This article is about the physiographical region of Asia. For the geographical subregion of Asia, seeSouth Asia."The subcontinent" redirects here. For general usage of the term, seeContinent § Subcontinents.
Historically, the region surrounding and southeast of theIndus River was often simply referred to asIndia in many historical sources. Even today, historians use this term to denote the entire Indian subcontinent when discussing history up until the era of theBritish Raj. Over time, however, "India" evolved to refer to a distinct political entity that eventually became a nation-state (today the Republic of India).[4]
According to theOxford English Dictionary, the termsubcontinent signifies a "subdivision of a continent which has a distinct geographical, political, or cultural identity" and also a "large land mass somewhat smaller than a continent".[5][6] Its use to signify the Indian subcontinent is evidenced from the early twentieth century when most of the territory was either part of theBritish Empire or allied with them.[7][8] It was a convenient term to refer to the region comprising bothBritish India and theprincely states.[9][10]
The term has been particularly common in the British Empire and its successors,[11] while the termSouth Asia is the more common usage in Europe and North America as well as in most countries inSouth Asia itself sometimes.[12][13] According to historiansSugata Bose andAyesha Jalal, the Indian subcontinent has come to be known as South Asia "in more recent and neutral parlance".[14]Indologist Ronald B. Inden argues that the usage of the termSouth Asia is becoming more widespread since it clearly distinguishes the region from East Asia.[15] WhileSouth Asia, a more accurate term that reflects the region's contemporary political demarcations, is replacing theIndian subcontinent, a term closely linked to the region's colonial heritage, as a cover term, the latter is still widely used in typological studies.[16][17]
Since thePartition of India, citizens of Pakistan (which became independent of British India in 1947) and Bangladesh (which became independent of Pakistan in 1971) often perceive the use of theIndian subcontinent as offensive and suspicious because of the dominant placement of India in the term.[18] As such it is being increasingly less used in those countries.[note 7] Meanwhile, many Indian analysts prefer to use the term because of the socio-cultural commonalities of the region.[18] The region has also been called the "Asian subcontinent",[20][21] the "South Asian subcontinent",[22][23][24][25] as well as "India" or "Greater India" in the classical and pre-modern sense.[26][3][27][28]
The sport ofcricket, introduced to the region by the British, isnotably popular inIndia,Pakistan,Sri Lanka,Nepal,Bangladesh andAfghanistan. Within a cricket context, these countries are sometimes referred to simply asthe subcontinent e.g. "Australia's tour of the subcontinent".[29] The term is also sometimes used adjectivally in cricket e.g. "subcontinental conditions".[30][31]
Cimmeria, having rifted from Gondwana shown drifting towards Eurasia, closing the Paleo-Tethys Ocean above, opening the Neo-Tethys Ocean below, and carrying parts of what is today theTibetan PlateauThe accretions of theKarakoram, the Kohistan-Ladakhisland arc, and theGangdese belt to Eurasia preceded the final India-Eurasia collision. The stars mark thesyntaxis-causing obtrustions.
After the Lhasa terrane had adjoined Eurasia, an active continental margin opened along its southern flank, below which the Neo-Tethys oceanic plate had begun to subduct.Magmatic activity along this flank produced theGangdese batholith in what is today theTibetan trans-Himalaya. Another subduction zone opened to the west, in the ocean basin above the Kohistan-Ladakhisland arc. This island arc—formed by one oceanic plate subducting beneath another, its magma rising and creating continental crust—drifted north, closed its ocean basin and collided with Eurasia.[36]Ladakh is today in the Indian-administered region ofKashmir andKohistan in theKhyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, both on the Indian subcontinent.
The collision of India with Eurasia closed the Neo-Tethys Ocean.[35] The suture zone (in this instance, the remnants of the Neo-Tethys subduction zone pinched between the two continental crusts), which marks India's welding to Eurasia, is called theIndus-Yarlung suture zone.[35] It lies north of the Himalayas. The headwaters of theIndus River and theYarlung Tsangpo (later in its course, theBrahmaputra) flow along this suture zone.[35] These two Eurasian rivers, whose courses were continually diverted by the rising Himalayas, define the western and eastern limits, respectively, of the Himalayan mountain range.[35]
^abAsisland countries, Maldives and Sri Lanka are sometimes not considered parts of the subcontinent, as they lackgeographic contiguity with the mainland. They are considered parts of the region incultural geography or geology instead.
^For example, a history book intended for Pakistani B.A. students by K. Ali uses the term "Indo-Pakistan" instead.[19]
^Terrane: "A far traveled crustal block accreted to a continent. Due to its remote origin, the terrane shows a different geological evolution compared to adjacent parts of the continent."[32]
References
^"Indian subcontinent (noun)",Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford University Press, March 2025,doi:10.1093/OED/1205710598, retrieved31 March 2025,The part of Asia south of the Himalayas which forms a peninsula extending into the Indian Ocean between the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, now divided between India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. (subscription required)
^"Indian subcontinent (noun)",Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford University Press, March 2025,doi:10.1093/OED/1205710598, retrieved31 March 2025,(subsidiary remark) Also used with wider application to include Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives. The term is roughly equivalent to South Asia, esp. in the wider use, although Indian subcontinent is sometimes considered to be more of a geophysical description, and South Asia more geopolitical.
