Do you know India comes from an ancient Greek word (Indikê) which in Latin translates to (India), it has been applied to a variety of territories as, for example, Yule and Burnell remind us in their famous dictionary of Anglo-Indian called Hobson-Jobson. It actually comes from the river Indus which is called ‘Sindhu’ or ‘Sindh’ river locally and the River Indus in English. Interestingly, this river is not found in modern Indian state which makes it quite amusing that a country drives it’s name from a river which doesn’t flow through it. This river is actually located in Pakistan now, see the figure below for the location of the river:
Hindustan: A Persian rendition
India also has another name, Hindustan. This was already used in Persia in the third century B.C. to refer to the land lying beyond the Indus River, found in an inscription in Persepolis which mentions the 20th province—satrapy—of Darius’ empire, the country of the Lower-Indus). Moreover, Hindu is the Persian for ‘Sindhu’, the name for the Indus River in ancient Sanskrit literature. The Persian Hindustān got introduced in India and became very commonly used in the Mughal period.
References for this can be found in The History of Hindostan by Alexander Dow (1792), in the Memoir of a Map of Hindoostan or the Mogul Empire (1793) by James Rennell (use our affiliate links to get a copy for yourself 😇) and the Structuring Of Political Territory in Early Printed Atlases such as Imago Mundi, Vol.47 (1995), p.144.
1782 and 1818: Hindustan referred to Northern India
From 1782 to 1818 most literature referred to northern India as Hindustan. Northern India was predominantly ruled by the Mughal Empire. Even after the decline of Mughals and fragmentation of the subcontinent into different states the word Hindustan remained synonymous with northern India. This was a period bounded by the publication of Rennell’s map of Hindoostan when the Marathas were finally defeated by British troops, mapmakers of India generally recognised Hindustan as a term referring to northern India. For references we can refer to T. Stackhouse, a Universal Atlas which consists of a complete set of maps, peculiarly adapted to illustrate ancient and modern geography (London, 1798).
1800s: Hindustan and India became Synonymous
After the British colonized the Indian subcontinent, we can see the literature gradually shifting and referring to the whole subcontinent as Hindustan. A comparison of 18th and 19th century British maps shows that the size and political designation of the territory corresponding to Hindustan changed over time along with historical developments (Barrow 2011). If we take a look at one of the most significant and instructive series of atlases of the mid-nineteenth century were those published and compiled by Henry Teesdale and John Dower. What is interesting in these atlases, among others, which were published between 1831 and 1861 that Hindustan and India seem to be used synonymously. [John Dower, A New General Atlas Of the World, Compiled From the Latest Authorities Both English and Foreign (London, 1831, 1837, 1845, 1856, 1861)].
From Sindhu to Hindu
The ancient word “Sindhu”, which not only gives name to one of the provinces in Pakistan called Sindh but also to its language Sindhi. This word at a more grandeur level also became the name of a religion (Hinduism), a country (India) and followers of a religion (Hindus). The word ‘Hindu’ itself raises a difficulty of interpretation. This word has been since ancient times been used to refer to the people living to the east of the Indus River.
From being a geographic and ethnic term, it became a religious term. It evolved to include the religious and cultural practice of the people towards the east of Indus. This word too has changed throughout the past as everything changed around it. Later in the nineteenth century a slogan became famous ‘Hindi, Hindu, Hindustan’ that linked national identity to one language, one religious denomination and one territory. As we will see later, in the sanskritized Hindusthāna of the radical political activist Vinayak Damodar Savarkar’s Hindutva, published in 1923, which referred to the land of the Hindus, to a people, and not to a river.
An Analysis of the book by Rahul Sagar
The following table is a summarized analysis of 20 pages in the book What’s in a Name? India and America in the Twenty-First Century, Survival, 46:3, 115-135 by Rahul Sagar (2004). The table on the right gives you his claims and the evidence that he quotes in his book:
What do Religious Texts suggest?
🟢 1. Vishnu Purana – Book II, Chapter III
Sanskrit Verse (2.3.1):
उत्तरं यत् समुद्रस्य हिमाद्रेश्चैव दक्षिणम्।
वर्षं तद् भारतं नाम भारती यत्र सन्ततिः॥
Transliteration:
uttaraṃ yat samudrasya himādreścaiva dakṣiṇam
varṣaṃ tad bhārataṃ nāma bhāratī yatra santatiḥ
Translation (H.H. Wilson):
“The country that lies north of the ocean and south of the snowy mountains is called Bhárata, for there dwelt the descendants of Bharata.”
🔎 Context: This verse defines the civilizational extent of Bharatavarsha in ancient cosmology — from the Himalayas in the north to the Indian Ocean in the south.
