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| | footer = Hindu artifacts, artworks and temples ranging from the 9th-century to the 21st-century | |||
| | image1 = India ganesha.jpg | |||
| | image2 = Krishna Rukmini Satyabhama Garuda.jpg | |||
| | image3 = Prambanan Java245.jpg | |||
| | image4 = Shiva as the Lord of Dance LACMA edit.jpg | |||
| | image5 = Matsya Avatar, ca 1870.jpg | |||
| | image6 = Lalita sm.JPG | |||
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| {{Hinduism small}} | {{Hinduism small}} | ||
| ''' |
The '''history of Hinduism''' covers a wide variety of related ] native to the ].{{sfn|Brodd|2003}} It overlaps or coincides with the development of religion in the Indian subcontinent since the ], with some of its traditions tracing back to ]s such as those of the Bronze Age ]. ] has been called the "oldest religion" in the world,{{efn|name="Oldest_religion"}} but scholars regard Hinduism as a relatively recent synthesis{{sfn|Lockard|2007|p=50}}{{sfn|Hiltebeitel|2007|p=12}}{{sfn|Samuel|2010|p=193}} of various Indian cultures and traditions,{{sfn|Lockard|2007|p=50}}{{sfn|Hiltebeitel|2007|p=12}}{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=16}} with diverse roots{{sfn|Narayanan|2009|p=11}} and no single founder,{{sfn|Osborne|2005|p=9}}{{efn|name="roots"}} which emerged around the beginning of the ].{{sfn|Welbon|2004}}{{efn|name="Hindu-synthesis_date"}} | ||
| *"Oldest religion": | |||
| ** Fowler: "probably the oldest religion in the world"{{sfn|Fowler|1997|p=1}} | |||
| ** Gellman & Hartman: "Hinduism, the world's oldest religion"{{sfn|Gellman|2011}} | |||
| ** Stevens: "Hinduism, the oldest religion in the world",{{sfn|Stevens|2001|p=191}} | |||
| * The "]"{{sfn|Sarma|1953}} | |||
| * The "oldest living major religion" in the world.{{sfn|Merriam-Webster|2000|p=751}}{{sfn|Klostermaier|2007|p=1}} | |||
| ** Laderman: "world's oldest living civilisation and religion"{{sfn|Laderman|2003|p=119}} | |||
| ** Turner: "It is also recognized as the oldest major religion in the world"{{sfn|Turner|1996-B|p=359}} | |||
| Smart, on the other hand, calls it also one of the youngest religions: "Hinduism could be seen to be much more recent, though with various ancient roots: in a sense it was formed in the late 19th Century and early 20th Century."{{sfn|Smart|1993|p=1}} See also: | |||
| * ], ], ], ] for some of the oldest forms of religion | |||
| * ] and ], Indian Tribal religions connected to the earliest migrations into India | |||
| * ], one of the oldest surviving religions in the world.}} Scholars regard Hinduism as a synthesis{{sfn|Lockard|2007|p=50}}{{sfn|Hiltebeitel|2007|p=12}}{{sfn|Samuel|2010|p=193}} of various Indian cultures and traditions,{{sfn|Hiltebeitel|2007|p=12}}{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=16}}{{sfn|Lockard|2007|p=50}} with diverse roots{{sfn|Narayanan|2009|p=11}} and no single founder.{{sfn|Osborne|2005|p=9}}{{refn|group=note| Among its roots are the ]{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=16}} of the late ] and its emphasis on the status of Brahmans,{{sfn|Samuel|2010|p=48-53}} but also the religions of the ],{{sfn|Narayanan|2009|p=11}}{{sfn|Lockard|2007|p=52}}{{sfn|Hiltebeitel|2007|p=3}}{{sfn|Jones|2006|p=xviii}} the ]{{sfn|Gomez|2013|p=42}} or renouncer traditions{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=16}} of ],{{sfn|Gomez|2013|p=42}} and "popular or ]".{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=16}}}} | |||
| The history of Hinduism is often divided into periods of development, |
The history of Hinduism is often divided into periods of development. The first period is the pre-Vedic period, which includes the Indus Valley Civilization and local pre-historic religions. Northern India had the Vedic period with the introduction of the ] (sometimes called Vedic Hinduism or ancient Hinduism{{efn|name="Vedic Hinduism"}}) by the ], starting somewhere between 1900 BCE and 1400 BCE.{{sfn|Michaels|2004|pp=32–36}}{{refn|group=note|There is no exact dating possible for the beginning of the Vedic period. Witzel mentions a range between 1900 and 1400 BCE.{{sfn|Witzel|1995|pp=3–4}} Flood mentions 1500 BCE.{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=21}}}} The subsequent period of the second urbanisation (600-200 BCE) is a formative period for Hinduism, ] and ] followed by "a turning point between the Vedic religion and Hindu religions,"{{sfn|Michaels|2004|p=38}} during the Epic and Early Puranic period ({{Circa|200 BCE}} to 500 CE), when the ] and the first Purānas were composed.{{sfn|Hiltebeitel|2007|p=12}}{{sfn|Larson|2009}} This was followed by the classical "Golden Age" of Hinduism ({{Circa|320}}–650 CE), which coincides with the ]. In this period the six branches of ] evolved, namely, ], ], ], ], ], and ]. Monotheistic sects like ] and ] developed during this same period through the ]. It flourished in the ] period from roughly 650 to 1100 CE, which forms the late Classical period{{sfn|Michaels|2004}} or early Middle Ages, | ||
| with the ]{{sfn|Larson|1995|pp=109–111}} and the establishment of classical Puranic Hinduism is established. | |||
| Hinduism under both Hindu and ] rulers from {{Circa|1200}} to 1750 CE<ref>{{Harvnb|Stein|2010|p=107}}.</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Tripathi |first1=Ram Prasad |title=Some Aspects of Muslim Administration |date=1956 |publisher=Central Book Depot |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=izwIAAAAMAAJ |language=en |page=24 |access-date=23 December 2023 |archive-date=14 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231114042734/https://books.google.com/books?id=izwIAAAAMAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> saw the increasing prominence of the Bhakti movement, which remains influential today. ] became glorified as the main proponent of ], in response to the success of Vaishnavite bhakti. | |||
| Hinduism under the ], from 1100 to c. 1750 CE, saw the increasing prominence of the ], which remains influential today. The ] saw the emergence of various ]s partly inspired by western movements, such as ] and ]. The ] in 1947 was along religious lines, with the ] emerging with a Hindu majority.During the 20th century, due to the ], Hindu minorities have formed in all continents, with the largest communities in absolute numbers in the ] and the ]. In the Republic of India, ] has emerged as a strong political force since the 1980s, the ] ] forming the ] from 1999 to 2004, and its first state government in ] in 2006. | |||
| The ] saw the emergence of various ] partly inspired by western movements, such as ] and ]. The ] in 1947 was along religious lines, with the ] emerging with a Hindu majority. During the 20th century, due to the ], Hindu minorities have formed in all continents, with the largest communities in absolute numbers in the ] and the ]. | |||
| {{TOC limit|limit=3}} | {{TOC limit|limit=3}} | ||
| == Roots of Hinduism == | == Roots of Hinduism == | ||
| While the ] presents a genealogy of thousands of years, scholars regard Hinduism as a fusion{{sfn|Lockard|2007|p=50}}{{refn|group=note|name=Lockard|{{harvtxt|Lockard|2007|p=50}}: "The encounters that resulted from Aryan migration brought together several very different peoples and cultures, reconfiguring Indian society. Over many centuries a fusion of ] and ] occurred, a complex process that historians have labeled the Indo-Aryan synthesis." Lockard: "Hinduism can be seen historically as a synthesis of Aryan beliefs with Harappan and other Dravidian traditions that developed over many centuries."}} or synthesis{{sfn|Hiltebeitel|2007|p=12}}{{refn|group=note|name="Hiltebeitel"|{{harvtxt|Hiltebeitel|2007|p=12}}: "A period of consolidation, sometimes identified as one of 'Hindu synthesis', 'Brahmanic synthesis', or 'orthodox synthesis', takes place between the time of the late Vedic Upanishads (c. 500 BCE) and the period of Gupta imperial ascendency (c. 320–467 CE)."}} of various Indian cultures and traditions.{{sfn|Hiltebeitel|2007|p=12}}<!-- START OF EXTENSIVE NOTE "name=fusion" -->{{refn|group=note|name=fusion|See also: | |||
| * J.H. Hutton (1931), in {{ |
* J. H. Hutton (1931), in {{harvtxt|Ghurye|1980|pp=}}{{refn|group=subnote|Ghurye: He considers modern Hinduism to be the result of an amalgam between pre-Aryan Indian beliefs of Mediterranean inspiration and the religion of the Rigveda. "The Tribal religions present, as it were, surplus material not yet built into the temple of Hinduism".{{sfn|Ghurye|1980|p=4}}}} | ||
| * {{harvtxt|Zimmer|1951|pp=218–219}} | |||
| * {{Citation | last =Zimmer | first =Heinrich | year =1951 | title =Philosophies of India | publisher =Princeton University Press}}{{sfn|Zimmer|1951|p=218-219}} | |||
| * Tyler (1973), ''India: An Anthropological Perspective'', Goodyear Publishing Company. In: |
* Tyler (1973), ''India: An Anthropological Perspective'', Goodyear Publishing Company. In: {{harvtxt|Sjoberg|1990|p=43}}.{{refn|group=subnote|Tyler, in ''India: An Anthropological Perspective'' (1973), p. 68, as quoted by Sjoberg, calls Hinduism a "synthesis" in which the Dravidian elements prevail: "The Hindu synthesis was less the dialectical reduction of orthodoxy and heterodoxy than the resurgence of the ancient, aboriginal Indus civilization. In this process the rude, barbaric Aryan tribes were gradually civilised and eventually merged with the autochthonous Dravidians. Although elements of their domestic cult and ritualism were jealously preserved by Brahman priests, the body of their culture survived only in fragmentary tales and allegories embedded in vast, syncretistic compendia. On the whole, the Aryan contribution to Indian culture is insignificant. The essential pattern of Indian culture was already established in the third millennium B.C., and ... the form of Indian civilization perdured and eventually reasserted itself."{{sfn|Sjoberg|1990|p=43}}}} | ||
| * {{harvtxt|Sjoberg|1990}} | |||
| * {{Citation | last =Sjoberg | first =Andree F. | year =1990 | title =The Dravidian Contribution To The Development Of Indian Civilization: A Call For A Reassesment | journal =Comparative Civilizations Review. 23:40-74 | url =https://ojs.lib.byu.edu/spc/index.php/CCR/article/download/13469/13403}}{{sfn|Sjoberg|1990}} | |||
| * {{harvtxt|Flood|1996|p=16}} | |||
| * {{Citation | last =Flood | first =Gavin D. | year =1996 | title =An Introduction to Hinduism | publisher =Cambridge University Press}}{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=16}} | |||
| * {{harvtxt|Vijay Nath|2001}} | |||
| * {{Citation | last =Nath | first =Vijay | year =2001 | title =From 'Brahmanism' to 'Hinduism': Negotiating the Myth of the Great Tradition | journal =Social Scientist 2001, pp. 19-50}}{{sfn|Nath|2001}} | |||
| * {{harvtxt|Werner|2005|pp=8–9}} | |||
| * {{Citation | last =Werner | first =karel | year =2005 | title =A Popular Dictionary of Hinduism | publisher =Routledge | url =http://books.google.nl/books?id=HvuQAgAAQBAJ&dq=hinduism+synthesis&hl=nl&source=gbs_navlinks_s}}{{sfn|Werner|2005|p=8-9}} | |||
| * {{ |
* {{harvtxt|Lockard|2007|p=}} | ||
| * {{harvtxt|Hiltebeitel|2007}} | |||
| * {{Citation | last =Hiltebeitel | first =Alf |authorlink=Alf Hiltebeitel | year =2007 | title =Hinduism. In: Joseph Kitagawa, "The Religious Traditions of Asia: Religion, History, and Culture" | publisher =Routledge | url =http://books.google.nl/books?id=kfyzAAAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover}}{{sfn|Hiltebeitel|2007}}{{refn|group=note|name="Hiltebeitel-synthesis"}} | |||
| * {{ |
* {{harvtxt|Hopfe|Woodward|2008|p=79}}{{refn|group=subnote|name=Hopfe|{{harvtxt|Hopfe|Woodward|2008|p=}}: "The religion that the Aryans brought with them mingled with the religion of the native people, and the culture that developed between them became classical Hinduism."}} | ||
| * {{ |
* {{harvtxt|Samuel|2010}}}}<!-- END OF EXTENSIVE NOTE "name=fusion" --> | ||
| Among its roots are the |
Among its roots are the historical Vedic religion,{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=16}}{{sfn|Samuel|2010|pp=41–42}} itself already the product of "a composite of the Indo-Aryan and Harappan cultures and civilizations",{{sfn|White|2006|p=28}}{{refn|group=note|name="Vedic composite"|See: | ||
| * |
* {{harvtxt|White|2006|p=28}}: "he religion of the Vedas was already a composite of the indo-Aryan and Harappan cultures and civilizations." | ||
| * |
* {{harvtxt|Gombrich|1996|pp=35–36}}: "It is important to bear in mind that the Indo-Aryans did not enter an uninhabited land. For nearly two millennia they and their culture gradually penetrated India, moving east and south from their original seat in the Punjab. They mixed with people who spoke Munda or Dravidian languages, who have left no traces of their culture beyond some archaeological remains; we know as little about them as we would about the Indo-Aryans if they had left no texts. In fact we cannot even be sure whether some of the archaeological finds belong to Indo-Aryans, autochthonous populations, or a mixture.{{paragraph break}} It is to be assumed – though this is not fashionable in Indian historiography – that the clash of cultures between Indo-Aryans and autochtones was responsible for many of the changes in Indo-Aryan society. We can also assume that many – perhaps most – of the indigenous population came to be assimilated into Indo-Aryan culture.}} which evolved into the Brahmanical religion and ideology of the ] of Iron Age northern India; but also the ]{{sfn|Gomez|2013|p=42}} or renouncer traditions{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=16}} of ],{{sfn|Gomez|2013|p=42}} and mesolithic{{sfn|Doniger|2010|p=66}} and neolithic{{sfn|Jones|Ryan|2006|p=xvii}} cultures of India, such as the religions of the ],<ref>{{harvnb|Narayanan|2009|p=11}}; {{harvnb|Lockard|2007|p=52}}; {{harvnb|Hiltebeitel|2007|p=3}}; {{harvnb|Jones|Ryan|2006|p=xviii}}.</ref> ] traditions,<ref>{{harvnb|Tiwari|2002|p=v}}; {{harvnb|Lockard|2007|p=52}}; {{harvnb|Zimmer|1951|pp=218–219}}; {{harvnb|Larson|1995|p=81}}.</ref> and the ]{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=16}} and ].{{sfn|Tiwari|2002|p=v}} | ||
| This ] emerged after the Vedic period, between 500{{sfn|Hiltebeitel|2007|p=12}}–200{{sfn|Larson|2009}} BCE and {{Circa|300 CE}},{{sfn|Hiltebeitel|2007|p=12}} in the period of the ] and the early classical period of Hinduism, when the ] and the first ] were composed.{{sfn|Hiltebeitel|2007|p=12}}{{sfn|Larson|2009}} This Brahmanical synthesis incorporated śramaṇic{{sfn|Larson|2009}}{{sfn|Fuller|2004|p=88}} and Buddhist influences{{sfn|Larson|2009}}{{sfn|Cousins|2010}} and the emerging ''bhakti'' tradition into the Brahmanical fold via the ''smriti'' literature.{{sfn|Larson|2009}}{{sfn|Hiltebeitel|2007|p=13}} This synthesis emerged under the pressure of the success of Buddhism and Jainism,{{sfn|Vijay Nath|2001|p=21}} starting with the conquest of the ] by the ] and ] rulers, which deprived the Brahmins of their patrons, threatening the survival of the Vedic ritual tradition.{{sfn|Bronkhorst|2011|pp=32-33}} In response, Brahmins broadened their services,{{sfn|Bronkhorst|2011|p=33-34}} eventually resulting in the Hindu synthesis of Brahmanical orthodoxy with local religious traditions,{{sfn|Hiltebeitel|2007|p=12}}{{sfn|Vijay Nath|2001|p=21}}{{sfn|Bronkhorst|2011|p=29}} which, centuries later, came to dominate India.{{sfn|Bronkhorst|2011|p=29}} During the Gupta reign the first Puranas were written,{{sfn|Vijay Nath|2001|p=19}}{{refn|group=note|name="Puranas-date"|The date of the production of the written texts does not define the date of origin of the Puranas ({{harvnb|Johnson|2009|p=247}}). They may have existed in some oral form before being written down ({{harvnb|Johnson|2009|p=247}}).}} which were used to disseminate "mainstream religious ideology amongst pre-literate and tribal groups undergoing acculturation."{{sfn|Vijay Nath|2001|p=19}} The resulting Puranic Hinduism differed markedly from the earlier Brahmanism of the ] and the ''smritis''.{{sfn|Vijay Nath|2001|p=19}}{{refn|group=note|name="Michaels-legacy"|{{harvtxt|Michaels|2004|p=38}}: "The legacy of the Vedic religion in Hinduism is generally overestimated. The influence of the mythology is indeed great, but the religious terminology changed considerably: all the key terms of Hinduism either do not exist in Vedic or have a completely different meaning. The religion of the Veda does not know the ethicised migration of the soul with retribution for acts (''karma''), the cyclical destruction of the world, or the idea of salvation during one's lifetime (''jivanmukti; moksa; nirvana''); the idea of the world as illusion (''maya'') must have gone against the grain of ancient India, and an omnipotent creator god emerges only in the late hymns of the rgveda. Nor did the Vedic religion know a caste system, the burning of widows, the ban on remarriage, images of gods and temples, Puja worship, Yoga, pilgrimages, vegetarianism, the holiness of cows, the doctrine of stages of life (''asrama''), or knew them only at their inception. Thus, it is justified to see a turning point between the Vedic religion and Hindu religions." See also {{harvnb|Halbfass|1991|pp=1–2}}}} Hinduism co-existed for several centuries with Buddhism,{{sfn|Samuel|2010|pp=193–228}} to finally gain the upper hand at all levels in the 8th century.{{sfn|Raju|1992|p=31}}<ref group=web name="Oslo-Mauryan">{{Cite web|url=http://www.uio.no/studier/emner/hf/iakh/HIS2172/v09/undervisningsmateriale/HIS2172-Mauryan_Empire.pdf|title=University of Oslo, ''The Mauryan Empire'', study course|access-date=13 February 2015|archive-date=18 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160418121314/http://www.uio.no/studier/emner/hf/iakh/HIS2172/v09/undervisningsmateriale/HIS2172-Mauryan_Empire.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>{{refn|group=note|name="Mahadana"|University of Oslo: "During the period following Ashoka, until the end of the 7th century AD, the great gift ceremonies honoring the Buddha remained the central cult of Indian imperial kingdoms".<ref group=web name="Oslo-Mauryan" />}} | |||
| From northern India this "Hindu synthesis", and its societal divisions, spread to southern India and |
From northern India this "Hindu synthesis", and its societal divisions, spread to southern India and parts of ], as courts and rulers adopted the Brahmanical culture.{{sfn|Samuel|2010|pp=193–228, 339–353, specifically pp. 76–79 and p. 199}}{{refn|group=note|name="Samuel-northsouth"|{{harvtxt|Samuel|2010|p=76}}: "Certainly, there is substantial textual evidence for the outward expansion of Vedic-Brahmanical culture."{{paragraph break}} {{harvtxt|Samuel|2010|p=77}}: "he Buddhist ''sutras'' describe what was in later periods a standard mechanism for the expansion of Vedic-Brahmanical culture: the settlement of Brahmins on land granted by local rulers." See also {{harvtxt|Vijay Nath|2001}}.{{paragraph break}} | ||
| {{harvtxt|Samuel|2010|p=199}}: "By the first and second centuries CE, the Dravidian-speaking regions of the south were also increasingly being incorporated into the general North and Central Indian cultural pattern, as were parts at least of Southeast Asia. The Pallava kingdom in South India was largely Brahmanical in orientation although it included a substantial Jain and Buddhist population, while Indic states were also beginning to develop in Southeast Asia."}}{{refn|group=note|name="Larson-NorthSouth"|{{harvtxt|Larson|1995|p=81}}: "Also, the spread of the culture of North India to the South was accomplished in many instances by the spread of Buddhist and Jain institutions (monasteries, lay communities, and so forth). The Pallavas of Kanci appear to have been one of the main vehicles for the spread of specifically Indo-Brahmanical or Hindu institutions in the South, a process that was largely completed after the Gupta Age. As Basham has noted, "the contact of Aryan and Dravidian produced a vigorous cultural synthesis, which in turn had an immense influence on Indian civilization as a whole."}}{{refn|group=note|name="Flood-NorthSouth"|{{harvtxt|Flood|1996|p=129}}: "The process of Sanskritization only began to significantly influence the south after the first two centuries CE and Tamil deities and forms of worship became adapted to northern ] forms."}} It was aided by the settlement of Brahmins on land granted by local rulers,{{sfn|Samuel|2010|p=77}}{{sfn|Vijay Nath|2001}} the incorporation and assimilation of popular non-Vedic gods,<ref group=web name="EBHinbduism6">Wendy Doniger. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150426181105/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/266312/Hinduism/8975/Other-sources-the-process-of-Sanskritization |date=26 April 2015 }}, ''Encyclopædia Britannica''.</ref>{{sfn|Vijay Nath|2001|pp=31–34}}{{refn|group=note|name="pantheon explosion"|Wendy Doniger: "If Sanskritization has been the main means of connecting the various local traditions throughout the subcontinent, the converse process, which has no convenient label, has been one of the means whereby Hinduism has changed and developed over the centuries. Many features of Hindu mythology and several popular gods—such as Ganesha, an elephant-headed god, and Hanuman, the monkey god—were incorporated into Hinduism and assimilated into the appropriate Vedic gods by this means. Similarly, the worship of many goddesses who are now regarded as the consorts of the great male Hindu gods, as well as the worship of individual unmarried goddesses, may have arisen from the worship of non-Vedic local goddesses. Thus, the history of Hinduism can be interpreted as the interplay between orthoprax custom and the practices of wider ranges of people and, complementarily, as the survival of features of local traditions that gained strength steadily until they were adapted by the Brahmans."<ref group=web name="EBHinbduism6" />{{paragraph break}} {{harvtxt|Vijay Nath|2001|p=31}}: "Visnu and Siva, on the other hand, as integral components of the Triad while continuing to be a subject of theological speculation, however, in their subsequent "]as" began to absorb countless local cults and deities within their folds. The latter were either taken to represent the multiple facets of the same god or else were supposed to denote different forms and appellations by which the god came to be known and worshipped. Thus, whereas ] came to subsume the cults of ], ], ] and many others, ] became identified with countless local cults by the sheer suffixing of ''Isa'' or ''Isvara''to the name of the local deity, e.g., Bhutesvara, Hatakesvara, Chandesvara."}} and the process of ], in which "people from many strata of society throughout the subcontinent tended to adapt their religious and social life to Brahmanic norms".<ref group=web name="EBHinbduism6" />{{refn|group=note|name="Sanskritization"|Wendy Doniger: "The process, sometimes called 'Sanskritization', began in Vedic times and was probably the principal method by which the Hinduism of the Sanskrit texts spread through the subcontinent and into Southeast Asia. Sanskritization still continues in the form of the conversion of tribal groups, and it is reflected in the persistence of the tendency among some Hindus to identify rural and local deities with the gods of the Sanskrit texts."<ref group=web name="EBHinbduism6" />}}{{sfn|Flood|1996|pp=128, 129, 148}} This process of assimilation explains the wide diversity of local cultures in India "half shrouded in a taddered cloak of conceptual unity".{{sfn|Gombrich|2006|p=36}} | |||
