Names of India

The Republic of India is mainly called India or Bharat. Another name, Hindustan, is commonly used in North India. According to Article 300 of the Constitution of India, the government can also be called the Union of India in legal matters. While these names are used for the country today, they used to refer to a larger area known as the Indian subcontinent.

Overview

"India" is a name that comes from the Indus River. It has been used by people in the Western world since ancient times. The name appeared in Old English by the 9th century and again in Modern English in the 17th century.

The name "Bharat" comes from ancient times too. It is linked to Emperor Bharata, a important figure in old stories. In 1949, leaders chose "Bharat" as an official name for the country, along with "India."

"Hindustan" is another name for the country, used mainly in North India. It also comes from the Indus River and has been used since very old times, especially during a time when many people followed Islam in the area.

India

Further information: India (Herodotus) and Megasthenes

The name "India" comes from the Greek word Indikē or Indía. These words came from the Latin word India. The name started from the Sanskrit word Sindhu, which was the name for the Indus River and the land around it, now called Sindh in Pakistan.

Long ago, Darius I ruled this area and called it Hindu. Later, people like Herodotus used the word "Indian" to describe people living east of Persia. As time went on, the name "India" grew to include more lands, even far to the south.

Megasthenes, a Greek visitor to the Mauryan Empire, wrote about his time there and called the land "India." The name continued to be used through many years and languages, finally becoming the name we know today.

Indies

The term "Indies" refers to the land east of the river Indus. It is the same as the word India. Long ago, Portuguese explorers called the whole region they found the Indies. They also called the Caribbean islands "Indies" because they thought they were in India. Later, when they realized these islands were in the western hemisphere, they renamed them the West Indies. This means "India in the western hemisphere." Indonesia used to be called the Dutch East Indies, meaning India in southeast Asia. This is different from Dutch India, which was about trading places of the VOC in the Indian subcontinent.

Bharat

Bharat is one of the official names of India, as stated in Article 1 of the Constitution. It comes from ancient Sanskrit texts and is linked to the story of Emperor Bharata, a important figure in Indian history and religion. The name Bharat has been used for a long time and appears in many old writings and stories from India.

People sometimes use the name Bharat to talk about India in a special way, connecting it to the country's culture and history. In 2023, important leaders used the name Bharat for a big meeting, which made some people wonder if the country's name might change someday. Changing the name would need approval from the government and international organizations.

Hindustan / Hind

Main article: Hindustan

The words Hindū and Hind started from the ancient word Sindhu, which refers to the Indus River and its area. Long ago, rulers from Persia used names like Hindush to talk about this region. Over time, the name changed and grew.

In many languages, the name Hindustan came to mean the land of India. Today, people in India sometimes use the phrase Jai Hind to show pride in their country. The name Hindustan has been used for many years and is still known around the world.

Jambudvīpa

Jambudvīpa was an ancient name used for India in old stories and writings before the name Bhārat became popular. It means "berry island" and might refer to a part of India called Insular India. In some places like Burma, it was called Zabudipa. Many countries in Southeast Asia, such as Thailand, Malaysia, Java, and Bali, used the name Jambu Dwipa to talk about the land we now call India. Even today, some people still use this old name. Long ago, a ruler named Ashoka also used Jambudvīpa to describe his lands. Sometimes, this name was used to talk about all of Asia, not just India.

Gyagar and Phagyul

Both Gyagar ("White expanse") and Phagyul are names from Tibet for India. Ancient Tibetan Buddhist writers and travelers used the names Gyagar or Gyagar to the south, and also Madhyadesa (central land or holy center), to talk about India. Since at least the 1300s, many important Tibetan teachers and writers have also called India Phagyul, a shorter way to say Phags yul, which means "the land of aryas"—the land of noble, holy, and wise people who bring spiritual light.

A famous Tibetan scholar, Gendun Chopel, says the word Gyagar comes from the Sanskrit word vihāra, meaning a Buddhist monastery. Ancient Tibetans used the name Geysar mainly for the northern and central parts of India, from the area of Kuru (now Haryana) to Magadha (now Bihar). The Epic of King Gesar, a very old story from around 200 or 300 BCE to about 600 CE, calls India many wonderful things, like "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." Today, the Central Tibetan Administration, also called the Tibetan Government-in-Exile, says that Tibet is closely connected to India in geography, history, culture, and spirit. Tibetans call India 'Gyagar Phagpay Yul' or 'India the land of Aryas.' The Dalai Lama thinks of India as a wise teacher, with Tibet as a student, and calls himself the "Son of India." He supports bringing back India's old wisdom based on the Nalanda tradition.

Tianzhu

Main article: Tianzhu (India)

Tianzhu is an old Chinese name for India, used since ancient times. It comes from the Sanskrit word Sindhu, which became Hindu in Persian. In China, India was called Tianzhu, meaning “heavenly centre” because many Buddhists believed India was the sacred home of their religion.

In Japan, Korea, and Vietnam, the name had different sounds: Tenjiku in Japanese, Cheonchuk in Korean, and Thiên Trúc in Vietnamese. These names were used by Buddhists to show respect for India, the birthplace of Buddhism. Over time, the name changed to Yindu in Chinese and Indo in Japanese, but the older name Tenjiku was still used by some Buddhist travelers even in the early 1900s.

Hodu

In the ancient book called the Book of Esther, India is referred to by the name Hodu. This name comes from old languages and refers to the Indus River, a major river in the region. The story mentions a king named Ahasuerus who ruled many lands, including India and Ethiopia.

Historical names

Some old names from before the year 1500 are shown here.

Year	Name	Source/Origin	Definition of name
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	Hodû	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"
c. 300 BCE	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."
250 BCE	Jambudvīpa	Ashoka Minor Rock Edicts of Ashoka	"Devānāṃpiya [speaks] thus. ...... years since I am a lay-worshipper (upāsaka). But (I had) not been very zealous. A year and somewhat more (has passed) since ...... And men in Jambudīpa, being during that time unmingled with the gods, have (now) been made (by me) mingled with the gods. [For] this is the fruit [of zeal]. cannot 1 be reached by (persons of) high rank alone, (but) even a lowly (person) is able to attain even the great heaven if he is zealous. Now, for the following purpose (has) this proclamation (been issued), (that) both the lowly and the exalted may be zealous, and (that) even (my) borderers may know (it), and (that this) zeal may be of long duration. And this matter will (be made by me to) progress, and will (be made to) progress even considerably ; it will (be made to) progress to one and a half, to at least one and a half. And this proclamation (was issued by me) on tour. Two hundred and fifty-six nights (had then been) spent on tour, — 256. And cause ye this matter to be engraved on rocks. And where there are stone pillars here (in my dominions), there also cause (it) to be engraved."
Between first century BCE and ninth century CE	Bhāratavarṣa (realm of Bhārata)	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 Bharata."
100 CE or later	Bhāratam	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 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 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 (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. 950	Hind	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. 1020	Hind	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."

Historical definitions of a Greater India

Writers from India and other places have talked about a place called "Greater India." In India, this idea is known as either Akhand Bharat or Mahabharat.

Year	Name	Source	Definition
944	Al-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.)"
982–983	Hindistān	Author 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."
1205	Hind	Hasan 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."
1298	India 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. 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 (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."
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 (Sri Lanka), Achin (Indonesia), Maluk (Indonesia) and Malagha (Malaysia) and a considerable number of islands are accounted for within its extent."
16th century	Indostān	Ignazio 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..."

Republic of India

The Republic of India is officially called भारत (Bhārat) in Hindi and India in English, as stated in article 1 of the Indian constitution. These are the two main names used for the country.