Hindu ( pronunciation ) has historically been used as a geographical, cultural or religious identifier for people indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. In contemporary use, Hindu refers to anyone who regards himself or herself as culturally, ethnically or religiously adhering to aspects of Hinduism.

The historical meaning of the term Hindu has evolved with time. Starting with the Persian and Greek references to India in the 1st millennium BCE through the texts of the medieval era, the term Hindu implied a geographic, ethnic or cultural identifier for people living in Indian subcontinent around or beyond Sindhu (Indus) river. By the 16th-century, the term began to refer to residents of India who were not Turks or Muslims.

The historical development of Hindu self-identity within the Indian population, in a religious or cultural sense, is unclear. Competing theories state that Hindu identity developed in the British colonial era, or that it developed post-8th century CE after the Islamic invasion and medieval Hindu-Muslim wars. A sense of Hindu identity and the term Hindu appears in some texts dated between the 13th- and 18th-century in Sanskrit and regional languages. The 14th- and 18th-century Indian poets such as Vidyapati, Kabir and Eknath used the phrase Hindu dharma (Hinduism) and contrasted it with Turaka dharma (Islam). The Christian friar Sebastiao Manrique used the term 'Hindu' in religious context in 1649. In the 18th-century, the European merchants and colonists began to refer to the followers of Indian religions collectively as Hindus, in contrast to Mohamedans for Mughals and Arabs following Islam. By mid 19th-century, colonial orientalist texts further distinguished Hindus from Buddhists, Sikhs and Jains, but the colonial laws continued to consider all of them to be within the scope of the term Hindu until about mid 20th-century. Scholars state that the custom of distinguishing between Hindus, Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs is a modern phenomenon.

Hindus (foaled in 1897) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse is best known for winning the 1900 Preakness Stakes. Owned and bred by George J. Long, he was sired by Volante. Hindus was out of the mare Ignite, a daughter of Woodlands.

Preakness Stakes

The twentyfifth running of the Preakness Stakes was run on Tuesday, May 29, 1900 at Gravesend Race Track on Coney Island, New York. On that day Hindus went off as the longest shot on the board at odds of 15-1 in the field of ten stakes winning colts. In that race he broke well with a good start in fourth place under jockey Henry Spencer. Rounding the first turn Hindus dropped back to next to last in eighth place under a strong hold by Spencer. As the race progressed, Hindus laid back in waiting down the entire back stretch and around the final turn.

Near the top of the lane Hindus began a big rush and passed all rivals in the last one sixteenth of a mile. In the end Hindus prevailed at the wire by a short head over runner-up Sarmatian. Sarmation listed at 6-1 outdistanced third-place finisher Ten Candles by three full lengths.

Hindush (also known as 'Taxila' or 'Sindh') was the eastern most satrapy of the Achaemenid Empire, located in the northwest of the South Asia (modern Pakistan).

The capital of this province was at the city named Taxila. Occupation lasted for a considerable time, although when it ended exactly is not entirely clear. The archaeological excavations carried out at Bhir Mound, near Taxila, by John Marshall from 1913 to 1934 revealed heavy masonry of the Achaemenid buildings that formed the earliest stratum of the site. Various other relevant artefacts were found as well.

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