Whats the Right Name for India?

Often civilizations are known in history by the names they are called by their contemporary civilizations. Land of South East Asia that we know as India today has been named with various names over times - India, Hindustan, Bharat, and so many more that you probably  heard of.

Map of Greater India

 I am going to go through these names in chronological order that describes this geographic region. Its important here to note that the definitions are not just limited to the Republic of India but also includes neighboring countries as Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Srilanka, Tibet, and many countries in SE Asia as these political nations were carved out of India fairly recently relative to the history of the region.

Muleha - Sumerian Name for Indus Valley

The oldest ever identity of this region comes from the ancient Sumerian civilization. Meluḫḫa or Melukhkha (Sumerian: 𒈨𒈛𒄩𒆠 Me-luḫ-ḫa) is the Sumerian name of a prominent trading partner during the Middle Bronze Age associated with the Indus Valley civilization.

Sumerian/Akkadian Seal mentions Translator of Muleha

Akkadian King Naram-Sin mentions his procurement of "blocks of Lapis lazuli and bright carnelian from Meluhha". 

It is also mentioned in prayer to the mythological legends Enki and Ninhursag:
"May the foreign land of Meluhha load precious desirable cornelian, perfect mes wood and beautiful aba wood into large ships for you."

Map of Indus Valley Civilization

This inscription confirms Meleha's association with Indus Valley based on the fact that prized blue stone of Lapis lazuli, Carnelian beads, and wood were some of the key exports from Indus Valley.

Names from Indian Scriptures

Now look at what our ancestors called this land as recorded in the ancient Indian scriptures. But before we go to this list, we must understand that these names DO NOT represent the entire India but describes a specific region of India.

Sapta Sindhu

Rivers play a prominent part in the hymns of the Rigveda, and consequently in early Vedic religion. The Vedic land is described as a land of the seven rivers (Sapta Sindhavaḥ; Sanskrit: सप्तसिन्धवः) flowing into the ocean.

“He has surveyed eight summits of the Earth, three shore or desert regions, seven rivers.” (aṣṭaú vy àkhyat kakúbhaḥ pr̥thivyā́s trī́ dhánva yójanā saptá síndhūn RV.I.35.8). 

It encompasses the northwestern Indian region from Hindukush mountains to Punjab and Sindh. These seven rivers are Sindhu, Saraswati, and the five rivers of Punjab mentioned in Rigveda as (Sutudri, Parusni, Asikni, Vitasta, Vipasa).

Seven Rivers of Rig Veda

Bhārata

The name Bhārata or Bhārata-varṣa (Bharata-varsha) is derived from the name of either Rama's brother Bharata, or Dushyanta's son Bharata or Rishabha's son Bharata.

The earliest recorded use of Bhāratavarṣa in a geographical sense is in the Hathigumpha inscription of King Kharavela (first century BCE), where it applies only to a restricted area of northern India, namely the Gangetic plain. Sanskrit epic, the Mahabharata is also composed in the same region of North India, and excludes the eastern, western, and southern parts of India.

ऋषभो मरुदेव्याश्च ऋषभात भरतो भवेत्भरताद भारतं वर्षं, भरतात सुमतिस्त्वभूत्
Rishabha was born to Marudevi, Bharata was born to Rishabha, Bharatavarsha (country) arose from Bharata and Sumati arose from Bharata. —Vishnu Purana

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."—Vishnu Purana

 Jambudvīpa

Jambudvīpa (Sanskrit: जम्बुद्वीप,  lit. 'berry island') was used in ancient scriptures as a name of India before Bhārata became the official name. The term is based on Jambu or Jamun a blackberry tree found in 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 of SE Asia.

Prakrit Incripti0n - Jambudwipa

Markandeya Purana portrays Jambudvipa as being depressed on its south and north and elevated and broad in the middle. The term Jambudvipa is used by Ashoka to represent his realm in 3rd century BC on the Mysorean inscription from the tenth century AD which also describes the region, India, as Jambudvipa.

 Gyagar and Phagyul - Tibetan Names of Indian Regions

Tibet is inextricably linked to India through geography, history, culture, and spiritually, Tibetans refer to India as Gyagar (Mid to South India) and Phagpay Yul (North India - land of the Aryan).

Tianzhu - Chinese Name for India

Tiānzhú or Tenjiku (Chinese and Japanese: 天竺) is used since ancient times to designate India as their "spiritual centre", The term comes from the Chinese transliteration of the Sanskrit Sindhu, the native name of the Indus River.

Fan Ye Route to India

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

"The state of Tianzhu: Also named Shendu, 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). 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."

The current Chinese word for India is Yìndù (印度), first used by the seventh-century monk and traveller Xuanzang. The term is derrived from Sanskrit Sindhu, and its Persian equivalent term Hindu.

Hodu - Hebrew Name for India

Hodu (Hebrew: הֹדּוּ Hoddû) is the Biblical Hebrew name for India mentioned in the Book of Esther part of the Jewish Tanakh and Christian Old Testament. In the Book of Esther, 1:1 and 8.9,  Ahasuerus had been described as King ruling 127 provinces from Hodu (India) to Ethiopia. The term seemingly derives from Sanskrit Sindhu,  the Indus River, via Old Persian Hiñdu.

Hind/Hindustan - Persian Name for India

Avesta, the scriptures of the ancient Persians refers to the region as Hapta Həndu which is equivalent of the Vedic Sapta Sindhavahá. in Vendidad 1.18 these are described to be the fifteenth of the sixteen lands created by Mazda, the creator.

