Hindustan

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other uses, see Hindustan (disambiguation).

Not to be confused with Hindu Kush.

Indo-Gangetic Plain

Hindustan pronunciation (helpinfo) ( or ) is a common geographic term for the

northern/northwestern Indian subcontinent.[1][2] The terms Hind and Hindustn were current in
Persian and Arabic at the time of the 11th century Turkic conquests.
Contents
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1Etymology

2Current usage
o

2.1Geographic area

2.2People

2.3Language

3References

4General sources

5Further reading

6External links

Etymology[edit]
Hindustan is derived from the Persian word Hind cognate with the Sanskrit Sindhu.
The Proto-Iranian sound change *s > h occurred between 850600 BCE, according to Asko
Parpola.[3] Hence, the Rigvedic sapta sindhava (the land of seven rivers) became hapta

hindu in Zend Avesta. It was said be the fifteenth domain created by Ahura Mazda, apparently
a land of `abnormal heat'.[4] In 515 BCE, Darius I annexed the Indus valley to his empire, calling
the land Hindu from the Sanskrit name Sindhu of the Indus river.[5]During the time of Xerxes the
term was applied to the lands to the east of Indus. [6]
In middle Persian, probably from the first century CE, the suffix -stn was added, indicative of a
country or region, forming the present word Hindstn.[7]
In the 11th century a satellite state of the Ghaznavids in the Punjab became known as
"Hindustan", with the capital at Lahore.[8]
The rulers of the Delhi Sultanate and the Mughal Empire called their dominion, centered
around Delhi, "Hindustan".

Current usage[edit]
Geographic area[edit]
The term "Hindustan" currently has different meanings. However, historically it has been
applied to the Gangetic Plain of North India, between the Himalayas and the Vindhyas[9]and
the Indus River basin in Pakistan.[10][11]
Alternatively, it may pertain to numerous aspects belonging to two geographical areas: the
Indus River basin (eastern Pakistan) during medieval times, or a region in northern India, east
and south of the Yamuna river, between the Vindhya mountains and the Himalayas, amongst
the places where Hindustani is spoken. This abbreviated version appears in the common
nationalist salutation of India, Jai Hind, coined by Major Abid Hasan Safrani of the Indian
National Army as a shortened version of Jai Hindustan Ki (translation: Victory to India).[12] It was
popularized by Subhas Chandra Bose, who used it on Azad Hind Radio during the Indian
independence movement. It appears in the revered song, Aye Mere Watan Ke Logon. Today, it
is widely used as a salutation and a battle cry in the Indian Armed Forces. It is also commonly
used to sign off at the end of major speeches.[citation needed]
Most formally, in the proper disciplines of Geography and History, Hindustan refers to the
region of the upper and middle Ganges valley; Hindustan by this definition is the region located
between the distinct lands of Punjab in the northwest and Bengal in the north-east. So used,
the term is not a synonym for the terms "South Asia", "India", or "Country of the Hindus" [sic],
or of the modern-day Republic of India, variously interpreted. [13]

People[edit]
Main article: Hindustani people
In one usage among Hindustani speakers in India, the term 'Hindustani' refers to an Indian,
irrespective of religious affiliation. Among non-Hindustani speakers e.g. Bengali-speakers,
"Hindustani" is sometimes used to describe persons who are from the upper Ganges, also
regardless of religious affiliation, but rather as a geographic term.
Hindustani is sometimes used as an ethnic term applied to South Asia (e.g., a Mauritian or
Surinamese man with roots in South Asia might describe his ethnicity by saying he
is Hindustani). For example, Hindoestanen is a Dutch word used to describe people of South
Asian origin, in the Netherlands and Suriname.
Within Pakistan, the term "Hindustan" is sometimes used as a synonym for the modern-day
Republic of India. Most Indians do call India as 'Hindustan', though Bharat is also sometimes
used.

Language[edit]
Main article: Hindustani language

See also: Mughal Empire

Hindustani is also used to refer to the Hindustani language(not to be confused with Hindi),
which derives from the Khariboli dialect under the Delhi Sultanate of present-day Western Uttar
Pradesh, Southern Uttarakhand and Delhi areas.