Hindustan

Geographical map of Hindustan

Hindustan (Urdu: ہندوستان Hindustān [ɦɪndʊˈstaːn]) "land of Hind", is one of the names of South Asia popular in the middle-east. Though the meaning of Hindustan has evolved over the years, after the partition of India it primarily refers to the northern and central India.^[1]

Etymology

Hindustan is derived from the Persian word Hindu, which is derived from Sindhu, Sanskrit for the Indus River. Sindhu is a river in Sanskrit, in Persian it becomes Hindu.^[2] This together with a popular suffix -stān (Old Persian 'sthāna', later Persian 'stan' meaning place) ^[3][4] gave birth to the word Hindustan, which was rendered as Hindusthan.^[5] Literally, the word means land of the Indus in Persian.

Uses of the word "Hindustan"

Geographical areas

Historical term, usually applied to the Ganges Plain of North India, between the Himalayas in the north and the Deccan plateau in the south. Used variably throughout Indian history—generally in contradistinction to the Deccan of peninsular India—it gradually came to mean the whole of N India from the Punjab to Assam. The term Hindustan has also been applied to the whole Indian subcontinent.

– The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright© 2004, Columbia University Press.

Historically, Hindustan has often been used by Muslims and other Urdu speakers to represent the people of north western India and Pakistan, particularly the Indo-Gangetic Plain and Punjab.^[5]

The first known use of the term is on an inscription at Naqsh-e Rustam. The Farsi inscription, which dates to around 252 CE, was commissioned by the Persian king, Shapur I, and mentions Hindustan as one of the areas over which he rules. In this context, Hindustan likely refers to the lower Indus Valley region in modern day Pakistan rather than the Indian subcontinent.^[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.

Culture and ethnicity

The Urdu term Hindustan as opposed it's Hindi counterpart Bharat, retains its importance amongst Islamic people as it gives culture identity to India and the Indian Subcontinent, amidst the varied culture of India. The adjective, Hindustani, used to define the people of Hindustan, their language, Hindustani language, and also their music, Hindustani classical music. The adjective Hindustani is a term broadly applied to the Urdu speaking culture of South Asia, and is also freely used by Urdu speaking Indian Muslims, in the context of their Indo-Islamic heritage.

In the middle-east and Pakistan Hindustani is used as an ethnic term applied to South Asia. The Dutch language sometimes uses the word Hindoestanen to describe any person of South Asian origin.

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