Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c13.s3.t2.3

v2.c13.s3.t2.3

After the Muslim invasion of India, they called India, “Hindustan”, following the Persian usage meaning the “place where Indians live” or “Indian country”. Later, the British called the religion followed by the majority of Indians “Hinduism” and called the country itself “India”. In ancient Chinese documents, India was called Sindhu and Tianzhu. Besides, India was also known to the Chinese as Sindo, Sidu, Sindus, Juandu, Indu, Indo, Saidu and so on. These names are transliterations of Sindhu but in different periods, different translators selected different Chinese characters. However, their pronunciations are similar.