Do You Know Who Gave India Its Name?

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India is a diverse nation its soul resides in its cultures. This country is always decked up with festivals. It is an abode of different religions, beliefs, and traditions as well. A nation that has different identities- India, Hindustan, and Bharat, has intrigued everyone enough to find out its origin and meaning.

Historians believe that the official name of the Republic of India was derived from the Sanskrit name 'Sindhu' which is referred to as the Indus River. This country was a rich land and therefore it was known as Bird of Gold' or 'Soney Ki Chidiya' because it was rich in minerals, resources and an abundance of precious stones. Let us explore the origin of India.

To understand the origin of India, we have to go back in time when civilization was getting developed. The shift in the name happened due to the constant foreigners who invaded India. Historians believe that the first invaders were the Hunas (a tribal community that doesn't exist today).

In their vocabulary, there was no sound for 'sa' or 's', but the closest to that sound to 's' was 'h' and 'Sa' was 'Ha'. Therefore, instead of pronouncing Sindhu, they pronounced it 'Hindu'.

Others believe that in the 5th century BC, when Persians conquered both Greece and the then Indian subcontinent, 'Sindhu' became 'Hindus', to mark the 'Land of Hindus'. River Indus now runs mostly through Pakistan, Jammu & Kashmir in India and western Tibet.

Due to this 'Hindus' and the land became 'Hindustan' and the religion was called Hinduism, however, there is no evidence of when this religion came into existence.

Invaders kept coming to this land and it caught the eyes of Mongolians who had invaders like Temur Lang and Changez Khan who attacked the subcontinent between 1221 and 1327. During this time, the name 'Hindu' changed again because 'h' was not present in The Mongolian alphabet and the closest was 'i'.

Therefore, they pronounced 'Hindu' and 'Indu' and slowly, the people of this country were called 'Indians' and the land became 'India'.
Apart from the above-mentioned names, here are the other five names of India.

What Are The Five Names Of India

• Bharat
• Aryavarta
• Tenjiku
• Jambudweep

How Old Is India?

According to archaeological information, there is no exact date related to when human civilization happened in India but the earliest signs of human life in the area date to the Madrasian culture that was approximately 500,000 years ago and the organised civilization in the area happened around 7570 BC and it was known as Bhirrana time period. The first civilization, what we today know as Indus Valley Civilization was a flourishing one and it dates back to 3300 BCE.

Why Is India Called Tenjiku?

The term 'Tenjiku' or 'Tianzhu' means heaven and it came from Japan as a word for ancient India. It also means five Indias. The name was given by a merchant adventurer Tokubei (1612-1692) who was obsessive about visiting this heavenly land and due to this he took the name of Tenjiku Tokubei out of pride.