxes who ruled over 127 provinces stretching from India to Cush". Biblehub.com. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
  56. ↑ "The Book of Esther - Kids Version". Hanefesh Community. Archived from the original on 12 March 2014. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
  57. ↑ "TARNEGOL HODU, A BIRD CALLED TURKEY". 26 October 2015. Hodu is the biblical name for India (Esther 1:1), which is derived from the Persian word Hindu, a name for the region around the Indus River
  58. ↑ P. 247 Chanakya and Chandragupta By A. S. Panchapakesa Ayyar
  59. ↑ Wilson, H. H. (2006). The Vishnu Purana: A System of Hindu Mythology and Tradition. Cambridge: Read Country Books. p. xii. ISBN   1-84664-664-2.
  60. ↑ Rocher 1986, p. 249.
  61. ↑ Flood, Gavin (1996). An Introduction to Hinduism . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p.  111. ISBN   0-521-43878-0.
  62. ↑ A History of Civilization in Ancient India, Based on Sanskrit Literature. In Three Volumes. Volume 3. Buddhist and Pauranik Ages, Romesh Chunder Dutt, Publisher Elibron.com, ISBN   0-543-92939-6, ISBN   978-0-543-92939-6
  63. ↑ A Text Book of Social Sciences, Dr. N.N. Kher & Jaideep Aggarwal, Pitambar Publishing, ISBN   81-209-1466-X, ISBN   978-81-209-1466-7
  64. ↑ VISHŃU PURÁŃA, BOOK II, CHAP. I, The Vishnu Purana, translated by Horace Hayman Wilson, [1840], at sacred-texts.com
  65. ↑ P. 146 A smaller manual of modern geography. Physical and political By John Richardson (Vicar of St. Mary's Hospital, Ilford.)
  66. ↑ P. 45 Calcutta Review By University of Calcutta, 1950
  67. ↑ P. 177 Kitab Muruj Al-dahab Al-Masudi. El-Masudis Historical Encyclopaedia By 'Abu-l-Hasan 'Ali ibn al-Husain al-Masudi
  68. ↑ P. 187 Journal of Ancient Indian History, Volume 9 By D.C. Sircar
  69. ↑ The Ain i Akbari, Volume 3 By Abū al-Faz̤l ibn Mubārak
  70. ↑ P. 3 The Mapping of Power in Renaissance Italy By Mark Rosen

Bibliography

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.