Later texts such as the Puranas would define it as ‘The country that lies north of the seas and south of the snowy mountains is called Bharatam, there dwell the descendants of Bharata’. It remains the official name of India even today. Note that the name is also echoed outside India. In the Malay language, for instance, ‘Barat’ means West, signifying the direction from which Indian merchants came to South-East Asia.
