In the modern world press and even in fiction in relation to the inhabitants of India, many names are used, which creates confusion. Uninformed tourists and reporters coming to India can call all the inhabitants of Hindustan Hindus, and especially ignorant ones even Indians, which involuntarily insult the Indians. Let us consider in detail how the toponym “India” was formed.
Name problem India
In ancient times in Europe, distant India had the most vague ideas. However, everything changed after the legendary campaigns of the great conqueror Alexander the Great. As a result of the campaign committed in 326-325. BC e. the entire northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent was abandoned by Alexander's empire. After the conquest of the Hellenes ( ancient name Greeks and Macedonians) had to solve the problem that arose, how to correctly call the newly conquered territory and its inhabitants?
This problem was exacerbated by the fact that in India at that time there was no centralized state, nor united people, the inhabitants of India, were divided according to tribal (national), religious and caste affiliation. Only among a narrow layer of Brahmin clergy were the beginnings of knowledge about the former union of the Aryan tribes that came to India in the 16th-15th centuries BC and conquered the interfluve of the Indus and Ganges rivers.
The Brahmins called the place of settlement of the ancient Aryan tribes - Aryavarta, a literal translation from Sanskrit: "the abode of the Aryans", "the country of the noble". However, the name Aryavarta in the 4th century BC. e. not all Brahmins used it. A number of priests who especially revere the epic Mahabharata instead of the name Aryavarta used the word "Bharat" to name the "country of the Aryans". In honor of the Aryan king Bharat, who, according to legend, united a short time between the Indus and the Ganges. By the way, this name "Bharat" is included in the constitution of India, as the legitimate second name of the modern Indian state. However, this name, both now and during the time of Alexander the Great, was used extremely rarely.
Where did the name India come from?
The Greeks, having briefly familiarized themselves with the problem of naming conquered lands, quickly found a solution using a proven geographical approach to naming new countries. In this, the largest river in the north-west of Hindustan, the Indus, helped the European conquerors. In Sanskrit, this great river was called “Sindhu” by the Greeks, adjusting this name to fit their language, discarded the first consonant and slightly altered the ending.
The result was a new word - "Indos" . So the captured lands located along the banks of the Indian River, the Greeks began to call India. The Greeks themselves began to call the Indians “Indoi”, “People of the Indus”, and also used colloquial variants: “Indus”, “Indy”.
AT Latin translation Greek word"Indos" sounds like "Indus" "Indus", namely the Latin form of the Greek name of the country, has firmly entered many European languages and subsequently became the cause of great confusion with the names of peoples and countries. It can be noted that the combination of the Latin word "Indus" and the Greek "Nesos" (islands) gave birth to the word "Indonesia". So in our time is called the largest island nation in the world.
Indians are not Indians, or Columbus' mistake
The famous discoverer of new lands, Christopher Columbus, when he first saw, in September 1492, new island was firmly convinced that before him was not a new continent, but Western India, and therefore the newly discovered lands of America began to be called the West Indies, and its inhabitants "Indians". It is worth noting that the Spanish language was formed on the basis of Latin and latin word"Indos" passed into Spanish as a word form: " Indio" literal translation -"Indio".
AT Spanish words: "Indian" and "Indian" are transmitted in one word "Indio". This is still the cause of confusion in Spanish-speaking countries when defining the native aborigines of the Americas and the inhabitants of India. Few people know that the Old Russian (Church Slavonic) language also used the form "Indians" or "Indians" to name the inhabitants of India. Only in the late XVIII century, when it became clear to everyone what a mistake Columbus made, the word “Indians” or “Indians” began to be used in Russian in relation to the population of the Hindustan peninsula.
Indians are not Indians
However, there is still confusion in Russia between the definition of Indians and Hindus. During the reign of the British Empire, the British called all the inhabitants of India "Hindus", implying, first of all, the religious affiliation of Indians to the religion of Hinduism (in 2010, about 83% of the population professes Hinduism in India). But the word "Hindu" in the 19th century was firmly included in the lexicon European languages, namely in the designation of a native of India, and not a follower of Hinduism.
However, in India itself lives a large number of followers of various religions: Buddhists, Jains, Sikhs, Muslims, Christians and it turns out that calling all Indians the name "Hindu", we automatically call followers of Hinduism, even Christians and Muslims of Hindustan. Correct name inhabitants of India - "Indians", men - "Indian" and women "Indian", although the erroneous form "Indian" is often used.
The official name for all followers of Hinduism is "Hindu". However, Indians themselves rarely use these official terms when speaking. A tourist to a simple question to an Indian: “Who are you? Can hear: "I am a Sikh, ... Bengali, ... Tamil", and the most common word is "Hindi".
How did the name "Hindi" come about?
