|
The Indians who migrate to western countries or visit them often find
it amusing
to see some westerners struggling to pronounce their names. Even
the simplest names are often mispronounced by some, making one wonder
how it can be possible. Interestingly the word "Hindu" came
into existence because of mispronunciation of a Sanskrit word by the ancient
Persians some 3000 to 4000 years ago.
The word "Hindu" is not a Sanskrit word. It is not found in
any of the thousands of native dialects and languages of India. Neither
it is a religious word. It is a secular word whose origin is rooted in the
language of the ancient Persians, who supposedly shared
some common ancestry with the ancient Indians. It was practically
unknown in India till the medieval period, although it was used in
several countries outside the Indian subcontinent from earlier times. It
is said that the Persians who were familiar with the Indian
subcontinent, used to refer to the Indus river as Sindhu, a major river that
still flows in the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent,
partly in India and partly in Pakistan. However due to linguistic
barriers, they could not pronounce the letter "S" correctly in
their native tongue and mispronounced it as "H." Thus, for the
ancient Persians, the word "Sindhu" became
"Hindu."
Probably the Indus people who lived on the banks of the river Indus
were known to the outside world by the same name. The ancient Persian Cuneiform
inscriptions and the Zend Avesta refer to the word "Hindu" as
a geographic name rather than a demographic or religious name. When the
Persian King Darious 1 extended his empire up to the borders of the
Indian subcontinent in 517 BC, some Hindus became part of his empire and
army. Thus for a very long time the ancient Persians referred to the people
of the Indian subcontinent as Hindus. The ancient Greeks and Armenians
followed the same pronunciation. Gradually the name stuck.
Interestingly the word "India" has the same origin as the
Hindus. Those who feel appalled at the idea of someone referring to all
Indians as Hindus should read this. Just as the ancient Persians and
probably Sumerians mispronounced the word Sindhu, the ancient Greeks
used to mispronounce the river Sindhu as Indos. When Alexander invaded
India, the Macedonian army referred to the river as Indus and the land east
of the river as India. The Greek writers who wrote about Alexander
preferred to use the same name. For the Arabs the land became Al-Hind. The Muslim rulers and travelers who came
to
India during the medieval period referred the Indian subcontinent as
"Hindustan" and the people who lived there as Hindus. The
British continued the practice and referred in the beginning all the natives
as Hindoos. Later they began using the word more as a religious term to distinguish them
from Muslims as well as Christians,. At the same time they used the word
"Indian" in a wider and more secular context to refer all the
people who were native to the land. The distinction suited them well to
lump all natives as Indians to distinguish them from the rest of their
colonial subjects for administrative purposes, while the word Hindoo
served them well to implement their policy of divide and rule within
India.
For a long time for the native Indians, the Indian subcontinent was
Bharata, the land founded by the famous King Bharata, the progenitor of
the Bharata clan. Literally translated, the word "Bharata"
meant lover of knowledge and the people inhabiting the land considered
themselves as such. They believed the religion they followed was an
eternal religion and called it as "sanatana dharma," which
meant the same.
It is interesting to note that the word is neither Sanskrit nor Dravidian and did not originate in India. It was not used by Indians in their descriptions or writings till the 17th century. If we go by the original definition of the word Hindu, any one who lives in the subcontinent is a Hindu and whatever religion he or she practices is Hinduism. The word Hindu is a secular word and literally translated it means Indian and the word Hinduism denotes any religion or religions that are practiced by the multitude of people living in the land beyond the river Indus. In
today's India, the word Hindu is most misunderstood and misused. Many
people have no idea how the word came into existence. The Indus river,
with which the word is associated, now flows mostly in Pakistan although
it originates in India. It is no more part of the native pride. It is
almost forgotten or overlooked and its place is being taken over by the
river Ganga. The word "Hindutva" has lost its purity and
purpose.
Politicians use both the words Hindu and Hindutva with communal overtones either to promote
or oppose some ideology or party. Many Hindus who proudly proclaim
themselves as the swadeshis (sons of the soil) do not know that the word
Hindu is actually videshi (foreign). People have no problem being
referred to as Indians. But it will be a huge mistake if someone refers
to all Indians as Hindus, because the word "Hindu" is no more
viewed as a secular word by the present day Indians. This is one legacy
of divide and rule policy of the British that Indians cannot do away
with. They may go on changing the street names and place names all over
the country, even the most historical ones, into native names to
obliterate all traces of the colonial past from the country. But they
cannot, as a nation, accept the word "Hindu" as a secular word
denoting the people of India. It will probably live forever, as a
communal word, to identify only those who profess faith in what we today
identify as Hinduism.
Suggested Further Reading
|
