The name India may refer to either the region of Greater India (the Indian subcontinent), or to the contemporary Republic of India contained therein. The term is derived from the name of the Sindhu (Indus River) and has been in use in Greek since Herodotus(4th century BC). The term appears in Old English in the 9th century, and again in Modern English since the 17th century.
The Republic of India has three principal short names, in both official and popular English usage, each of which is historically significant. All three originally designated a single entity comprising all the modern nations of the Indian subcontinent. These names are India, Bharat and Hindustan The first Article of the Constitution of India states that "India, that is Bharat, shall be a union of states." Thus, India and Bharat are equally official short names for the Republic of India, while "Hindustan" is still widely used as an alternative name when Indians speak amongst themselves. "Hindustan" is also used in historical contexts (especially British India). Indians commonly refer to their country as Bharat, Hindustan or India depending on the context and language of conversation.India is also known as Āryāvarta (Sanskrit: आर्यावर्त, "abode of the Aryans") because of its heritage.
Contents[hide]
[edit] India
The English term is from Greek Indía (Ἰνδία), via Latin India. Iindía in Byzantine N(Koine Greek) ethnography denotes the region beyond the Indus (Ἰνδός) river, since Herodotus (5th century BC) ἡ Ἰνδική χώρη "Indian land", Ἰνδός "an Indian", from Avestan Hinduš (referring to Sindh, and listed as a conquered territory by Darius I in the Persepolis terrace inscription). The name is derived ultimately from Sindhu, the Sanskrit name of the river, but also meaning "river" generically. Latin India is used by Lucian (2nd century).
The name India was known in Old English, and was used in King Alfred's translation of Orosius. In Middle English, the name was, under French influence, replaced by Ynde or Inde, which entered Early Modern English Indie. The name India then came back to English usage from the 17th century onwards, and may be due to the influence of Latin, or Spanish or Portuguese. [1]
This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this article if you can. (April 2009)
Sanskrit indu "drop (of Soma)", also a term for the Moon, is unrelated, but has sometimes been erroneously connected, listed by, among others, Colonel James Todd in his Annals of Rajputana. Todd describes ancient India as under control of tribes claiming descent from the Moon, or "Indu", (referring to Chandravanshi Rajputs), and their influence in Trans-Indian regions where they referred to the land as Industhan.
The name[2] [3] is used for the Republic of India. Bhāratam is the official Sanskrit name of the country, Bhārata Gaṇarājya, and the name is derived from the ancient Indian texts, the Puranas, which refers to the land that comprises India as Bharata varṣam, and uses this term to distinguish it from other varṣas or continents[4]. For example, the Vayu Purana says he who conquers the whole of Bharata-varsa is celebrated as a samrāt (Vayu Purana 45, 86).[4]. However in some puranas, the term 'Bharate' refers to the whole Earth as Emperor Bharat had ruled the whole Earth. Until the death of Maharaja Parikshit, the last formidable emperor of the Kuru dynasty (there were other emperors too after him but they were not as powerful as him), the whole Earth was called as Bharatvarsha.
The Sanskrit word bhāratam 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".
The Bhāratas were Indians mentioned in the Rigveda, notably participating in the Battle of the Ten Kings.
The realm of Bharata is known as Bharātavarṣa in the Mahabhārata (the core portion of which is itself known as Bhārata) and later texts. The term varsa means a division of the earth, or a continent. [1] A version of the Bagavatha Purana says, the Name Bharatha is after Jata Bharatha who appears in the fifth canto of the Bagavatha.
From: Vishnu Purana (2.3.1)[2][3]
uttaraṃ yatsamudrasya himādreścaiva dakṣiṇamvarṣaṃ tadbhārataṃ nāma bhāratī yatra santatiḥ
उत्तरं यत्समुद्रस्य हिमाद्रेश्चैव दक्षिणम् ।
वर्षं तद् भारतं नाम भारती यत्र संततिः ।।
"The country (varṣam) that lies north of the ocean and south of the snowy mountains is called Bhāratam; there dwell the descendants of Bharata."
The term in Classical Sanskrit literature is taken to comprise the territory of Republic of India, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh, as well as portions of eastern Afghanistan. This corresponds to the approximate extent of the historical Maurya Empire under emperors Chandragupta Maurya and Ashoka the Great (4th to 3rd centuries BC). Later political entities unifying approximately the same region are the Mughal Empire (17th century), the Maratha Empire (18th century) , and the British Raj (19th to 20th centuries).
Akhanda Bharata ("undivided Bharat") is a term of Hindu nationalism calling for a re-unification of the region.
From the perspective of the Malayans, Indian traders were the most common ones coming from "the West", therefore the word was absorbed into the Malay language. In the Malay language, "Barat" literally means "West".
For Middle Eastern traders, particularly Arabs and Turks, spices were the most common materials coming from the East. Hence, the term "bharat" was borrowed first into Arabic as بهرات baharāt, meaning "spices;" this migrated into the Turkish "baharat" with the same meaning.
