India, the eastern extent of Ahasuerus' Persian Empire (Esther 1:1; 8:9).
India is mentioned twice in the book of Esther as the eastern boundary of the Persian Empire during the reign of King Ahasuerus (Xerxes I). In Esther 1:1, the vast extent of Ahasuerus' kingdom is described, stretching from India to Ethiopia (Cush). Later, in Esther 8:9, when the king issues a decree to protect the Jews, it is sent to all the provinces from India to Ethiopia. These references suggest that the Persian Empire had control over or influence in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent. However, the Bible does not provide any specific details about the region or its people.
Occurs only in Esther 1:1 and 8:9, where the extent of the dominion of the Persian king is described. The country so designated here is not the peninsula of Hindustan, but the country surrounding the Indus, the Punjab. The people and the products of India were well known to the Jews, who seem to have carried on an active trade with that country (Ezek. 27:15, 24).
The name of India does not occur in the Bible before the book of Esther where it is noticed as the limit of the territories of Ahasuerus in the east, as Ethiopia was in the west. (Esther 1:1; 8:9) The India of the book of Esther is not the peninsula of Hindostan, but the country surrounding the Indus, the Punjab and perhaps Scinde . The people and productions of that country must have been tolerably well known to the Jews. An active trade was carried on between India and western Asia. The trade opened by Solomon with Ophir through the Red Sea consisted chiefly of Indian articles.
IN'DIA. The Persian king Ahasuerus is described as reigning "from India unto Ethiopia." Esth 1:1; Rom 8:9. The India of the book of Esther is not the peninsula of Hindostan, but the country surrounding the Indus, the Punjab, and perhaps Scinde. Later, India is reckoned among the countries which Eumenes, king of Pergamus, received out of the former possessions of Antiochus the Great. 1 Mace. 8:8; 11:37. The people and productions of that country must have been tolerably well known to the Jews. An active trade was carried on between India and western Asia. The trade opened by Solomon by his navy and through Hiram, king of Tyre, consisted chiefly of Indian articles. 1 Kgs 10:10-22.
IN'DIA. The Persian king Ahasuerus is described as reigning "from India unto Ethiopia." Esth 1:1; Rom 8:9. The India of the book of Esther is not the peninsula of Hindostan, but the country surrounding the Indus, the Punjab, and perhaps Scinde. Later, India is reckoned among the countries which Eumenes, king of Pergamus, received out of the former possessions of Antiochus the Great. 1 Mace. 8:8; 11:37. The people and productions of that country must have been tolerably well known to the Jews. An active trade was carried on between India and western Asia. The trade opened by Solomon by his navy and through Hiram, king of Tyre, consisted chiefly of Indian articles. 1 Kgs 10:10-22.
Easton (1897), Smith (1863), Hitchcock (1869), Hastings (1898) and Schaff are in the public domain. Parsed text: neuu-org/bible-dictionary-dataset (CC BY 4.0). Headwords and whitespace normalised for this site.
2 verses in 1 book · English text: BSB (change it from the menu at the top) · Strong’s H1912
This is what happened in the days of Xerxes, who reigned over 127 provinces from India to Cush.
At once the royal scribes were summoned, and on the twenty-third day of the third month (the month of Sivan), they recorded all of Mordecaiʼs orders to the Jews and to the satraps, governors, and princes of the 127 provinces from India to Cush—writing to each province in its own script, to every people in their own language, and to the Jews in their own script and language.
Names, family links and references: STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). Short descriptions were drafted with AI assistance by STEPBible. Family links follow STEPBible’s scholarly decisions where genealogies are ambiguous.