According to reports, the nation, which juggles several titles with ancient and modern origins, may get a new name. However, what are these names, and where do they originate?
According to recent rumours that have been sparked by invitations for the G20 meeting that urged people to join the "President of Bharat" for dinner, India may soon be renamed "Bharat" by the Narendra Modi administration.
The name of the nation may be changed during an upcoming "special session" of parliament, according to a number of Indian media sources, however this has not been confirmed by officials.
While the prime minister claims that India has "left behind" former rulers Britain in an effort to move away from the nation's colonial past, the Modi administration has steadily chipped away at the legacies of former governments and leaders in recent years by changing the names of official landmarks and buildings of national importance.
While opposition politicians across India have reacted angrily to the rumoured name change, some senior BJP figures have welcomed it.
What is India's full name?
The Indian Constitution stipulates that the nation's formal name is "India, that is Bharat," and that it "shall be a Union of states." After India acquired independence in 1947, there was much discussion before the 1951 writing and publication of the Indian Constitution.
In his book Discovery of India, Nehru—who was also a historian—had written: "Often, as I wandered from meeting to meeting, I spoke to my audiences of this India of ours, of Hindustan and of Bharata, the old Sanskrit name derived from the mythical founders of the race." He had mentioned the three most well-known names: Hindustan, India, and Bharat, each of which had its own historical, geographical, and linguistic significance to the nation.
When referring to the Republic, its ministries, and both internal and international correspondence, all official documents for the nation written in English use the term "India" and identify political leaders as being from India. The term "India" is the recognised indicator of citizenship on legitimate identification documents such as passports and voting cards.
However, in documents written in Hindi, one of India's 22 official languages along with English, "Bharat" is used in place of "India."
What is the origin of the names India and Bharat?
The word "Bharat", "Bharata", or "Bharatvarsha" is found in the oldest records used to name the nation. These terms have been included with "India" in the Constitution.
Sanskrit meaning "country," Bharat, derives from the Mahabharata, one of India's two great epics, and ancient Puranic literature. According to Hindu mythology, the mythological ruler Bharat is credited with founding the Indian race. It is dated to early Hindu literature, according to many historians. In Hindi, the word also denotes "India."
Since the time of the Ancient Greek historians, terms like the name "India" have been used to refer to the entire subcontinent. The name "India" derives from the river Indus (now Sindhu). When the British began to control the nation in the late 18th century, the English form "India" became more important and was frequently seen on historical maps. After winning independence, the nation's new leaders retained the practise and included it in official writing.
Who is calling for the usage of Bharat?
The Modi administration is reportedly pressing for the name change after decades of the nation being known as India both inside and beyond its boundaries.
The BJP of Mr. Modi's right-wing political figures contend that the term "India" was coined by British colonialists, that it is a "symbol of slavery," and that changing the name is an attempt to recapture India's Hindu history. Several of Mr. Modi's ministers have switched the word "India" to "Bharat" in their social media bios over the past several weeks.
Several leaders in Mr. Modi's party have publicly demanded that the nation only be referred to as "Bharat" without articulating how official papers, notable national structures, hospitals, colleges, and universities having the name "India" in their names will be renamed.
On Tuesday, after images were widely circulated on social media showing an official invitation for India's G20 summit asking foreign dignitaries to join the "President of Bharat" with no mention of India on the card, several right-wing leaders of the ruling party cheered on the potential use of "Bharat" as the only official name for the country.
The photo of the invitation and recent media stories about a "special session" of the Indian parliament have also fueled rumours that the BJP intends to use the session to formally rename the nation.
Why is it making headlines right now?
There have been sporadic requests for the name change for a number of years, but the discussion has recently erupted after images circulated on social media showed an official invitation for India's G20 summit asking foreign dignitaries to join the "President of Bharat" for dinner but omitting any mention of India.
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