Smart_Ass_Dave t1_irus7lu wrote on October 11, 2022 at 4:54 AM

Reply to comment by Extension_Ad6338 in TIL according to the Census of India of 2001, India has 122 major languages and 1599 other languages by Sistermateriial

I mean...Greece has been called Greece since Roman times, but never by the Greeks who call it "Hellas" or more accurately Ἑλλάς (Ellás), so maybe it's not a great example of our understanding of foreign places.

Edit: To add, India is named after the "Indus River", which is actually in Modern Pakistan. Europeans imported the Persian name of Hindustan for a while, but the actual name for it locally is Bharat.

Extension_Ad6338 t1_iruxkeo wrote on October 11, 2022 at 5:59 AM

>but the actual name for it locally is Bharat.

Along with आर्यवर्त (Aryavarta), भारतवर्ष (Bharatvarsha). I'm sick and tired of ignorants claiming there was no such as thing as India before 1947 when there was clearly a national identity/idea of भारत (Bharat) encompassing the entire Indian subcontinent during the Ancient times itself. The rulers of whatever dynasty/empire/kingdom was under power proclaimed themselves as rulers of India.

barath_s t1_iryu3is wrote on October 12, 2022 at 1:27 AM

That's a very Delhi centric view.

Ask the cholas, cheras, pandyas, satvahanas, nagas etc if they claimed to be the rulers of india ?

India was not defined as being the same as your country necessarily. India as a nation defined by boundaries may not have existed necessarily but it did as an identity (one of many), culture, etc.