Chinese in India

[Patrick Olivelle]

Thanks for all the replies to my question about China. However, the
answers missed the point. I am not talking about contacts with people
etc. from the region(s) we have come to call China -- even if there
is a mistake, e.g. Tibet or Assam. The question is the word "chiina",
which, as far as I know, could have originated only after the
unification of China under the Quin (Chin) dynasty in the 3rd century
B.C.E. So the question again is, when did the Indians (Sanskrit
sources) come to IDENTIFY this (or any other) ethinic group as
"ciina". This goes back to the further question -- when did the
Chinese themselves refer to themselfs as "Chinese"? Was this an emic
self-identification, or, as in "India" and "Indian" purely an etic or
outsider's label? And how long did it take for this label to come to
India?

I have got some bibliographic references which I have still to track
down.  Thanks.


Patrick