Hi All I have a question... When and in what situation was our country 'Bharath' rechristened as 'India' ? Any info on why this name came into use and how it got assoiciated with Bharath.
school books tell us it was the river Sindhu that gave us the name.
but if you see the last years of transition i guess hindustan became india. the mughals ruled under the name of hindustan and their succesors latinised the name I guess. but then what did alexander call this part when he invaded it? and we need to refer what were the references of batuta, marco polo and other travellers beforew the mughals? venketesh
Below is what I have read. I will try to find the citations. (long time ago, I read a excellent commentary on the Vedas by Sri Aurobindo.. there is a also short book on the Vedas by Kanchi Paramacharya.)
Firstly, "Bharatha" is a very old term. Its mentioned in the Rig veda. How do we know it referred to the entire "India" and not just some small kingdom? Because it also mentions nearly 30 rivers (from Thamiraparani in the South to the Sindhu-group in the north to Brahma putra in the East.) "Bharath" is usually thought of as the name of the first great king of the land (son of Dushyanta/Shakuntala), however there is an alternate meaning that I cannot recall..
Now, origin of India? Obviously, the origin is the river Indus. But Indus was not a Indian name as well.. the origin of that word is "Sindhu"... Sindhu means "river" in Sanskrit.
The area around the set of the Indus rivers (Indus + 5 tributaries + Saraswathi) was called the Saptha Sindhu area. Persians converted Sindhu into Hindhu (apparently, their "s" is "h" :)! They referred to the people of this land as Hindhus.. it never stood for religion, it was meant to refer to people who live there.. (as you all know, there was no name called "Hinduism" anywhere in our scriptures/puranas)
Either Persians/Greeks then called the land of the "Hindus" as "Indos"/"Indo", which then was adapted by later Europeans as India..
Long story short, our country's real name is "Bharat" and our religion does not really have a name.. some thinkers have suggested calling it "Sanatana Dharma".. since nameless-ness is not possible anymore in our times :)
Very well said Deepa. That is how much am aware also. The earliest references to Bharat are from Rig Veda and Srimad Bhagavadam.
The Rig Veda RV 3.53.12: vis'va_mitrasya raks.ati brahmedam bharatam janam, (this mantra of Vis'vamitra will protect the nation of the people of Bharatam).
Srimad Bhagavadam the famous sloka that refers to Jambudweepe, Bharata Varshe, Bharata Kande...The boundaries of the land they were referring to is according to the rivers - Srimad Bhagavadam Chapter 5, stanzas 17,18 "The people of Bharatavarsa touch with their body too the water of these rivers, which purify them by their very names. (17)Candravasa Tamraparni, Avatoda, Krtamala, Vaihayasi, Kaveri, Veni, Payaswini, Sarkaavarta, Tungabhadra, Krsna, Venya, Bhimarathi, Godavari, Nirvindhya, Payosni, Tapi, Reva, Surasa, Narmada Carmanvati (and) Sindhu, two big rivers Andha (Brahmaputra) and Sona (Sone) Mahanadi, Vedasmrti, Rsikulya, Trisama, Kausiki, Mandakini, Yamuna, Saraswati, Drsadvati, Gomati, Sarayu, Rodhaswati Saptavati, Susoma, Satadru, Candrabhaga, Marudvrdha, Vitasta, Asikni (and) Viswa are (the names of) the principal "
The Mahabharat refers to Bharat as the land of great king Bharat, who was son of Dushyanta and Shakuntala and great grandson of Vishwamitra. The Bhagavadam also refers to a rishi called Jata Bharata who may be the Bharat that Bhagavadam refers to. I also found this interesting meaning Bha - Radiance, Rath - engrossed, Bharath - one who is engrossed in spiritual splendor. (http://www.sanatan.org/en/organization.htm)
India of course came from Sindhu originally. Religion has little to do with it. In fact Hinduism itself is a name given to collective belief systems somewhat roughly based on vedic origins.
Dear Vairam Your inputs on this pls. Any reference to the name of our country in the sangam literature? I understand the land mass that represented our country then was much different but definitely some name would have been associated to this land mass. Pls share ur thoughts.
Im truly fascinated by your statement that the RIG VEDA mentioned Thaamiraparani.. which will take it into 2000 - 3000 BC. [ or even earlier ]. Older tamil works refer to thre Thaamiraparani as " PORUNAI " nathi.. and Thaamirabarani is a much later NAME! [ Similarly , many books refer to the Meenaakshi Sundreswarar Temple - it was always M Chockanaathar temple, and only changed to Sundreswarar 300 - 400 years ago..] IF actually THE [ ORIGINAL???] RIG Veda calls it Thaamiraparani, much confusion arises, for example, the SO CALLED Pandya of the Mahabaratha , [ as recently discussed ] is some one in the NORTH , not MASTER of VAIGAi & PORUNAI.. and, where do we go from there? What DO the Sangam Poets and Poetries say.. Can some one help? Ellaar See ( L R C )