Indiitsy

the Russian term denoting the entire population of India, regardless of national, religious, racial, or caste affiliation (including emigrants from India living in other countries). In Russia the Russian words indeitsy or indei (literally, “Indians”) were used in reference to the inhabitants of India until the late 18th century and early 19th. After the term indeitsy began to be used for the native population of America, the word indusy, borrowed from the English word “Hindus,” was used to refer to the inhabitants of India. However, since indusy (“Hindus”) correctly refers only to the followers of Hinduism (Russian induizm), the use of the term for the entire population of India is inaccurate, because some of India’s inhabitants profess other religions, such as Islam and Buddhism.