What are the origin and meaning of the word "Hindu"?
             In Sanskrit, the original language of India, 'Sanatana' means "Everlasting" and 'Dharma', by a crude translation, means "Religion." The term "Hindu" was coined by the Persians after the "Indus" or "Sindu" River. The word Hindu is not a religious word. It is derived from the word Sindhu, which is the name of a major river that flows in the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. Basically, the word Hindu originated from around CE 1200 and the word means Indian in Persian.
             In Vedic times, Indra was the supreme ruler of the gods. He was the leader of the Devas, the god of war, the god of thunder and storms, the greatest of all warriors, the strongest of all beings. He was the defender of gods and mankind against the forces of evil. Basically, Indra was the God of storms and war of the Aryan religion.
             Sanskrit is the ancient language of India (the language of the Vedas, texts sacred to Hindus, and of some early Buddhist texts); an official language of India, although it is now used only for religious purposes.
             The Vedas are the original scriptures of Hinduism on which the entire Hindu way of life is based. The ethical way of living as suggested in the Vedas is called dharma. The Vedas are four collections of writings composed between about 1500 and 500 B.C., which form the basis for Hindu beliefs, and which reveal a gradual development of religious ideas. There are four Vedas: Rig Veda, Sama Veda, Yajur Veda, and Artharva Veda. Vedas means "knowledge."
             The second major force promoting Hinduism was the invasion of the Aryans, nomadic warriors, who invaded India during the second millennium before Christ and settled in Punjab. The Aryans compiled the Vedas between 1000 BC and 500 BC. Aryan means noble. The Vedic texts were preserved as the main evidence for the original Aryan faith.
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