 The terms ""Hindi"" and ""Hindu"" trace back to Old Persian which derived these names from the Sanskrit name "Sindhu" (सिन्धु ), referring to the river Indus.The Greek cognates of the same terms are ""Indus"" (for the river) and ""India"" (for the land of the river).Like other Indo-Aryan languages, Hindi is a direct descendant of an early form of Vedic Sanskrit, through Sauraseni Prakrit and Śauraseni Apabhraṃśa (from Sanskrit "apabhraṃśa" "corrupt"), which emerged in the 7th century CE.