In Persian, the Sanskrit name for the Indus River was changed to the Hindu name. The Persians began to call the inhabitants of India the word - "Hindi". This word was borrowed by various Turkic, Arab and Mongol conquerors. During the reign of the Great Mughals in XVI-XVIII centuries the conquerors began to call the entire Indian subcontinent "Hindustan", as a combination of the words "Indus" and "country".
A lot of people, including the authors of media publications, use the words Hindu and Indian as synonyms.
I must admit that this hurts the ear and the eye, because such use is not correct, not every Indian (the locals say hindu) is an Indian ( English word Indian) and vice versa, which every doubter can personally verify by asking a Sikh in a turban or a Muslim in a white cap in India: Are you Hindu?, i.e.: "are you a Hindu?", an indignant tone will clearly let you know that you are mistaken.
So everyone should not be called Indians in a row, unless, of course, a person has his religious affiliation in literally not "written on the forehead" in the form of his confession. For example, for Shaivites it can be tripundra - three horizontal stripes of ash, for Vaishnavas 1 or 2 vertical stripes of paint or sandalwood paste, I already wrote more about tilaks. If you saw a bindu - a red (yellow) dot between the eyebrows - then this is not an iron criterion for referring to Hindus, since bindu is also worn.
The confusion is partly justified historically, since for the peoples who lived on the left side of the Indus, at that time all those who lived on the right were Hindus. But times have changed, other peoples have come with their own religions and way of life, and such a name is morally obsolete.
In order to avoid trouble, let's call everything by its proper name. - Residents of the Republic of India. - people who confess. At the same time, Indians can live anywhere, and Indians can belong to a different denomination than Hinduism.
It must be borne in mind, moreover, that the Indians are a nation, not a nationality. India is a federation and unites in its composition many nationalities: such as, for example, nationalities with ancient culture- Tamils or Keralas in southern India, there are also many tribes and nationalities, including Adivasis (that is, Indian natives), and there are also tribal formations, such as in Rajasthan and Gujarat. There are several articles about nationality and India in this section.
According to TSB " Indians, a term denoting the entire population of India, regardless of national, religious, racial or caste affiliation (including immigrants living in other countries). In Russia, until the end of the 18th - beginning of the 19th centuries. in relation to the inhabitants of India, the name "Indians" or "Indians" was common. After the term "Indians" began to be applied to the indigenous population of America, the inhabitants of India began to be called borrowed from of English language the word "Indians". But, since it is more correct to call Hindus only the followers of Hinduism, referring this name to the entire population of India is unlawful, since part of it professes others - Islam, etc.
Wikipedia gives the following data religious composition India "More than 900 million Indians (80.5% of the population) profess Hinduism. Other religions with a significant number of followers are Islam (13.4%), Christianity (2.3%), (1.9%), Buddhism ( 0.8%) and Jainism (0.4%). Religions such as Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Baha'is and others are also represented in India. Among the aboriginal population, which is 8.1%, animism is widespread."
a
"Hindus, Hindus, adherents of the Hindu religion, common in India, as well as in some other areas the globe where the Indians emigrated (on some islands of the Indian Ocean, in the countries of the South and South East Asia, in Africa, Fiji, Guyana). With great differences between the sects of the Hindus, they are united by a number of common religious dogmas, features of culture, way of life, observance of caste restrictions (see Castes). I. is sometimes called the entire population of India (Indians), but this use of the word is wrong.
It should be noted that the TSB information coincides with how the words Hindu and Indian are understood by the speakers themselves.
Thus Swami, in his work The Significance of Vedanta for the Life of Indians, sings, "When talking about our nation and religion, the term 'Hindu' is very often used. This term needs some clarification precisely in connection with what I mean by Vedantism." Hindu" - originally - the name given by the ancient Persians to the river Sindhu. In Persian, the Sanskrit "s" always turns into "h"; thus, Sindhu became Hindu. As you know, the Greeks found it difficult to pronounce the sound "h" - they released it completely. Because of this, we began to be called Hindus, Indians. ancient meaning the word "Hindu" is now gone: in the past it was used to refer to peoples living on the other side of the Indus River, but today these peoples no longer belong to the same religion. Among them, in addition to the Hindus themselves, there are Mohammedans, Parsis, Christians, Buddhists and Jains. On the one hand, it would be logical to call them all Hindus (in the literal sense of the word), but their different religious affiliation does not allow them to be called collectively. Therefore, it is also difficult to choose a common name for our religion - after all, it is, as it were, composed of various beliefs, views, rites, rituals that are not covered by a single name, church, or organization. The only thing that all these sects agree on for sure is the belief in Holy Bible- . Apparently, one thing is clear: no one has the right to be called a Hindu without recognizing the Vedas as the highest authority.
