The word ,’Hindu’ wasn’t introduced to Hinduism. Instead, the word ‘Hinduism’ was introduced to the Hindus by the British colonizers.

The “ism in Hinduism gives you a clue that it is an English term. The words ‘Hindustan’ and its inhabitants, ‘the Hindus’, have been in existence at least since he introduction of Islam to the natives of what is now a major part of Pakistan and India but the word “Hinduism” never existed until the British landed in India. This means there never was a religion called Hinduism until then. If now there is a religion called ‘Hinduism’, it is the newest of all the major religions of the world.

Hindu used to be a geographic identity and not a religious identity. The word “Hindu”, given by the Persisns has derogatory connotations and means “thief”