| According to ], Brahmins played an essential role in the development of this synthesis. They were bilingual and bicultural, speaking both their local language, and popular ], which transcended regional differences in culture and language. They were able to "translate the mainstream of the large culture in terms of the village and the culture of the village in terms of the mainstream", thereby integrating the local culture into a larger whole.{{sfn|Deutsch|Dalvi|2004|pp=99–100}} While ] and, to a lesser degree, ], remained faithful to the traditional Vedic lore, a new brahminism arose which composed litanies for the local and regional gods, and became the ministers of these local traditions.{{sfn|Deutsch|Dalvi|2004|pp=99–100}} | |||
| ==Periodisation== | |||
| {| style="float:right;" | |||
| == Periodisation == | |||
| {{See also|Outline of South Asian history}} | |||
| Authors on Hinduism and its history have used various periodisations, elaborating on influential periodisations like Mill's, and also describing some of the constituting traditions preceding the Hindu-synthesis.{{sfn|Smart|2003}}{{sfn|Michaels|2004}}{{sfn|Muesse|2003}}{{sfn|Flood|1996}} An elaborate periodisation may be as follows:{{sfn|Michaels|2004}} | |||
| * Pre-history and Indus Valley Civilisation (until {{circa|1750 BCE}}); | |||
| * Vedic period ({{circa|1750}}–500 BCE); | |||
| * "Second Urbanisation" ({{circa|600}}–200 BCE); | |||
| * Classical Period ({{circa|200 BCE}} – 1200 CE);{{refn|group=note|Different periods are designated as "classical Hinduism": | |||
| * {{harvtxt|Smart|2003|p=52}} calls the period between 1000 BCE and 100 CE "pre-classical". It is the formative period for the Upanishads and Brahmanism{{refn|group=subnote|{{harvtxt|Smart|2003|pp=52, 83–86}} distinguishes "Brahmanism" from the Vedic religion, connecting "Brahmanism" with the Upanishads.}} Jainism and Buddhism. For Smart, the "classical period" lasts from 100 to 1000 CE, and coincides with the flowering of "classical Hinduism" and the flowering and deterioration of Mahayana-buddhism in India. | |||
| * For {{harvtxt|Michaels|2004|pp=36, 38}}, the period between 500 BCE and 200 BCE is a time of "Ascetic reformism", whereas the period between 200 BCE and 1100 CE is the time of "classical Hinduism", since there is "a turning point between the Vedic religion and Hindu religions". | |||
| * {{harvtxt|Muesse|2003|p=14}} discerns a longer period of change, namely between 800 BCE and 200 BCE, which he calls the "Classical Period". According to Muesse, some of the fundamental concepts of Hinduism, namely karma, reincarnation and "personal enlightenment and transformation", which did not exist in the Vedic religion, developed in this time. | |||
| * {{harvtxt|Stein|2010|p=107}} The Indian History Congress, formally adopted 1206 CE as the date medieval India began.}} | |||
| ** Pre-classical period ({{circa|200 BCE}} – 300 CE); | |||
| ** "Golden Age" of India (Gupta Empire) ({{Circa|320}}–650 CE); | |||
| ** Late-Classical period - Puranic Hinduism (c. 650–1200 CE); | |||
| * Medieval Period ({{Circa|1200}}–1500 CE); | |||
| * Early Modern Period ({{circa|1500}}–1850); | |||
| * Modern period (British Raj and independence) (from {{circa|1850}}). | |||
| {| class="wikitable collapsible autocollapse" style="width:100%;text-align:center;" | |||
| |- | |- | ||
| ! colspan=5 | History of Hinduism | |||
| |{{Timetable of South Asia}} | |||
| |- | |- | ||
| |colspan=5|] (1773–1836), in his '']'' (1817),{{efn-ua|{{harvnb|Khanna|2007|p=xvii}}|name="KhannaXVII"}} distinguished three phases in the history of India, namely Hindu, Muslim and British civilisations.{{efn-ua|name="KhannaXVII"}}{{efn-ua|{{harvnb|Misra|2004|p=194}}}} This periodisation has been influential, but has also been criticised, for the misconceptions it has given rise to.{{efn-ua|{{harvnb|Kulke|Rothermund|2004|p=7}}}} Another influential periodisation is the division into "ancient, classical, mediaeval and modern periods".{{efn-ua|{{harvnb|Flood|1996|p=21}}}} | |||
| |{{Periodisation of Hinduism}} | |||
| |- | |- | ||
| ! Smart{{efn-ua|{{harvnb|Smart|2003|pp=52–53}}|name="Smart5253"}} | |||
| |} | |||
| ! colspan="2" | Michaels{{efn-ua|{{harvnb|Michaels|2004}}|name="Mike2004"}} | |||
| {{History of South Asia}} | |||
| ! Muesse{{efn-ua|{{harvnb|Muesse|2011}}|name="Muesse2011"}} | |||
| ! Flood{{efn-ua|{{harvnb|Flood|1996|pp=21–22}}}} | |||
| |- | |||
| | (Smart) rowspan="3" style="text-align:center;" | ] and ]<br />({{circa|3000}}–1000 BCE) | |||
| | colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | ]<br />(until {{circa|1750 BCE}}){{efn-ua|{{harvnb|Michaels|2004|p=32}}|name="Mike32"}} | |||
| | (Muesse) style="text-align:center;" | ]<br />(3300–1400 BCE) | |||
| | (Flood) style="text-align:center;" | ]<br />({{circa|2500}} to 1500 BCE) | |||
| |- | |||
| | (Michaels overall) rowspan="3" style="text-align:center;" | ] | |||
| | (Michaels detailed) style="text-align:center;" | Early Vedic Period<br />({{circa|1750}}–1200 BCE) | |||
| | (Muesse) rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | ]<br />(1600–800 BCE) | |||
| | (Flood) rowspan="3" style="text-align:center;" | ]<br />({{circa|1500}}–500 BCE) | |||
| |- | |||
| | (Michaels detailed) style="text-align:center;" | Middle Vedic period<br />({{circa|1200}}–850 BCE) | |||
| |- | |||
| | (Smart) rowspan="3" style="text-align:center;" | Pre-classical period<br />({{circa|1000 BCE}} – 100 CE) | |||
| | (Michaels detailed) style="text-align:center;" | Late Vedic period<br />({{circa|850}}–500 BCE) | |||
| | (Muesse) rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | ]<br />(800–200 BCE) | |||
| |- | |||
| | colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | ]<br />({{circa|500}}–200 BCE) | |||
| | (Flood) rowspan="3" style="text-align:center;" | ] and ] period<br />({{circa|500 BCE}} to 500 CE) | |||
| |- | |||
| | (Michaels overall) rowspan="3" style="text-align:center;" | Classical | |||
| | (Michaels detailed) style="text-align:center;" | Preclassical Hinduism<br />({{circa|200 BCE}} – 300 CE){{efn-ua|{{harvnb|Michaels|2004|p=38}}|name="Mike38"}} | |||
| | (Muesse) rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | ] and ] period<br />(200 BCE – 500 CE) | |||
| |- | |||
| | (Smart) rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | Classical period<br />({{circa|100}} – 1000 CE) | |||
| | (Michaels detailed) style="text-align:center;" | "Golden Age" (])<br />(c. 320–650 CE){{efn-ua|{{harvnb|Michaels|2004|p=40}}}} | |||
| |- | |||
| | (Michaels detailed) style="text-align:center;" | ]<br />(c. 650–1100 CE){{efn-ua|{{harvnb|Michaels|2004|p=41}}}} | |||
| | (Muesse) rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | Medieval and Late Puranic period<br />(500–1500 CE) | |||
| | (Flood) rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | Medieval and Late Puranic period<br />(500–1500 CE) | |||
| |- | |||
| | (Smart) rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | Hindu-Islamic civilisation<br />({{circa|1000}}–1750 CE) | |||
| | colspan="2" rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | ] and ]<br />({{circa|1100}}–1850 CE){{efn-ua|{{harvnb|Michaels|2004|p=43}}|name="Mike43"}} | |||
| |- | |||
| | (Muesse) rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | ]<br />(1500–present) | |||
| | (Flood) rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | ]<br />({{circa|1500 CE}} to present) | |||
| |- | |||
| | (Smart) style="text-align:center;" | Modern period<br />({{circa|1750 CE}} – present) | |||
| | colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | ]<br />(from {{circa|1850}}){{efn-ua|{{harvnb|Michaels|2004|p=45}}|name="Mike45"}} | |||
| |- | |||
| | colspan=12 | | |||
| {| class="collapsible collapsed" | |||
| |- | |||
| ! Notes and references for table | |||
| |- | |||
| | | |||
| '''Notes''' | |||
| Smart{{efn-ua|name="Smart5253"}} and Michaels{{efn-ua|name="Mike32"}} seem to follow Mill's periodisation (Michaels mentions Flood 1996 as a source for "Prevedic Religions".{{efn-ua|{{harvnb|Michaels|2004|pp=31, 348}}}}), while Flood{{efn-ua|{{harvnb|Flood|1996}}}} and Muesse{{efn-ua|{{harvnb|Muesse|2003}}}}{{efn-ua|name="Muesse2011"}} follow the "ancient, classical, mediaeval and modern periods" periodisation.{{efn-ua|{{harvnb|Muesse|2011|p=16}}}} | |||
| Different periods are designated as "classical Hinduism": | |||
| ] (1773–1836), in his ] (1817), distinguished three phases in the history of India, namely Hindu, Muslim and British civilisations. This periodisation has been criticised, for the misconceptions it has given rise to. Another periodisation is the division into "ancient, classical, medieval and modern periods", although this periodization has also received criticism.{{sfn|Thapar|1978|p=19-20}} | |||
| * Smart calls the period between 1000 BCE and 100 CE "pre-classical". It is the formative period for the Upanishads and Brahmanism (Smart distinguishes "Brahmanism" from the Vedic religion, connecting "Brahmanism" with the Upanishads.{{efn-ua|{{harvnb|Smart|2003|pp=52, 83–86}}}}), Jainism and Buddhism. For Smart, the "classical period" lasts from 100 to 1000 CE, and coincides with the flowering of "classical Hinduism" and the flowering and deterioration of Mahayana-buddhism in India.{{efn-ua|{{harvnb|Smart|2003|p=52}}}} | |||
| * For Michaels, the period between 500 BCE and 200 BCE is a time of "Ascetic reformism",{{efn-ua|{{harvnb|Michaels|2004|p=36}}}} whereas the period between 200 BCE and 1100 CE is the time of "classical Hinduism", since there is "a turning point between the Vedic religion and Hindu religions".{{efn-ua|name="Mike38"}} | |||
| Romila Thapar notes that the division of Hindu-Muslim-British periods of Indian history gives too much weight to ruling dynasties and foreign invasions, neglecting the social-economic history which often showed a strong continuity.{{sfn|Thapar|1978|p=19}} The division in Ancient-Medieval-Modern overlooks the fact that "the Muslims" conquered various parts of India at different periods between the eight and the fourteenth century, while the south was never completely conquered.{{sfn|Thapar|1978|p=19}} Based on significant social and economic changes, the ancient period would end roughly in the eighth century A.D., or possibly a little earlier, since the more significant changes did not coincide with dynastic changes and the conquests of 'the Muslims'.{{sfn|Thapar|1978|p=20}}{{refn|group=note|See also Tanvir Anjum, ''''.}} | |||
| * Muesse discerns a longer period of change, namely between 800 BCE and 200 BCE, which he calls the "Classical Period". According to Muesse, some of the fundamental concepts of Hinduism, namely karma, reincarnation and "personal enlightenment and transformation", which did not exist in the Vedic religion, developed in this time.{{efn-ua|{{harvnb|Muesse|2003|p=14}}}} | |||
| '''References''' | |||
| {{notelist-ua|20em}} | |||
| '''Sources''' | |||
| * {{cite journal|ref=none |last =Bentley |first =Jerry H. |year =1996 |title =Cross-Cultural Interaction and Periodization in World History |journal =The American Historical Review |volume=101 |issue=3 |pages=749–770| doi =10.2307/2169422 |jstor =2169422}} | |||
| * {{cite book|ref=none |last =Flood |first =Gavin D. |year =1996 |title =An Introduction to Hinduism |url =https://archive.org/details/introductiontohi0000floo |url-access =registration |publisher =Cambridge University Press}} | |||
| * {{cite book|ref=none |last =Khanna |first =Meenakshi |year =2007 |title =Cultural History of Medieval India |publisher =Berghahn Books}} | |||
| * {{cite book|ref=none |last1 =Kulke |first1 =Hermann |last2 =Rothermund |first2 =Dietmar |year =2004 |title =A History of India |publisher =Routledge}} | |||
| * {{cite book|ref=none |last =Michaels |first =Axel |year =2004 |title =Hinduism. Past and present |place =Princeton, New Jersey |publisher =Princeton University Press}} | |||
| * {{cite book|ref=none |last =Misra |first =Amalendu |year =2004 |title =Identity and Religion: Foundations of Anti-Islamism in India |publisher =SAGE}} | |||
| * {{cite book|ref=none |last =Muesse |first =Mark William |year =2003 |title =Great World Religions: Hinduism |url =http://www.docshut.com/rquv/lectures-on-great-world-religions-hinduism.html}} | |||
| * {{cite book|ref=none |last =Muesse |first =Mark W. |year =2011 |title =The Hindu Traditions: A Concise Introduction |url=https://archive.org/details/hindutraditionsc00mues |url-access=registration |publisher=Fortress Press|isbn =9780800697907 }} | |||
| * {{cite book|ref=none |last =Smart |first =Ninian |year =2003 |title =Godsdiensten van de wereld (The World's religions) |place =Kampen |publisher =Uitgeverij Kok}} | |||
| |} | |||
| |} | |||
| == Pre-Vedic religions (until c. 1750 BCE) == | |||
| Smart and Michaels seem to follow Mill's periodisation, while Flood and Muesse follow the "ancient, classical, mediaeval and modern periods" periodisation. An elaborate periodisation may be as follows:{{sfn|Michaels|2004}} | |||
| * Pre-history and Indus Valley Civilisation (until c. 1750 BCE); | |||
| * Vedic period (c. 1750-500 BCE); | |||
| * "Second Urbanisation" (c. 500-200 BCE); | |||
| * Classical period (c. 200 BCE-1100 CE);{{refn|group=note|Different periods are designated as "classical Hinduism": | |||
| * Smart calls the period between 1000 BCE and 100 CE "pre-classical". It's the formative period for the Upanishads and Brahmanism{{refn|group=note|Smart distinguishes "Brahmanism" from the Vedic religion, connecting "Brahmanism" with the Upanishads.{{sfn|Smart|2003|p=52, 83-86}}}} Jainism and Buddhism. For Smart, the "classical period" lasts from 100 to 1000 CE, and coincides with the flowering of "classical Hinduism" and the flowering and deterioration of Mahayana-buddhism in India.{{sfn|Smart|2003|p=52}} | |||
| * For Michaels, the period between 500 BCE and 200 BCE is a time of "Ascetic reformism",{{sfn|Michaels|2004|p=36}} whereas the period between 200 BCE and 1100 CE is the time of "classical Hinduism", since there is "a turning point between the Vedic religion and Hindu religions".{{sfn|Michaels|2004|p=38}} | |||
| * Muesse discerns a longer period of change, namely between 800 BCE and 200 BCE, which he calls the "Classical Period". According to Muesse, some of the fundamental concepts of Hinduism, namely karma, reincarnation and "personal enlightenment and transformation", which did not exist in the Vedic religion, developed in this time.{{sfn|Muesse|2003|p=14}}}} | |||
| :* Pre-classical period (c. 200 BCE-300 CE); | |||
| :* "Golden Age" (Gupta Empire) (c. 320-650 CE); | |||
| :* Late-Classical period (c. 650-1100 CE); | |||
| * Islamic period (c. 1100-1850 CE) and beginning of western colonialism (c.1500-1850); | |||
| * Modern period (British Raj and independence) (from c. 1850). | |||
| === Prehistory === | |||
| ==Prevedic religions== | |||
| According to Doniger, Hinduism may have roots in pre-historic (pre-textual, pre-Vedic) ] ], such as evidenced in the rock paintings of ],{{refn|group=note|{{harvnb|Doniger|2010|p=66}}: "Much of what we now call Hinduism may have had roots in cultures that thrived in South Asia long before the creation of textual evidence that we can decipher with any confidence. Remarkable cave paintings have been preserved from Mesolithic sites dating from c. 30,000 BCE in ], near present-day Bhopal, in the Vindhya Mountains in the province of Madhya Pradesh."{{refn|group=subnote|30,000 BCE is incorrect; this must be 8,000 BCE.<ref name="YM" /><ref name="SKT" /><ref name="UB" /><ref name="SM" /><ref name="AJ" />}}}} which are about 10,000 years old ({{circa|8,000 BCE}}),<ref name="YM">{{cite book |last1=Mathpal |first1=Yashodhar |title=Prehistoric Painting of Bhimbetka |date=1984 |publisher=Abhinav Publications |isbn=9788170171935 |page=220 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GG7-CpvlU30C&pg=PA220 |access-date=23 December 2023 |archive-date=23 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223182049/https://books.google.com/books?id=GG7-CpvlU30C&pg=PA220#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="SKT">{{cite book |last1=Tiwari |first1=Shiv Kumar |title=Riddles of Indian Rockshelter Paintings |date=2000 |publisher=Sarup & Sons |isbn=9788176250863 |page=189 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-jO0fvT4r9gC&pg=PA189 |access-date=23 December 2023 |archive-date=23 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223182056/https://books.google.com/books?id=-jO0fvT4r9gC&pg=PA189#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="UB">{{cite book |title=Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka |date=2003 |publisher=UNESCO |page=16 |url=https://whc.unesco.org/uploads/nominations/925.pdf |access-date=19 October 2020 |archive-date=9 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200409064528/https://whc.unesco.org/uploads/nominations/925.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="SM">{{cite book |last1=Mithen |first1=Steven |title=After the Ice: A Global Human History, 20,000–5000 BC |date=2011 |publisher=Orion |isbn=978-1-78022-259-2 |page=524 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Uaxg_QDSsrQC&pg=PT524 |access-date=23 December 2023 |archive-date=23 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223182113/https://books.google.com/books?id=Uaxg_QDSsrQC&pg=PT524 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="AJ">{{cite book |last1=Javid |first1=Ali |last2=Jāvīd |first2=ʻAlī |last3=Javeed |first3=Tabassum |title=World Heritage Monuments and Related Edifices in India |date=2008 |publisher=Algora Publishing |isbn=978-0-87586-484-6 |page=19 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=54XBlIF9LFgC&pg=PA19 |access-date=23 December 2023 |archive-date=23 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223182050/https://books.google.com/books?id=54XBlIF9LFgC&pg=PA19#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> as well as ] times. At least some of these shelters were occupied over 100,000 years ago.<ref>United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. (5 July 2003). ''World Heritage Nomination: Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka.'' UNESCO. https://whc.unesco.org/uploads/nominations/925.pdf {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200409064528/https://whc.unesco.org/uploads/nominations/925.pdf|date=9 April 2020}}</ref>{{refn|group=note|{{harvnb|Jones|Ryan|2006|p=xvii}}: "Some practices of Hinduism must have originated in Neolithic times (c. 4000 BCE). The worship of certain plants and animals as sacred, for instance, could very likely have very great antiquity. The worship of goddesses, too, a part of Hinduism today, may be a feature that originated in the Neolithic."}} Several ] still exist, though their practices may not resemble those of prehistoric religions.<ref group="web">{{Cite web |title=Tribal Religions of India |url=http://www.philtar.ac.uk/encyclopedia/india/tribal.html |website=Overview of World Religions |publisher=PHILTAR, Division of Religion and Philosophy, University of Cumbria |access-date=19 January 2015 |archive-date=25 May 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170525144855/http://www.philtar.ac.uk/encyclopedia/india/tribal.html |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
