Puzzle of Small and Big India

[Samar Abbas]

On Mon, 22 Jan 2001, K. Karttunen wrote in response to N.Joshi:
> According to Ptolemy, India consisted of two parts, India on this side
> and India on the other side of the Ganges and the latter also included
> all Southeast Asia.

 There are likewise two Indias in German maps of the early 20th century:
one, Vorderindien or Nearer India comprising the modern subcontinent, and
the other Hinterindien or Further India comprising South-East Asia. As far
as I am aware, most European languages (except English) preserve this
nomenclature. `Indonesia' is variously referred to as East Indies, Ost
Indies, etc. Likewise, the Arabic `Hind' refers to all of this territory,
indeed `Hind' is often specifically referred to as including Indonesia,
Burma, etc. in Muslim chronicles. The Persian `Hindustan' however refers
to northern India only. The English preferred to restrict `India' to their
territory, hence the perceived `reduction' in size.

Samar