Origin of the Country Name Bharat

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How the continents or nations were named is often an issue of heated debate and controversy. Many nations have changed their names with a nationalistic approach, thinking the prevailing name was imposed by foreign aggressors. Many think that the country name 'India' is forced by British colonial rule, and many think that the indigenous country name Bharat belongs to the legendary Bharat of Vedic ancestry. However, there is no consensus on who that Bharat was on whose name the entire subcontinent was named. Some think that the Vedic tribe "Bharat" is responsible for the country name 'Bharat'. In fact, the abundance of scriptural and inscriptional proof points towards a historical figure 'Bharat' who unified the country under a single rule in the ancient past and is known to all history researchers, but out of a cultural supremacist view they take, they wholesomely try to neglect the historical facts and attempt to prove a legendary personality or tribe bearing the same name is responsible for the country name. However, as the British have not imposed the country name 'India", the legendary personalities who are considered responsible for the country name 'Bharat' cannot be proven on historical grounds. We have to look at the history carefully and should give credit to the right 'Bharat' who was responsible for the country name.

First of all, we have to keep in mind that the notion of a "Nation-State" is a very recent political system that came into existence after the French Revolution.

That was India, which was hardly ever a single politically governed entity; hence, it is argued that there was never any need to have a single name for the entire subcontinent. The different states were known by their regional names, and if larger empires comprised many regions, they were known by the ruling dynastic name. The Maurya, Satvahana, Gupta, Kushana, etc. empires are fine examples to make this point. But collectively, as evidence indicates, all these political states were referred to as Bharat, Hind, India, Shendu, etc. No name was imposed by any aggressor, but as Hind, India, Shendu, etc. names were geographical identities to the outside world, Bharat was the name indigenous people used to refer to their sub-continental identity.