The other day, I was reading about various civilizations in the Indian sub continent, and that's when this fact caught my attention. So I decided to pen it down. It is about the origination of the word 'Hindu'.
So let's take a ride all the way back to 3000 BC.
It was around 3000 - 2000 B.C, that the famous Indus Valley Civilization flourished along the banks of the River Indus which flows though Northern India. I am sure many of us have found this civilization fascinating when we were first introduced to it in our history class. It is believed that this Bronze Age civilization was later invaded by the Aryans at around 1600 B.C. The Aryans were the nomadic group that migrated from Central Asia to India. The Aryanization forced the original settlers of Indus Valley Civilization, the Dravidians, to move to southern parts of India.
So let's take a ride all the way back to 3000 BC.
It was around 3000 - 2000 B.C, that the famous Indus Valley Civilization flourished along the banks of the River Indus which flows though Northern India. I am sure many of us have found this civilization fascinating when we were first introduced to it in our history class. It is believed that this Bronze Age civilization was later invaded by the Aryans at around 1600 B.C. The Aryans were the nomadic group that migrated from Central Asia to India. The Aryanization forced the original settlers of Indus Valley Civilization, the Dravidians, to move to southern parts of India.
Now the Aryans referred to the River Indus as Hindu (also known as Sindhu in Vedic Sanskrit). Thus the word Hindu came to existence during the Aryan Civilization . Note that then the word 'Hindu' was used in geographical sense to refer to the River Indus and the inhabitants that lived in and around the Indus area.
Some of the most sacred Hindu scriptures or shastras were written during this era in Vedic Sanskrit - the Indo-European language. Therefore the Aryan Civilization is also known as the Vedic Civilization.
However, the word Hinduism (also known as as Sanatana Dharma, meaning "the eternal law", or the "eternal way" in Sanskrit) was coined and introduced into English language only in the 19th century at the time of British Raj or Rule in India.
Here's a brief timeline for quick reference
3000 BC: Dravidian speaking people develop the civilization of the Indus Valley
2500 BC: the cities of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro in the Indus Valley
2000 BC: the civilization of the Indus Valley declines
1600 BC: Indo-Aryans invade India from the west and expel the Dravidians
1500 BC: religious texts are written in Vedic, an Indo-European language
1000 BC: the Rig-Veda is composed
700 BC: the caste system emerges, with the Brahman priests at the top
600 BC: the Upanishads are composed in Sanskrit
527 BC: prince Siddhartha Gautama is enlightened and becomes the Buddha
500 BC: the ascetic prince Mahavira founds Jainism in northern India
300 BC: the Ramayana is composed
200 BC: the Mahabharata is composed
150 BC: Patanjali writes the "Yoga Sutras"
100 BC: the Bhagavath Gita is composed
200 BC: the Manu code prescribes the rules of everyday life and divides Hindus into four castes (Brahmins, warriors, farmers/traders, non-Aryans)
900 AD: the Bhagavata Purana is composed
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Seems u've done a lot of time & resaerch to do this.good job.
Great! knowledgeable
good read :)