Hindustan (Hindi: हिन्दुस्तान , Urdu: ہندوستان , from the Persian Hindū + -stān, archaic Hindoostan) and the adjective Hindustani may relate to various aspects of four geographic areas:

• Hindustan: "Land of the Hindus." Persians called Indus valley civilisation "Hind" and it's inhabitant "Hindu", later when "Hind" was conquered by Turkic-Afghan kings, they called it Hindustan, adding suffix "stan" a common trend in Arabia. Hindustan is considered one of the earliest historical names for the nation of Bharat (India).

• A historical region encompassing present day Northern India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and neighboring areas. The Mughal Empire and its predecessor sultanate were also referred to as Hindustan, or Salthanat-e-Hind. Hindustani music is a genre of classical music from this region that combines traditional Hindu musical concepts and Persian performance practice.

• The country of India. Hindustani denotes a connection to India and Hindustan is another name for India. Several Indian political parties use the term including the Hindustan Janata Party and the Akhand Hindustan Morcha.

• The area populated by native Hindustani speaking peoples, particularly the modern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, formerly a
  
  
  
  part of the United Provinces. During British rule in South Asia, people in this region were identified as "Hindustanis."

• South Asia or the Indian subcontinent. Hindustan is specifically a term for the Syncretic Islamic and Hindu culture of South Asia. Hindustani is sometimes used as a cultural, ethnic, or genetic term for South Asia. (e.g., A West Indian with such roots might describe his ethnicity by saying he is Hindustani.)

Hindustan also relates to the following:

• HMS Hindustan, one of the eight ships of the King Edward VII class battleships.

• "Hindustan" (1918), a popular published song written and composed by Oliver G. Wallace and Harold Weeks.

• Hindustan Times, a major Northern Indian English language daily newspaper.

• Hindustan Airport, the major airport of Bangalore, Karnataka, India.

• Hindustani (1996), also called Indian or Bharateeyudu, a film dubbed in Hindi from the Tamil original Indian film, directed by S. Shankar and starring Kamal Haasan.

For a list of Indian companies starting with Hindustan, see List of Indian companies.

See also

• South Asia
• India
• Historical Hindustan
• Origin of India's name
• Hindustani language
• Hindustani music

Индостан