| === Indus Valley Civilization (c. 3300–1700 BCE) === | |||
| ===Prehistory=== | |||
| {{Main|Religion of the Indus Valley Civilization}} | |||
| ] are thought to have arrived in South India about 75,000 – 60,000 years back,<ref>{{cite book|title=The Incredible Human Journey|author=Alice Roberts|page=90|publisher=A&C Black}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Petraglia|first1=Michael D. |last2=Allchin|first2=Bridget |authorlink2=Bridget Allchin|editor=Michael Petraglia, Bridget Allchin|title=The Evolution and History of Human Populations in South Asia: Inter-disciplinary Studies in Archaeology, Biological Anthropology, Linguistics and Genetics|url=http://books.google.com/?id=Qm9GfjNlnRwC&pg=PA6| year=2007|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-1-4020-5562-1| chapter=Human evolution and culture change in the Indian subcontinent}}</ref> during Paleolithic times. These people were ]s who may have been closely related to ]s.<ref group=web></ref> They are probably almost extinct or largely covered by successive waves.{{sfn|Cavalli-Sforza|1994|p=241}} | |||
| After the Australoids, ]s, including both ]s (c. 4,000{{sfn|Thani Nayagam|1963}} to 6,000{{sfn|Kumar|2004}} BCE) and ]s (c.2,000{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=34}}-1,500 BCE{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=30}}), and ]s (]s) immigrated into India. The Elamo-Dravidians{{refn|group=note|Called such, so as to distinguish them from the modern ] populations of India, which are of predominantly Australoid racial stock}} possibly from ], present-day Iran,{{sfn|Thani Nayagam|1963}}{{sfn|Kumar|2004}}{{sfn|Mukherjee|2001}}{{refn|group=note|name="Darvidian migrations"| | |||
| * Thani Nayagam: "... together with the evidence of archaeology would seem to suggest that the original Dravidian-speakers entered India from Iran in the fourth millennium BC ...".{{sfn|Thani Nayagam|1963}} | |||
| * Kumar: "The analysis of two Y chromosome variants, Hgr9 and Hgr3 provides interesting data (Quintan-Murci et al., 2001). Microsatellite variation of Hgr9 among Iranians, Pakistanis and Indians indicate an expansion of populations to around 9000 YBP in Iran and then to 6,000 YBP in India. This migration originated in what was historically termed Elam in south-west Iran to the Indus valley, and may have been associated with the spread of Dravidian languages from south-west Iran (Quintan-Murci et al., 2001)."{{sfn|Kumar|2004}} | |||
| * Mukherjee et al: "More recently, about 15,000-10,000 years before present (ybp), when agriculture developed in the Fertile Crescent region that extends from Israel through northern Syria to western Iran, there was another eastward wave of human migration (Cavalli-Sforza et al., 1994; Renfrew 1987), a part of which also appears to have entered India. This wave has been postulated to have brought the Dravidian languages into India (Renfrew 1987). Subsequently, the Indo-European (Aryan) language family was introduced into India about 4,000 ybp ...".{{sfn|Mukherjee|2001}}}} and the Tibeto-Burmans possibly from the Himalayan and north-eastern borders of the subcontinent.{{sfn|Cordaux|2004}}{{refn|group=note|Cordaux et al: "Our coalescence analysis suggests that the expansion of Tibeto-Burman speakers to northeast India most likely took place within the past 4,200 years."{{sfn|Cordaux|2004}}}} | |||
| The earliest ] in India that may have left its traces in Hinduism comes from mesolithic as observed in the sites such as the rock paintings of ] dating to a period of 30,000 BCE or older,{{sfn|Doniger|2010|p=66}}{{refn|group=note|Doniger: "Much of what we now call Hinduism may have had roots in cultures that thrived in South Asia long before the creation of textual evidence that we can decipher with any confidence. Remarkable cave paintings have been preserved from Mesolithic sites dating from c. 30,000 BCE in ], near present-day Bhopal, in the Vindhya Mountains in the province of Madhya Pradesh."{{sfn|Doniger|2010|p=66}}}} as well as neolithic times.{{sfn|Jones|2006|p=xvii}}{{refn|group=note|Jones & Ryan: "Some practices of Hinduism must have originated in Neolithic times (c. 4,000 BCE). The worship of certain plants and animals as sacred, for instance, could very likely have very great antiquity. The worship of goddesses, too, a part of Hinduism today, may be a feature that originated in the Neolithic."{{sfn|Jones|2006|p=xvii}}}} Some of the religious practices can be considered to have originated in 4,000 BCE. Several ] still exist, though "e must not assume that there are many similarities between prehistoric and contemporary tribal communities".<ref group=web></ref> | |||
| ===Indus Valley Civilisation (3300–1300 BCE)=== | |||
| {{Main|Indus Valley Civilisation}} | |||
| ]]] | |||
| {{further|Prehistoric religion|History of Jainism}} | {{further|Prehistoric religion|History of Jainism}} | ||
| Some Indus valley seals show ]s, which are found in other religions worldwide. Phallic symbols interpreted as the much later Hindu ] have been found in the Harappan remains.{{sfn|Basham|1967}}<ref>{{cite book| title=Plants of life, plants of death| first=Frederick J. |last=Simoons| year=1998| page=363}}</ref> Many Indus valley seals show animals. One seal showing a horned figure seated in a posture reminiscent of the ] and surrounded by animals was named by early excavators "]", an epithet of the later Hindu gods ] and ].<ref>{{cite book| title=The Making of India: A Historical Survey| author=Ranbir Vohra| publisher=M. E. Sharpe| year=2000| page=15}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| title=Ancient Indian Civilization| first=Grigoriĭ Maksimovich |last=Bongard-Levin| publisher=Arnold-Heinemann| year=1985| page=45}}</ref>{{sfn|Rosen|2006|p=45}} Writing in 1997, ] said, "Not too many recent studies continue to call the seal's figure a 'Proto-Siva', rejecting thereby Marshall's package of proto-Shiva features, including that of three heads. She interprets what ] interpreted as facial as not human but more bovine, possibly a divine buffalo-man."{{sfn|Srinivasan|1997|p={{page needed|date=March 2021}}}}{{verify source|reason=Quotation was missing a closing quotation mark, making it unclear where it ends. The one here is a guess|date=August 2023}} According to ], symbols 47 and 48 of his Indus script glossary ''The Indus Script: Texts, Concordance and Tables'' (1977), representing seated human-like figures, could describe the South Indian deity ].<ref>{{cite book |last=Mahadevan |first=Iravatham |title=A Note on the Muruku Sign of the Indus Script in light of the Mayiladuthurai Stone Axe Discovery |year=2006 |publisher=harappa.com |url=http://www.harappa.com/arrow/stone_celt_indus_signs.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060904034700/http://www.harappa.com/arrow/stone_celt_indus_signs.html |archive-date=4 September 2006 |url-status=dead}}</ref> | |||
| In view of the large number of figurines found in the Indus valley, some scholars believe that the Harappan people worshipped a ] symbolizing fertility, a common practice among rural Hindus even today.<ref>{{Cite book |title=In Search of the Cradle of Civilization:New Light on Ancient India |last1=Feuerstein |first1=Georg |last2=Kak |first2=Subhash |last3=Frawley |first3=David |publisher=Quest Books |year=2001 |page=121 |isbn=0-8356-0741-0}}</ref> However, this view has been disputed by S. Clark who sees it as an inadequate explanation of the function and construction of many of the figurines.<ref>{{Cite thesis |first=Sharri R. |last=Clark |title=The social lives of figurines: recontextualizing the third millennium BC terracotta figurines from Harappa, Pakistan |publisher=Harvard |type=PhD |year=2007}}</ref> | |||
| Some Indus valley seals show ]s, which are found in other religions worldwide, especially in ] such as ], ], and ]. The earliest evidence for elements of ] are alleged to have been present before and during the ] period<!--Full ref please - ref name=nikhilupa3to8>{{Harvnb|Nikhilananda|1990|pp=3–8}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Coulson|1992}}</ref-->.<ref name=History>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/hinduism/history/history_1.shtml|title=Hindu History}} The BBC names a bath and phallic symbols of the ] as features of the "Prehistoric religion (3000-1000 BCE)".</ref> Phallic symbols interpreted as the much later Hindu ] have been found in the Harappan remains.<ref>{{Harvnb|Basham|1967}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| title = Plants of life, plants of death| author = Frederick J. Simoons| year = 1998| page = 363}}</ref> | |||
| ] Seals from the Indus Valley Civilization preserved at the ]]] Many Indus valley seals show animals. One seal shows a horned figure seated in a posture reminiscent of the ] and surrounded by animals was named by early excavators '']'' (lord of cattle), an epithet of the later ] gods ] and ].<ref>{{cite book| title = The Making of India: A Historical Survey| author = Ranbir Vohra| publisher = M.E. Sharpe| year = 2000| page = 15}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| title = Ancient Indian Civilization| author = Grigoriĭ Maksimovich Bongard-Levin| publisher = Arnold-Heinemann| year = 1985| page = 45}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| title = Essential Hinduism| author = Steven Rosen, Graham M. Schweig| publisher = Greenwood Publishing Group| year = 2006| page = 45}}</ref> Writing in 1997 ] said that "Not too many recent studies continue to call the seal's figure a "Proto-Siva," rejecting thereby Marshall's package of proto-Siva features, including that of three heads. She interprets what ] interpreted as facial as not human but more bovine, possibly a divine buffalo-man.<ref>{{cite book|last=Srinivasan|first=Doris Meth|title=Many Heads, Arms and Eyes: Origin, Meaning and Form in Multiplicity in Indian Art|year=1997|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-9004107588}}</ref> According to ] symbols 47 and 48 of his Indus script glossary ''The Indus Script: Texts, Concordance and Tables'' (1977), representing seated human-like figures, could describe Hindu deity ].<ref>{{cite book|last=Mahadevan|first=Iravatham|title=A Note on the Muruku Sign of the Indus Script in light of the Mayiladuthurai Stone Axe Discovery|year=2006|publisher=harappa.com|url=http://www.harappa.com/arrow/stone_celt_indus_signs.html}}</ref> | |||
| There are no religious buildings or evidence of elaborate burials. If there were temples, they have not been identified.{{attribution needed|reason=Is this a quotation??? If so, use quotation marks and attribute it|date=August 2023}}<ref>Thapar, Romila, ''Early India: From the Origins to 1300'', London, Penguin Books, 2002</ref> However, House – 1 in HR-A area in ]'s Lower Town has been identified as a possible temple.<ref>McIntosh, Jane (2008). ''The Ancient Indus Valley: New Perspectives''. ABC-CLIO. p. 84,276</ref> | |||
| In view of the large number of figurines found in the Indus valley, some scholars believe that the Harappan people worshipped a ] symbolizing fertility, a common practice among rural ] even today.<ref>{{Cite book|title=In Search of the Cradle of Civilization:New Light on Ancient India|last=Feuerstein|first=Georg|last2=Kak|first2=Subhash|last3=Frawley|first3=David|publisher=Quest Books|year=2001|page=121|isbn=0-8356-0741-0}}</ref> | |||
| However, this view has been disputed by S. Clark who sees it as an inadequate explanation of the function and construction of many of the figurines.<ref>{{Cite journal|first=Sharri R.|last=Clark|title=The social lives of figurines: recontextualizing the third millennium BC terracotta figurines from Harappa, Pakistan|publisher=Harvard PhD|year=2007}}</ref> | |||
| <gallery widths="200px" heights="200px"> | |||
| There are no religious buildings or evidence of elaborate burials. If there were temples, they have not been identified.<ref>Thapar, Romila, Early India: From the Origins to 1300, London, Penguin Books, 2002</ref> However, House - 1 in HR-A area in Mohenjadaro's Lower Town has been identified as a possible temple.<ref>McIntosh, Jane. (2008) The Ancient Indus Valley : New Perspectives. ABC-CLIO. Page 84,276</ref> | |||
| File:Horned deities on an Indus Valley seal with detail.jpg|Horned deity with one-horned attendants on an Indus Valley seal. Horned deities are a standard Mesopotamian theme. 2000-1900 BCE. Islamabad Museum.<ref>{{cite book|quote=An anthropomorphic figure has knelt in front of a fig tree, with hands raised in respectful salutation, prayer or worship. This reverence suggests the divinity of its object, another anthropomorphic figure standing inside the fig tree. In the ancient Near East, the gods and goddesses, as well as their earthly representatives, the divine kings and queens functioning as high priests and priestesses, were distinguished by a horned crown. A similar crown is worn by the two anthropomorphic figures in the fig deity seal. Among various tribal people of India, horned head-dresses are worn by priests on sacrificial occasions.|editor1-first=Catherine|editor1-last=Jarrige|editor2-first=John P.|editor2-last=Gerry|editor3-first=Richard H.|editor3-last=Meadow|title=South Asian Archaeology, 1989: Papers from the Tenth International Conference of South Asian Archaeologists in Western Europe, Musée National Des Arts Asiatiques-Guimet, Paris, France, 3–7 July 1989|date=1992|publisher=Prehistory Press|isbn=978-1-881094-03-6|page=227|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ye2s6ZZ09S0C|access-date=23 December 2023|archive-date=23 December 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223182117/https://books.google.com/books?id=Ye2s6ZZ09S0C|url-status=live}}</ref><ref group=web>{{cite web|title=Image of the seal with horned deity|url=http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00routesdata/bce_500back/indusvalley/sacrifice/sacrifice.html|website=columbia.edu|access-date=31 March 2021|archive-date=1 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211201063912/http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00routesdata/bce_500back/indusvalley/sacrifice/sacrifice.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Art of the First Cities: The Third Millennium B.C. from the Mediterranean to the Indus|date=2003|publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art|isbn=978-1-58839-043-1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8l9X_3rHFdEC&pg=PA403|access-date=23 December 2023|archive-date=23 December 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223182051/https://books.google.com/books?id=8l9X_3rHFdEC&pg=PA403#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The Indus Script. Text, Concordance And Tables Iravathan Mahadevan|page=139|url=https://archive.org/stream/TheIndusScript.TextConcordanceAndTablesIravathanMahadevan/Corpus%20of%20Indus%20Seals%20and%20Inscriptions.%20Collections%20in%20Pakistan#page/n173/mode/2up}}</ref> | |||
| Indus bull-man fighting beast.jpg|Fighting scene between a beast and a man with horns, hooves and a tail, who has been compared to the Mesopotamian bull-man ].<ref name="Gods, Goddesses, and Mythology">{{cite book|last1=Littleton|first1=C. Scott|title=Gods, Goddesses, and Mythology|date=2005|publisher=Marshall Cavendish|isbn=978-0-7614-7565-1|page=732|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u27FpnXoyJQC&pg=PA732|access-date=23 December 2023|archive-date=23 December 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223182624/https://books.google.com/books?id=u27FpnXoyJQC&pg=PA732#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref>{{sfn|Marshall|1996|p=}}<ref name="Pearson Education India">{{cite book|last=Singh|first=Vipul<!--gleaned from other sources besides Google Books. "Singh" is too vague, millions of Sikhs share that name-->|title=The Pearson Indian History Manual for the UPSC Civil Services Preliminary Examination|publisher=Pearson Education India|isbn=9788131717530|page=35|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wsiXwh_tIGkC&pg=PA35|access-date=23 December 2023|archive-date=23 December 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223182624/https://books.google.com/books?id=wsiXwh_tIGkC&pg=PA35#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> ] seal. | |||
| IndusValleySeals swastikas.JPG|] Seals from the Indus Valley Civilization preserved at the ] | |||
| </gallery> | |||
| ==Vedic period (1750–500 BCE)== | == Vedic period (c. 1750–500 BCE) == | ||
| {| class="wikitable" style="float:right;" | |||
| {{Main|Vedic period|Vedic Civilisation|Historical Vedic religion|Vedic Sanskrit}} | |||
| |- | |||
| {{Further|Iron Age India}} | |||
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| {| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" style="margin:0 auto;" | |||
| |+ Spread of Indo-European languages | |||
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| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
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| {| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" style="margin:0 auto;" | |||
| |- | |||
| ! Indo-Aryan migration | |||
| |- | |||
| | | |||
| ], 3500–2000 BC]] | |||
| ] from c. 4000 to 1000 BCE according to the ]. The magenta area corresponds to the assumed '']'' (], ]). The red area corresponds to the area which may have been settled by Indo-European-speaking peoples up to ca. 2500 BCE; the orange area to 1000 BCE. (Christopher I. Beckwith (2009), ''Empires of the Silk Road'', Oxford University Press, p.30)]] | |||
| ] culture is shown in darker red. The location of the earliest ]-wheeled ] finds is indicated in purple. Adjacent and overlapping cultures (], ], ]) are shown in green.]] | |||
| ]s (after ]). The ], ] and ] cultures have often been associated with Indo-Iranian migrations. The ], ], ] and ] cultures are candidates for cultures associated with Indo-Aryan movements.]] | |||
| ] | |||
| |} | |||
| |} | |||
| {{Main|Vedic period|Historical Vedic religion|Vedic Sanskrit}} | |||
| {{Further|Iron Age in India}} | |||
| The |
The historical Vedic religion, also known as Vedicism and Vedism, sometimes referred to as an early phase of Hinduism called Vedic Hinduism and Ancient Hinduism,{{efn|name="Vedic Hinduism"}} was the sacrificial religion of the early ], speakers of early ] dialects, ultimately deriving from the ] peoples of the Bronze Age who lived on the Central Asian steppes.{{refn|group=note|{{harvnb|Mallory|1989|p=38f}}. The separation of the early Indo-Aryans from the Proto-Indo-Iranian stage is dated to roughly 1800 BCE in scholarship.}} | ||
| ===Origins=== | === Origins === | ||
| {{Spread of |
<!-- {{Spread of Vedic culture}} --> | ||
| {{Indo-Aryan |
{{Main|Indo-Aryan peoples|Indo-Aryan migrations}} | ||
| <!--{{Spread of Vedic culture}}--> | |||
| {{Main|Indo-Aryans|Indo-Aryan migration}} | |||
| {{See also|Proto-Indo-Europeans|Proto-Indo-European religion|Indo-Iranians|Proto-Indo-Iranian religion}} | {{See also|Proto-Indo-Europeans|Proto-Indo-European religion|Indo-Iranians|Proto-Indo-Iranian religion}} | ||
| ] | |||
| The Vedic period, named after the Vedic religion of the ],{{sfn|Singh|2008|p=185}}{{refn|group=note|Michaels: "They called themselves ''arya'' ("Aryans," literally "the hospitable," from the Vedic ''arya'', "homey, the hospitable") but even in the Rgveda, ''arya'' denotes a cultural and linguistic boundary and not only a racial one."{{sfn|Michaels|2004|p=33}}}} lasted from c. 1750 to 500 BCE.{{sfn|Michaels|2004|p=32}}{{refn|group=note|There is no exact dating possible for the beginning of the Vedic period. Witzel mentions a range between 1900 and 1400 BCE.{{sfn|Witzel|1995|p=3-4}} Flood mentions 1500 BCE.{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=21}}}} The Indo-Aryans were a branch of the ] language family, which many scholars believe originated in ] culture of the ]n ].{{sfn|Anthony|2007}}{{sfn|Mukherjee|2001}}{{sfn|Allchin|1995}}{{refn|group=note|Allchin: "There has also been a fairly general agreement that the Proto-Indoaryan speakers at one time lived on the steppes of Central Asia and that at a certain time they moved southwards through Bactria and Afghanistan, and perhaps the Caucasus, into Iran and India-Pakistan (Burrow 1973; Harmatta 1992)."{{sfn|Allchin|1995}}}}{{sfn|Kulke|1998}}{{refn|group=note|Kulke: "During the last decades intensive archaeological research in Russia and the Central Asian Republics of the former Soviet Union as well as in Pakistan and northern India has considerably enlarged our knowledge about the potential ancestors of the Indo-Aryans and their relationship with cultures in west, central and south Asia. Previous excavations in southern Russia and Central Asia could not confirm that the Eurasian steppes had once been the original home of the speakers of Indo-European language."{{sfn|Kulke|1998}}}} Indeed the Vedic religion, including the names of certain deities, was in essence a branch of the same religious tradition as the ancient Greeks, Romans, Persians, and Germanic peoples. For example the Vedic god ] is a variant of the ] god ] (or simply *Dyēus), from which also derive the Greek ] and the Roman ]. Similarly the Vedic ] and ] derive from the PIE *Manu and *Yemo, from which also derive the Germanic ] and ]. | |||
