Wikipedia:India - South Asia nomenclature

Republic of India
*Bhārat Gaṇarājya*
Republic of India Bhārat Gaṇarājya
	Area controlled by India shown in dark green;; claimed but uncontrolled regions shown in light green.
ISO 3166 code	IN

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This page in a nutshell: There is repeated discussion over the usage of the terms "India," "Indian subcontinent," and "South Asia." The purpose of this essay is to collect advice and discussions on the usage of these terms: when is which term appropriate. In time, this essay may be upgraded to a style guideline.

Indian Cultural Sphere
Greater India
Indian cultural extent Dark orange: The Indian subcontinent Light orange: Southeast Asia culturally linked to India Yellow: Regions with significant Indian cultural influence
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India may refer to, or be used interchangeably with, Republic of India (Bhārat Gaṇarājya) (main usage), Indian subcontinent, South Asia, and Greater India.

India

Contemporary referents

India may refer to, or used interchangeably with:

Republic of India (Bhārat Gaṇarājya) (main usage; "Republic of India" redirects to India)
Indian subcontinent
South Asia
Greater India

Historical referents

In a historical context, India may also refer to:

Epic India, prehistoric India as described in mythological epics
Mahajanapada, the ancient kingdoms and republics of India
Hindustan, a name used for the northern and northwestern Indian subcontinent. Consists today of mostly of Northern India and Eastern Pakistan
British Raj, officially known as the British Indian Empire
Former Dominion of India or Union of India (1947 to 1950), the Republic of India before the adoption of its constitution

Alternate names for India

Bharat: Ganges Valley (Bharata clan), or Indian subcontinent
Hindustan, the northern and northwestern Indian subcontinent. Consists today of mostly of Northern India and Eastern Pakistan

Indian subcontinent

The Indian subcontinent or the subcontinent, also called the Indian continent, is a southern region of Asia, mostly situated on the Indian Plate and projecting southwards into the Indian Ocean from the Himalayas. Geologically, the Indian subcontinent is related to the land mass that rifted from Gondwana and merged with the Eurasian plate nearly 55 million years ago.^[1] Geographically, it is the peninsular region in south-central Asia delineated by the Himalayas in the north, the Hindu Kush in the west, and the Arakanese in the east.^[2] Politically, the Indian subcontinent usually includes Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.^[3]^[4]^[5]

Sometimes, the term South Asia is used interchangeably with Indian subcontinent.^[6] There is no consensus about which countries should be included in each.^[7]^[8]^[9]

South Asia

For discussions, see ^{[Discussions 1]}

South Asia or Southern Asia is a term used to represent the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan SAARC countries and, for some authorities, adjoining countries to the west and east. Topographically, it is dominated by the Indian Plate, which rises above sea level as Nepal and northern parts of India situated south of the Himalayas and the Hindu Kush. South Asia is bounded on the south by the Indian Ocean and on land (clockwise, from west) by West Asia, Central Asia, East Asia, and Southeast Asia.

The current territories of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka form South Asia.^[10] The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is an economic cooperation organisation in the region which was established in 1985 and includes all eight nations comprising South Asia.^[11]

Greater India

The term Greater India is most commonly used to encompass the historical and geographic extent of all political entities of the Indian subcontinent, and the regions which are culturally linked to India or received significant Indian cultural influence.

Ambiguous article names

Iron Age in India/Vedic period

For discussions, see ^{[Discussions 2]}

Several terms are being used for the period of ca. 1500-500 BCE:

Vedic period (ca. 1500-500 BCE)
Iron Age in India (ca. 1300-230 BCE)

Iron Age India -> redirects to Iron Age in India
Iron Age in South Asia -> redirects to Iron Age in India

Style advice

Geographical topics

"India" for geographical and historical topics which regard the present-day Republic of India;
"Indian subcontinent" for geographical topics which include both Pakistan and Republic of India, and/or other states in the Indian subcontinent;
"South Asia" for geographical topics which include Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.

