Hindu

:This article is about the followers of Hinduism; for other meanings of the word, see Hindu (disambiguation).

Origins of the word Hindu

The origin of the word Hindu is still disagreed upon by some linguists. It is generally accepted as having originally been a Persian word for someone who lives around or beyond the river Indus, which is called Sindhu in Sanskrit, and meant any inhabitant of the Indian subcontinent, before Islam arose.

Related Topics:
Persian - Indus - Sindhu - Islam

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The term Hindu (Indu or Intu in China) is still used in some languages to denote an

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Indian. The Greek term "India" was originally pronounced Hindia, in classical Greek, there was no character for "H". In Farsi and Arabic, the term "Hind" denotes the Indian subcontinent.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Until about 19th century, the term Hindu implied a culture and ethnicity and not a religion. When the British government started periodic census and established a legal system, need arose to define Hinduism as a clearly-defined religion, along the lines of Christianity or Islam. Some scholars like Bal Gangadhar Tilak, defined it as a religion based on the Vedas, using the analogy of Bible being the basis of Christianity and Koran being the Muslim scripture.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

That even an atheist may be called a good Hindu is an example of the fact that Hinduism is far beyond a simple religious system, but actually an extremely diverse and complicated river of evolving philosophies and ancient traditions.

Related Topics:
Atheist - Philosophies - Tradition

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~