A History of Sanskrit Literature c9.7

c9.7

The Sindhu (now Sindh), which in Sanskrit simply means the “river,” as the western boundary of the Aryan settlements, suggested to the nations of antiquity which first came into contact with them in that quarter a name for the whole peninsula. Adopted in the form of *Indos*, the word gave rise to the Greek appellation *India* as the country of the Indus. It was borrowed by the ancient Persians as *Hindu*, which is used in the *Avesta* as a name of the country itself. More accurate is the modern Persian designation *Hindustan*, "land of the Indus," a name properly applying only to that part of the peninsula which lies between the Himālaya and Vindhya ranges.