Undivided India
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Tripping Nambiar
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[[WP:UNDO|Undid]] revision 220916262 by [[Special:Contributions/Abc root|Abc root]] ([[User talk:Abc root|talk]])
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{{Merge-multiple|Indianized kingdom|Greater India|Indies|Indian subcontinent|discuss=Talk:Indies#Merge discussion|date=March 2008}}
'''[[India (word)|India]]''' has several socio-political, historical, and geographical meanings.
==Greater India==
{{main|Greater India}}
<!-- Commented out because image was deleted: [[Image:Akhanda_Bharatam.png|right|thumb|300px|[[ AKHANDA BHARATAM]] or Greater India, including proper ([[SAARC]] states) and further India ([[ASEAN]] states). The native perception of [[Bharatavarsha]] by the natives of the present day nationalities of this region.]] -->
[[Image:Indian cultural zone.svg|right|thumb|300px|Dark blue: the [[Indian subcontinent]], Light Blue: Other countries culturally linked to India, notably [[Burma]], [[Thailand]], [[Cambodia]], [[Laos]], [[Indonesia]] and [[Malaysia]], Purple: Regions not included in Indosphere, but with significant current or historical Indian cultural influence, notably [[Afghanistan]], [[Tibet]] and [[Yunnan]] provinces of [[China]].]]
'''Greater India''' is another term sometimes used to describe the region between [[Central Asia]] in the North and tropical [[Indonesia]] in the South, and from the borderlands of [[Iran|Persia]] to [[Tibet]] and western [[China]], which has had a significant [[India]]n influence on its culture and civilization, including religious thought, language, art and literature.
This socio-cultural region is now part of the modern nations of (from the west): Iran (Seistan-Balochistan province), Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, Nepal, Bhutan, the trans-Tsangpo and Yunnan regions of China, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Maldives, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Brunei, East Timor, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore, the Mauritius, Maldives, Seychelles, Comoros and other islands of the Indian Ocean.
==South Asia==
{{main|South Asia|British Raj}}
Officially, it is a term which refers to the major part of the [[South Asia]] which comprised the [[British Raj]], and included the current [[Sovereignty|sovereign]] states of [[India]], [[Bangladesh]], and [[Pakistan]]. Undivided India did not include all geographical regions and nations of the South Asia like [[Nepal]] and [[Bhutan]], but included most of the [[Princely state]]s of India.
References to undivided India are found in some legal enactments including India’s Citizenship Act, 1955, which states that for the meaning of ''undivided India'' [http://www.indialawinfo.com/bareacts/citi.html] (in the context of this Act), the ''undivided India means India as defined in the [[Government of India Act 1935]], as originally enacted''. There are innumerable other references to undivided India, in a variety of contexts, but mostly indicating India with boundaries as it existed just before the [[partition of India]] into India and Pakistan.
==Indian subcontinent==
{{main|Indian subcontinent}}
The term [[Indian subcontinent]] largely corresponds to South Asia or Greater India, and is used in geographical or geological contexts rather than political or historical ones.
==Indosphere==
{{main|Indosphere}}
'''Indosphere''' is a term, defined as "a socio-political sphere subsuming those countries, cultures, and languages that have historically come under influence from the politics, culture, religion, and languages of India (notably, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, Burma)." [http://www.mpi.nl/world/persons/private/enfni/Enfield_Annual_Review_Anth_2005.pdf]
==Indies==
{{main|Indies}}
[[Image:Indies.JPG|right|thumb|300px|
Regions covered by the term Indies, East Indies, or East India used in the widest sense.
{{legend|#F60|[[East Indies]]}}
{{legend|#F96|[[British India]]/[[Indian subcontinent]]}}
{{legend|#FF0|[[Western New Guinea]]}}
the regions in red are (from left, [[Sistan and Baluchestan Province]] ([[Iran]]), Trans-[[Tsangpo]], [[Hainan]] and [[Yunnan]] (last three with [[China]]))
]]
The '''Indies''' or '''East Indies''' (or '''East India''') is a term used to describe lands of [[South Asia|South]] and [[Southeast Asia]], occupying all of the former [[British Raj|British India]], the present [[India]]n Union, [[Pakistan]], [[Bangladesh]], [[Myanmar]], [[Sri Lanka]], the [[Maldives]], and also [[Thailand]], [[Malaysia]] and [[Indonesia]]. {{Fact|date=January 2007}}
The East Indies also include Iranian [[Balochistan (Iran)|Baluchistan]], [[Indochina]], the [[Philippine Islands]], [[Brunei]], [[Singapore]] and [[East Timor]].{{Fact|date=February 2007}} It does not, however, include [[Western New Guinea]], which is part of [[Melanesia]].
The inhabitants of the East Indies are often called East Indians, distinguishing them both from inhabitants of the [[Caribbean]] which is also called the [[West Indies]], and from the [[indigenous peoples of the Americas]] who are often called "Indians" or "American Indians."
==See also==
{{portal|SAARC|Logo of SAARC.svg}}
*[[Indian subcontinent]]
*[[Irredentism]]
[[Category:Politics of India]]
[[Category:Indian independence movement]]
[[Category:British rule in India]]
[[Category:Irredentism]]
[[Category:Pakistan Movement]]
[[Category:Pan movements]]
[[Category:Divided regions]]
[[Category:Nationalism in India]]