India was not a country, but a geological name for the area in today's proper. India was a collection of fragmented kingdoms before British rule, and that the British Empire united them into a nation. The British Raj, or Crown rule, lasted from 1858 to 1947, and the region under British control was commonly called India. Before the British, the region was ruled by numerous dynasties, including the Gupta Empire in the 4th to 6th centuries CE. The Maurya Empire collapsed in 185 BCE, and the Shunga Empire was formed in the north and north-east of the subcontinent. Some say that the British and European scholars proclaimed that India was not a nation, but a conglomeration of nations. Winston Churchill said that “India is a geographical term. It is no more a united nation than the equator”. The British Empire in India began to develop between 1700 and 1900, and the first British in India came for trade, not territory. The name "India" has etymological roots in the Indus River, which was called "Sindhu" in Sanskrit. Another popular name for the country is Hindustan, which means "land of the Indus" in Persian.