| The Vedic period, named after the Vedic religion of the ] of the ] 1200 BCE – 525 BCE,{{sfn|Singh|2008|p=185}}{{refn|group=note|{{harvtxt|Michaels|2004|p=33}}: "They called themselves ''arya'' ('Aryans', literally 'the hospitable', from the Vedic ''arya'', 'homey, the hospitable') but even in the Rgveda, ''arya'' denotes a cultural and linguistic boundary and not only a racial one."}} lasted from {{Circa|1750}} to 500 BCE.{{sfn|Michaels|2004|p=32}}{{refn|group=note|There is no exact dating possible for the beginning of the Vedic period. {{harvtxt|Witzel|1995|pp=3–4}} mentions a range between 1900 and 1400 BCE. {{harvtxt|Flood|1996|p=21}} mentions 1500 BCE.}} The Indo-Aryans were a branch of the ] family, which many scholars believe originated in ] culture of the ]n ].{{sfn|Anthony|2007}}{{sfn|Mukherjee et al.|2011}}{{refn|group=note|{{harvtxt|Allchin|Erdosy|1995}}: "There has also been a fairly general agreement that the Proto-Indoaryan speakers at one time lived on the steppes of Central Asia and that at a certain time they moved southwards through Bactria and Afghanistan, and perhaps the Caucasus, into Iran and India-Pakistan (Burrow 1973; Harmatta 1992)."}}{{refn|group=note|{{harvtxt|Kulke|Rothermund|1998}}: "During the last decades intensive archaeological research in Russia and the Central Asian Republics of the former Soviet Union as well as in Pakistan and northern India has considerably enlarged our knowledge about the potential ancestors of the Indo-Aryans and their relationship with cultures in west, central and south Asia. Previous excavations in southern Russia and Central Asia could not confirm that the Eurasian steppes had once been the original home of the speakers of Indo-European language."}} Indeed, the ancient Vedic religion, including the names of certain deities, was in essence a branch of the same religious tradition as the ancient Greeks, Romans, Persians, and Germanic peoples. For example, the Vedic god ] is a variant of the ] god ] (or simply *Dyēus), from which also derive the Greek ] and the Roman ]. Similarly the Vedic ] and ] derive from the Proto-Indo-European *Manu and *Yemo, from which also derive the Germanic ] and ]. | |||
| According to the ] theory, the ] were the common ancestor of the Indo-Aryans and the ]. The Indo-Iranians split into the Indo-Aryans and Iranians around 1800–1600 BCE.{{sfn|Anthony|2007|p=408}} | |||
| The Indo-Aryans were pastoralists{{sfn|Witzel|1995}} who migrated into north-western India after the collapse of the Indus Valley Civilization |
The Indo-Aryans were pastoralists{{sfn|Witzel|1995}} who migrated into north-western India after the collapse of the Indus Valley Civilization.{{sfn|Michaels|2004|p=33}}{{sfn|Flood|1996|pp=30–35}}{{sfn|Hiltebeitel|2007|p=5}}{{refn|group=note|The ] has been challenged by some researchers ({{harvnb|Michaels|2004|p=33}}, {{harvnb|Singh|2008|p=186}}), due to a lack of archaeological evidence and signs of cultural continuity ({{harvnb|Michaels|2004|p=33}}), hypothesizing instead a slow process of acculturation or transformation ({{harvnb|Michaels|2004|p=33}}, {{harvnb|Flood|1996|pp=30–35}}). Nevertheless, linguistic and archaeological data clearly show a cultural change after 1750 BCE ({{harvnb|Michaels|2004|p=33}}), with the linguistic and religious data clearly showing links with Indo-European languages and religion ({{harvnb|Flood|1996|p=33}}). According to {{harvnb|Singh|2008|p=186}}, "The dominant view is that the Indo-Aryans came to the subcontinent as immigrants."}} The Indo-Aryans were a branch of the ], which originated in the ]{{sfn|Anthony|2007|pp=410–411}} in the ]-] era, in present northern Afghanistan.{{sfn|Anthony|2007|p=454}} The roots of this culture go back further to the ], with funeral sacrifices which show close parallels to the sacrificial funeral rites of the '']''.{{sfn|Anthony|2007|pp=375, 408–411}} | ||
| Although some early depictions of deities seem to appear in the art of the ], very few religious artifacts remain from the period corresponding to the ] during the ].<ref name="BIKA">{{cite journal |last1=Paul |first1=Pran Gopal |last2=Paul |first2=Debjani |title=Brahmanical Imagery in the Kuṣāṇa Art of Mathurā: Tradition and Innovations |journal=East and West |volume=39 |issue=1/4 |date=1989 |pages=111–143, especially 112–114, 115, 125 |jstor=29756891}}</ref> It has been suggested that the ] focused exclusively on the worship of purely "elementary forces of nature by means of elaborate sacrifices", which did not lend themselves easily to anthropomorphological representations.<ref name="BIKA"/><ref name="TBI">{{cite book |last1=Krishan |first1=Yuvraj |last2=Tadikonda |first2=Kalpana K. |title=The Buddha Image: Its Origin and Development |date=1996 |publisher=Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan |isbn=978-81-215-0565-9 |pages=ix–x |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kDyJh--iaL0C&pg=PP13 |access-date=23 December 2023 |archive-date=23 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223182553/https://books.google.com/books?id=kDyJh--iaL0C&pg=PP13#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> Various artefacts may belong to the ] (2nd millennium CE), some of them suggesting anthropomorphological characteristics.<ref name="IS248">{{cite book |last1=Shaw |first1=Ian |last2=Jameson |first2=Robert |title=A Dictionary of Archaeology |date=2008 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-0-470-75196-1 |page=248 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8HKDtlPuM2oC&pg=PA248 |access-date=23 December 2023 |archive-date=23 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223182553/https://books.google.com/books?id=8HKDtlPuM2oC&pg=PA248#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> Interpretations vary as to the exact signification of these artifacts, or even the culture and the periodization to which they belonged.<ref name="IS248" /> | |||
| The Indo-Aryans split-off around 1800-1600 BCE from the Iranians,{{sfn|Anthony|2007|p=408}} where-after they were defeated and split into two groups by the Iranians,{{sfn|Beckwith|2009|33, 35}} who dominated the Central Eurasian steppe zone{{sfn|Beckwith|2009|33}} and "chased them to the extermities of Central Eurasia."{{sfn|Beckwith|2009|33}} One group were the Indo-Aryans who founded the ] kingdom in northern Syria{{sfn|Anthony|2007|p=454}} (ca.1500-1300 BCE). The other group were the Vedic people, who were pursued by the Iranians "across the Near East to the Levant (the lands of the eastern Mediterranean littoral), across Iran into India."{{sfn|Beckwith|2009|34}} | |||
| During the Early Vedic period ( |
During the Early Vedic period ({{circa|1500}}–1100 BCE{{sfn|Witzel|1995}}) Indo-Aryan tribes were pastoralists in north-west India.{{sfn|Samuel|2010|pp=41–48}} After 1100 BCE, with the introduction of iron, the Indo-Aryan tribes moved into the western Ganges Plain, adopting an agrarian lifestyle.{{sfn|Witzel|1995}}{{sfn|Samuel|2010|pp=41–93}}{{sfn|Stein|2010|pp=48–49}} Rudimentary state-forms appeared, of which the ]-tribe and realm was the most influential.{{sfn|Witzel|1995}}{{sfn|Samuel|2010|pp=61–93}} It was a tribal union, which developed into the first recorded ] in ] around 1000 BCE.{{sfn|Witzel|1995}} It decisively changed their religious heritage of the early Vedic period, collecting their ritual hymns into the ], and developing new rituals which gained their position in ] as the orthodox ] rituals,{{sfn|Witzel|1995}} which contributed to the so-called "classical synthesis"{{sfn|Samuel|2010}} or ].{{sfn|Hiltebeitel|2007|p=12}} | ||
| ===Rigvedic religion=== | === Rigvedic religion === | ||
| {{Rquote|right|<poem>Who really knows? | |||
| The Indo-Aryans brought with them their language{{sfn|Samuel|2010|p=53-56}} and religion.{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=30}}{{sfn|Hiltebeitel|2007|p=5-7}} The Vedic beliefs and practices of the pre-classical era were closely related to the hypothesised ],<ref name="Ahloowalia2009">{{cite book|author=B. S. Ahloowalia|title=Invasion of the Genes Genetic Heritage of India|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=Vp_q_MjupOIC|year=2009|publisher=Strategic Book Publishing|isbn=978-1-60860-691-7}}</ref><ref name="Woodard2006">{{cite book|author=Roger D. Woodard|title=Indo-European Sacred Space: Vedic and Roman Cult|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=EB4fB0inNYEC&pg=FA242|date=18 August 2006|publisher=University of Illinois Press|isbn=978-0-252-09295-4|pages=242–}}</ref> and the Indo-Iranian religion.{{sfn|Beckwith|2009|32}} According to Anthony, the Old Indic religion probably emerged among Indo-European immigrants in the contact zone between the ] (present-day ]) and (present-day) Iran.{{sfn|Anthony|2007|p=462}} It was "a syncretic mixture of old Central Asian and new Indo-European elements",{{sfn|Anthony|2007|p=462}} which borrowed "distinctive religious beliefs and practices"{{sfn|Beckwith|2009|p=32}} from the ].{{sfn|Beckwith|2009|p=32}} At least 383 non-Indo-European words were borrowed from this culture, including the god ] and the ritual drink ].{{sfn|Anthony|2007|p=454-455}} According to Anthony, | |||
| Who will here proclaim it? | |||
| {{quote|Many of the qualities of Indo-Iranian god of might/victory, ], were transferred to the adopted god Indra, who became the central deity of the developing Old Indic culture. Indra was the subject of 250 hymns, a quarter of the ''Rig Veda''. He was associated more than any other deity with ''Soma'', a stimulant drug (perhaps derived from ''Ephedra'') probably borrowed from the BMAC religion. His rise to prominence was a peculiar trait of the Old Indic speakers.{{sfn|Anthony|2007|p=454}}}} | |||
| Whence was it produced? Whence is this creation? | |||
| The gods came afterwards, with the creation of this universe. | |||
| Who then knows whence it has arisen?</poem>|], concerns the ], ], ''10:129-6''{{sfn|Kramer|1986|pages=–}}<ref name="Christian2011">{{cite book |author=David Christian |title=Maps of Time: An Introduction to Big History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7RdVmDjwTtQC&pg=PA18 |date=1 September 2011 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-95067-2 |page=18 |access-date=8 September 2018 |archive-date=23 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223182558/https://books.google.com/books?id=7RdVmDjwTtQC&pg=PA18#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref>{{sfn|Singh|2008|pp=}}}} | |||
| ] | |||
| The Indo-Aryans brought with them their language{{sfn|Samuel|2010|pp=53–56}} and religion.{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=30}}{{sfn|Hiltebeitel|2007|pp=5–7}} The Indo-Aryan and Vedic beliefs and practices of the pre-classical era were closely related to the hypothesised ],<ref name="Woodard2006">{{cite book |first=Roger D. |last=Woodard |title=Indo-European Sacred Space: Vedic and Roman Cult |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EB4fB0inNYEC&pg=FA242 |date=18 August 2006 |publisher=University of Illinois Press |isbn=978-0-252-09295-4 |page=242}}</ref> and the Indo-Iranian religion.{{sfn|Beckwith|2009|p=32}} According to Anthony, the Old Indic religion probably emerged among Indo-European immigrants in the contact zone between the ] (present-day ]) and (present-day) Iran.{{sfn|Anthony|2007|p=462}} It was "a syncretic mixture of old Central Asian and new Indo-European elements",{{sfn|Anthony|2007|p=462}} which borrowed "distinctive religious beliefs and practices"{{sfn|Beckwith|2009|p=32}} from the ].{{sfn|Beckwith|2009|p=32}} At least 383 non-Indo-European words were borrowed from this culture, including the god ] and the ritual drink ].{{sfn|Anthony|2007|pp=454–455}} According to Anthony, | |||
| {{blockquote|Many of the qualities of Indo-Iranian god of might/victory, ], were transferred to the adopted god Indra, who became the central deity of the developing Old Indic culture. Indra was the subject of 250 hymns, a quarter of the ''Rig Veda''. He was associated more than any other deity with ''Soma'', a stimulant drug (perhaps derived from ''Ephedra'') probably borrowed from the BMAC religion. His rise to prominence was a peculiar trait of the Old Indic speakers.{{sfn|Anthony|2007|p=454}}}} | |||
| The oldest inscriptions in Old Indic, the language of the ''Rig Veda'', are found not in northwestern India and Pakistan, but in northern Syria, the location of the Mitanni kingdom.{{sfn|Anthony|2007|p=49}} The Mitanni kings took Old Indic throne names, and |
The oldest inscriptions in Old Indic, the language of the ''Rig Veda'', are found not in northwestern India and Pakistan, but in northern Syria, the location of the ].{{sfn|Anthony|2007|p=49}} The Mitanni kings took Old Indic throne names, and Old Indic technical terms were used for horse-riding and chariot-driving.{{sfn|Anthony|2007|p=49}} The Old Indic term ], meaning "cosmic order and truth", the central concept of the ''Rig Veda'', was also employed in the ].{{sfn|Anthony|2007|p=49}} And Old Indic gods, including ], were also known in the ].{{sfn|Anthony|2007|p=50}}{{sfn|Flood|2008|p=68}}{{sfn|Melton|Baumann|2010|p=}} | ||
| Their religion was further developed when they migrated into the ] after |
Their religion was further developed when they migrated into the ] after {{Circa|1100 BCE}} and became settled farmers,{{sfn|Witzel|1995}}{{sfn|Samuel|2010|pp=48–51, 61–93}}{{sfn|Hiltebeitel|2007|pp=8–10}} further syncretising with the native cultures of northern India.{{sfn|Samuel|2010}} The Brahmanical culture of the later Vedic period co-existed with local religions, such as the ] cults,{{sfn|Samuel|2010}}{{sfn|Basham|1989|pp=74–75}}<ref group=web name=yaksha>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/651312/yaksha |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |title=yaksha |access-date=23 June 2022 |archive-date=29 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150429072912/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/651312/yaksha |url-status=live }}</ref> and was itself the product of "a composite of the Indo-Aryan and Harappan cultures and civilizations".{{sfn|White|2006|p=28}}{{refn|group=note|name="Vedic composite"}} David Gordon White cites three other mainstream scholars who "have emphatically demonstrated" that Vedic religion is partially derived from the ].{{sfn|White|2003|p=28}}{{refn|group=note|name="Vedic composite"}} | ||
| * David Gordo White: "he religion of the Vedas was already a composite of the indo-Aryan and Harappan cultures and civilizations."{{sfn|White|2006|p=28}} | |||
| * Richard Gombrich: "It is important to bear in mind that the Indo-Aryans did not enter an unhabitated land. For nearly two millennia they and their culture gradually penetrated India, moving east and south from their original seat in the Punjab. They mixed with people who spoke Munda or Dravidian languages, who have left no traces of their culture beyond some archaeological remains; we know as little about them as we would about the Indo-Aryans if they had left no texts. In fact we cannot even be sure whether some of the aerchaeological finds belong to Indo-Aryans, autochthonous populations, or a mixture.{{paragraph break}} It is to be assumed - though this is not fashionable in Indian historiography - that the clash of cultures between Indo-Aryans and autochtones was responsible for many of the changes in Indo-Aryan society. We can also assume that many - perhaps most - of the indigenous population came to be assimilated into Indo-Aryan culture.{{sfn|Gombrich|1996|p=35-36}}}} David Gordon White cites three other mainstream scholars who "have emphatically demonstrated" that Vedic religion is partially derived from the ]s.<ref>{{cite book|last=White|first=David Gordon|title=Kiss of the Yogini|year=2003|publisher=University of Chicago Press|location=Chicago|isbn=0-226-89483-5|pages=28}}</ref> {{refn|group=note|name="Vedic composite"}} Their religion was further developed when they migrated into the ] after c. 1100 BCE and became settled farmers,{{sfn|Witzel|1995}}{{sfn|Samuel|2010|p=48-51, 61-93}}{{sfn|Hiltebeitel|2007|p=8-10}} further syncretising with the native cultures of northern India.{{sfn|Samuel|2010}} | |||
| ====Vedas==== | ==== Vedas ==== | ||
| ]'' (यूप) sacrificial pillar, one of the most important elements of the ]. ].<ref name="PCS">{{cite journal |last1=Sahoo |first1=P. C. |title=On the Yṻpa in the Brāhmaṇa Texts |journal=Bulletin of the Deccan College Research Institute |date=1994 |volume=54/55 |pages=175–183 |issn=0045-9801|jstor=42930469 }}</ref><ref name="YB">{{cite book |last1=Bonnefoy |first1=Yves |title=Asian Mythologies |date=1993 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-06456-7 |pages=37–39 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r4I-FsZCzJEC&pg=PA37 |access-date=23 December 2023 |archive-date=23 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223183055/https://books.google.com/books?id=r4I-FsZCzJEC&pg=PA37#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref>]] | |||
| Its liturgy is preserved in the three ]: the ], ] and the ]. The Vedic texts were the texts of the elite, and do not necessarily represent popular ideas or practices.{{sfn|Singh|2008|p=184}} Of these, the Rig-Veda is the oldest, a collection of hymns composed between ca. 1500-1200 BCE.{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=37}}{{sfn|Witzel|1995|p=4}}{{sfn|Anthony|2007|p=454}} The other two add ceremonial detail for the performance of the actual sacrifice. The ] may also contain compositions dating to before 1000 BCE. It contains material pertinent to domestic ritual and ] of the period. | |||
| Its liturgy is preserved in the three ]: the ], ] and the ]. The Vedic texts were the texts of the elite, and do not necessarily represent popular ideas or practices.{{sfn|Singh|2008|p=184}} Of these, the Rig-Veda is the oldest, a collection of hymns composed between {{circa|1500}} and 1200 BCE.{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=37}}{{sfn|Witzel|1995|p=4}}{{sfn|Anthony|2007|p=454}} The other two add ceremonial detail for the performance of the actual sacrifice. The ] may also contain compositions dating to before 1000 BCE. It contains material pertinent to domestic ritual and folk magic of the period. | |||
| These texts, as well as the voluminous commentary on orthopraxy collected in the ] compiled during the early 1st millennium BCE, |
These texts, as well as the voluminous commentary on orthopraxy collected in the ] compiled during the early 1st millennium BCE, were transmitted by ] alone until the advent, in the 4th century CE, of the ] and ] period and by a combination of written and oral tradition since then. | ||
| The Hindu samskaras | The Hindu samskaras | ||
| {{ |
{{blockquote|go back to a hoary antiquity. The Vedas, the Brahmanas, the Grhyasutras, the Dharmasutras, the Smritis and other treatises describe the rites, ceremonies and customs.<ref>Pandey, Rajbali, ''Hindu Samskaras'' (Motilal Banarasidass, 1969)</ref>}} | ||
| The earliest text of the ] is the ],<ref>{{cite book|last=Fisher|first=Mary Pat|title=Living Religions |
The earliest text of the ] is the ],<ref>{{cite book |last=Fisher |first=Mary Pat |title=Living Religions |year=2008 |publisher=Pearson Education |location=Upper Saddle River |page=77 |edition=7th}}</ref> a collection of poetic hymns used in the sacrificial rites of ]. Many Rigvedic hymns concern the ] (]) and especially the offering of ] to the gods (]). Soma is both an intoxicant and a god itself, as is the sacrificial fire, ]. The royal ] (]) is a central rite in the ]. | ||
| The ] are mostly personified concepts, who fall into two categories: the ] |
The ] are mostly personified concepts, who fall into two categories: the ] – who were gods of nature – such as the weather deity ] (who is also the King of the gods), ] ("fire"), ] ("dawn"), ] ("sun") and Apas ("waters") on the one hand, and on the other hand the ]s – gods of moral concepts – such as ] ("contract"), ] (guardian of guest, friendship and marriage), ] ("share") or ], the supreme Asura (or Aditya). While Rigvedic ''deva'' is variously applied to most gods, including many of the Asuras, the Devas are characterised as Younger Gods while Asuras are the Older Gods (pūrve devāḥ). In later Vedic texts, "Asura" comes to mean demon. | ||
| The Rigveda has 10 |
The Rigveda has 10 mandalas ('books'). There is significant variation in the language and style between the family books (RV books 2–7), ], the "Soma Mandala" (]), and the more recent books ] and ]. The older books share many aspects of common ] religion, and is an important source for the reconstruction of earlier ]. Especially ] has striking similarity to the ],<ref>J. C. Tavadia, Vishva Bharati (1950), ''Indo-Iranian Studies: I'', Santiniketan</ref> containing allusions to ] flora and fauna,<ref>(RV 8.5; 8.46; 8.56)</ref> e.g. to camels (''{{IAST|úṣṭra-}}'' = ] ''uštra''). Many of the central religious terms in Vedic Sanskrit have cognates in the religious vocabulary of other Indo-European languages (''deva'': Latin ''deus''; '']'': Germanic '']''; ''asura'': Germanic '']''; '']'': Greek ''hagios''; '']'': Norse '']'' or perhaps Latin '']'' etc.). In the ], Asura (Ahura) is considered good and Devas (Daevas) are considered evil entities, quite the opposite of the Rig Veda. | ||