Historical topics

"India," or the historical political names of states and areas, for historical topics which regard solely the area of present-day Republic of India.
"Indian subcontinent," or the historical political names of states and areas, for historical topics which include both Pakistan and Republic of India, and other countries on the Indian subcontinent. For example:

India states "India, officially the Republic of India (Bhārat Gaṇarājya), is a country in South Asia [...] The Indian subcontinent was home to the urban Indus Valley Civilisation of the 3rd millennium BCE."
Gautama Buddha states that the Buddha was born in the Shakya republic, present-day Nepal;

"South Asia," or the historical political names of states and areas, for geographical topics which include Afganisatn, Pakistan and India

Discussions

^ Discussions on South Asia:* Talk:South Asia#We should add a section on why the term "South Asia" is controversial
^ Discussions on "Iron Age in India": Talk:Iron Age in India#Requested move 8 August 2017

Notes

References

^ Robert Wynn Jones (2011). Applications of Palaeontology: Techniques and Case Studies. Cambridge University Press. pp. 267–271. ISBN 978-1-139-49920-0.
^ Baker, Kathleen M.; Chapman, Graham P. (11 March 2002), The Changing Geography of Asia, Routledge, pp. 10–, ISBN 978-1-134-93384-6, This greater India is well defined in terms of topography; it is the Indian sub-continent, hemmed in by the Himalayas on the north, the Hindu Khush in the west and the Arakanese in the east.
^ "Indian subcontinent". New Oxford Dictionary of English (ISBN 0-19-860441-6) New York: Oxford University Press, 2001; p. 929: "the part of Asia south of the Himalayas which forms a peninsula extending into the Indian Ocean, between the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal. Historically forming the whole territory of Greater India, the region is now divided into three countries named Bangladesh, India and Pakistan."
^ Dhavendra Kumar (2012). Genomics and Health in the Developing World. Oxford University Press. p. 889. ISBN 978-0-19-537475-9.
^ Mariam Pirbhai (2009). Mythologies of Migration, Vocabularies of Indenture: Novels of the South Asian Diaspora in Africa, the Caribbean, and Asia-Pacific. University of Toronto Press. p. 14. ISBN 978-0-8020-9964-8.
^ John McLeod, The history of India, page 1, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2002, ISBN 0-313-31459-4
Milton Walter Meyer, South Asia: A Short History of the Subcontinent, pages 1, Adams Littlefield, 1976, ISBN 0-8226-0034-X
Jim Norwine & Alfonso González, The Third World: states of mind and being, pages 209, Taylor & Francis, 1988, ISBN 0-04-910121-8
Boniface, Brian G.; Christopher P. Cooper (2005). Worldwide destinations: the geography of travel and tourism. Butterworth-Heinemann. ISBN 978-0-7506-5997-0.
Judith Schott & Alix Henley, Culture, Religion, and Childbearing in a Multiracial Society, pages 274, Elsevier Health Sciences, 1996, ISBN 0-7506-2050-1
Raj S. Bhopal, Ethnicity, race, and health in multicultural societies, pages 33, Oxford University Press, 2007, ISBN 0-19-856817-7
Lucian W. Pye & Mary W. Pye, Asian Power and Politics, pages 133, Harvard University Press, 1985, ISBN 0-674-04979-9
Mark Juergensmeyer, The Oxford handbook of global religions, pages 465, Oxford University Press US, 2006, ISBN 0-19-513798-1
Sugata Bose & Ayesha Jalal, Modern South Asia, pages 3, Routledge, 2004, ISBN 0-415-30787-2
^ Ewan W. Anderson; Liam D. Anderson (2013). An Atlas of Middle Eastern Affairs. Routledge. p. 5. ISBN 978-1-136-64862-5., Quote: "To the east, Iran, as a Gulf state, offers a generally accepted limit to the Middle East. However, Afghanistan, also a Muslim state, is then left in isolation. It is not accepted as a part of Central Asia and it is clearly not part of the Indian subcontinent".
^ Michael Mann (2014). South Asia’s Modern History: Thematic Perspectives. Taylor & Francis. pp. 13–15. ISBN 978-1-317-62445-5.
^ Jona Razzaque (2004). Public Interest Environmental Litigation in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Kluwer Law International. pp. 3 with footnotes 1 and 2. ISBN 978-90-411-2214-8.
^ "Afghanistan". Regional and Country Profiles South Asia. Institute of Development Studies.;
"Composition of macro geographical (continental) regions, geographical sub-regions, and selected economic and other groupings: Southern Asia". United Nations Statistics Division.;
Arnall, A (24 September 2010). "Adaptive Social Protection: Mapping the Evidence and Policy Context in the Agriculture Sector in South Asia". Institute of Development Studies (345).;
"The World Bank".;
"Institute of Development Studies: Afghanistan".;
"Harvard South Asia Institute: "Afghanistan"".;
"The BBC. "Afghanistan"".;
"The Brookings Institution".;
"CIA "The World Factbook"".
^ SAARC Summit. "SAARC". SAARC Summit. Retrieved 17 December 2013.

