Hindustan ( [Hindust?n], [Hindust?n], ) is one of the popular names of India. Though the meaning of Hindustan has evolved over the years, today it refers primarily to India.^[1]

Etymology

Hindustan is derived from the Persian word Hindu, which is itself is derived from Sindhu, Sanskrit for the Indus River ^[2][3]. This together with a popular suffix -st?n, which is also derived from Sanskrit (Sthana), meaning land^[4][5] gave birth to the word 'Hindustan', which was rendered as Hindusthan ^[6]. Literally, the word means land of the Hindus.

Uses of the word, 'Hindustan'

The term Hindustan retains its importance as it gives culture identity to India and the Indian Subcontinent ethos, amidst the varied culture of India; along with another word that evolved from it - the adjective, Hindustani, used to define the people of Hindustan, their language, Hindustani language, and also their music, Hindustani classical music.

Ethnicity

The adjective Hindustani is a term applied to the syncretic Hindu culture of South Asia. Hindustani is sometimes also used as an ethnic term applied to South Asia. (e.g., A West Indian man with roots in South Asia might describe his ethnicity by saying he is Hindustani. For example, Hindoestanen, a Dutch word used to describe people of South Asian origin, in Netherlands and Suriname.

Geographical areas

Throughout history, Hindustan was often used to represent the people of India or the Indian Subcontinent. ^[6].

Further, it may relate to various aspects belonging to three geographical areas, namely the modern 'Republic of India'. Historically, the 'Indian subcontinent' during the medieval times. Or, a region in northern India, east and south of Yamuna river, between the Vindhya mountains and the Himalayas, where Hindi/Urdu/Hindustani language is spoken.

See also

• Hindustani
• India (disambiguation)
• Greater India

Further reading

• A Sketch of the History of Hindustan from the First Muslim Conquest to the Fall of the Mughol Empire by H. G. Keene ^[7]
• STORY OF INDIA THROUGH THE AGES; An Entertaining History of Hindustan, to the Suppression of the Mutiny, by Flora Annie Steel, 1909 E.P. Dutton and Co., New York ^[8].
• The History of Hindustan: Post Classical and Modern, Ed. B.S. Danniya and Alexander Dow. 2003, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 8120819934. ^[9].

References

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