| ====Cosmic order==== | ==== Cosmic order ==== | ||
| Ethics in the Vedas are based on the concepts of ] and ]. Satya is the principle of integration rooted in the Absolute.<ref>Krishnananda. Swami. A Short History of Religious and Philosophic Thought in India |
Ethics in the Vedas are based on the concepts of ] and ]. Satya is the principle of integration rooted in the Absolute.<ref>Krishnananda. Swami. ''A Short History of Religious and Philosophic Thought in India''. Divine Life Society. p. 21</ref> Ṛta is the expression of Satya, which regulates and coordinates the operation of the universe and everything within it.{{sfn|Holdrege|2004|p=215}} Conformity with Ṛta would enable progress whereas its violation would lead to punishment. Panikkar remarks: | ||
| {{quote|''Ṛta'' is the ultimate foundation of everything; it is "the supreme", although this is not to be understood in a static sense. It is the expression of the primordial dynamism that is inherent in everything...."<ref>Panikkar (2001) 350-351</ref>}} | |||
| {{blockquote|''Ṛta'' is the ultimate foundation of everything; it is "the supreme", although this is not to be understood in a static sense. ... It is the expression of the primordial dynamism that is inherent in everything....{{sfn|Panikkar|2001|pp=350–351}}}} | |||
| The term "dharma" was already used in Brahmanical thought, where it was conceived as an aspect of ].<ref>Day, Terence P. (1982). ''The Conception of Punishment in Early Indian Literature''. Ontario: Wilfrid Laurier University Press. P. 42-45. ISBN 0-919812-15-5.</ref> The term rta is also known from the ], the religion of the ] prior to the earliest ] (Indo-Aryan) and ] (Iranian) scriptures. '']''{{Pronunciation-needed}}<!-- as IPA --> (''aša'') is the ] term corresponding to ] ].{{sfn|Duchesne-Guillemin|1963|p=46}} | |||
| The term "dharma" was already used in Brahmanical thought, where it was conceived as an aspect of ].<ref>Day, Terence P. (1982). ''The Conception of Punishment in Early Indian Literature''. Ontario: Wilfrid Laurier University Press. pp. 42–45. {{ISBN|0-919812-15-5}}.</ref> The term rta is also known from the ], the religion of the ] prior to the earliest ] (Indo-Aryan) and ] (Iranian) scriptures. '']''{{Pronunciation needed|date=December 2023}}<!-- as IPA --> (''aša'') is the ] term corresponding to ] ].{{sfn|Duchesne-Guillemin|1963|p=46}} | |||
| ====Upanishads==== | |||
| The 9th and 8th centuries BCE witnessed the composition of the earliest Upanishads.<ref name="World Religions">{{citation|last=Neusner|first=Jacob|title=World Religions in America: An Introduction|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=34vGv_HDGG8C&pg=PA183|year=2009|publisher=Westminster John Knox Press|isbn=978-0-664-23320-4}}</ref>{{rp|183}} Upanishads form the theoretical basis of classical Hinduism and are known as ] (conclusion of the ]).<ref>{{citation|last1=Melton|first1=J. Gordon|last2=Baumann|first2=Martin|title=Religions of the World, Second Edition: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=v2yiyLLOj88C&pg=PA1324|year=2010|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-59884-204-3|page=1324}}</ref> The older Upanishads launched attacks of increasing intensity on the rituals, however, a philosophical and allegorical meaning is also given to these rituals. In some later Upanishads there is a spirit of accommodation towards rituals. The tendency which appears in the philosophical hymns of the Vedas to reduce the number of gods to one principle becomes prominent in the Upanishads.<ref name="Mahadevan 1956 57">{{citation |title=History of Philosophy Eastern and Western|first=T. M. P|last=Mahadevan|editor=Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan|year=1956|publisher=George Allen & Unwin Ltd|page=57}}</ref> The diverse ] speculations of the Upanishads were synthesised into a theistic framework by the sacred Hindu scripture '']''.<ref>{{cite book|last=Fowler|first=Jeaneane D. |title=The Bhagavad Gita: A Text and Commentary for Students|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=zU4E5ZidVr0C&pg=PR24|date=1 February 2012|publisher=Sussex Academic Press|isbn=978-1-84519-346-1|pages=xxii–xxiii}}</ref> | |||
| === |
==== Upanishads ==== | ||
| ]'' manuscript]] | |||
| The 9th and 8th centuries BCE witnessed the composition of the earliest ].{{sfn|Neusner|2009|p=}} Upanishads form the theoretical basis of classical Hinduism and are known as ] (conclusion of the ]).{{sfn|Melton|Baumann|2010|p=}} The older Upanishads launched attacks of increasing intensity on the rituals, however, a philosophical and allegorical meaning is also given to these rituals. In some later Upanishads there is a spirit of accommodation towards rituals. The tendency which appears in the philosophical hymns of the Vedas to reduce the number of gods to one principle becomes prominent in the Upanishads.<ref name="Mahadevan 1956 57">{{citation |title=History of Philosophy Eastern and Western |first=T. M. P |last=Mahadevan |editor=Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan |year=1956 |publisher=George Allen & Unwin Ltd |page=57}}</ref> | |||
| Although it is sometimes assumed that the Upanishads propound a monistic framework, scholars like Brian Black and Andrew Nicholson have argued that this is an unfair assumption, referring to the presence of philosophically diverse themes in early Upanishads like the ] and ].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Black |first=Brian |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1353/book5160 |title=Character of the Self in Ancient India, The: Priests, Kings, and Women in the Early Upanisads |date=2007 |publisher=State University of New York Press |isbn=978-0-7914-8052-6 |pages=29–44|doi=10.1353/book5160 }}</ref>{{sfn|Nicholson|2010|p=25}} The ideas of the Upanishads were synthesised into a theistic framework in the '']''.<ref>{{cite book |last=Fowler |first=Jeaneane D. |title=The Bhagavad Gita: A Text and Commentary for Students |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zU4E5ZidVr0C&pg=PR24 |date=1 February 2012 |publisher=Sussex Academic Press |isbn=978-1-84519-346-1 |pages=xxii–xxiii}}</ref> | |||
| === Brahmanism === | |||
| {{Further|Brahmana|Aranyaka|Shrauta Sutra}} | {{Further|Brahmana|Aranyaka|Shrauta Sutra}} | ||
| ] Gana'' found embedded in the ''Samaveda'' palm leaf manuscript (], ])]] | |||
| ''Brahmanism'', also called ''Brahminism'' or Brahmanical Hinduism, developed out of the Vedic religion, incorporating non-Vedic religious ideas, and expanding to a ] the northwest Indian subcontinent to the Ganges valley.{{sfn|Heesterman|2005|pp=9552–9553}} Brahmanism included the Vedic corpus, but also post-Vedic texts such as the ''Dharmasutras'' and ''Dharmasastras'', which gave prominence to the priestly (Brahmin) class of the society.{{sfn|Heesterman|2005|pp=9552–9553}} The emphasis on ritual and the dominant position of Brahmans developed as an ideology developed in the ], and expanded into a wider realm after the demise of the Kuru-Pancala realm.{{sfn|Witzel|1995}} It co-existed with local religions, such as the ] cults.{{sfn|Samuel|2010}}{{sfn|Basham|1989|pp=74–75}}<ref group=web name=yaksha /> | |||
| In ], during a period roughly spanning the 10th to 6th centuries BCE, the ] arise from the earlier |
In ], during a period roughly spanning the 10th to 6th centuries BCE, the ] arise from the earlier kingdoms of the various ], and the remnants of the ] culture. In this period the ''mantra'' portions of the Vedas are largely completed, and a flowering industry of ] organised in numerous schools (]) develops exegetical literature, viz. the ]. These schools also edited the Vedic ''mantra'' portions into fixed recensions, that were to be preserved purely by ] over the following two millennia. | ||
| ==Second Urbanisation ( |
== Second Urbanisation and decline of Brahmanism (c. 600–200 BCE) == | ||
| ===Upanishads and |
=== Upanishads and Śramaṇa movements === | ||
| {{Main|Upanishads| |
{{Main|Upanishads| Śramaṇa}} | ||
| {{multiple image | |||
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| | footer = Buddhism and Jainism are two of many Indian philosophies considered as Śramaṇic traditions. | |||
| | image1 = City of Kushinagar in the 5th century BCE according to a 1st century BCE frieze in Sanchi Stupa 1 Southern Gate.jpg | |||
| | caption1 = City of ] in the 5th century BCE, according to a 1st-century BCE relief in ] | |||
| | image2 = Jain Prateek Chihna.svg | |||
| | image3 = Dharma Wheel.svg | |||
| }} | |||
| Brahmanism, with its orthodox rituals, may have been challenged as a consequence of the increasing urbanisation of India in the 7th and 6th centuries BCE, and the influx of foreign stimuli initiated with the ] (circa 535 BCE).<ref name="BIKA"/>{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=}} New ascetic or sramana movements arose, such as ], ] and local popular cults, which challenged the established religious orthodoxy.<ref name="BIKA"/>{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=}} The anthropomorphic depiction of various deities apparently resumed in the middle of the 1st millennium BCE, also as the consequence of the reduced authority of Vedism.<ref name="BIKA"/> | |||
| {{quote| does not derive from Brahman-Aryan sources, but reflects the cosmology and anthropology of a much older pre-Aryan upper class of northeastern India - being rooted in the same subsoil of archaic metaphysical speculation as Yoga, Sankhya, and Buddhism, the other non-Vedic Indian systems.{{sfn|Zimmer|1989|p=217}}{{refn|group=note|Zimmer's point of view is supported by other scholars, such as Niniam Smart, in ''Doctrine and argument in Indian Philosophy'', 1964, p.27-32 & p.76,{{sfn|Crangle|1994|p=7}} and S.K. Belvakar & ] in ''History of Indian philosophy'', 1974 (1927), p.81 & p.303-409.{{sfn|Crangle|1994|p=7}}}}}} | |||
| ] ({{circa|549}}–477 BCE), proponent of ], and ] ({{circa|563}}–483 BCE), founder of ], were the most prominent icons of this movement.{{sfn|Neusner|2009|p=}} According to ], Jainism and Buddhism are part of the pre-Vedic heritage, which also includes Samkhya and Yoga: | |||
| The Sramana tradition in part created the concept of the cycle of birth and death, the concept of ], and the concept of liberation, which became characteristic for Hinduism.<ref name="Flood273">Flood, Gavin. Olivelle, Patrick. 2003. ''The Blackwell Companion to Hinduism.'' Malden: Blackwell. pg. 273-4</ref>{{refn|group=note|Flood: "The second half of the first millennium BCE was the period that created many of the ideological and institutional elements that characterise later Indian religions. The renouncer tradition played a central role during this formative period of Indian religious history Some of the fundamental values and beliefs that we generally associate with Indian religions in general and Hinduism in particular were in part the creation of the renouncer tradition. These include the two pillars of Indian theologies: samsara - the belief that life in this world is one of suffering and subject to repeated deaths and births (rebirth); moksa/nirvana - the goal of human existence."<ref name="Flood273" />}} | |||
| {{blockquote| does not derive from Brahman-Aryan sources, but reflects the cosmology and anthropology of a much older pre-Aryan upper class of northeastern India – being rooted in the same subsoil of archaic metaphysical speculation as Yoga, Sankhya, and Buddhism, the other non-Vedic Indian systems.{{sfn|Zimmer|1989|p=217}}{{refn|group=note|Zimmer's point of view is supported by other scholars, such as: | |||
| Pratt notes that ] (1854-1920), ] (1865-1915) and ] (1888-1975) believed that the Buddhist canon had been influenced by Upanishads, while ] thinks the influence was nihil, and "Eliot and several others insist that on some points the Buddha was directly antithetical to the Upanishads".<ref>{{citation|last=Pratt|first=James Bissett|title=The Pilgrimage of Buddhism and a Buddhist Pilgrimage|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=cLXwU9e6D4sC&pg=PA90|year=1996|publisher=Asian Educational Services|isbn=978-81-206-1196-2|page=90}}</ref>{{refn|group=note|Richard King notes that Radhakrishnan was a representative of ],{{sfn|King|1999}} which had a specific understanding of Indian religions: "The inclusivist appropriation of other traditions, so characteristic of neo-Vedanta ideology, appears on three basic levels. First, it is apparent in the suggestion that the (Advaita) Vedanta philosophy of Sankara (c. eighth century CE) constitutes the central philosophy of Hinduism. Second, in an Indian context, neo-Vedanta philosophy subsumes Buddhist philosophies in terms of its own Vedantic ideology. The Buddha becomes a member of the Vedanta tradition, merely attempting to reform it from within. Finally, at a global level, neo-Vedanta colonises the religious traditions of the world by arguing for the centrality of a non-dualistic position as the ''philosophia perennis'' underlying all cultural differences."{{sfn|King|1999}}}} | |||
| *{{harvtxt|Smart|1964|pp=27–32}}{{sfn|Crangle|1994|p=7}} | |||
| *{{harvtxt|Belvakar|Ranade|1974|pp=81, 303–409}}{{sfn|Crangle|1994|p=7}}}}}} | |||
| The Sramana tradition in part created the concept of the cycle of birth and death, the concept of ], and the concept of liberation, which became characteristic for Hinduism.{{refn|group=note|{{harvtxt|Flood|2008|pp=273–274}}: "The second half of the first millennium BCE was the period that created many of the ideological and institutional elements that characterise later Indian religions. The renouncer tradition played a central role during this formative period of Indian religious history ... Some of the fundamental values and beliefs that we generally associate with Indian religions in general and Hinduism, in particular, were in part the creation of the renouncer tradition. These include the two pillars of Indian theologies: samsara – the belief that life in this world is one of suffering and subject to repeated deaths and births (rebirth); moksa/nirvana – the goal of human existence."}} | |||
| ===Survival of Vedic ritual=== | |||
| {{Main|Śrauta}} | |||
| Pratt notes that ] (1854–1920), ] (1865–1915) and ] (1888–1975) believed that the Buddhist canon had been influenced by Upanishads, while ] thinks the influence was nil, and "Eliot and several others insist that on some points the Buddha was directly antithetical to the Upanishads".<ref>{{cite book |last=Pratt |first=James Bissett |title=The Pilgrimage of Buddhism and a Buddhist Pilgrimage |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cLXwU9e6D4sC&pg=PA90 |year=1996 |publisher=Asian Educational Services |isbn=978-81-206-1196-2 |page=90 |access-date=13 February 2016 |archive-date=23 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223183102/https://books.google.com/books?id=cLXwU9e6D4sC&pg=PA90#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref>{{refn|group=note|{{harvtxt|King|1999}} notes that Radhakrishnan was a representative of ],{{sfn|King|1999}} which had a specific understanding of Indian religions: "The inclusivist appropriation of other traditions, so characteristic of neo-Vedanta ideology, appears on three basic levels. First, it is apparent in the suggestion that the (Advaita) Vedanta philosophy of Sankara (c. eighth century CE) constitutes the central philosophy of Hinduism. Second, in an Indian context, neo-Vedanta philosophy subsumes Buddhist philosophies in terms of its own Vedantic ideology. The Buddha becomes a member of the Vedanta tradition, merely attempting to reform it from within. Finally, at a global level, neo-Vedanta colonises the religious traditions of the world by arguing for the centrality of a non-dualistic position as the ''philosophia perennis'' underlying all cultural differences."}} | |||
| Vedism as the religious tradition of Hinduism of a priestly elite was marginalised by other traditions such as ] and ] in the later Iron Age, but in the Middle Ages would rise to renewed prestige with the ] school, which as well as all other '']'' traditions of Hinduism, considered them authorless ('']'') and eternal. A last surviving elements of the ] or Vedism is ] tradition, following many major elements of Vedic religion and is prominent in ], with communities in ], ], ], ], but also in some pockets of ], ] and other states; the best known of these groups are the ] of Kerala, whose traditions were notably documented by ].<ref>Staal, J. F. 1961. ''Nambudiri Veda Recitations'' Gravenhage.</ref><ref>Staal, J. F. 1983. ''Agni: The Vedic ritual of the fire altar''. 2 vols. Berkeley.</ref><ref name="Staal">{{Citation |author=Staal, Frits |title=Universals: studies in Indian logic and linguistics |publisher=University of Chicago Press |location=Chicago |year=1988 |pages= |isbn=0-226-76999-2 |oclc= |doi= |accessdate=}}</ref> | |||
| ===Mauryan |
=== Mauryan Empire === | ||
| {{Main|Maurya Empire}} | {{Main|Maurya Empire}} | ||
| The Mauryan period saw an early flowering of ] ] and ] literature and the scholarly exposition of the "circum-Vedic" fields of the ]. However, during this time Buddhism was patronised by ], who ruled large parts of India, and Buddhism was also the mainstream religion until the Gupta period. | |||
| === Decline of Brahmanism === | |||
| The Mauryan period saw an early flowering of ] ] and ] literature and the scholarly exposition of the "circum-Vedic" fields of the ]. However, during this time Buddhism was patronised by ], who ruled large parts of India, and Buddhism was also the mainstream religion until the Gupta empire period. | |||
| ==== Decline ==== | |||
| ] | |||
| The post-Vedic period of the Second Urbanisation saw a decline of Brahmanism.{{sfn|Michaels|2004|pp=37–39}}{{sfn|Bronkhorst|2017|p=363}}{{refn|group=note|name="Michaels_decline"}} At the end of the Vedic period, the meaning of the words of the Vedas had become obscure, and was perceived as "a fixed sequence of sounds"{{sfn|Klostermaier|2007|p=55}}{{refn|group=note|{{harvnb|Klostermaier|2007|p=55}}: "Kautas, a teacher mentioned in the '']'' by '']'' (ca. 500 BCE), a work devoted to an etymology of Vedic words that were no longer understood by ordinary people, held that the word of the Veda was no longer perceived as meaningful "normal" speech but as a fixed sequence of sounds, whose meaning was obscure beyond recovery."}} with a ] power, "means to an end."{{refn|group=note|Klostermaier: "''Brahman'', derived from the root ''bŗh'' {{=}} to grow, to become great, was originally identical with the Vedic word, that makes people prosper: words were the principal means to approach the gods who dwelled in a different sphere. It was not a big step from this notion of "reified ]" to that "of the speech-act being looked at implicitly and explicitly as a means to an end". {{harvnb|Klostermaier|2007|p=55}} quotes Madhav M. Deshpande (1990), , p. 4.}} With the growth of cities, which threatened the income and patronage of the rural Brahmins; the rise of Buddhism; and the ] (327–325 BCE), the expansion of the ] (322–185 BCE) with its embrace of Buddhism, and the ] invasions and rule of northwestern India (2nd c. BCE – 4th c. CE), Brahmanism faced a grave threat to its existence.{{sfn|Bronkhorst|2016|pp=9–10}} In some later texts, Northwest-India (which earlier texts consider as part of "Aryavarta") is even seen as "impure", probably due to invasions. | |||
| ==== Survival of Vedic ritual ==== | |||
| ===Sanskritization=== | |||
| {{Main| |
{{Main|Śrauta}} | ||
| Vedism as the religious tradition of a priestly elite was marginalised by other traditions such as ] and ] in the later Iron Age, but in the Middle Ages would rise to renewed prestige with the ] school, which as well as all other '']'' traditions of Hinduism, considered them authorless ('']'') and eternal. A last surviving elements of the ] or Vedism is ] tradition, following many major elements of the ancient Vedic religion and is prominent in ], with communities in ], ], ], ], but also in some pockets of ], ] and other states; the best known of these groups are the ] of Kerala, whose traditions were notably documented by ].<ref>Staal, J. F. (1961). ''Nambudiri Veda Recitations'' Gravenhage.</ref><ref>Staal, J. F. (1983). ''Agni: The Vedic ritual of the fire altar''. 2 vols. Berkeley.</ref><ref name="Staal">{{Citation |last=Staal |first=Frits |title=Universals: studies in Indian logic and linguistics |publisher=University of Chicago Press |location=Chicago |year=1988 |isbn=0-226-76999-2}}</ref> | |||
| == Hindu synthesis and Classical Hinduism (c. 200 BCE – 1200 CE) == | |||
| === Early Hinduism (c. 200 BCE – 320 CE) === | |||
| Since Vedic times, "people from many strata of society throughout the subcontinent tended to adapt their religious and social life to Brahmanic norms", a process sometimes called ].<ref name="EBHinbduism6"></ref> It is reflected in the tendency to identify local deities with the gods of the Sanskrit texts.<ref name="EBHinbduism6" /> | |||
| {{See also|Buddhism and Hinduism|Vedanga|Dharmaśāstra|Yoga Sutras of Patanjali|Nyāya Sūtras|Brahma Sutras}} | |||
| ==== Hindu synthesis ==== | |||
| ==Classical Hinduism (c. 200 BCE-1100 CE)== | |||
