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| Is 'India' a British Name? If so, what did the locals call it? |
Author: MonsoonLady
Revision: 1
Edited: August 17, 2018, 2:17 pm
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The name ‘India’ has ancient origins, initially named after the river ‘Sind’ and then etymologically morphing to ‘Hind’ or ‘Inde’ and then to ‘India’
India has been mentioned in Arabic, Persian Roman and Greek texts from 350 B.C. onwards. There was never a doubt in anyone’s mind as to the land of India across the Sind river and the five major rivers of Punjab, extending to the Indian Ocean.
In 350 B.C., the Greek traveller Megasthenes visited India, and a translation of the first paragraph of his book reads as“India, which is in shape quadrilateral, has its eastern as well as its western side bounded by the great sea, but on the northern side it is divided by Mount Hemodos (Himalayas) from that part of Skythia which is inhabited by those Skythians who are called the Sakai, while the fourth or western side is bounded by the river called the Indus, which is perhaps the largest of all rivers in the world after the Nile. The extent of the whole country from east to west is said to be 28,000 stadia, and from north to south 32,000.”If we analyse Megasthenes’ description of India he says, that India is the land bound by Himalayas in the North, Sea to the South, Seat to the East and River Sind to the West.
Even in Ptolemy’s Egypt from around 100 B.C, the title of the rulers was “Commander of Red and Indian seas”.
Explorers from Marco Polo onwards, to Columbus and Vasco Dama have documented their travels to ‘India’. Columbus who travelled in early 15th century even imagined that he had reached India as he reached the shores of the American continent.
Even before Britishers captured India, East India Company was created in 1600 (during the reign of Akbar in India and Queen Elizabeth – I in England) and was named after ‘India’ with the charter of trading with ‘East Indies’. At around the same time, the French had their own French East India Company.
https://www.quora.com/Is-India-a-Bri...locals-call-it |
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