[edit] Hindustan and Hind
Main article: Hindustan
The name Hind is derived from the Iranian equivalent of Indo-Aryan Sindh. The Avestan -stān means country or land (cognate to Sanskrit sthāna "place, land").
India was called Hindustan in Persian although the term Hind is in current use. al-Hind الهند is the term in the Arabic e.g. in the 11th century Tarikh Al-Hind "history of India"). It also occurs intermittently in usage within India, such as in the phrase Jai Hind.
The terms Hind and Hindustān were current in Persian and Arabic from the 11th century Islamic conquests: the rulers in the Sultanate and Mughal periods called their Indian dominion, centred around Delhi Hindustan. -stan is a Persian suffix meaning "home of/place of".
Hindustān, as is 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 northern region of India between the Indus and Brahmaputra rivers and between the Himalayas and the Vindhyas in particular, hence the term Hindustani for the Hindi-Urdu language. Hindustan was in use synonymously with India during the British Raj.
Hind (Hindi: हिन) remains in use in Hindi-Urdu. In contemporary Persian language, the term Hindustan has come to mean the Indian subcontinent, and the modern Indian Union is called Hind. The same is the case with Arabic language, where al-Hind is the name of the Republic of India.
[edit\] Āryāvarta
Āryāvarta (Sanskrit: आर्यावर्त, "abode of the Aryans") is the ancient name for northern and central India, where the culture of the Indo-Aryans was based.The Manu Smriti (2.22) gives the name to "the tract between the Himalaya and the Vindhya ranges, from the eastern to the western sea".
[edit] Tenjiku
Tenjiku is the Japanese word commonly used in reference to pre-modern India. Tian, the root word for the Japanese kanji means, 'heaven,'[5] while, jiku, means: 'the center of'[6], or 'primary concentration of'. Therefore the word is known to mean: 'the heavenly center of the world" or "the spiritual axis (center)", a reference to the Indian origins of Buddhism.
[edit] Jambudvipa
There is a story in Jain mythology and in Hindu and Buddhist texts as well that describe Jambudvipa being one of the seven islands/continents of the world. It is possible that perhaps "island" is used to refer to India because India in one time was a separate Indian Plate. Perhaps the phrase is used in the manner that the land of India is still an island in between the Indus River and the rest of the Asian Plate. Jambudvipa is also addressed in Buddhist mythology and in some he is addresses as the ruler over entire Jambudvipa and in one, "He reigned over a quarter of the land of Jambudvipa..."[
The Republic of India has three principal short names, in both official and popular English usage, each of which is historically significant. All three originally designated a single entity comprising all the modern nations of the Indian subcontinent. These names are India, Bharat and Hindustan The first Article of the Constitution of India states that "India, that is Bharat, shall be a union of states." Thus, India and Bharat are equally official short names for the Republic of India, while "Hindustan" is still widely used as an alternative name when Indians speak amongst themselves. "Hindustan" is also used in historical contexts (especially British India). Indians commonly refer to their country as Bharat, Hindustan or India depending on the context and language of conversation.India is also known as Āryāvarta (Sanskrit: आर्यावर्त, "abode of the Aryans") because of its heritage.
Contents[hide]
[edit] India
The English term is from Greek Indía (Ἰνδία), via Latin India. Iindía in Byzantine N(Koine Greek) ethnography denotes the region beyond the Indus (Ἰνδός) river, since Herodotus (5th century BC) ἡ Ἰνδική χώρη "Indian land", Ἰνδός "an Indian", from Avestan Hinduš (referring to Sindh, and listed as a conquered territory by Darius I in the Persepolis terrace inscription). The name is derived ultimately from Sindhu, the Sanskrit name of the river, but also meaning "river" generically. Latin India is used by Lucian (2nd century).
The name India was known in Old English, and was used in King Alfred's translation of Orosius. In Middle English, the name was, under French influence, replaced by Ynde or Inde, which entered Early Modern English Indie. The name India then came back to English usage from the 17th century onwards, and may be due to the influence of Latin, or Spanish or Portuguese. [1]
This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this article if you can. (April 2009)
Sanskrit indu "drop (of Soma)", also a term for the Moon, is unrelated, but has sometimes been erroneously connected, listed by, among others, Colonel James Todd in his Annals of Rajputana. Todd describes ancient India as under control of tribes claiming descent from the Moon, or "Indu", (referring to Chandravanshi Rajputs), and their influence in Trans-Indian regions where they referred to the land as Industhan.
