Hinglish

How Indians Named India

Class 6 Social Science · Chapter 5: India, That Is Bharat · NCERT Exploring Society: India and Beyond section 5.1

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Tanvi's pen-friend in Kenya writes: "Where exactly is your country, and what do you call it?" Tanvi opens an atlas. India is a huge land in South Asia, with the Himalayas in the north and the sea on three sides: the Arabian Sea to the west, the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Indian Ocean to the south. These natural borders make it the Indian Subcontinent.

Today, India's Constitution begins describing the country with the words: "India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States." So our country has two official names. But where did the name Bharat come from?

Very old texts like the Rigveda mention a people called the Bharatas, who lived in the north-west of the subcontinent. Later texts, like the Vishnu Purana, describe Bharatavarsha ("the land of the Bharatas") as the land north of the ocean and south of the snowy mountains, which matches the subcontinent.

Another ancient name is Jambudvipa, "the island of the jambu (jamun) tree". Over time it came to stand for the subcontinent; the emperor Ashoka used it in an inscription. Names in Indian languages come from these roots too: Bharatam in Tamil and Malayalam, Bharot in Bengali, Bharata in Kannada.

Explore: find India, then match the names.

  1. India lies near the Tropic of Cancer. Put the marker at 30°N, 75°E, in the north of India.
  2. Sort each card under the right name.

Remember

  • The Constitution says: "India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States."
  • Bharatavarsha (land of the Bharatas) and Jambudvipa (island of the jamun tree) are ancient Indian names.

Quick check

What does "Jambudvipa" mean?

  1. The island of the jamun tree
  2. The land of rivers
  3. The mountain of gold
  4. The southern sea
Answer

The island of the jamun tree. Jambu is the jamun tree; dvipa means island or land.

Think about it

Why do you think people named their land after a tree?

One answer

The jamun tree grows widely across India and was valued for its fruit and shade. Naming places after common plants, rivers or features was a natural way to describe them.

Practice

Practise with fresh questions at three levels (easy, medium, hard), some answered hands-on, with hints and worked answers. Get 4 of your last 5 right to finish the topic.