Hindustan
Hindustan (Hindi: हिन्दुस्तान, Urdu: ہندوستان, both Hindustān [ɦɪnd̪ʊˈst̪aːn]) or Indostan, literally "Land of Sindhu (River Indus)" or "Land of Hindus", is a popular name for the Indian subcontinent. Agra and later Delhi have been traditional capital of Hindustan.[1] Though the meaning of Hindustan has evolved over the years, since the partition of India it primarily refers to the Republic of India.[2]
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[edit] Etymology
Hindustan is conventionally believed to be derived from the Old Persian word Hindu, which in turn is derived from Sindhu, the Sanskrit name for the Indus River.[3] Old Persian refers to the people living beyond the Indus as Hinduš. This combined with the Avestan suffix -stān (cognate to Sanskrit "sthān", both meaning "place")[4] results in Hindustan, as the land on the other side (from Persia) of the Indus. The term came into common use under the rule of the Mughals who referred to their dominion, centred around Delhi, as 'Hindustan'. A similar term, Indostan, was in common use during the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries to denote the countries of South Asia. Today "Indostan" is regarded as an archaism.
An alternate and infrequently cited theory on the origin of the word Hindustan puts it further the back in time. This may be based on the Sanskrit shloka from the Barhaspatya Samhita of the Rigveda (ca. 1700-1100 BC):
- Himalyam Samarabhya
- Yavadindusarovaram
- Tam Deonirmitam Desham
- Hindusthanam Prachakshate
Translation: "The country which starts from Himalayas and the borders of which reach till the Indian Ocean (Indu Sarovaram), has been created by Gods and its name is Hindusthan."[5]
[edit] Current usage
[edit] Geographic area
Historically, the term "Hindustan" is usually applied to the Gangetic Plain of North India, between the Himalayas and the Vindhyas.[6]
Further, it may relate to various aspects belonging to three geographical areas: the modern Republic of India, the Indian subcontinent during medieval times, or a region in northern India, east and south of the Yamuna river, between the Vindhya mountains and the Himalayas where Hindustani languages are spoken.
In modern Persian, Urdu and Hindi, Hindustan and its abbreviated version Hind, usually refer to the current Republic of India. The 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).[7] It was popularized by Netaji Subhash 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.
[edit] People
In its current usage in India, the term 'Hindustani' refers to an Indian, irrespective of religious affiliation.
Hindustani is sometimes used as an ethnic term applied to South Asia (e.g., a 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 Netherlands and Suriname.
In Pakistan, the term 'Hindustani' was also infrequently used to refer to Urdu-speaking people in Karachi and Hyderabad, Sindh, who migrated from India during the partition of 1947.[source?] However, these people are now commonly referred to as Muhajirs.
[edit] Language
Hindustani is also used to refer to the Hindi-Urdu language, which derives from the Khariboli dialect of Western Uttar Pradesh, Southern Uttarakhand and New Delhi areas.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Hindustan: Definition
- ^ Sindh: An Introduction
- ^ Lipner 1998, pp. 7–8
- ^ Guardian Unlimited: What does -istan" mean as in Pakistan, Uzbekistan or Afghanistan?
- ^ "Hindu Vishwa". Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America. April-June 2003. http://www.vhp-america.org/dynamic_includes/ebooks/0503hv-1_final.pdf. Retrieved 2011-12-21.
- ^ "Hindustan". Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.. 2007. http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9040520/Hindustan. Retrieved 2007-05-02.
- ^ Leonard A. Gordon (1990). Brothers Against the Raj. Columbia University Press. http://www.amazon.com/Brothers-Against-Raj-Leonard-Gordon/dp/0231074433.
[edit] Further reading
- A Sketch of the History of Hindustan from the First Muslim Conquest to the Fall of the Mughal Empire by H. G. Keene. (Hindustan The English Historical Review, Vol. 2, No. 5 (Jan., 1887), pp. 180-181.)
- 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. (as recommended by the New York Times; Flora Annie Steel Book Review, February 20, 1909, New York Times.)
- The History of Hindustan: Post Classical and Modern, Ed. B.S. Danniya and Alexander Dow. 2003, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 8120819934. (History of Hindustan (First published: 1770-1772). Dow had succeeded his father as the private secretary of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb.)