^abJim Norwine & Alfonso González,The Third World: states of mind and being, pages 209, Taylor & Francis, 1988,ISBN0-04-910121-8 Quote: ""The term "South Asia" also signifies the Indian Subcontinent"" Raj S. Bhopal,Ethnicity, race, and health in multicultural societies, pages 33, Oxford University Press, 2007,ISBN0-19-856817-7; Quote: "The term South Asian refers to populations originating from the Indian subcontinent, effectively India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka; Lucian W. Pye & Mary W. Pye,Asian Power and Politics, pages 133, Harvard University Press, 1985,ISBN0-674-04979-9 Quote: "The complex culture of the Indian subcontinent, or South Asia, presents a tradition comparable to Confucianism." Mark Juergensmeyer,The Oxford handbook of global religions, pages 465, Oxford University Press US, 2006,ISBN0-19-513798-1 Sugata Bose & Ayesha Jalal,Modern South Asia, page 3, Routledge, 2004,ISBN0-415-30787-2
^Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged, Merriam-Webster, 2002. Retrieved 6 December 2016; Quote: "a large landmass smaller than a continent; especially: a major subdivision of a continent! e Indian subcontinent | "
^Milton Walter Meyer,South Asia: A Short History of the Subcontinent, pages 1, Adams Littlefield, 1976,ISBN0-8226-0034-X Jim Norwine & Alfonso González,The Third World: states of mind and being, pages 209, Taylor & Francis, 1988,ISBN0-04-910121-8 Boniface, Brian G.; Christopher P. Cooper (2005).Worldwide destinations: the geography of travel and tourism. Butterworth-Heinemann.ISBN978-0-7506-5997-0. Judith Schott & Alix Henley,Culture, Religion, and Childbearing in a Multiracial Society, pages 274, Elsevier Health Sciences, 1996,ISBN0-7506-2050-1 Raj S. Bhopal,Ethnicity, race, and health in multicultural societies, pages 33, Oxford University Press, 2007,ISBN0-19-856817-7 Lucian W. Pye & Mary W. Pye,Asian Power and Politics, pages 133, Harvard University Press, 1985,ISBN0-674-04979-9 Mark Juergensmeyer,The Oxford handbook of global religions, pages 465, Oxford University Press US, 2006,ISBN0-19-513798-1
^Judith Schott & Alix Henley,Culture, Religion, and Childbearing in a Multiracial Society, pages 274, Elsevier Health Sciences, 1996,ISBN0750620501
^Raj S. Bhopal,Ethnicity, race, and health in multicultural societies, pages 33, Oxford University Press, 2007,ISBN0198568177
^abB.H. Farmer,An Introduction to South Asia, page 1, Methuen and Co. Ltd., 1983,ISBN9780416726008, "The 'Indian sub continent' is a term that certainly recognises the dominant position of India in both area and population. Since the partition of Indian Empire, use of this term becomes offensive to the Pakistanis and the Bangladeshis." Jona Razzaque,Public Interest Environmental Litigation in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, page 3, Kluwer Law International, 2004,ISBN9789041122148 "Yet, because citizens of Pakistan (which was carved out of India in 1947 and has had recurring conflicts with India since then) and of Bangladesh (which became separated from Pakistan by civil war in 1971) might find offensive the dominant placement of India in the term "Indian subcontinent", many scholars today prefer the more recently adopted designation 'South Asia.'" Sushil Mittal and Gene Thursby,Religions of South Asia: An Introduction, page 3, Routledge, 2006,ISBN9781134593224 S K Shah,India and Its Neighbours: Renewed Threats and New Directions, page 26, Vij Books India Pvt Ltd, 2017,ISBN9789386367501 "Indian analysts, who talk of the Indian sub-continent, wish to keep in mind, in their analyses, the common historical, political, religious and cultural heritage of these three countries. The term sub-continent is used less and less in Pakistan and Bangladesh. The political leadership and the policy-makers in these two countries do not wish to be reminded of this common heritage. Any highlighting of this common heritage by Indian analysts is viewed by them with suspicion—— as indicating a hidden desire to reverse history and undo the 1947 partition."
^Ali, K. (1980).A New History of Indo-Pakistan up to 1526 (4th ed.). Lahore: Aziz Publishers.
^K. D. Kapur,Nuclear Non-proliferation Diplomacy: Nuclear Power Programmes in the Third World, page 365, Lancers Books, 1993,ISBN9788170950363|Daya Nath Tripathi (ed),Discourse on Indo European Languages and Culture, page 193, Indian Council of Historical Research, 2005,ISBN9788178271200
^John McLeod (2002).The history of India. Greenwood Press. p. 1.ISBN0-313-31459-4. Note: McLeod does not include Afghanistan in the Indian subcontinent or South Asia.
^Zanchi, Andrea; Gaetani, Maurizio (2011). "The geology of the Karakoram range, Pakistan: the new 1:100,000 geological map of Central-Western Karakoram".Italian Journal of Geosciences.130 (2):161–262.doi:10.3301/IJG.2011.09.The Tirich Boundary Zone is a complex assemblage of high grade metabasites and gneiss with small remnants of sub-continental peridotites, which separate East Hindu Kush from the Karakoram. Its emplacement has been related to the possible opening of a basin between the two blocks at the end of the Paleozoic, followed by its deformation during the collision of Karakoram with East Hindu Kush, dating to the end of Triassic or beginning of the Jurassic.
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