| ]-] on a coin of ], circa 190–180 BCE.{{sfn|Singh|2008|pp=}}<ref>], {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220405172142/https://www.academia.edu/25807197 |date=5 April 2022 }}, 2016.</ref> This is "the earliest unambiguous image" of the deity.{{sfn|Srinivasan|1997|p=}}]] | |||
| ], commissioned by Indo-Greek ambassador ] around 113 BCE, is the first known inscription related to ] in the Indian subcontinent.<ref>]. (2016). . {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171123154459/http://www.academia.edu/25807197/Emergence_of_Vi%E1%B9%A3%E1%B9%87u_and_%C5%9Aiva_Images_in_India_Numismatic_and_Sculptural_Evidence |date=23 November 2017 }}</ref> Heliodurus was one of the earliest recorded foreign converts to ].{{sfn|Kulke|Rothermund|2004|p=}}]] | |||
| The decline of Brahmanism was overcome by providing new services{{sfn|Bronkhorst|2015|p=2}} and incorporating the non-Vedic Indo-Aryan religious heritage of the eastern Ganges plain and local religious traditions, giving rise to contemporary ].{{sfn|Bronkhorst|2016|pp=9–10}}<ref group=web>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Vedic-religion |title=Vedic religion |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |quote=It takes its name from the collections of sacred texts known as the Vedas. Vedism is the oldest stratum of religious activity in India for which there exist written materials. It was one of the major traditions that shaped Hinduism. |access-date=27 May 2020 |archive-date=25 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191225191403/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Vedic-religion |url-status=live }}</ref>{{sfn|Samuel|2010}}{{sfn|Bronkhorst|2007}}{{sfn|Witzel|1995}}{{sfn|Heesterman|2005|pp=9552–9553}} Between about 500 BCE and {{Circa|400 CE}}{{sfn|Hiltebeitel|2007|p=12}} or starting from 200 BCE{{sfn|Larson|2009}} the "Hindu synthesis" developed,{{sfn|Hiltebeitel|2007|p=12}}{{sfn|Larson|2009}} which incorporated ] and Buddhist influences{{sfn|Larson|2009}}{{sfn|Cousins|2010}} and the emerging '']'' tradition into the Brahmanical fold via the ''smriti'' literature.{{sfn|Hiltebeitel|2007|p=13}}{{sfn|Larson|2009}} This synthesis emerged under the pressure of the success of Buddhism and Jainism.{{sfn|Vijay Nath|2001|p=21}} | |||
| ===Pre-classical Hinduism (c. 200 BCE-300 CE)=== | |||
| {{Main|Sangam period|Sangam literature}} | |||
| {{See also|Hinduism and Buddhism|Vedanga|Dharmaśāstra|Yoga Sutras|Nyāya Sūtras|Brahma Sutras}} | |||
| According to Embree, several other religious traditions had existed side by side with the Vedic religion. These indigenous religions "eventually found a place under the broad mantle of the Vedic religion".{{sfn|Embree|1988|p=277}} When Brahmanism was declining{{refn|group=note|name="Michaels_decline"|{{harvtxt|Michaels|2004|p=38}}: "At the time of upheaval , many elements of the Vedic religion were lost".}} and had to compete with Buddhism and Jainism,{{refn|group=note|{{harvtxt|Hiltebeitel|2007|p=13}}: "The emerging self-definitions of Hinduism were forged in the context of continuous interaction with heterodox religions (Buddhists, Jains, Ajivikas) throughout this whole period, and with foreign people (Yavanas, or Greeks; Sakas, or Scythians; Pahlavas, or Parthians; and Kusanas, or Kushans) from the third phase on .}} the popular religions had the opportunity to assert themselves.{{sfn|Embree|1988|p=277}} According to Embree, | |||
| ====Hindu synthesis==== | |||
| {{blockquote|he Brahmanists themselves seem to have encouraged this development to some extent as a means of meeting the challenge of the heterodox movements. At the same time, among the indigenous religions, a common allegiance to the authority of the Vedas provided a thin, but nonetheless significant, thread of unity amid their variety of gods and religious practices.{{sfn|Embree|1988|p=277}}}} | |||
| Between 500{{sfn|Hiltebeitel|2007|p=12}}-200{{sfn|Larson|2009}} BCE and c. 300 CE developed the "Hindu synthesis",{{sfn|Hiltebeitel|2007|p=12}}{{sfn|Larson|2009}} which incorporated ] and Buddhist influences{{sfn|Larson|2009}}{{sfn|Cousins|2010}} and the emerging ''bhakti'' tradition into the Brahmanical fold via the ''smriti'' literature.{{sfn|Hiltebeitel|2007|p=13}}{{sfn|Larson|2009}} This synthesis emerged under the pressure of the success of Buddhism and Jainism.{{sfn|Nath|2001|p=21}} | |||
| This "new Brahmanism" appealed to rulers, who were attracted to the supernatural powers and the practical advice Brahmins could provide,{{sfn|Bronkhorst|2015|p=2}} and resulted in a resurgence of Brahmanical influence, dominating Indian society since the classical Age of Hinduism in the early centuries CE.{{sfn|Bronkhorst|2016|pp=9–10}} It is reflected in the process of ], a process in which "people from many strata of society throughout the subcontinent tended to adapt their religious and social life to Brahmanic norms".<ref group=web name="EBHinbduism6" /> It is reflected in the tendency to identify local deities with the gods of the Sanskrit texts.<ref group=web name="EBHinbduism6" /> | |||
| According to Embree, several other religious traditions had existed side by side with the Vedic religion. These indigenous religions "eventually found a place under the broad mantle of the Vedic religion".{{sfn|Embree|1988|p=277}} When Brahmanism was declining{{refn|group=note|Michaels: "At the time of upheaval , many elements of the Vedic religion were lost".{{sfn|Michaels|2004|p=38}}}} and had to compete with Buddhism and Jainism,{{refn|group=note|Hiltebeitel: "The emerging self-definitions of Hinduism were forged in the context of continuous interaction with heterodox religions (Buddhists, Jains, Ajivikas) throughout this whole period, and with foreign people (Yavanas, or Greeks; Sakas, or Scythians; Pahlavas, or Parthians; and Kusanas, or Kushans) from the third phase on .{{sfn|Hiltebeitel|2007|p=13}}}} the popular religions had the opportunity to assert themselves.{{sfn|Embree|1988|p=277}} According to Embree, | |||
| {{quote|he Brahmanists themselves seem to have encouraged this development to some extent as a means of meeting the challenge of the heterodox movements. At the same time, among the indigenous religions, a common allegiance to the authority of the Veda provided a thin, but nonetheless significant, thread of unity amid their variety of gods and religious practices.{{sfn|Embree|1988|p=277}}}} | |||
| ====Smriti==== | ==== Smriti ==== | ||
| The Brahmins response of assimilation and consolidation is reflected in the ''smriti'' literature which took shape in this period.{{sfn|Larson|2009|p=185}} The '']'' texts of the period between 200 BCE and 100 CE proclaim the authority of the ], and acceptance of the Vedas became a central criterion for defining Hinduism over and against the heterodoxies, which rejected the Vedas.{{sfn|Hiltebeitel|2007|p=14}} Most of the basic ideas and practices of classical Hinduism derive from the new ''smriti'' literature.{{refn|group=note|{{harvtxt|Larson|2009|p=185}}: "n contrast to the ''sruti'', which Hindus, for the most part, pay little more than lip service to."}} | |||
| Of the six Hindu darsanas, the Mimamsa and the Vedanta "are rooted primarily in the Vedic ''sruti'' tradition and are sometimes called ''smarta'' schools in the sense that they develop ''smarta'' orthodox current of thoughts that are based, like ''smriti'', directly on ''sruti''".{{sfn|Hiltebeitel|2002}}{{verify quote|reason=The closing quotation mark was missing so I guessed where it went|date=November 2019}} According to Hiltebeitel, "the consolidation of Hinduism takes place under the sign of ''bhakti''".{{sfn|Hiltebeitel|2002}} It is the ''Bhagavadgita'' that seals this achievement.{{sfn|Hiltebeitel|2002}} The result is a "universal achievement" that may be called '']''.{{sfn|Hiltebeitel|2002}} It views Shiva and Vishnu as "complementary in their functions but ontologically identical".{{sfn|Hiltebeitel|2002}} | |||
| The major Sanskrit epics, '']'' and '']'', which belong to the ''smriti'', were compiled over a protracted period during the late centuries BCE and the early centuries CE.<ref group=web>{{cite web|title=Itihasas|url=http://www.religionfacts.com/hinduism/texts/itihasas.htm|publisher=ReligionFacts| |
The major Sanskrit epics, '']'' and '']'', which belong to the ''smriti'', were compiled over a protracted period during the late centuries BCE and the early centuries CE.<ref group=web>{{cite web |title=Itihasas |url=http://www.religionfacts.com/hinduism/texts/itihasas.htm |publisher=ReligionFacts |access-date=1 October 2011 |archive-date=25 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140325110921/http://religionfacts.com/hinduism/texts/itihasas.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> They contain mythological stories about the rulers and wars of ancient India, and are interspersed with religious and philosophical treatises. The later Puranas recount tales about ], their interactions with humans and their battles against ]. The ] "seals the achievement"{{sfn|Hiltebeitel|2007|p=20}} of the "consolidation of Hinduism",{{sfn|Hiltebeitel|2007|p=20}} integrating Brahmanic and sramanic ideas with theistic devotion.{{sfn|Hiltebeitel|2007|p=20}}{{sfn|Scheepers|2000}}{{sfn|Raju|1992|p=211}}<ref group=web name="EB-BG"> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150430090810/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/266312/Hinduism/59830/The-Bhagavadgita |date=30 April 2015 }}, ''Encyclopædia Britannica''</ref> | ||
| ====Schools of Hindu |
==== Schools of Hindu philosophy ==== | ||
| In early centuries CE several schools of ] were formally codified, including ], ], ], ], ] and ].<ref name="Radhaxviii-xxi">{{harvnb|Radhakrishnan|Moore|1967|p=xviii–xxi}}</ref> | In early centuries CE several schools of ] were formally codified, including ], ], ], ], ] and ].<ref name="Radhaxviii-xxi">{{harvnb|Radhakrishnan|Moore|1967|p=xviii–xxi}}</ref> | ||
| ====Sangam literature==== | ==== Sangam literature ==== | ||
| {{See also|Vaishnavism in Ancient Tamilakam}} | |||
| The Sangam literature (300 BCE – 300 CE) is a mostly secular body of classical literature in the ]. Nonetheless there are some works, significantly Pattupathu and Paripaatal, wherein the personal devotion to god was written in form of devotional poems. ], ] and ] were mentioned gods. These works are therefore the earliest evidences of monotheistic ] traditions, preceding the large ], which was given great attention in later times. | |||
| The ] (300 BCE – 400 CE), written in the ], is a mostly secular body of classical literature in the ]. Nonetheless, there are some works, significantly ] and ], wherein the personal devotion to God was written in the form of devotional poems. ], ] and ] were mentioned gods. These works are therefore the earliest evidence of monotheistic ] traditions, preceding the large ], which was given great attention in later times. | |||
| ==="Golden Age" (Gupta and Pallava period) (c. 320-650 CE)=== | |||
| {{Further|Hindu philosophy|Mimamsa|Samkhya}} | |||
| ==== Indian trade with Africa ==== | |||
| During this period, power was centralised, along with a growth of far distance trade, standardization of legal procedures, and general spread of literacy.{{sfn|Michaels|2004|p=40}} Mahayana Buddhism flourished, but orthodox Brahmana culture began to be rejuvenated by the patronage of the Gupta Dynasty,{{sfn|Nakamura|2004|p=687}} who were Vaishnavas.{{sfn|Thapar|2003|p=325}} The position of the Brahmans was reinforced,{{sfn|Michaels|2004|p=40}} the first Hindu temples dedicated to the gods of the ], emerged during the late Gupta age.{{sfn|Michaels|2004|p=40}}{{refn|group=note|Axel Michaels mentions the ] and the ].{{sfn|Michaels|2004|p=40}} George Michell notes that earlier temples were build of timber, brick and plaster, while the first stone temples appeared during the period of Gupta rule.{{sfn|Michell|1977|p=18}}}} During the Gupta reign the first ] were written,{{sfn|Nath|2001|p=19}}{{refn|group=note|name="Puranas-date"}} which were used to disseminate "mainstream religious ideology amongst pre-literate and tribal groups undergoing acculturation."{{sfn|Nath|2001|p=19}} The Guptas patronised the newly emerging Puranic religion, seeking legitimacy for their dynasty.{{sfn|Thapar|2003|p=325}} The resulting Puranic Hinduism, differed markedly from the earlier Brahmanism of the Dharmasastras and the ''smritis''.{{sfn|Nath|2001|p=19}} | |||
| During the time of the ], trade took place between India and east Africa, and there is archaeological evidence of small Indian presence in Zanzibar, Zimbabwe, Madagascar, and the coastal parts of Kenya along with the Swahili coast,{{sfn|Jones|Ryan|2008|pp=10–12}}<ref name=whi>W. H. Ingrams (1967), ''Zanzibar: Its History and Its People'', {{ISBN|978-0714611020}}, Routledge, pp. 33–35</ref> but no conversion to Hinduism took place.<ref name=whi /><ref>Prabha Bhardwaj, , {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181002102313/https://www.hinduismtoday.com/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=3571 |date=2 October 2018 }} ''Hinduism Today'' (1996)</ref> | |||
| ==== Hindu Colony in the Middle East (The Levant) ==== | |||
| According to P.S. Sharma "the Gupta and Harsha periods form really, from the strictly intellectual standpoint, the most brilliant epocha in the development of Indian philosophy", as Hindu and Buddhist philosophies flourished side by side.<ref>{{cite book|last= Sharma |first=Peri Sarveswara |year=1980 | page= 5| title=Anthology of Kumārilabhaṭṭa's Works |publisher=Delhi, Motilal Banarsidass}}</ref> ], the atheistic materialist school, came to the fore in ] before the 8th century CE.<ref>{{cite book|last=Bhattacharya|first=Ramkrishna|title=Studies on the Carvaka/Lokayata|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=59eygxzQTWQC|date=15 December 2011|publisher=Anthem Press|page=65|isbn=978-0-85728-433-4}}</ref> | |||
| Armenian historian ] (300–350 CE) said "there was an Indian colony in the canton of Taron on the upper ], to the west of ], as early as the second century B.C. The Indians had built there two temples containing images of gods about 18 and 22 feet high."<ref name="Majumdar_1968">{{cite book |title=The History and Culture of the Indian People |volume=II: The Age of Imperial Unity |date=1968 |pages=633–634 |first=R. C. |last=Majumdar}}</ref> | |||
| === |
=== "Golden Age" of India (Gupta and Pallava period) (c. 320–650 CE) === | ||
| {{Further|Hindu philosophy|Mīmāṃsā|Samkhya}} | |||
| {{Main|Pallava|Gupta Empire}} | |||
| ] is a Vishnu Hindu temple build during the Gupta period.]] | |||
| During this period, power was centralised, along with a growth of near distance trade, standardization of legal procedures, and general spread of literacy.{{sfn|Michaels|2004|p=40}} Mahayana Buddhism flourished, but orthodox Brahmana culture began to be rejuvenated by the patronage of the Gupta Dynasty,{{sfn|Nakamura|2004|p=687}} who were Vaishnavas.{{sfn|Thapar|2003|p=325}} The position of the Brahmans was reinforced,{{sfn|Michaels|2004|p=40}} the first Hindu temples dedicated to the gods of the ], emerged during the late Gupta age.{{sfn|Michaels|2004|p=40}}{{refn|group=note|{{harvtxt|Michaels|2004|p=40}} mentions the ] and the ]. {{harvtxt|Michell|1977|p=18}} notes that earlier temples were built of timber, brick and plaster, while the first stone temples appeared during the period of Gupta rule.}} During the Gupta reign the first ] were written,{{sfn|Vijay Nath|2001|p=19}}{{refn|group=note|name="Puranas-date"}} which were used to disseminate "mainstream religious ideology amongst pre-literate and tribal groups undergoing acculturation".{{sfn|Vijay Nath|2001|p=19}} The Guptas patronised the newly emerging Puranic religion, seeking legitimacy for their dynasty.{{sfn|Thapar|2003|p=325}} The resulting Puranic Hinduism, differed markedly from the earlier Brahmanism of the Dharmasastras and the ''smritis''.{{sfn|Vijay Nath|2001|p=19}} | |||
| According to P. S. Sharma, "the Gupta and Harsha periods form really, from the strictly intellectual standpoint, the most brilliant epocha in the development of Indian philosophy", as Hindu and Buddhist philosophies flourished side by side.<ref>{{cite book |last=Sharma |first=Peri Sarveswara |year=1980 |page=5 |title=Anthology of Kumārilabhaṭṭa's Works |publisher=Delhi, Motilal Banarsidass}}</ref> ], the atheistic materialist school, came to the fore in ] before the 8th century CE.{{sfn|Bhattacharya|2011|p=65}} | |||
| The ] (4th to 6th centuries) saw a flowering of scholarship, the emergence of the classical schools of ], and of classical ] in general on topics ranging from medicine, veterinary science, mathematics, to astrology and astronomy and astrophysics. The famous ] and ] belong to this age. The Gupta established a strong central government which also allowed a degree of local control. Gupta society was ordered in accordance with Hindu beliefs. This included a strict caste system, or class system. The peace and prosperity created under Gupta leadership enabled the pursuit of scientific and artistic endeavors. | |||
| ==== Gupta and Pallava Empires ==== | |||
| The ]s (4th to 9th centuries) were, alongside the ]s of the ], patronisers of Sanskrit in the ] of the ]. The pallava reign saw the first Sankrit inscriptions in a script called ]. Early Pallavas had different connexions to South-East Asian countries. The Pallavas used Dravidian architecture to build some very important Hindu temples and academies in ], ] and other places; their rule saw the rise of great poets, who are as famous as ]. | |||
| {{Main|Pallava dynasty|Gupta Empire}} | |||
| The ] (4th to 6th centuries) saw a flowering of scholarship, the codification of the classical schools of ], and of classical ] in general on topics ranging from medicine, veterinary science, mathematics, to astrology and astronomy and astrophysics. The famous ] and ] belong to this age. The Gupta established a strong central government which also allowed a degree of local control. Gupta society was ordered in accordance with Brahmanical beliefs. This included a strict caste system, or class system. The peace and prosperity created under Gupta leadership enabled the pursuit of scientific and artistic endeavors. | |||
| The ]s (4th to 9th centuries) were, alongside the ]s of the ], patronisers of Sanskrit in the ] of the ]. The Pallava reign saw the first Sanskrit inscriptions in a script called ]. The Pallavas used Dravidian architecture to build some very important Hindu temples and academies in ], ] and other places; their rule saw the rise of great poets, who are as famous as ]. | |||
| The practice of dedicating temples to different deities came into vogue followed by fine artistic ] and sculpture (see ]). | |||
| During early Pallavas period, there are different connections to ]n and other countries. Due to it, in the ], Hinduism became the ] in many kingdoms of Asia, the so-called ]—from Afghanistan (]) in the West and including almost all of Southeast Asia in the East (], ], ], ])—and only by the 15th century was near everywhere supplanted by Buddhism and Islam.{{sfn|Cœdès|1968}}{{sfn|Pande|2006}}<ref name="spread">{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hinduism/The-spread-of-Hinduism-in-Southeast-Asia-and-the-Pacific |title=The spread of Hinduism in Southeast Asia and the Pacific |encyclopedia=] Online |access-date=19 June 2021 |archive-date=16 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200116205245/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hinduism/The-spread-of-Hinduism-in-Southeast-Asia-and-the-Pacific |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
| ====Bhakti==== | |||
| This period saw the emergence of the ]. The Bhakti movement was a rapid growth of ''bhakti'' beginning in ] in Southern India with the Saiva ] (4th to 10th centuries CE)<ref name="Embree">{{cite book|last=Embree|first=Ainslie Thomas|author2=Stephen N. Hay |author3=William Theodore De Bary |title=Sources of Indian Tradition|publisher=Columbia University Press|year=1988|page=342|isbn=978-0-231-06651-8|url=http://books.google.com/?id=An5mD6KMiSIC&pg=PA342}}</ref> and the Vaisnava ] (3rd to 9th centuries CE) who spread ''bhakti'' poetry and devotion throughout India by the 12th to 18th centuries CE.{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=131}}<ref name="Embree" /> | |||
| The practice of dedicating temples to different deities came into vogue followed by fine artistic ] and sculpture (see ]). | |||
| ====Expansion in South-East Asia==== | |||
| {{Further|Hinduism in Southeast Asia|Sanskritisation}} | |||
| ] | |||
| Hindu influences reached the ] as early as first century.<ref name=jgonda>], The Indian Religions in Pre-Islamic Indonesia and their survival in Bali, in {{Google books|X7YfAAAAIAAJ|Handbook of Oriental Studies. Section 3 Southeast Asia, Religions|page=1}}, pp. 1-54</ref> At this time, India started to strongly influence ]n countries. Trade routes linked India with southern ], central and southern ], lower ] and southern ] and numerous urbanised coastal settlements were established there. | |||
| <gallery> | |||
| For more than a thousand years, Indian Hindu/Buddhist influence was therefore the major factor that brought a certain level of cultural unity to the various countries of the region. The ] and ] languages and the Indian script, together with ] and ] ], ] and ], were transmitted from direct contact as well as through sacred texts and Indian literature, such as the ] and the ] epics. | |||
