Hindustan
Hindustan (Hindi: हिन्दुस्तान ; Urdu: ہندوستان ; IAST: Hindustān ; [ɦɪnd̪ʊˈst̪aːn]; ;) is a common geographic term for the northern/northwestern Indian subcontinent.[1][2]
Etymology
Hindustan is derived from the Modern Persian word Hindū. In Old Persian, the region beyond the Indus River was referred to as Hinduš (the Iranic equivalent of Sanskrit Sindhu[3]), hence Modern Persian Hind, Hindū. This combined with the Persian suffix -stān (meaning literally "place", and having the same origin as the Sanskrit word sthān and the English word "stand") results in Hindustan, "land of Hind". By about the first century BC, the term "Hein-tu" was used by the Chinese to refer to North Indian people.[4][5] The term came into common use under the rule of the Mughals, who referred to their dominion, centered on Delhi and Punjab, as 'Hindustan'.
Current usage
Geographic area
The term "Hindustan" has been historically applied to the Gangetic Plain of North India, between the Himalayas and the Vindhyas[6] and the Indus river basin in Pakistan.[7]
Further, it may pertain to numerous aspects belonging to three 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 language is spoken.
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).[8] 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.
Most formally, in the proper disciplines of Geography and History, Hindustan refers to the region of the upper and middle Ganges valley as well as the eastern areas of the Indus river basin; 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 terms "South Asia", "India", "Country of the Hindus" [sic], or of the modern-day Republic of India, variously interpreted.
People
In one of its current usages is 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.
However, these people are now commonly referred to as Muhajirs. As well, within Pakistan, the term "Hindustan" is sometimes used as a synonym for the modern-day Republic of India. Even many Indians still call India as 'Hindustan', though Bharat is more commonly used.
Language
Hindustani is also used to refer to the Hindustani language, which derives from the Khariboli dialect of present-day Western Uttar Pradesh, Southern Uttarakhand and Delhi areas.
See also
References
- ^ "Hindustan: Definition". Thefreedictionary.com. Retrieved 2012-05-15.
- ^ Sindh: An Introduction [dead link]
- ^ Lipner 1998, pp. 7–8
- ^ "Khotanese Texts, Volume 7", p. 23, by Harold Walter Bailey
- ^ "Foreign Influence on Ancient India", by Krishna Chandra Sagar, p. 6
- ^ "Hindustan". Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. 2007. Retrieved 2007-05-02.
- ^ A Geography of Hindustan, Ancient and Modern, American Ceylon Mission, 1843.
- ^ Leonard A. Gordon (1990). Brothers Against the Raj. Columbia University Press.
- Sources
- Lipner, Julius (1998). Hindus: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices. Routledge. ISBN 0415051827.
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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 81-208-1993-4. (History of Hindustan (First published: 1770-1772). Dow had succeeded his father as the private secretary of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb.)