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Indian is an American motorcycle manufacturer in Springfield, Massachusetts, United States. This brand has produced quite a number of bikes from 1901 to 1953. Before 1923, this company was known as Hendee Manufacturing Company and was changed to Indian. Hendee Manufacturing Company was a bicycle production brand that was founded by George M Hendee in 1897. The company was also known as American Indian, Silver Queen, and Silver King. The first gasoline engine-powered motorcycles were built by Oscar Hedstrom, who was hired by Hendee. In its public racing debut, this company won an endurance motorcycle race from Boston to New York City.

The first V-Twin factory race motorcycle was constructed in 1906. In 1907, the brand manufactured a 42 degree V-twin engine with a speed of 60 mph. In the 1911 Isle of Man Tourist Trophy, this company won the first three places. Indian was regarded as the largest motorcycles maker in the universe during the 1910s. Selling about 32, 000 units in 1913, this brand set a record of the highest number of bikes produced in a year. The manufacturer experienced a decline after the founder resigned as the president of the company in 1916. USA involvement in World War I in 1917 caused more problems for the brand. Much of the productions were dedicated to the war effort.

In the history of this brand, the early 1920s was one of the most important eras. Indians introduced different iconic motorcycles to the public. The reliable, fast, and maneuverable bike known as Scout was released in 1920. It was immediately followed by Chief in 1922 and the best-selling model, and Big Chief was introduced a year after Chief. In 1925, Indian produced the prince. The legendary 45-ci, 750 cc V-twin engine was introduced in 1927.

Indian went bankrupt in 1953, and it ceased operations as well as the production of motorcycles. Brockhouse Engineering bought the right to the Indian brand name in 1955. AMC bought the motorcycle name from the Brockhouse Engineering in 1960. But it soon went into liquidation in 1962. In the late 1990s, the merger of nine different companies that include the IMCOA Licensing America Inc and California Motorcycle Company formed the Indian Motorcycle Company of America. The newly formed group started to produce motorcycles in 1999 at a factory located in Gilroy, California. The company went bankrupt in 2003 and ceased all productions. In 2011, the company was revived by Polaris Industries, who merge them into their other facilities in Iowa and Minnesota with the operation at California.