
Names for India
Various names used for India / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Republic of India has two principal short names, each of which is historically significant, "India" and "Bhārat". A third name, "Hindūstān", is sometimes an alternative name for the region comprising most of the modern Indian states of the Indian Subcontinent when Indians speak among themselves. The usage of "Bhārat", "Hindūstān", or "India" depends on the context and language of conversation.

"Bhārat", the name for India in several Indian languages, is variously said to be derived from the name of either, King Dasaratha's son Bharat of Ramcharitmanas or King Dushyanta's son Bharata of Mahabharata or Rishabha's son Bharata.[1] At first the name Bhārat referred only to the western part of the Gangetic Valley,[2][3] but was later more broadly applied to the Indian subcontinent and the region of Greater India, as was the name "India". Today it refers to the contemporary Republic of India located therein. The name "India" is originally derived from the name of the river Sindhu (Indus River) and has been in use in Greek since Herodotus (5th century BCE). The term appeared in Old English as early the 9th century and reemerged in Modern English in the 17th century.