Strange - neither did I!
Regards,
Neil
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The area was named by Captain Caleb Fellows, late of the East India company. Obviously, Hindustan, Bengal and other Indian sub-continent provinces and cities represented a time of good fortune for him (and the British Empire/East India Company), and perhaps the new place being along the Indiana frontier line influenced him in the choice of name, for he said 'things look bright for a fortune, so let it be called Hindostan' to paraphrase.
Regards,
Neil
Someday I hope to be around there to look around. But rock hounding is a time consuming endeavor. Still be fun though.
Here some interesting information and history of the Hindostan stone from 1894.
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Yes, unequivocally, it is Hindostan. I bought one a few months ago and it is identical in color and layering. I use it as an oil stone. It is extremely smooth and could make a good finishing stone. Mine is in the 8-10k range. It is beyond SLOW. It's a beautiful hunk of rock though.
I'm glad your Hindostan Stones are of high grit ratings, because mine and one that I looked at during a razor meet were in the 3-4K range and only good for knives. They are cool stones, but IMO not all that good for razors.