Shivaya Subramuniya Swami in the glossary to "Dance with Shiva" indicates: "Hindu. A follower of Hinduism. The traditional name in - sanatani, in Vedic times - arya, now the Hindu term is more commonly used. Obsolete Russian name- Hindu (do not confuse the concept of "Hindu", i.e., "follower of Hinduism; Indian Hindu (not Muslim or Sikh)", and "Indian", i.e., "inhabitant of India").
Hindus are sometimes called the entire population of India (Indians). This use of the word is mostly outdated: according to the norms of the modern Russian language, the term "Hindu" indicates primarily a religious affiliation.
Notes
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010 .
- The Holocaust Industry (book)
- The Holocaust Industry (book by Finkelstein)
See what "Hindus" is in other dictionaries:
HINDUS- Indigenous inhabitants of the East Indies Aryan tribe. Dictionary foreign words included in the Russian language. Chudinov A.N., 1910. INDUS are the indigenous inhabitants of the Hindustan peninsula. A complete dictionary of foreign words that have come into use in the Russian language. ... ... Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language
HINDUS- (Hindu) adherents of the religion of Hinduism, widespread in India and in the areas of settlement of Indian emigrants. Hindus are sometimes incorrectly called the entire population of India (correctly Indians) ... Big encyclopedic Dictionary
HINDUS- HINDUS, Hindus, units. Hindu, Hindu, husband. Indigenous inhabitants of India, belonging to Aryan race. Explanatory Dictionary of Ushakov. D.N. Ushakov. 1935 1940 ... Explanatory Dictionary of Ushakov
Hindus- noun, number of synonyms: 1 Hindu (1) ASIS Synonym Dictionary. V.N. Trishin. 2013 ... Synonym dictionary
Hindus- ov; pl. Indians are followers of Hinduism (originally the name of the Indians). ◁ Hindu, a; m. Hindu, and; pl. genus. juice, dates scam; and. Hindu, oh, oh. * * * Hindus (Hindus), adherents of the religion of Hinduism, common in India and in the regions ... ... encyclopedic Dictionary
Hindus- Hindus, adherents of the Hindu religion, widespread in India, as well as in some other areas of the globe where the Indians emigrated (on some islands of the Indian Ocean, in the countries of South and Southeast Asia, in Africa, on ... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia
Hindus- see India... Encyclopedic Dictionary F.A. Brockhaus and I.A. Efron
Hindus- I pl. Those who profess Hinduism; Hindus. II pl. obsolete one. Common name peoples of India, as well as immigrants from India living in other countries. 2. Representatives of these peoples; Indians. Explanatory Dictionary of Ephraim. T. F. Efremova. 2000... Modern dictionary Russian language Efremova
Hindus- Indian moustache, ov, units. hours indus, and ... Russian spelling dictionary
Hindus- ov; pl. see also Hindu, Hindu, Hindu Indians are followers of Hinduism (originally the name of the Indians) ... Dictionary of many expressions
Books
- Singh Svetlana. India today is a land of contrasts. Territory ancient traditions and advanced XXI trends century, a country of colors of the widest scope, an endless succession of diverse faces; a place where ... Buy for 405 rubles
- What do Indians think? 1336 facts. From Gandhi to Curry, Singh S. India today is a land of contrasts. The territory of the most ancient traditions and advanced trends of the 20th century, of the widest scope; a country of colors, an endless succession of diverse faces; place, where…
Director big company in Simla, Rakesh Rai, not having time to get married, brings to his house a random fellow traveler, a tipsy girl of easy behavior. Naturally, in the absence of his wife, who decided to hit the road to Delhi.
“Well, it will come to you sideways!”, I want to say with the words of the heroine of my favorite comedy, “It can’t be.” Actually, it happened.
But what's done is done, vague doubts and disappointments that's all later! Since I brought you, then come in, lie down, hello! I'll be right back,” the elite member of the society declared. And left to tune in to romance. Branches are scratching on the glass, cognac is poured into glasses, he was absent for a minute, and she seems to be sleeping. In general, we lost Rosalyn suddenly.
And although Rakesh is not a girl, she is afraid to go to court. And without that, it looks like a “stigma in a cannon”, he hides the cash, the lawyer helps him in this. And now all "hope" is on him. It is good when honor is saved, if it is securely covered by a friend. With his wife, they live quite amicably, but as they say: they met strangely, "near the reservoir. So they fell in love with each other, from the first series (two-part film). However, it is strange that the newlywed manager so quickly wanted physiological relaxation. wife for this short term it seems like she didn’t have time to turn into a vixen in a washed-out dressing gown with a rolling pin in her hand. Maybe not what a girl, not a long-legged beauty, not a model appearance, but quite a wow woman. But such a thing happened and you are welcome! Ehh, if it weren't for a vague attraction I'm used to taking without asking, get used to answering. Personal questions to ask, observe and write down in this film fell to Inspector Vinod, played by Mithun Chakraborty. The Inspector also has a girlfriend, Pretty, but he has no time to hang out with her all the time. Work is in full swing. And Pretty too. However, there will also be dancing, but later. Unexpected news excited the quiet and measured life of the Indian province and carried away into a rapid whirlwind of events.
