The Indian Constitution recognizes two official names of India, “India” itself and “Bhārat”.
1. India
India, a beautiful country, the seat of ancient civilizations, the birthplace of many religions, and a modern, rapidly developing economy, derives its name from the river Indus. The river bears witness to thousands of years of India’s history. The Indus Valley Civilization was based near the Indus River.
The Indus River itself gets its name from the Old Persian world called Hindu which itself is derived from the Sanskrit term “Sindhu”. The word “Sindhu” was the ancient local name of the Indus River. The Indians were referred to as Indoi by the ancient Greeks which is simply "The people of the Indus”.
2. Bharat
The Indian Constitution recognizes “Bharat” as an official name of India. The name is used widely by many Indian languages. The name is derived from “Bharatavarsha”, the traditional name of the Indian subcontinent.
Two origins of the name are proposed. According to one, the name is derived from the Bhāratas, a Vedic tribe living in the region in the second millennium BCE. According to the second belief, the name Bharat is derived from the name of Bharata, a legendary emperor and the founder of the Bhārata dynasty.
What Are The Other Ancient Names Of India?
Hindustan
Hindustan is the name used by the Persians to refer to India and is also popularly used in India. The origin of the name dates back to the 3rd century BCE. The Mughals popularized the name in India during their rule. The term is derived from the two words “Hindu”, the Persian word for Sindhu and “stan" meaning “land”.
Āryāvarta
North India was earlier referred to as the Āryāvarta. The name was derived from the Indo-Aryan culture that was based in the region. According to the Manu Smriti, Āryāvarta is the area between the Vindhya ranges and the Himalayas, stretching from the Bay of Bengal in the east to the Arabian Sea in the west.
Drāvida
The Sanskrit term Drāvida refers to South India. The inhabitants of this part of India are believed to have existed prior to the arrival of the Aryans of North India. The national anthem of India also mentions the term.
Jambudvīpa
Ancient scriptures indicate that India was known as Jambudvīpa prior to it being called Bhārata. The term was popularly used and is also currently used on certain occasions by the Southeast Asians when they refer to India. Sometimes, it is also used to refer to the continent of Asia. Literally, the Sanskrit word Jambudvīpa means "the land of Jambu trees”. Here, Jambu means the Indian Blackberry tree and dvipa means "island" or “continent".
Nābhivarṣa
The name Nābhivarṣa, according to ancient texts, is another name of India that was used before India was known as Bhāratavarṣa. The name was probably based on the name of King Nabhi who was an Indian ruler and the father of Arihant Rishabha, the first Tirthankara of Jainism.
Hodu
The name Hodu, though extremely rarely used to refer to India, is the name for the country in Biblical Hebrew. The name is mention in the Book of Esther which is a part of the Christian Old Testament and the Jewish Tanakh.
Tianzhu/Tenjiku
The name is an East Asian name for India that was used historically by the Chinese to refer to India. The name is derived from the Persian word “Hindu” and is the Chinese transliteration of Hindu.
Official Name Of India In Vernacular Languages
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