History of Hindu Mathematics: A Source Book v1.c7.s17.t5.19

v1.c7.s17.t5.19

In the quotations from Arab scholars given above, the term *Hind* has been used for India, and *Hindi* for Indian. *Hind* is the term generally used in Arabic and Persian literature for India. In early writings distinction was sometimes made between Sind and Hind. Thus Al-Masûdî and Al-Bîrûnî used Sind to denote the countries to the west of the river Indus. This distinction is clearly in evidence in Ibn Hawkal’s map, reproduced in Elliot and Dawson’s *History of India*. There were others who did not make this distinction. Thus Istakri (912) uses Hind to denote the whole of India.³ Again in the *Shâhnâmâ* of Firdausi,⁴ Sind has been used for a river as well as for a country, and Hind for the whole of India. In later times this distinction disappeared completely. According to the lexicographers Ibn Seedeh (died 1066) and Firouzâbâdi (1328-1413), Hind is “the name of a well known nation” and according to El-Jowharee (1008) it denotes “the name of a country.” Instances of the use of *Hind* to denote India in the literature of the Arabs can be multiplied at pleasure.