The viewer loves detectives, and Indian detectives, especially, are as rare as Uzbek rap.
In the film, you can admire beautiful landscapes local mountain landscapes, I was especially impressed by the snow on the slopes of the mountains. Its in Indian movie I then met for the first time. Ideal conditions for skiing, and they will be too. But back to our hero, cowardly running away from his own fears. He should sing a song about hares: “but we don’t care”, but it doesn’t help, doesn’t let go. And the wine does not go down the throat and compote does not pour into the mouth. Panically afraid of prison. It is understandable, who wants to change a business suit for a striped prison uniform? We need freedom like air, especially mountain air, beneficial for health.
But the stubborn and omnipresent Inspector Vinod does not doze off and does not lose heart, keeps his nose to the wind, all in search of skeletons in the closet, rummages through dirty linen in search of evidence. But it’s impossible to say what will get to the bottom, the secret of the investigation. Watch the movie. I just wanted to remember a long time ago past times when you could come to the cinema alone or with friends and plunge into this fuss, called Indian cinema.
Perhaps, in every person lives a passion for travel. With the development of relations between countries, tourism has become one of the income items for the budget of any state. Europe, Asia, East, America, China - currently travel agencies offer tours to all destinations.
Those who wish to travel to incredible India for the first time spend hours collecting information on the Internet about food, living conditions, etc. And sooner or later the question arises: "What is the right way to say - Hindu or Indian?"
For an answer, it suffices to turn a little to history, to the study national composition, brief acquaintance with the question of the religion of this unforgettable country and directly to the inhabitants of this state.
Which is correct: Indians or Indians
India is a country with more than 1.3 billion people who are representatives of a huge number of nations: Hindustanis, Bengalis, Telugu, Marathas, Punjabis, etc. The people of India themselves call their country Hindustan or Bharat. official languages are Hindi and English.
Therefore, it is logical to call any inhabitant an Indian. Surprisingly, for the inhabitants themselves or lovers of this country, the question "Indians or Hindus, which is correct?" does not arise. After talking a little with the local population, every tourist will find confirmation of this. Any other person born and living in India will be called Indian man.
In which case - Hindu
If we consider the population of this state from the point of view of religion, then representatives of Hinduism, Islam, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, etc. live on the territory. Each representative of these religions can be called an Indian, because they are mostly born and live in India.
However, when asking a local resident about religion, you can hear the answer: "He is a Muslim, Sikh, Hindu."
It is at this moment that it is worth turning to the thousand-year history of India. Initially, "Hind" had Persian origin and denoted the valley of the river Indus. After the Muslim invasion of the lands of Hindustan, the word "Hindu" or "Hindu" appeared, which was used to denote "infidels." Perhaps, already in those days, a dispute began: "But what is the right thing: an Indian or a Hindu?" The meaning of this word was finally fixed by the British. That is what the inhabitants of Hindustan were called, making exceptions for Muslims, Sikhs, Christians and Jains, thereby uniting all other representatives of religious and philosophical trends.
Thus, we can conclude that a Hindu is a follower of Hinduism, regardless of his place of residence (Hinduism subsequently became widespread on other continents).
Who are Hindus
However, even "Hindu" is not quite an accurate, colloquial and outdated name. The fact is that in 1816, the social reformer and philosopher Ram Mohan Roy first used the term "Hinduism" in his speeches. Subsequently, the Indians began to use the concept of "Hinduism" in the struggle for independence. And for equality with other religions. Therefore, the word "Hindu" appeared, which more accurately and correctly refers to the followers of the religion of Hinduism. That is his story.
Therefore, if you try to understand the question "what is the correct name - Indians or Hindus?", Speaking about the inhabitants of the country and not focusing on religion, you should use the word "Indian". If the conversation is about religions, it is recommended to clearly define belonging to a faith and call a Hindu, or rather a Hindu, only representatives of Hinduism, but in no case Muslims, Sikhs or representatives of other faiths. locals very friendly and peaceful, but they are very emotional and sometimes touchy. They will not inflict bodily harm, but the sediment from communication will remain.
We hope that those who read this article will no longer have a question about whether they are Indians or Hindus - how to call them correctly.
