Hindu The term “Hindu” was derived from an Old Persian word, used c. sixth-fifth centuries BCE , to refer to the region east of the river Sindhu (Indus). The Arabs continued the Persian usage and called this region “al-Hind” and its people “Hindi”. Later the Turks referred to the people east of the Indus as “Hindu”, their land as “Hindustan”, and their language as “Hindavi”.
None of these expressions indicated the religious identity of the people. It was much later that the term developed religious connotations. Ü Discuss... If Al-Biruni lived in the twenty-first century, which are the areas of the world where he could have been easily understood, if he still knew the same languages?
Fig. . An illustration from a thirteenth- century Arabic manuscript showing the Athenian statesman and poet Solon, who lived in the sixth century BCE , addressing his students Notice the clothes they are shown in. Are these clothes Greek or Arabian?