Names for India
The Republic of India has two principal short names in both official and popular English usage, each of which is historically significant, "India" and "Bharat". The first article of the Constitution of India states that "India, that is Bharat, shall be a union of states," implicitly codifying "India" and "Bharat" as equally official short names for the Republic of India. A third name, "Hindustan", is sometimes an alternative name for the region comprising most of the modern Indian states of the subcontinent when Indians speak among themselves. The usage of "Bharat", "Hindustan", or "India" depends on the context and language of conversation.
"Bhārät", the name for India in several Indian languages, is variously said to be derived from the name of either Dushyanta's son Bharata or Rishabha's son Bharata. At first the name Bharata referred only to the western part of the Gangetic Valley in North India, but was later more broadly applied to the Indian subcontinent and the region of Greater India, as was the name "India". Today it refers to the contemporary Republic of India located therein. The name "India" is originally derived from the name of the river Sindhu and has been in use in Greek since Herodotus. The term appeared in Old English as early the 9th century and reemerged in Modern English in the 17th century.
India
The English term is from Greek Indika or Indía, via Latin transliteration India.The name derives ultimately from Sanskrit Síndhu, which was the name of the Indus River as well as the country at the lower Indus basin. The Old Persian equivalent of Síndhu was Hindu. Darius I conquered Sindh in about 516 BCE, upon which the Persian equivalent Hinduš was used for the province at the lower Indus basin. Skylax of Karyanda who explored the Indus river for the Persian emperor probably took over the Persian name and passed it into Greek. The terms Indos for the Indus river as well as "an Indian" are found in Herodotus's Geography. The loss of the aspirate /h/ was probably due to the dialects of Greek spoken in Asia Minor. 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.
By the time of Alexander, Indía in Koine Greek denoted the region beyond the Indus. Alexander's companions were aware of at least North India up to the Ganges delta. Later, Megasthenes included in India the southern peninsula as well.
Latin India is used by Lucian. 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.
Sanskrit "drop ", also a term for the Moon, is unrelated, but has sometimes been erroneously connected.
Hind / Hindustan
The words Hindū and Hind came from Indo-Aryan/Sanskrit Sindhu. The Achaemenid emperor Darius I conquered the Indus valley in about 516 BCE, upon which the Achaemenid equivalent of Sindhu, viz., "Hindush" was used for the lower Indus basin. The name was also known as far as the Achaemenid province of Egypt where it was written ????? on the :Commons:Category:Statue of Darius I|Statue of Darius I, circa 500 BCE.In middle Persian, probably from the first century CE, the suffix -stān was added, indicative of a country or region, forming the name Hindūstān. Thus, Sindh was referred to as Hindūstān in the Naqsh-e-Rustam inscription of Sassanid emperor Shapur I in 262 CE.
Emperor Babur said, "On the East, the South, and the West it is bounded by the Great Ocean."
Hind was notably adapted in the Arabic language as the definitive form Al-Hind for India, e.g. in the 11th century Tarikh Al-Hind. It occurs intermittently in usage within India, such as in the phrase Jai Hind or in Hind Mahāsāgar, the Standard Hindi name for the Indian Ocean, but otherwise is deemed archaic.
Both the names were current in Persian and Arabic 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 Urdu language, 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 Raj. Today, "Hindustan" is no longer in use as the official name for India.
Bhārata
Bhārata was selected as the name of the country of India in 1950.The name Bhārata or Bhārata-varṣa is said to be derived from the name of either Dushyanta's son Bharata or Rishabha's son Bharata. Several Puranas state that it is derived from the name of Bharata, the son of Rishabha. However, some Puranic passages state that it is derived from Bharata, which was another name for Rishabha's ancestor Manu. Some other Puranic passages refer to the Bharata people, who are described as the descendants of Dushyanta's son Bharata in the Mahabharata.
The earliest recorded use of Bhāratavarṣa in a geographical sense is in the Hathigumpha inscription of King Kharavela, where it applies only to a restrained area of northern India, namely the part of the Gangetic Valley west of Magadha. In the Sanskrit epic, the Mahabharata, a larger region of North India is encompassed by the term, but much of the Deccan and South India are still excluded.
Bhārata has been used as a self-ascribed name by some people of the Indian subcontinent and the Republic of India. The designation Bhārata appears in the official Sanskrit name of the country, Bhārata Gaṇarājya. 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. For example, the Vayu Purana says "he who conquers the whole of Bhāratavarṣa is celebrated as a samrāt."
The Sanskrit word bhārata is a vṛddhi 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. 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
According to the Puranas, this country is known as Bharatavarsha after Bharata, the son of Rishabha. This has been mentioned in Vishnu Purana, Vayu Purana, Linga Purana, Brahmanda Purana, Agni Purana, Skanda Purana, Khanda and Markandaya Purana, all using the designation Bharata Varsha.
Vishnu Purāna mentions:
The Srimad Bhagavat Purana mentions - "He begot a hundred sons that were exactly like him... He had the best qualities and it was because of him that this land by the people is called Bhârata-varsha"
The Bhāratas were also a Vedic tribe mentioned in the Rigveda, notably participating in the Battle of the Ten Kings.
The realm of Bharata is known as Bharātavarṣa in the Mahabhārata and later texts. According to the text, the term Bharata is from the king Bharata, who was the son of Dushyanta and Shakuntala and the term varsa means a division of the earth or a continent.
