Thread by @Indumakalktchi

William Jones did NOT give is the name India or Hindu.

Bharat is the indigenous name of this country. 

Bharat etymologically stands for Bha which means light or the act of being enlightened. For example, the name Bhaskara denotes the Sun.

Ratha means “one who is a connoisseur”, “one who relishes”. A beautiful example is the word Rati / Rathi. Rati means a beautiful lady, one who is pleasing, one who is to be appreciated, one who brings Very aptly, Rati, one who bring relish, divinity of desires called Kama.

Bharath thus means “ to relish light”, “to relish enlightenment” and “to relish knowledge”.

In order to understand the term Hindu, Hindustan and India, we need to go back in history a bit. In northwest of India, we have the river called Sindhu Nadi, the Indus River.

In the Persian language, the syllable 'Sa' was pronounced as 'Ha' When the Persians and Arabs came east towards the river Sindhu, they called the land around and beyond the land of river Sindhu as Hind. Hind,

the land beyond River Sindhu, Hindu Thus from the word Hind came the words Hindu and Hindustan..

When the Persians and Arabs came east towards the river Sindhu, they called the land around and beyond the land of river Sindhu as Hind. Hind, the land beyond River Sindhu, Hindu

The term Hindustan was coined to describe the Stan, the place of the area around the Sind, Hind, Indus River. The inhabitants of this area were called Hindustani.Thus from the word Hind came the words Hindu and Hindustan.

The term Hindustan was coined to describe the Stan, the place of the area around the Sind, Hind, Indus River.

The inhabitants of this area were called Hindustani.

As the word Hind travelled westward towards Greece from Persia, in the Greek language, the syllable H in the Hind was dropped and thus Hind became Ind, Inde, India.

The Greek scholars of 200 BCE, Peutinger and Ptolemy, both show India as Inde in their maps. Only thereafter, the terms Inde, Indi, India came to be. In recent times, there has been a view put forth,

that India and Indians came to be called Hind based on the word “Hind” for “Black”,“Dark” in Persian language , from “Hind-e-Falak” in Persian language which denoted “Black of the sky”, “Saturn”.

According to this view, Indians were taken as slaves to Persia and as they were darker than the Persians, these Indian slaves came to be called ‘Black’, i.e. ‘Hind’ in Persian. From there, the land of India also came to be called Hind.

The name of the mountain range Hindu Kush is cited to show how this mountain got its name Hindu Kush meaning that which causes suffering to the slaves from Hind.

Hindu - Indians
Kush - Killer (ex:khud Kushi)

Ref: @Bharathgyan