🟢 2. Mahabharata – Bhishma Parva, Section 9 (Jambukhanda Nirmana Parva)
Sanskrit Verse (Mahabharata 6.9.17–18):
एष भारतवर्षोऽयं यथा वर्णयिता मया।
यस्यामेते जना लोके कर्तव्या ब्रह्मचारिणः॥
भरतस्यात्मजो यस्तु भरतो नाम वीर्यवान्।
तस्य नाम्ना इदं वर्षं भारतं प्रथितं प्रभो॥
Transliteration:
eṣa bhāratavarṣo’yaṁ yathā varṇayitā mayā |
yasyāmete janā loke kartavyā brahmacāriṇaḥ ||
bharatasyātmajo yastu bharato nāma vīryavān |
tasya nāmnā idaṁ varṣaṁ bhārataṁ prathitaṁ prabho ||
Translation (K.M. Ganguli):
“This is the Bharatavarsha as described by me, in which dwell the people that follow Brahmacharya (righteous living).
The son of Dushyanta, a mighty king named Bharata, gave his name to this land, and hence it is known as Bharatavarsha.”
🔎 Context: These verses link the name Bharat to King Bharata, situating it as a land of dharma and moral order — thus, a cultural identity.
🟢 3. Ramayana – Kishkindha Kanda, Sarga 40–43
These chapters narrate Sugriva’s orders to vanaras to search the world in all directions. While there is no single verse that uses the word “Bharatavarsha”, the geographical descriptions span:
- North: Himalayan regions, Gandhamadana
- West: Sages’ hermitages, Yavanas, and cities west of the Sindhu
- South: Lanka, oceans, islands
- East: Mountains like Mahendra and deep forests
Sample Verse (4.40.54):
द्रष्टव्या वेदशाखा च देशाश्च विविधाश्च ये।
ऋषयश्चापि सिद्धाश्च हेमकूटनिवासिनः॥
Translation:
“You must see the regions of the Vedas, and the various lands, and the sages and Siddhas who dwell in Hemakuta.”
🟢 4. Manu by Medhatithi (2.23)
If a kṣatriya king of excellent conduct were to conquer the Mlecchas, establish the system of four varṇas (in the Mleccha country) and assign to Mlecchas a position similar to that of cāṇḍālas in Ᾱryāvarta, even that (Mleccha country) would be fit for the performance of sacrifice, since the earth itself is not impure, but becomes impure through contact (of impure persons or things).
Summary Table
The Viṣṇu (II, 3, 2), Brāhma, Mārkaṇḍeya (55, 21-22) and other purāṇas proudly assert that Bharatavarṣa is the land of action (karmabhūmi). This is patriotism of a sort but not of the kind we see in western countries. Bharatavarṣa itself has comprised numerous countries from the most ancient times.
There was no doubt a great emotional regard for Bharatavarṣa or Ᾱryāvarta as a unity for many centuries among all writers from a religious point of view, though not from a political standpoint. Therefore one element of modern nationhood viz. being under the same government was wanting. Kane introduces a caveat: ‘But it must be noted that from very ancient times there was always the aspiration among great kings and the people to bring the whole of Bharatavarṣa ‘under one umbrella’ (Kane 1973: 137).
🔎 Context: These sargas describe a pan-Indic landscape that includes Lanka, central India, western mountains, and far eastern territories — pointing to a shared civilizational worldview.
Jambudvipa
Bharatvarsha and Jambudvipa. As with the terms India and Hindustan, both Bharatvarsha and Jambudvipa denominate a variety of geographical areas. Joseph Schwartzberg points out that in the Puranas, for example, Bharatvarsha ‘occupies only a small southern potion of Jambudvipa, while in some views, the areas connoted by the two terms are equated’. Joseph Schwartzberg, ‘An Eighteenth-Century Cosmographic Globe from India’, in Cartographica, Vol.30, no.1, (1993), Monograph 44, p.75.
Kumari or Kumarikadvipa
Mukherjee adds that the Puranas also offer another name that can be equated with India, Kumari or Kumarikadvipa, but that Bharatvarsha has remained the popular term. (The Foreign Names Of the Indian Subcontinent (Mysore, 1989), p.122 by B.N. Mukherjee)
The Name in Arabic: Al-Hind
There is a general consensus since ancient times that India is referred to as ‘Al-Hind’. It is also a popular female baby name as well in Arabic speaking countries. We can see examples of this even in the classical Arabic and Islamic literature:
“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: ‘There are two groups of my Ummah whom Allah will free from the Fire: The group that invades Al-Hind, and the group that will be with ‘Isa bin Maryam, peace be upon him.” (Sunan an-Nasa’i 3175)
“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) promised that we would invade Al-Hind. If I live to see that I will sacrifice myself and my wealth. If I am killed, I will be one of the best of the martyrs, and if I come back, I will be Abu Hurairah Al-Muharrar.” (Sunan an-Nasa’i 3174)