Bharata Khanda is a term used in Hindu texts, including the Vedas, Mahabharata, Ramayana and the Puranic, to describe the geographic region that encompassed the modern countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Myanmar—that is, South Asia at the term's furthest extent.
Jambudvīpa
was used in ancient scriptures as a name of India before Bhārata became the official name. 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.Nābhivarṣa
According to Texts, before India was called Bhāratavarṣa, it was known as Nābhivarṣa. King Nabhi was a Chakravartin and father of Arihant Rishabha.Tianzhu
Tianzhu or Tenjiku is the historical East Asian name for India that comes from the Chinese transliteration of the Persian Hindu, which itself is derived from the Sanskrit Sindhu, the native name of the Indus River. Tianzhu is one of several Chinese transliterations of Sindhu. Juandu appears in Sima Qian's Shiji and Tiandu is used in the Hou Hanshu. Yintejia comes from the Kuchean Indaka, another transliteration of Hindu. A detailed account of Tianzhu is given in the "Xiyu Zhuan" in the Hou Hanshu compiled by Fan Ye :Tianzhu was also referred to as Wutianzhu, 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 Wu Yin or "Five Inds".
The term is also used in Japan, where it is pronounced as Tenjiku. The foreign loanwords Indo and India are also used in some cases. The current Japanese name for modern India is the foreign loanword Indo.
The current Chinese word for India is Yindu, first used by the seventh-century monk and traveller Xuanzang. Similar to Hindu and Sindhu, the term yin was used in classical Chinese much like the English Ind.
Hodu
Hodu 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, Ahasuerus had been described as King ruling 127 provinces from Hodu to Ethiopia. The term seemingly derives from Sanskrit Sindhu, "great river", i.e., the Indus River, via Old Persian Hiñd°u. It is thus cognate with the term India.Historical definitions of India
Some historical definitions prior to 1500 are presented below.| Year | Name | Source | Definition |
| c. 440 BCE | India | 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 BCE | Hodu | Book of Esther | "Now it took place in the days of Ahasuerus, the Ahasuerus who reigned from Hodu to Cush over 127 provinces" |
| c. 300 BC | India/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 BCE | Jambudvipa | Chanakya Arthashastra | "This 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." |
| Between first century BCE and Ninth century CE | Bhāratavarṣa | Vishnu Purana | "उत्तरं यत्समुद्रस्य हिमाद्रेश्चैव दक्षिणम् । वर्षं तद् भारतं नाम भारती यत्र संततिः ।।" i.e. "The country that lies north of the ocean and south of the snowy mountains is called Bhāratam; there dwell the descendants of Bharata." |
| 100 CE or later | Bhāratam | Vishnu Purana | "उत्तरं यत्समुद्रस्य हिमाद्रेश्चैव दक्षिणम् । वर्षं तद् भारतं नाम भारती यत्र संततिः ।।" i.e. "The country that lies north of the ocean and south of the snowy mountains is called Bhāratam; there dwell the descendants of Bharata." |
| c. 140. | Indoi, 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 together 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. 650 | Five Indies | Xuanzang | "The circumference of 五印 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. 950. | Hind | Istakhri | "As for the land of the Hind it is bounded on the East by the Persian Sea, 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. 1020 | Hind | Al-Birūnī | "Hind is surrounded on the East by Chín and Máchín, on the West by Sind 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." |
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 Mahabharata.| Year | Name | Source | Definition |
| 944 | Al-Hind | El-Mas'udi Muruj adh-dhahab wa ma'adin al-jawhar | "The Hindu nation extends from the mountains of Khorasan and of es-Sind as far as et-Tubbet " |
| 1205 | Hind | Hasan Nizāmī | "The whole country of Hind, from Peshawar in the north, to the Indian Ocean in the south; from Sehwan to the mountains on the east dividing from China." |
| 1298 | India the Greater India the Minor Middle India | Marco Polo | "India the Greater is that which extends from Maabar to Kesmacoran and it contains 13 great kingdoms... India the Lesser extends from the Province of Champa to Mutfili and contains 8 great Kingdoms... Abash is a very great province and you must know that it constitutes the Middle India." |
| c. 1328. | India | Friar 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..." |
| 1404 | India Minor | Ruy González de Clavijo | "And this same Thursday that the said Ambassadors arrived at this great River they crossed to the other side. And the same day... came in the evening to a great city which is called Tenmit and this used to belong to India Minor, but now belongs to the empire of Samarkand, having been conquered by Tamurbec." |
| 16th century | Indostān | Ignazio Danti | "The part of India beyond the Ganges extends in length as far as Cathay and contains many provinces in which are found many notable things. As in the Kingdom of Kamul near Campichu...And in Erguiul...In the Ava Mountains..., and in the Salgatgu mountains...In Caindu...In the territory of Carajan..." |
| 982-983 | Hindistān | Author Unknown Hudud al-'Alam | "East of it are the countries of China and Tibet; South of it, the Great Sea; west of it, the river Mihran ; north of it, the country of Shaknan belonging to Vakhan and some parts of Tibet." |
| 1590 | Hindustān | Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak Ain-i-Akbari | "Hindustan is described as enclosed on the east, west and south by the ocean, but Sarandip, Achin, Maluk and Malagha and a considerable number of islands are accounted for within its extent." |