The actual term “Hindu” first occurs as an Old Persian geographical term to identify the people who lived beyond the River Indus. However, the modern origin is derived from the Arabic texts - Al-Hind referring to 'the land of the people of modern day India' - which then got vernacularised as Hindu. One of the accepted views is that “ism” was added to “Hindu” around 1830 to denote the culture and religion of the high-caste Brahmans in contrast to other religions. Due to the wide diversity in the beliefs, practices and traditions encompassed by Hinduism, there is no universally accepted definition on who a Hindu is, or even agreement on whether Hinduism represents a religious, cultural or socio-political entity. In 1995, Chief Justice P. B. Gajendragadkar was quoted in an Indian Supreme Court ruling: "When we think of the Hindu religion, unlike other religions in the world, the Hindu religion does not claim any one prophet; it does not worship any one god; it does not subscribe to any one dogma; it does not believe in any one philosophic concept; it does not follow any one set of religious rites or performances; in fact, it does not appear to satisfy the narrow traditional features of any religion of creed. It may broadly be described as a way of life and nothing more."
Now, I am not making all this up. I got it from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindu. There's more. U guys can have a look at it.
