Etymology of India

According to the Oxford English Dictionary (third edition 2009), the name "India" is derived from the Classical Latin India, a reference to South Asia and an uncertain region to its east; and in turn derived successively from: Hellenistic Greek India ancient Greek Indos; Old Persian Hindush, an eastern province of the Achaemenid empire; and ultimately its cognate, the Sanskrit Sindhu, or "river," specifically the Indus river and, by implication, its well-settled southern basin. The ancient Greeks referred to the Indians as Indoi, which translates as "The people of the Indus".

The term Bharat, mentioned in both Indian epic poetry and the Constitution of India, is used in its variations by many Indian languages. A modern rendering of the historical name Bharatavarsha, which applied originally to a region of the Gangetic Valley, Bharat gained increased currency from the mid-19th century as a native name for India.

Hindustan is a Middle Persian name for India, introduced during the Mughal Empire and used widely since. Its meaning has varied, referring to a region encompassing present-day northern India and Pakistan or to India in its near entirety.

Jambudvipa (जम्बुद्वीप)("berry island") was used in ancient scriptures as a name of India before Bhārata became the official name. The derivative Jambu Dwipa was the historical term for India in many Southeast Asian countries before the introduction of the English word "India". This alternate name is still used occasionally in Thailand, Malaysia, Java and Bali to describe the Indian Subcontinent.

Tenjiku is the historical East Asian name for India that comes from the Chinese transliteration of the Persian Hindu, which itself is derived from the Sanskrit Sindhu, the native name of the Indus River. Tenjiku was referred to as Wǔtiānzhú (五天竺, literally "Five Indias"), because there were five geographical regions in India known to the Chinese: Central, Eastern, Western, Northern, and Southern India. In ancient times, the Japanese and some other Asian peoples, especially devout Buddhists, traditionally used "Tenjiku" and its related terms to designate India as their "heavenly centre", referring to the sacred origins of Buddhism in the Indian subcontinent.

Hodu is the Biblical Hebrew name for India mentioned in the Book of Esther part of the Jewish Tanakh and Christian Old Testament. In Esther, 1:1 and 8.9, Ahasuerus (Xerxes) had been described as King ruling 127 provinces from Hodu (India) to Ethiopia. The term seemingly derives from Sanskrit Sindhu, "great river", i.e., the Indus River, via Old Persian Hiñd°u.

It is thus cognate with the term India.