The name India has been derived from the name of the great river Sindhu, in the northwest, which was the lifeline of the earliest civilization of India. The Persians who entered India through that route found difficulty in pronouncing the ‘S’ for which they called it as Hindu – ‘H’ in place of’S’.
The Greeks who came to India after the Persians called it as Indu or Indus. During the later period, the land came to be known as Hindustan and the people as Hindus. Similarly, the name India came from Indus.
However, ancient Indians called their land as Jambudwipa (The island of the Jambu tree) or Bharatvarsha (The land of the legendary emperor Bharata, son of Dushyanta and Sakuntala). Some believe that the name Bharat has been taken from the name of an ancient tribe called the Bharatas.