Sacred Avestan - Ancient Persian

The Achaemenid equivalent of Sindhu is "Hindush" (𐏃𐎡𐎯𐎢𐏁, H-i-du-u-š) was used for the Indus basin.  The Achaemenid conquest of the Indus Valley occurred from the 6th to 4th centuries BC, and saw the Persian Achaemenid Empire led by Cyrus II and Darius I take control of regions in the northwestern region of Pakistan.The incription on the tomb of Darius I depicts Indians in three groups - Hindush fron Indus basin, Sttagydia from SW Punjab, and Gandhara from Hindukush.

Indians on Darius Tomb - Hindush-Sattagydia-Gandar

The words Hindū (Persian: هندو) and Hind (Persian: هند) came from Indo-Aryan/Sanskrit Sindhu (the Indus River and its region).

In middle Persian or Farsi, the suffix -istān (Persian: ستان) was added, indicative of a country or region and equivalent of Sanskrit term -sthan, forming the name Hindūstān. 

Both the names were used by the persian speaking Islamic invasions from 11th century: the rulers in the Delhi Sultanate and Mughal periods called their Indian dominion, centered around Delhi, "Hindustan" (ہندوستان; हिन्दुस्तान).

India - Greek Name for India

The English term India is from Greek Indos Ἰνδική / Indikē (cf. Megasthenes' work Indica) or Indía (Ἰνδία), via Latin transliteration. When Greeks arrived in India, they adopted the Persian name for the region as India and the mighty Sindhu river as Indus. The loss of the aspirate /h/ was due to the dialects of Greek spoken in Asia Minor.

Scylax of Caryanda who explored the Indus river for the Persian emperor Darius I probably took over the Persian name and passed it into Greek. The terms Indos (Ἰνδός) for the Indus river as well as "an Indian" are found in Herodotus's Geography. Herodotus also generalised the term "Indian" from the people of lower Indus basin, to all the people living to the east of Persia.

World Geography by Herodotus

By the time of Alexander, Punjab was denoted as the the region beyond the Indus. They named the region "Pentopotamia" or the land of five rivers. 

Detailed Greek Map of Punjab and India

Alexander's companions were also aware of at least North India up to the Ganges delta as Gangaridai. 

Al-Hind - The Arabic Name for India

Prophet Mohammad (ﷺ) had a keen interest in India, This mention comes from the Hadith narrated that Abu Hurairah said:

""The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) promised that we would invade India (غَزْوَةَ الْهِنْدِ, ghazwa 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."

Second Hadith was narrated that Thawban, the freed slave of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), said: "The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: 'There are two groups of my Ummah whom Allah will free from the Fire: The group that invades India (تَغْزُو الْهِنْدَ, taghzoo al-hind), and the group that will be with 'Isa bin Maryam, peace be upon him.'"  

The term, Ghazwa al-Hind (غزوة الهند) means Ghazwa or military expedition and conquest; "-e-" meaning "of";  Hind means India. The conquerer is known as the "Ghazi" and these two terms have inspired countles military expeditions and invasions of India by Islamic zealots in history, as well as the anti-Indian polemicists living in Pakistan.

The name "al-Hind" (here لهند l'Hind) on an Umayyad coin minted in India, from the time of the first invader of Sindh Muhammad ibn Qasim in 715 CE.

Coins of Mohammad bin Qasim - al Hind

 How India's Current Name was Chosen?

After the Independence of the country, the Constituent Assembly set up a drafting committee under the chairmanship of B R Ambedkar on August 29, 1947. However, the section, ‘name and territory of the Union’ was taken up for discussion only on September 17, 1949. Hari Vishnu Kamath, a member of the Forward Bloc suggested that the first article be replaced as ‘Bharat, or in the English language, India, shall be and such.’ Seth Govind Das, representing the Central Provinces and Bihar, on the other hand, proposed: “Bharat known as India also in foreign countries”. Hargovind Pant, who represented the hill districts of the United Provinces, made it clear that the people of Northern India, ‘wanted Bharatvarsha and nothing else’.

It is worth noting though, that ‘Hindustan’ was not a favorite among the elected parliamentarians in the debates. “Hindustan received different treatments during the constituent assembly,” writes Ojha. She adds that “three names had been at the start of the race, but at the end two had been placed on equal footing and one dropped.” 

My Conclusion

Its incredible that the Indian civilization survived thousands of invasions and conquests for over 5,000 years and still breathes young in freedom. Its trading partners and conquerers called it by different names from Sumerian Muleha, Aryan Sapta Sindhu, Bharatvarsha, Jambudwipa, Gyagar and Phagyul, Tianzhu, Hodu, Hind, al-Hind, and Hindustan; but were never able to alter the core heritage of the people.

India is a free republic now and its up to its leaders to define how they would like to be called by the world.  "Bharat" only describes the NW India inhabited by Aryan Tribe "Bharata" and may not be acceptable to the South Indians. Some could consider the Persian terms "Hindu" and "Hindustan" derogatory terms to be referred to as. But then it accurately depicts the people of India living south of river Sindh. But then should'nt it be changed to "Sindhu" and "Sindhu-sthan" or "Sindhu-Desh" or "Sindhu-varsha"? 

I would love to see your preference in the comments .. thanks.