On the origin / meaning of the word “Hindu”

by Seva Lamberdar Sat Nov 19, 2016 4:42 pm

It is generally presumed that the word “Hindu” for people of the Subcontinent originated from “Sindhu” when foreigners long ago mispronounced the name of a northwestern river Sindhu as Hindu. This is based on the claim that foreigners did not have “s” letter / sound in their language or had “s” morph as “h” in it, as mentioned in excerpts (1) & (2) below (in ‘italics’) from the article “Meaning and the origin of the word Hindu” -- http://www.shraddhananda.com/Meaning_and_Origin_Of_The_Word_Hindu.html

(1) "It is said that the Persians used to refer to the Indus river as Sindhu. Indus is a major river which flows partly in India and partly in Pakistan. However, the Persians 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." The ancient Persian Cuneiform inscriptions and the Zend Avesta refer to the word "Hindu" as a geographic name rather than a religious name. When the Persian King Darious 1 extended his empire up to the borders of the Indian subcontinent in 517 BC, some people of the Indian subcontinent became part of his empire and army. Thus for a very long time the ancient Persians referred to these people as "Hindus". The ancient Greeks and Armenians followed the same pronunciation, and thus, gradually the name stuck.

(2) "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."

However, a careful look in the above indicates that there is no possibility of foreigners mispronouncing Sindhu, especially as Hindu, due to not knowing “s” sound directly or “s” morphing as “h” in their language.

The ancient Persians, for example (1, above), were adept in using "s" sound / letter in their language in words / phrases "Zend-Avesta" and “Darious". Moreover, as the followers of Zoroastrianism religiously, they would be familiar with “s” sound (letter) in various religious names and practices e.g. “Zoroaster”, “Zarathustra” and "yasna" etc. Thus it makes little sense to claim that ancient Persians were lacking knowledge of “s” leading to their mispronouncing "Sindhu" as "Hindu".

The Greeks similarly would not have uttered “s" (in “Sindhu”) incorrectly as “h”, considering that they were also familiar with “s” sound and used it expressly in the ancient words / phrases e.g. “Indos” (or “Indus”) etc. (2, above). In addition, they explicitly had the letter “sigma” for “s” sound in their language (Greek).

Others arriving in India in the past too were aware of “s” sound and used the corresponding letter “s” in their respective languages. The Muslim Arabs and Persians had “sin” and “svad” etc. for “s” sound in Arabic and Farsi. The Jews also had a letter, “samekha”, for “s” sound in Hebrew. Various other Europeans also knew and used “s” sound / letter in Latin and other scripts for their languages.

Thus, considering especially the explicit “s” sound in words / names “Indos” and “Indus” etc. used by the foreigners long ago (excerpts 1 & 2), there is no reason to think that foreigners were unaware of “s” sound or that “s” morphed as “h” in their language, resulting in them mispronouncing “Sindhu” as “Hindu” and thus giving rise to “Hindu”. Suffice to say, “Sindhu” was not the reason for the origin of “Hindu”.

It is obvious that someone in the past forgot about the prior long-time existence of “Hindu” as a word and instead, while also ignoring the deep religious connection of “Hindu” with people, came up with the lame and flawed explanation, probably due to the words “Sindhu” and “Hindu” looking and sounding somewhat similar but totally unrelated, that “Hindu” might have originated from “Sindhu” when foreigners (hypothetically lacking knowledge about “s” sound or “s” morphing as “h” in their language) mispronounced “Sindhu” as “Hindu”, but there is nothing to justify that claim, as indicated earlier.
Needless to say, we should look therefore elsewhere or for another explanation about the correct origins of “Hindu”. Since “Hindu” is also closely connected with people religiously, there is a strong possibility that it could have its roots in religion. Perhaps “Hindu” initially might have appeared long time ago as "H + Indu" (or “H” + “Indu”) to imply person(s) propitiated by partaking Indu (another name for the Vedic libation Soma: “Significance of Hindu and Hindu dharma (Hinduism)” -- http://www.geocities.ws/lamberdar/hindu_hinduism.html).

Since Indu or Soma juice used to be an integral part of Vedic religious rituals / services and was distributed among devotees after yajna (religious service) -- the same ancient tradition continues uninterruptedly even today in the form of distributing and partaking "panchamrit" / "charnamrit" (holy libation) following a Hindu religious activity / service -- it is quite likely that “Hindu” indeed had religious roots, specifically as “H” (‘h’ as in hut and, in Sanskrit, as a prefix implying auspiciousness or delight) + “Indu” (the Vedic libation Soma); “Hindu” thus originally meaning literally “person(s) propitiated by partaking Indu (or Vedic libation Soma)”.

It follows naturally therefore that ‘Hindu dharma’ (or dharma / religion associated with “Hindu” which has its roots in the Vedas and Vedic rituals, as discussed earlier) is really the Vedic dharma (dharma based on and according to the Vedas) as well as the ‘Sanatan dharma’ (dharma based on the “Sanatan” or eternal knowledge of the Vedas), implying that all the different names (‘Hindu dharma’, ‘Sanatan dharma’ and ‘Vedic dharma’) are interchangeable (“Farming and philosophy in India during ancient times” by Subhash C. Sharma -- http://creative.sulekha.com/farming-and-philosophy-in-india-during-ancient-times_527016_blog)

: Subhash C. sharma

by Seva Lamberdar Mon Nov 21, 2016 9:58 am

There also is no evidence that “s” sound or letter at the beginning of a word or name in the ancient foreign languages / people morphed as “h” (sound / letter) or was not used at all due to linguistics / phonetics or phonological reasons thus supposedly leading foreigners to mispronounce “Sindhu” as “Hindu” or “Indos” etc., since the ancient foreigners already had / used words and names starting with “s” sound (letter) explicitly in their respective languages, including the ancient Persians using / having the words Spenta (meaning Bounteous) and Sraosha (meaning Observance) etc. in their language, the Greeks using Spartacus etc. in Greek, Jews and various other Europeans using Samuel and Samson etc., and the Muslim Arabs and Farsi speaking Persians using Surah and Salam etc.

by TruthSeeker Mon Nov 21, 2016 11:36 pm

Whats the origin of the word "Muslim" ?

Why are we so attached to "labels" ?

Any label based on birth, is meaningless, isnt it?

Sharma, Verma, Kumar, Iyer, Iyenger, Pillai, Reddy - all are birth related.

So is a Hindu or a Muslim.

We must analyze qualities in Gods and Goddesses, hence in Humans.

Then the shape of the statue, or the history of a label.

Based on birth.

Any analysis of anything that is based on birth, is meaningless.

Regards,
TS.

by Seva Lamberdar Tue Nov 22, 2016 10:27 am

TS,

I undertook this investigation on the meaning and origin of "Hindu" (https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/origin-meaning-word-hindu-dr-subhash-c-sharma) to show mainly that there are serious limitations / flaws in the current thinking about the word "Hindu" (supposedly originating from "Sindhu" due to foreigners' mispronouncing of the latter, unintentionally or otherwise) and that in reality it could have different origins and meaning. Nothing else to say!

by TruthSeeker Mon Nov 28, 2016 1:03 am

You or I could be "BORN" (in caps, and double quoted) as a Muslim.

Thats my "ONLY" point.

"BORN".

"BORN" - "Based on Birth".

Regards,
TS.

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