The name[2] [3] is used for the Republic of India. Bhāratam is the official Sanskrit name of the country, Bhārata Gaṇarājya, and the name is derived from the ancient Indian texts, the Puranas, which refers to the land that comprises India as Bharata varṣam, and uses this term to distinguish it from other varṣas or continents[4]. For example, the Vayu Purana says he who conquers the whole of Bharata-varsa is celebrated as a samrāt (Vayu Purana 45, 86).[4]. However in some puranas, the term 'Bharate' refers to the whole Earth as Emperor Bharat had ruled the whole Earth. Until the death of Maharaja Parikshit, the last formidable emperor of the Kuru dynasty (there were other emperors too after him but they were not as powerful as him), the whole Earth was called as Bharatvarsha.
The Sanskrit word bhāratam 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".
The Bhāratas were Indians mentioned in the Rigveda, notably participating in the Battle of the Ten Kings.
The realm of Bharata is known as Bharātavarṣa in the Mahabhārata (the core portion of which is itself known as Bhārata) and later texts. The term varsa means a division of the earth, or a continent. [1] A version of the Bagavatha Purana says, the Name Bharatha is after Jata Bharatha who appears in the fifth canto of the Bagavatha.
From: Vishnu Purana (2.3.1)[2][3]
uttaraṃ yatsamudrasya himādreścaiva dakṣiṇamvarṣaṃ tadbhārataṃ nāma bhāratī yatra santatiḥ
उत्तरं यत्समुद्रस्य हिमाद्रेश्चैव दक्षिणम् ।
वर्षं तद् भारतं नाम भारती यत्र संततिः ।।
"The country (varṣam) that lies north of the ocean and south of the snowy mountains is called Bhāratam; there dwell the descendants of Bharata."
The term in Classical Sanskrit literature is taken to comprise the territory of Republic of India, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh, as well as portions of eastern Afghanistan. This corresponds to the approximate extent of the historical Maurya Empire under emperors Chandragupta Maurya and Ashoka the Great (4th to 3rd centuries BC). Later political entities unifying approximately the same region are the Mughal Empire (17th century), the Maratha Empire (18th century) , and the British Raj (19th to 20th centuries).
Akhanda Bharata ("undivided Bharat") is a term of Hindu nationalism calling for a re-unification of the region.
From the perspective of the Malayans, Indian traders were the most common ones coming from "the West", therefore the word was absorbed into the Malay language. In the Malay language, "Barat" literally means "West".
For Middle Eastern traders, particularly Arabs and Turks, spices were the most common materials coming from the East. Hence, the term "bharat" was borrowed first into Arabic as بهرات baharāt, meaning "spices;" this migrated into the Turkish "baharat" with the same meaning.
[edit] Hindustan and Hind
Main article: Hindustan
The name Hind is derived from the Iranian equivalent of Indo-Aryan Sindh. The Avestan -stān means country or land (cognate to Sanskrit sthāna "place, land").
India was called Hindustan in Persian although the term Hind is in current use. al-Hind الهند is the term in the Arabic e.g. in the 11th century Tarikh Al-Hind "history of India"). It also occurs intermittently in usage within India, such as in the phrase Jai Hind.
The terms Hind and Hindustān were current in Persian and Arabic from the 11th century Islamic conquests: the rulers in the Sultanate and Mughal periods called their Indian dominion, centred around Delhi Hindustan. -stan is a Persian suffix meaning "home of/place of".
Hindustān, as is 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 northern region of India between the Indus and Brahmaputra rivers and between the Himalayas and the Vindhyas in particular, hence the term Hindustani for the Hindi-Urdu language. Hindustan was in use synonymously with India during the British Raj.
Hind (Hindi: हिन) remains in use in Hindi-Urdu. In contemporary Persian language, the term Hindustan has come to mean the Indian subcontinent, and the modern Indian Union is called Hind. The same is the case with Arabic language, where al-Hind is the name of the Republic of India.
[edit\] Āryāvarta
Āryāvarta (Sanskrit: आर्यावर्त, "abode of the Aryans") is the ancient name for northern and central India, where the culture of the Indo-Aryans was based.The Manu Smriti (2.22) gives the name to "the tract between the Himalaya and the Vindhya ranges, from the eastern to the western sea".
[edit] Tenjiku
Tenjiku is the Japanese word commonly used in reference to pre-modern India. Tian, the root word for the Japanese kanji means, 'heaven,'[5] while, jiku, means: 'the center of'[6], or 'primary concentration of'. Therefore the word is known to mean: 'the heavenly center of the world" or "the spiritual axis (center)", a reference to the Indian origins of Buddhism.
[edit] Jambudvipa
There is a story in Jain mythology and in Hindu and Buddhist texts as well that describe Jambudvipa being one of the seven islands/continents of the world. It is possible that perhaps "island" is used to refer to India because India in one time was a separate Indian Plate. Perhaps the phrase is used in the manner that the land of India is still an island in between the Indus River and the rest of the Asian Plate. Jambudvipa is also addressed in Buddhist mythology and in some he is addresses as the ruler over entire Jambudvipa and in one, "He reigned over a quarter of the land of Jambudvipa..."[
No comments:
Post a Comment