Ancient India gave China a name, and China responded with 38 names to India, which are still used today
India and China are both the birthplaces of the four ancient civilizations. They have a long history, but before the Qin Dynasty, neither country developed formal diplomatic relations. It was not until the Han Dynasty that Zhang Qian was ordered to go on an envoy to the Western Regions. Only then did he realize that there was such a vast country in Southeast Asia. With the opening of the Silk Road, the civilizations of the two regions gradually developed many economic and cultural changes. layer communication.
What do the Indians call us? They are more casual. Although the Chinese dynasty's regime has changed, they still use a word to call them, that is "Cina". In Indian Sanskrit, the content of this word is translated as "Chinese". In Indian Buddhist scriptures, there is such a According to records: "The East belongs to Zhen, where the sun rises, so it is called Cathay." This is the reason why China is called "Cina". Today, China's English name "China" actually comes from India and became the Latin name. The most common title for language countries.
So what did we call India in ancient times? The Chinese are quite diligent in naming, and answered 38 of them. Common names include Xiandu, Shendu, Xintou, Xintu, Tianzhu, etc. It can be seen that these translations are all transliterations. In Sanskrit, the Indian dynasty called itself "Sindhu", so it was converted into Chinese pronunciation.
The initial introduction to India comes from the "Historical Records" written by Sima Qian: "There is a poisonous country in the southeast of Daxia." There is also a description in the Han Dynasty: "There are thousands of poisonous countries in the southeast. "With the deepening of exchanges, people later felt that it was somewhat unpleasant to have the word "poison" in a country, so in the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, the names Xin Tou and Xin Tu appeared successively. By the time of the Tang Dynasty, India was uniformly called "Tianzhu Kingdom".
What’s interesting is that in the 21st year of Emperor Taizong’s reign (647), the name of India changed due to a war. At that time, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty sent an envoy to the Indian Kingdom of Harsha ( Central Tianzhu), King Harsha at that time had died, and his minister Arjuna took the opportunity to usurp the throne. The following year, Wang Xuance and other envoys came to India to visit various countries. Arjuna was envious of the tribute treasures from various countries carried by the Tang Dynasty envoys, so he secretly launched an army , killed a large number of members of the mission and seized the treasures. After Wang Xuance escaped, he came to Tubo and persuaded him to march with the Nibala Kingdom to Central Tianzhu. After three days of fighting, they defeated Arjuna's army. The people of the Tang Dynasty were very angry about this incident, so in When the country was called Harsha Kingdom, it was also called "Zhongtian Po".
As for the name "India" itself, it also comes from the Tang Dynasty. During the Taizong period, Master Xuanzang, the Tang monk, traveled to India for decades. Based on what he saw and heard, he wrote "The Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty" "Records", in this book, Xuanzang wrote: "The name of Tianzhu in detail, disputes and disputes, the old cloud body poison, or Xian Dou, now from the correct pronunciation, it means India."
This also has a lot to do with the later change of Indian Sanskrit to "indu". As "The Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty" became a guide series for tourists and diplomats in the Tang Dynasty, the concept of "India" was gradually The world accepted it and continues to use it to this day, and the same is true in Tianzhu.