| File:Shore temple, mahabalipuram.jpg|The Hindu ] (a ]) at ] built by ] | |||
| File:Deogarh, Dasavatara-Tempel Vishnu (1999) (cropped).JPG|] sleeping, protected by ], ]. Sculpted by ] around 400 CE. | |||
| </gallery> | |||
| ==== Bhakti ==== | |||
| {{See also|Vaishnavism in Ancient Tamilakam|Bhakti movement}} | |||
| This period saw the emergence of the ]. The Bhakti movement was a rapid growth of ''bhakti'' beginning in ] in Southern India with the ] Alvars (3rd to 9th centuries CE)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mahavidya.ca/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Nippard-Andrea-The-Alvars-Yes.pdf |title=The Alvars |author=Andrea Nippard |access-date=2013-04-20 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203001609/http://www.mahavidya.ca/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Nippard-Andrea-The-Alvars-Yes.pdf |archive-date=3 December 2013 }}</ref> and Saiva ] (4th to 10th centuries CE){{sfn|Embree|1988|p=342}} who spread ''bhakti'' poetry and devotion throughout India by the 12th to 18th centuries CE.{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=131}}{{sfn|Embree|1988|p=342}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mahavidya.ca/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Nippard-Andrea-The-Alvars-Yes.pdf |title=The Alvars |author=Andrea Nippard |access-date=2013-04-20 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203001609/http://www.mahavidya.ca/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Nippard-Andrea-The-Alvars-Yes.pdf |archive-date=3 December 2013 }}</ref> | |||
| ==== Expansion in South-East Asia ==== | |||
| {{Further|Hinduism in Southeast Asia|Sanskritisation|Greater India}} | |||
| <gallery widths="200" heights="200"> | |||
| File:Hinduism Expansion in Asia.svg|Expansion of Hinduism in Southeast Asia | |||
| File:Angkor Wat W-Seite.jpg|] in ] is the largest Hindu monument in the world. It is one of hundreds of ancient Hindu temples in Southeast Asia. | |||
| File:Besakih Bali Indonesia Pura-Besakih-02.jpg|Pura Besakih, the holiest temple of Hindu religion in ] | |||
| </gallery> | |||
| Hindu influences reached the ] as early as the first century.<ref name=jgonda>], The Indian Religions in Pre-Islamic Indonesia and their survival in Bali, in {{Google books|X7YfAAAAIAAJ|Handbook of Oriental Studies. Section 3 Southeast Asia, Religions|page=1}}, pp. 1–54</ref> At this time, India started to strongly influence ]n countries. Trade routes linked India with southern ], central and southern ], lower ] and southern ] and numerous urbanised coastal settlements were established there. | |||
| For more than a thousand years, Indian Hindu/Buddhist influence was, therefore, the major factor that brought a certain level of cultural unity to the various countries of the region. The ] and ] languages and the Indian script, together with ] and ] ], ] and ], were transmitted from direct contact as well as through sacred texts and Indian literature, such as the ] and the ] epics. | |||
| From the 5th to the 13th century, South-East Asia had very powerful Indian colonial empires and became extremely active in Hindu and Buddhist architectural and artistic creation. The ] Empire to the south and the ] to the north competed for influence. | From the 5th to the 13th century, South-East Asia had very powerful Indian colonial empires and became extremely active in Hindu and Buddhist architectural and artistic creation. The ] Empire to the south and the ] to the north competed for influence. | ||
| ] (-''langkha'' ] for "resplendent land" -''sukkha'' of "bliss") was an ancient Hindu |
] (-''langkha'' ] for "resplendent land" -''sukkha'' of "bliss") was an ancient ]dom located in the ]. The kingdom, along with Old ] settlement, are probably the earliest territorial footholds founded on the Malay Peninsula. According to tradition, the founding of the kingdom happened in the 2nd century; ] legends claim that Langkasuka was founded at ], and later moved to ]. | ||
| From the 5th |
From the 5th to 15th centuries ]n empire, a maritime empire centred on the island of ] in ], had adopted Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism under a line of rulers named the ]s. The Empire of ] declined due to conflicts with the ] rulers of India. The ] succeeded the ] empire. It was one of the last and greatest Hindu empires in ]. | ||
| ], had adopted Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism under a line of rulers named the ]s. The Empire of ] declined due to conflicts with the ] rulers of India. The ] succeeded the ] empire. It was one of the last and greatest Hindu empires in ]. | |||
| ] was a pre-] ]n kingdom, located around the ] delta, probably established by ] settlers speaking an ] language. According to reports by two Chinese envoys, |
] was a pre-] ]n kingdom, located around the ] delta, probably established by ] settlers speaking an ] language. According to reports by two Chinese envoys, K'ang T'ai and Chu Ying, the state was established by an Indian ] named ], who in the 1st century CE was given instruction in a dream to take a magic bow from a temple and defeat a Khmer queen, Soma. Soma, the daughter of the king of the ], married Kaundinya and their lineage became the royal dynasty of Funan. The myth had the advantage of providing the legitimacy of both an Indian Brahmin and the divinity of the cobras, who at that time were held in religious regard by the inhabitants of the region. | ||
| The kingdom of ] (or ''Lin-yi'' in Chinese records) | The kingdom of ] (or ''Lin-yi'' in Chinese records) controlled what is now south and central ] from approximately 192 through 1697. The dominant religion of the ] was ] and the culture was heavily influenced by India. | ||
| controlled what is now south and central ] from approximately 192 through 1697. The dominant religion of the ] was ] and the culture was heavily influenced by India. | |||
| Later, from the 9th to the 13th century, the Mahayana Buddhist and Hindu ] dominated much of the South-East Asian peninsula. Under the Khmer, more than 900 temples were built in Cambodia and in neighboring Thailand. ] was at the centre of this development, with a temple complex and urban organisation able to support around one million urban dwellers. The largest temple complex of the world, Angkor Wat, stands here; built by the king Vishnuvardhan. | Later, from the 9th to the 13th century, the Mahayana Buddhist and Hindu ] dominated much of the South-East Asian peninsula. Under the Khmer, more than 900 temples were built in Cambodia and in neighboring Thailand. ] was at the centre of this development, with a temple complex and urban organisation able to support around one million urban dwellers. The largest temple complex of the world, Angkor Wat, stands here; built by the king Vishnuvardhan. | ||
| ===Late-Classical Hinduism |
=== Late-Classical Hinduism – Puranic Hinduism and decline of Buddhism (c. 650–1200 CE) === | ||
| {{See also|History of India#Early medieval period (mid 6th – c. 1200)|l1=Early medieaval period in India}} | |||
| ]. This Hindu temple was built by the ] emperor ].<ref name="Bajpai2006">{{cite book |author=K. D. Bajpai |title=History of Gopāchala |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q3KcwLKuRnYC&pg=PA31 |year=2006 |publisher=Bharatiya Jnanpith |isbn=978-81-263-1155-2 |page=31}}</ref>]] | |||
| After the end of the Gupta Empire and the collapse of the Harsha Empire, power became decentralised in India. Several larger kingdoms emerged, with "countless vasal states".{{sfn|Michaels|2004|p=41}}{{refn|group=note|*In the east the ] |
After the end of the Gupta Empire and the collapse of the Harsha Empire, power became decentralised in India. Several larger kingdoms emerged, with "countless vasal states".{{sfn|Michaels|2004|p=41}}{{refn|group=note|{{harvtxt|Michaels|2004|p=41}}: | ||
| * In the east the ] (770–1125 CE), | |||
| *in the west and north the ] |
* in the west and north the ] (7th–10th century), | ||
| *in the southwest the ] |
* in the southwest the ] (752–973), | ||
| *in the Dekkhan the ] |
* in the Dekkhan the ] (7th–8th century), | ||
| *and in the south the ] |
* and in the south the ] (7th–9th century) and the ] (9th century).}} The kingdoms were ruled via a feudal system. Smaller kingdoms were dependent on the protection of the larger kingdoms. "The great king was remote, was exalted and deified",{{sfn|Michaels|2004|p=41}} as reflected in the ] ], which could also depict the king as the centre of the mandala.{{sfn|White|2000|pp=25–28}} | ||
| The disintegration of central power also lead to regionalisation of religiosity, and religious rivalry.{{sfn|Michaels|2004|p=42}}{{refn|group=note|This resembles the development of ] during the ] and the ], during which power became decentralised end new Chán-schools emerged. |
The disintegration of central power also lead to regionalisation of religiosity, and religious rivalry.{{sfn|Michaels|2004|p=42}}{{refn|group=note|{{harvtxt|McRae|2003}}: This resembles the development of ] during the ] and the ], during which power became decentralised end new Chán-schools emerged.}} Local cults and languages were enhanced, and the influence of "Brahmanic ritualistic Hinduism"{{sfn|Michaels|2004|p=42}} was diminished.{{sfn|Michaels|2004|p=42}} Rural and devotional movements arose, along with ], ], ] and ],{{sfn|Michaels|2004|p=42}} though "sectarian groupings were only at the beginning of their development".{{sfn|Michaels|2004|p=42}} Religious movements had to compete for recognition by the local lords.{{sfn|Michaels|2004|p=42}} Buddhism ] after the 8th century, due to the loss of financial support from royal donors and the lack of appeal among the rural masses, and began to disappear in India.{{sfn|Michaels|2004|p=42}} This was reflected in the change of puja-ceremonies at the courts in the 8th century, where Hindu gods replaced the Buddha as the "supreme, imperial deity".{{refn|name=inden_1998|group=note|}} | ||
| ====Puranic Hinduism==== | ==== Puranic Hinduism ==== | ||
| {{Further|Puranas}} | {{Further|Puranas}} | ||
| ]s and sculptures found in ]s.<ref>Sara Schastok (1997), The Śāmalājī Sculptures and 6th Century Art in Western India, BRILL, {{ISBN|978-9004069411}}, pp. 77–79, 88</ref> The legend behind the Krishna and Gopis relief above is described in the Bhagavata Purana.{{sfn|Bryant|2007|pp=111–119}}]] | |||
| The Brahmanism of the ] and the ''smritis'' underwent a radical transformation at the hands of the Purana composers, resulting in the rise of Puranic Hinduism,{{sfn|Vijay Nath|2001|p=19}} "which like a colossus striding across the religious firmanent soon came to overshadow all existing religions".{{sfn|Vijay Nath|2001|p=20}} Puranic Hinduism was a "multiplex belief-system which grew and expanded as it absorbed and synthesised polaristic ideas and cultic traditions".{{sfn|Vijay Nath|2001|p=20}} It was distinguished from its Vedic Smarta roots by its popular base, its theological and sectarian pluralism, its Tantric veneer, and the central place of ''bhakti''.{{sfn|Vijay Nath|2001|p=20}}{{refn|group=note|name="Michaels-legacy"}} | |||
| The early mediaeval ]s were composed to disseminate religious mainstream ideology among the pre-literate ] undergoing ].{{sfn|Vijay Nath|2001|p=19}} With the breakdown of the Gupta empire, gifts of virgin waste-land were heaped on brahmanas,{{sfn|Vijay Nath|2001}}{{sfn|Thapar|2003|pp=325, 487}} to ensure profitable agrarian exploitation of land owned by the kings,{{sfn|Vijay Nath|2001}} but also to provide status to the new ruling classes.{{sfn|Vijay Nath|2001}} Brahmanas spread further over India, interacting with local clans with different religions and ideologies.{{sfn|Vijay Nath|2001}} The Brahmanas used the Puranas to incorporate those clans into the agrarian society and its accompanying religion and ideology.{{sfn|Vijay Nath|2001}} According to Flood, "he Brahmans who followed the puranic religion became known as '']'', those whose worship was based on the ''smriti'', or '']'', those based on the Puranas."{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=113}} Local chiefs and peasants were absorbed into the ], which was used to keep "control over the new ''kshatriyas'' and ''shudras''."{{sfn|Thapar|2003|p=487}} | |||
| The Brahmanism of the ] and the ''smritis'' underwent a radical transformation at the hands of the Purana composers, resulting in the rise of Puranic Hinduism,{{sfn|Nath|2001|p=19}} "which like a colossus striding across the religious firmanent soon came to overshadow all existing religions".{{sfn|Nath|2001|p=20}} Puranic Hinduism was a "multiplex belief-system which grew and expanded as it absorbed and synthesised polaristic ideas and cultic traditions"{{sfn|Nath|2001|p=20}} It was distinguished from its Vedic Smarta roots by its popular base, its theological and sectarioan pluralism, its Tantric veneer, and the central place of ''bhakti''.{{sfn|Nath|2001|p=20}}{{refn|group=note|name="Michaels-legacy"}} | |||
| ]'', a statue of the ] ], consecrated in the mid-8th century CE, during the ] era, in ], Afghanistan<ref>{{harvnb|Kuwayama|1976|p=405}}: "It is not therefore possible to attribute these pieces to the Hindu Shahi period. They should be attributed to the Shahi period before the Hindu Shahis originated by the Brahman wazir Kallar, that is, the Turki Shahis."<br />{{harvnb|Kuwayama|1976|p=407}}: "According to the above sources, Brahmanism and Buddhism are properly supposed to have coexisted especially during the 7th-8th centuries A.D. just before the Muslim hegemony. The marble sculptures from eastern Afghanistan should not be attributed to the period of the Hindu Shahis but to that of the Turki Shahis."</ref>]] | |||
| The early mediaeval ]s were composed to disseminate religious mainstream ideology among the pre-literate ] undergoing ].{{sfn|Nath|2001|p=19}} With the breakdown of the Gupta empire, gifts of virgin waste-land were heaped on brahmanas,{{sfn|Nath|2001}}{{sfn|Thapar|2003|p=325, 487}} to ensure provitable agrarical exploitation of land owned by the kings,{{sfn|Nath|2001}} but also to provide status to the new ruling classes.{{sfn|Nath|2001}} Brahmanas spread further over India, interacting with local clans with different religions and ideologies.{{sfn|Nath|2001}} The Brahmanas used the Puranas to incorporate those clans into the agrarical society and its accompanying religion and ideology.{{sfn|Nath|2001}} According to Flood, "he Brahmans who followed the puranic religion became known as '']'', those whose worship was based on the ''smriti'', or '']'', those based on the Puranas."{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=113}} Local chiefs and peasants were absorbed into the ], which was used to keep "control over the new ''kshatriyas'' and ''shudras''."{{sfn|Thapar|2003|p=487}} The Brahmanic group was enlarged by incorporating local subgroups, such as local priets.{{sfn|Nath|2001}} This also lead to a stratification within the Brahmins, with some Brahmins having a lower status than other Brahmins.{{sfn|Nath|2001}} The use of caste worked better with the new Puranic Hinduism than with the sramanic sects.{{sfn|Thapar|2003|p=487}} The Puranic texts provided extensive genealogies which gave status to the new ''kshatriyas''.{{sfn|Thapar|2003|p=487}} Buddhist myths pictured government as a contract between an elected ruler and the people.{{sfn|Thapar|2003|p=487}} And the Buddhist ''chakkavatti''{{refn|group=note|The king who ruled not by conquest but by setting in motion the wheel of law.{{sfn|Thapar|2003|p=325}}}} "was a distinct concept from the models of conquest held up to the ''kshatriyas'' and the Rajputs."{{sfn|Thapar|2003|p=487}} | |||
| The Brahmanic group was enlarged by incorporating local subgroups, such as local priests.{{sfn|Vijay Nath|2001}} This also lead to stratification within the Brahmins, with some Brahmins having a lower status than other Brahmins.{{sfn|Vijay Nath|2001}} The use of caste worked better with the new Puranic Hinduism than with the Sramanic sects.{{sfn|Thapar|2003|p=487}} The Puranic texts provided extensive genealogies which gave status to the new ''kshatriyas''.{{sfn|Thapar|2003|p=487}} Buddhist myths pictured government as a contract between an elected ruler and the people.{{sfn|Thapar|2003|p=487}} And the Buddhist ''chakkavatti''{{refn|group=note|{{harvtxt|Thapar|2003|p=325}}: The king who ruled not by conquest but by setting in motion the wheel of law.}} "was a distinct concept from the models of conquest held up to the ''kshatriyas'' and the Rajputs".{{sfn|Thapar|2003|p=487}} | |||
| Many local religions and traditions were assimilated into puranic Hinduism. Vishnu and Shiva emerged as the main deities, together with Sakti/Deva.{{sfn|Nath|2001|p=31}} Vishnu subsumed the cults of ], ]s, ] "and many others".{{sfn|Nath|2001|p=31}} Nath: | Many local religions and traditions were assimilated into puranic Hinduism. Vishnu and Shiva emerged as the main deities, together with Sakti/Deva.{{sfn|Vijay Nath|2001|p=31}} Vishnu subsumed the cults of ], ]s, ] "and many others".{{sfn|Vijay Nath|2001|p=31}} Nath: | ||
| {{ |
{{blockquote|ome incarnations of Vishnu such as Matsya, Kurma, Varaha and perhaps even Nrsimha helped to incorporate certain popular totem symbols and creation myths, especially those related to wild boar, which commonly permeate preliterate mythology, others such as Krsna and Balarama became instrumental in assimilating local cults and myths centering around two popular pastoral and agricultural gods.{{sfn|Vijay Nath|2001|pp=31–32}}}} | ||
| The transformation of Brahmanism into Pauranic Hinduism in post-] India was due to a process of ]. The Puranas helped establish a religious mainstream among the pre-literate tribal societies undergoing acculturation. The tenets of Brahmanism and of the ] underwent a radical transformation at the hands of the Purana composers, resulting in the rise of a mainstream "Hinduism" that overshadowed all earlier traditions. |
The transformation of Brahmanism into Pauranic Hinduism in post-] India was due to a process of ]. The Puranas helped establish a religious mainstream among the pre-literate tribal societies undergoing acculturation. The tenets of Brahmanism and of the ] underwent a radical transformation at the hands of the Purana composers, resulting in the rise of a mainstream "Hinduism" that overshadowed all earlier traditions.{{sfn|Vijay Nath|2001}} | ||
| ====Bhakti movement==== | ==== Bhakti movement ==== | ||
| {{Main|Bhakti movement}} | {{Main|Bhakti movement}} | ||
| {{See also|Tulsidas|Kabir|Mirabai|Chaitanya}} | {{See also|Tulsidas|Kabir|Mirabai|Chaitanya Mahaprabhu}} | ||
| ] ]. He is one of the most prominent of the 12 ] of the ] ].]] | |||
| Rama and |
Rama and Krishna became the focus of a strong ''bhakti'' tradition, which found expression particularly in the '']''. The Krishna tradition subsumed numerous Naga, yaksa and hill and tree-based cults.{{sfn|Vijay Nath|2001|p=32}} Shiva absorbed local cults by the suffixing of ''Isa'' or '']'' to the name of the local deity, for example, Bhutesvara, Hatakesvara, and Chandesvara.{{sfn|Vijay Nath|2001|p=31}} In 8th-century royal circles, the Buddha started to be replaced by Hindu gods in pujas.{{refn|name=inden_1998|group=note|{{harvtxt|Inden|1998|p=67}}: "Before the eighth century, the Buddha was accorded the position of universal deity and ceremonies by which a king attained to imperial status were elaborate donative ceremonies entailing gifts to Buddhist monks and the installation of a symbolic Buddha in a stupa ... This pattern changed in the eighth century. The Buddha was replaced as the supreme, imperial deity by one of the Hindu gods (except under the Palas of eastern India, the Buddha's homeland) ... Previously the Buddha had been accorded imperial-style worship (puja). Now as one of the Hindu gods replaced the Buddha at the imperial centre and pinnacle of the cosmo-political system, the image or symbol of the Hindu god comes to be housed in a monumental temple and given increasingly elaborate imperial-style puja worship."}} This also was the same period of time the Buddha was made into an avatar of Vishnu.<ref>Holt, John. ''The Buddhist Visnu''. Columbia University Press, 2004, p. 12, 15 "The replacement of the Buddha as the 'cosmic person' within the mythic ideology of Indian kingship, as we shall see shortly, occurred at about the same time the Buddha was incorporated and subordinated within the Brahmanical cult of ]."</ref> | ||
| The first documented Bhakti movement was founded by the first three ]. Traditionally, the Alvars are considered to have lived between 4200 BCE and 2700 BCE,<ref>S. M. Srinivasa Chari, , Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|9788120813427}}, p. 10</ref><ref>"Śrībhāṣyam: Catuḥsūtryātmakaḥ", by Rāmānuja, Raghunath Damodar Karmarkar, p.18, original from the University of Michigan</ref> while some texts account for range between 4200 BCE and early 5th century. Traditional dates take them to the age of ] from the period of the '']'' and '']'', the first four (] Alvar, ], ] and ] Alvar) are from the '']'', while ], ] and others belong to the '']''.<ref>{{cite book|title= Religion, Philosophy, Yoga: A Selection of Articles|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |author=Jean Filliozat|page=23}}</ref> ] is dated minimum around 200 BCE.{{sfn|van Buitenen|2013|pp=6: "ca. 200 BC is a likely date".}} Hence the first three Alvars are also considered minimum 200 BCE. The twelve Alvars who were ] devotees and the sixty-three ] who were Shaivite devotees nurtured the incipient Bhakti movement in ]. | |||
