Question

In what ways has the meaning of the term 'Hindustan' changed over the centuries?

Answer 1

The term 'Hindustan' was used for the first time by Minhaj-i Siraj, a thirteenth-century Persian chronicler. He, with this term, meant the areas of Punjab, Haryana and the lands between the Ganga and Yamuna.

Later in the sixteenth century, Babur, while using this term, meant the geography, the fauna and the culture of the inhabitants of the subcontinent. A fourteenth-century poet Amir Khusrau also used the term 'Hind' almost in the same sense.