[10] Discussions on South Asia:* Talk:South Asia#We should add a section on why the term "South Asia" is controversial

[13] Discussions on "Iron Age in India": Talk:Iron Age in India#Requested move 8 August 2017

[Jones2011p267-1] Robert Wynn Jones (2011). Applications of Palaeontology: Techniques and Case Studies. Cambridge University Press. pp. 267–271. ISBN 978-1-139-49920-0.

[Chapman,_Graham_P._p._10-2] Baker, Kathleen M.; Chapman, Graham P. (11 March 2002), The Changing Geography of Asia, Routledge, pp. 10–, ISBN 978-1-134-93384-6, This greater India is well defined in terms of topography; it is the Indian sub-continent, hemmed in by the Himalayas on the north, the Hindu Khush in the west and the Arakanese in the east.

[Oxford-3] "Indian subcontinent". New Oxford Dictionary of English (ISBN 0-19-860441-6) New York: Oxford University Press, 2001; p. 929: "the part of Asia south of the Himalayas which forms a peninsula extending into the Indian Ocean, between the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal. Historically forming the whole territory of Greater India, the region is now divided into three countries named Bangladesh, India and Pakistan."

[dkumar889-4] Dhavendra Kumar (2012). Genomics and Health in the Developing World. Oxford University Press. p. 889. ISBN 978-0-19-537475-9.

[pirbhai14-5] Mariam Pirbhai (2009). Mythologies of Migration, Vocabularies of Indenture: Novels of the South Asian Diaspora in Africa, the Caribbean, and Asia-Pacific. University of Toronto Press. p. 14. ISBN 978-0-8020-9964-8.

[mcleodplus-6] John McLeod, The history of India, page 1, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2002, ISBN 0-313-31459-4
Milton Walter Meyer, South Asia: A Short History of the Subcontinent, pages 1, Adams Littlefield, 1976, ISBN 0-8226-0034-X
Jim Norwine & Alfonso González, The Third World: states of mind and being, pages 209, Taylor & Francis, 1988, ISBN 0-04-910121-8
Boniface, Brian G.; Christopher P. Cooper (2005). Worldwide destinations: the geography of travel and tourism. Butterworth-Heinemann. ISBN 978-0-7506-5997-0.
Judith Schott & Alix Henley, Culture, Religion, and Childbearing in a Multiracial Society, pages 274, Elsevier Health Sciences, 1996, ISBN 0-7506-2050-1
Raj S. Bhopal, Ethnicity, race, and health in multicultural societies, pages 33, Oxford University Press, 2007, ISBN 0-19-856817-7
Lucian W. Pye & Mary W. Pye, Asian Power and Politics, pages 133, Harvard University Press, 1985, ISBN 0-674-04979-9
Mark Juergensmeyer, The Oxford handbook of global religions, pages 465, Oxford University Press US, 2006, ISBN 0-19-513798-1
Sugata Bose & Ayesha Jalal, Modern South Asia, pages 3, Routledge, 2004, ISBN 0-415-30787-2

[anderson5-7] Ewan W. Anderson; Liam D. Anderson (2013). An Atlas of Middle Eastern Affairs. Routledge. p. 5. ISBN 978-1-136-64862-5., Quote: "To the east, Iran, as a Gulf state, offers a generally accepted limit to the Middle East. However, Afghanistan, also a Muslim state, is then left in isolation. It is not accepted as a part of Central Asia and it is clearly not part of the Indian subcontinent".

[mmann-8] Michael Mann (2014). South Asia’s Modern History: Thematic Perspectives. Taylor & Francis. pp. 13–15. ISBN 978-1-317-62445-5.

[Jona_Razzaque_2004-9] Jona Razzaque (2004). Public Interest Environmental Litigation in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Kluwer Law International. pp. 3 with footnotes 1 and 2. ISBN 978-90-411-2214-8.

[unreports.studycenters-11] "Afghanistan". Regional and Country Profiles South Asia. Institute of Development Studies.;
"Composition of macro geographical (continental) regions, geographical sub-regions, and selected economic and other groupings: Southern Asia". United Nations Statistics Division.;
Arnall, A (24 September 2010). "Adaptive Social Protection: Mapping the Evidence and Policy Context in the Agriculture Sector in South Asia". Institute of Development Studies (345).;
"The World Bank".;
"Institute of Development Studies: Afghanistan".;
"Harvard South Asia Institute: "Afghanistan"".;
"The BBC. "Afghanistan"".;
"The Brookings Institution".;
"CIA "The World Factbook"".

[SAARC_Summit-12] SAARC Summit. "SAARC". SAARC Summit. Retrieved 17 December 2013.

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[Discussions 1]

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[Discussions 2]