| The first documented bhakti movement was founded by ]. She wrote poems in ] about her love for ] and probably lived around the 6th century CE. The twelve ] who were Vaishnavite devotees and the sixty-three ] who were Shaivite devotees nurtured the incipient bhakti movement in ]. | |||
| During the 12th century CE in Karnataka, the Bhakti movement took the form of the ] movement. It was inspired by ], a Hindu reformer who created the sect of ] or ] ''bhaktas''. During this time, a unique and native form of ] literature-poetry called ] was born. | During the 12th century CE in Karnataka, the Bhakti movement took the form of the ] movement. It was inspired by ], a Hindu reformer who created the sect of ] or ] ''bhaktas''. During this time, a unique and native form of ] literature-poetry called ] was born. | ||
| ====Advaita Vedanta==== | ==== Advaita Vedanta ==== | ||
| {{Main|Advaita Vedanta|Adi Shankara}} | {{Main|Advaita Vedanta|Adi Shankara}} | ||
| ] is credited with unifying and establishing the main currents of thought in ].<ref>Johannes de Kruijf and Ajaya Sahoo (2014), ''Indian Transnationalism Online: New Perspectives on Diaspora'', {{ISBN|978-1472419132}}, p. 105, Quote: "In other words, according to Adi Shankara's argument, the philosophy of Advaita Vedanta stood over and above all other forms of Hinduism and encapsulated them. This then united Hinduism; ... Another of Adi Shankara's important undertakings which contributed to the unification of Hinduism was his founding of a number of monastic centers."</ref>]] | |||
| ] in Sanskrit at the ], west of the ]]] | |||
| The early Advaitin ] (6th–7th c. CE) was influenced by Buddhism.{{sfn|Sharma|2000|pp=60–64}}{{sfn|Raju|1992|pp=177–178}}{{sfn|Renard|2010|p=157}}{{sfn|Comans|2000|pp=35–36}} Gaudapda took over the Buddhist doctrines that ]{{sfn|Raju|1992|p=177}} and "that the nature of the world is the four-cornered negation".{{sfn|Raju|1992|p=177}} Gaudapada "wove into a philosophy of the '']'', which was further developed by Shankara".{{sfn|Raju|1992|pp=177–178}} Gaudapada also took over the Buddhist concept of "]" from ]'s ] philosophy.{{sfn|Renard|2010|p=157}}{{sfn|Comans|2000|pp=35–36}} Gaudapada seems to have ignored the Brahma-sutras, and it was Shankara who succeeded in reading Gaudapada's ''mayavada'', a polemic term used by opponents,{{sfn|Sharma|2000|p=64}}{{refn|group=note|name=mayavada|The term "mayavada" is still being used, in a critical way, by the Hare Krshnas. See<ref group=web>{{Cite web |first=Swami B. V. |last=Giri |url=http://gaudiyatouchstone.net/mayavada-and-buddhism-%E2%80%93-are-they-one-and-same |work=Gaudya Touchstone |title=Mayavada and Buddhism – Are They One and the Same? |access-date=13 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170706152155/http://gaudiyatouchstone.net/mayavada-and-buddhism-%E2%80%93-are-they-one-and-same |archive-date=6 July 2017 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref group=web> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170214115618/http://www.harekrishnatemple.com/chapter21.html |date=14 February 2017 }} harekrishnatemple.com</ref><ref group=web> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161214062508/http://www.harekrsna.com/philosophy/gss/sadhu/sampradayas/mayavada/mayavada.htm |date=14 December 2016 }} harekrsna.com</ref><ref group=web>Gaura Gopala Dasa, {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181215172449/https://gosai.com/writings/the-self-defeating-philosophy-of-mayavada |date=15 December 2018 }}</ref>}} into Badarayana's ''Brahma Sutras'', "and give it a ''locus classicus''",{{sfn|Sharma|2000|p=64}} against the realistic strain of the ''Brahma Sutras''.{{sfn|Sharma|2000|p=64}} | |||
| Shankara (8th century CE) was a scholar who synthesized and systematized ] views which already existed at his lifetime.{{sfn|Nakamura|2004|p=678}}{{sfn|Sharma|1962|p=vi}}{{sfn|Comans|2000|p=163}}<ref group=web>Neil Dalal (2021), , {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220127111736/https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/shankara/ |date=27 January 2022 }}, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy</ref> Shankara propounded a unified reality, in which the innermost self of a person (''atman'') and the supernatural power of the entire world (''brahman'') are one and the same. Perceiving the changing multiplicity of forms and objects as the final reality is regarded as '']'', "illusion", obscuring the unchanging ultimate reality of ''brahman''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Menon |first=Y. K. |title=The Mind of Adi Shankaracharya |date=January 2004 |publisher=Repro Knowledgcast Ltd |isbn=817224214X}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Campagna |first=Federico |title=Technic and Magic: The Reconstruction of Reality |publisher=Bloomsbury |isbn=1-350-04402-4 |page=124}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Shankara |first=Adi |title=Nirguna Manasa Puja: Worship of the Attributeless |publisher=Society of Abidance in Truth |page=vii}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Paranjpe |first=Anand C |title=Self and Identity in Modern Psychology and Indian Thought |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-306-47151-3 |page=214}}</ref> | |||
| Shankara is the founder of the '']'' of ] ] and '']'' tradition of worship. Shankara is also regarded as the greatest teacher{{sfn|Popular Prakashan|2000|p=52}} and reformer of the ].{{sfn|Roosen|2006|p=166}}{{sfn|Popular Prakashan|2000|p=52}} According to Hinduism-guide.com: | |||
| {{quote|Not all Brahmins specialized in this Smriti tradition. Some were influenced by Buddhism, Jainism or Charvaka tradition and philosophy. This did not mean that all these people rejected the authority of Vedas, but only that their tradition of worship and philosophy was based not on smriti texts. In time, Shankaracharya brought all the Vedic communities together. He tried to remove the non-smriti aspects that had crept into the Hindu communities. He also endeavoured to unite them by arguing that any of the different Hindu gods could be worshipped, according to the prescriptions given in the smriti texts. He established that worship of various deities are compatible with Vedas and is not contradictory, since all are different manifestations of one ]. Shankaracharya was instrumental in reviving interest in the smritis.<ref group=web name="Hinduism-guide.com-smarta"></ref>}} | |||
| While Shankara has an unparalleled status in the history of Advaita Vedanta, Shankara's early influence in India is doubtful.{{sfn|Hacker|1995|p=29–30}} Until the 11th century, Vedanta itself was a peripheral school of thought,{{sfn|Nicholson|2010|p=157; 229 note 57}} and until the 10th century Shankara himself was overshadowed by his older contemporary ], who was considered to be the major representative of Advaita.{{sfn|King|2002|p=128}}{{sfn|Roodurmum|2002|pp=33–34}} | |||
| In modern times, due to the influence of western ] and ] on Indian ] and ],{{sfn|King|1999}} Advaita Vedanta has acquired a broad acceptance in Indian culture and beyond as the paradigmatic example of Hindu spirituality.{{sfn|King|1999}} | |||
| Several scholars suggest that the historical fame and cultural influence of Shankara and Advaita Vedanta grew only centuries later, during the era of the Muslim invasions and consequent devastation of India,{{sfn|Hacker|1995|p=29–30}}{{sfn|Blake Michael|1992|p=60–62 with notes 6, 7 and 8}}{{sfn|Nicholson|2010|pp=178–183}} due to the efforts of ] (14th c.), who created legends to turn Shankara into a "divine folk-hero who spread his teaching through his ''digvijaya'' ("universal conquest") all over India like a victorious conqueror."{{sfn|Hacker|1995|p=29}}{{sfn|Kulke|Rothermund|1998|p=177}} | |||
| Shankara's position was further established in the 19th and 20th centuries, when neo-Vedantins and western Orientalists elevated Advaita Vedanta "as the connecting theological thread that united Hinduism into a single religious tradition".{{sfn|King|2001|p=129}} Advaita Vedanta has acquired a broad acceptance in Indian culture and beyond as the paradigmatic example of Hindu spirituality,{{sfn|King|1999}} Shankara became "an iconic representation of Hindu religion and culture", despite the fact that most Hindus do not adhere to Advaita Vedanta.{{sfn|King|2001|p=129–130}} | |||
| ==== Contact with Persia and Mesopotamia ==== | ==== Contact with Persia and Mesopotamia ==== | ||
| Hindu and also ] religious and secular learning had first reached ] in an organised manner in the 6th century, when the ] Emperor ] (531–579) deputed ] as his envoy, to invite Indian and Chinese scholars to the ]. Burzoe had translated the Sanskrit ]. His Pahlavi version was translated into Arabic by ] under the title of |
Hindu and also ] religious and secular learning had first reached ] in an organised manner in the 6th century, when the ] Emperor ] (531–579) deputed ] as his envoy, to invite Indian and Chinese scholars to the ]. Burzoe had translated the Sanskrit ]. His Pahlavi version was translated into Arabic by ] under the title of '']'' or ''The Fables of Bidpai''.<ref>{{cite book |first1=Francisco |last1=Rodríguez Adrados |author-link1=Francisco Rodríguez Adrados |first2=Lukas |last2=de Blois |first3=Gert-Jan |last3=van Dijk |title=Mnemosyne, Bibliotheca Classica Batava: Supplementum |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=093Gl8KEktMC&pg=PA707 |year=2006 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-04-11454-8 |pages=707–708}}</ref> | ||
| Under the ] caliphate, ] had replaced ] as the most important centre of learning in the then vast ], wherein the traditions as well as scholars of the latter flourished. Hindu scholars were invited to the conferences on sciences and mathematics held in Baghdad.<ref>{{cite book|last=O'Malley|first=Charles Donald|title=The History of Medical Education: An International Symposium Held February |
Under the ] caliphate, ] had replaced ] as the most important centre of learning in the then vast ], wherein the traditions, as well as scholars of the latter, flourished. Hindu scholars were invited to the conferences on sciences and mathematics held in Baghdad.<ref>{{cite book |last=O'Malley |first=Charles Donald |title=The History of Medical Education: An International Symposium Held February 5–9, 1968 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=afYzWG1FLroC&pg=PA352 |year=1970 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-01578-4 |page=352}}</ref> | ||
| == |
== Medieval and early modern periods (c. 1200–1850 CE) == | ||
| ===Muslim |
=== Muslim period === | ||
| {{Main|Muslim |
{{Main|Muslim conquests in the Indian subcontinent|Islam in India}} | ||
| ] visits a Hindu temple.]] | |||
| {{Gallery|align=right | |||
| Though Islam came to Indian subcontinent in the early 7th century with the advent of Arab traders, it started impacting Indian religions after the 10th century, and particularly after the 12th century with the establishment and then expansion of ].<ref name="ISBN 0-19-563921-9">{{Harvnb|Basham|1999}}</ref><ref>Vincent A. Smith, The early history of India, 3rd Edition, Oxford University Press, pages 381-384</ref> ] calls the Muslim conquest of India "probably the bloodiest story in history".<ref name=willdurant>Will Durant (1976), The Story of Civilization: Our Oriental Heritage, Simon & Schuster, ISBN 978-0671548001, page 458-472, Quote: "The Mohammedan Conquest of India is probably the bloodiest story in history. It is a discouraging tale, for its evident moral is that civilization is a precarious thing, whose delicate complex of order and liberty, culture and peace may at any time be overthrown by barbarians invading from without or multiplying within. The Hindus had allowed their strength to be wasted in internal division and war; they had adopted religions like Buddhism and Jainism, which unnerved them for the tasks of life; they had failed to organize their forces for the protection of their frontiers and their capitals."</ref> During this period, Buddhism declined rapidly while Hinduism faced military-led and Sultanates-sponsored religious violence.<ref name=willdurant/><ref>Marc Gaborieau (1985), "From Al-Beruni to Jinnah: Idiom, Ritual and Ideology of the Hindu-Muslim Confrontation in South Asia", Anthropology Today, 1(3), pages 7–14</ref> There was a widespread practice of raids, seizure and enslavement of families of Hindus, who were then sold in Sultanate cities or exported to Central Asia.<ref name=richardeaton>Richard M. Eaton (2006), Slavery and South Asian History (Editors: Indrani Chatterjee, Richard M. Eaton), Indiana University Press, ISBN 0-253348102, page 11, Quote: "In 1562 Akbar abolished the practice of enslaving the families of war captives; his son Jahangir banned sending of slaves from Bengal as tribute in lieu of cash, '''which had been the custom since the 14th century'''. These measures notwithstanding, the '''Mughals actively participated in slave trade with Central Asia''', deporting rebels and subjects who had defaulted on revenue payments, following precedents inherited from Delhi Sultanate".</ref><ref>Andre Wink (1991), Al-Hind: the Making of the Indo-Islamic World, Volume 1, Brill Academic, ISBN 978-9004095090, pages 14-16, 172-174, etc</ref> Some texts suggest a number of Hindus were forcibly converted to Islam.<ref>{{Citation | last = Sharma| first = Hari| title = The real Tipu: a brief history of Tipu Sultan| publisher = Rishi publications| year = 1991| page = 112| url = http://books.google.co.in/books?ei=TYMYTPfXCse0rAf8-62tCg}}</ref><ref name=phardy/> Starting with 13th century, for a period of some 500 years, very few texts, from the numerous written by Muslim court historians, mention any "voluntary conversions of Hindus to Islam", suggesting its insignificance and perhaps rarity of such conversions.<ref name=phardy>P Hardy (1977), Modern European and Muslim explanations of conversion to Islam in South Asia: A preliminary survey of the literature, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain & Ireland, Volume 109, Issue 02, pages 177-206</ref> Typically enslaved Hindus converted to Islam to gain their freedom.<ref>Burjor Avari (2013), Islamic Civilization in South Asia, Routledge, ISBN 978-0415580618, pages 66-70; Quote: "Many Hindu slaves converted to Islam and gained their liberty".</ref> There were occasional exceptions to religious violence against Hinduism. ], for example, recognized Hinduism, banned enslavement of the families of Hindu war captives, protected Hindu temples, and abolished discriminatory ] (head taxes) against Hindus.<ref name=richardeaton/><ref>FHM Grapperhaus (2009), Taxes through the Ages, ISBN 978-9087220549, page 118</ref> However, many Muslim rulers of ] and ], before and after Akbar, from 12th century to 18th century, destroyed Hindu temples<ref group=web>{{cite web|url=http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/southasia/History/Mughals/Aurang2.html|title=Aurangzeb: Religious Policies|publisher=Manas Group, UCLA|accessdate=26 June 2011}}</ref><ref>Studies in Islamic History and Civilisation, David Ayalon, BRILL, 1986, p.271;ISBN 965-264-014-X</ref><ref group=web>{{cite web|url=http://www.templenet.com/Karnataka/halebidu.html|title=Halebidu - Temples of Karnataka|publisher=TempleNet.com|accessdate=17 August 2006}}</ref>{{refn|group=note|See also ; more links at the bottom of that page; for Muslim historian's record on major Hindu temple destruction campaigns, from 1193 to 1729 AD, see Richard Eaton (2000), Temple Desecration and Indo-Muslim States, Journal of Islamic Studies, Vol. 11, Issue 3, pages 283-319}} and ]. | |||
| |width=180|File:Benares- The Golden Temple, India, ca. 1915 (IMP-CSCNWW33-OS14-66).jpg|The ] was destroyed by the army of Delhi Sultan ].{{sfn|Eaton|2000}} | |||
| }} | |||
| The Muslim conquests in the Indian subcontinent took place between the 13th and the 18th centuries. The ] ruler ] laid the foundation of Muslim rule in India in 1192,<ref>{{Cite book| last = Nizami| first = K. A.| date = 1970| title = Foundation of the Delhi Sultanat| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=_9cmAQAAMAAJ| editor-last = Mohammad Habib| editor-first = | editor2-last = Khaliq Ahmad Nizami| edition = Second| volume = 5| series = A Comprehensive History of India: The Delhi Sultanat (A.D. 1206-1526)| publisher = The Indian History Congress / People's Publishing House| oclc = 31870180| access-date = 23 December 2023| archive-date = 17 January 2023| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230117131632/https://books.google.com/books?id=_9cmAQAAMAAJ| url-status = live}}</ref> expanding up to ] by 1202. The Ghurid Empire soon evolved into the ] in 1206, transitioning to the ].<ref name="sen2">{{cite book |last=Sen |first=Sailendra |title = A Textbook of Medieval Indian History |publisher=Primus Books |year=2013 |isbn=978-9-38060-734-4 |pages=68–102 }}</ref><ref>Chapman, Graham. "Religious vs. regional determinism: India, Pakistan and Bangladesh as inheritors of empire." Shared space: Divided space. Essays on conflict and territorial organization (1990): 106-134.</ref> During this historical period, ] experienced a decline,{{sfn|Gaborieau|1985}} and there were instances of religious tensions and conflicts in the Indian subcontinent. Some records indicate incidents of raids, property seizures, and the enslavement of some Hindu families.<ref name=richardeaton>{{harvp|Eaton|2006|p=11}}: "In 1562 Akbar abolished the practice of enslaving the families of war captives; his son Jahangir banned sending of slaves from Bengal as tribute in lieu of cash, '''which had been the custom since the 14th century'''. These measures notwithstanding, the '''Mughals actively participated in slave trade with Central Asia''', deporting rebels and subjects who had defaulted on revenue payments, following precedents inherited from Delhi Sultanate" (emphasis added?).</ref>{{sfn|Wink|1991|pp=14–16, 172–174, etc}} Additionally, there were accounts suggesting that some Hindus may have converted to Islam, possibly under various circumstances, including to secure their freedom.<ref>{{Citation |last=Sharma| first=Hari| title=The real Tipu: a brief history of Tipu Sultan| publisher=Rishi publications| year=1991| page=112| url=https://books.google.com/books?ei=TYMYTPfXCse0rAf8-62tCg}}</ref><ref name=phardy>P. Hardy (1977), "Modern European and Muslim explanations of conversion to Islam in South Asia: A preliminary survey of the literature", ''Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain & Ireland'', Volume 109, Issue 02, pp. 177–206</ref> In between the periods of wars and conquests, there were periods of cooperation and ]. There were harmonious Hindu-Muslim relations in most Indian communities.<ref name="Gier2014_p9"/> No populations were expelled based on their religion by either the Muslim or ]s, nor were attempts made to annihilate a specific religion.<ref name="Gier2014_p9">{{citation |last=Gier |first=Nicholas F. |title=The Origins of Religious Violence: An Asian Perspective |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0LBhBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA9 |year=2014 |publisher=Lexington Books |isbn=978-0-7391-9223-8 |page=9 |access-date=23 December 2023 |archive-date=23 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223183131/https://books.google.com/books?id=0LBhBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA9#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}: 'Quite apart from Akbar, most Indian medieval communities experienced harmonious relations, as Stuart Gordon explains: "No Muslim or Hindu enclaves were seized; populations were not expelled on the basis of religion. No prince publicly committed himself and all of his resources to the annihilation of the Other. Both Hindus and Muslims were routinely and without comment recruited into all the armies of the period."'</ref> | |||
| ===Unifying Hinduism=== | |||
| Hinduism underwent profound changes, aided in part by teachers such as ], ], and ].<ref name="ISBN 0-19-563921-9"/> Followers of the ] moved away from the abstract concept of ], which the philosopher ] consolidated a few centuries before, with emotional, passionate devotion towards the more accessible ]s, especially Krishna and Rama.<ref name="JordensISBN 0-19-563921-9">J.T.F. Jordens, "Medieval Hindu Devotionalism" in {{Harvnb||Basham|1999}}</ref> According to Nicholson, already between the 12th and the 16th century, "certain thinkers began to treat as a single whole the diverse philosophical teachings of the Upanishads, epics, Puranas, and the schools known retrospectively as the "six systems" (''saddarsana'') of mainstream Hindu philosophy."{{sfn|Ncholson|2010|p=2}}{{refn|group=note|The tendency of "a blurring of philosophical distinctions" has also been noted by Burley.{{sfn|Burley|2007|p=34}} Lorenzen locates the origins of a distinct Hindu identity in the interaction between Muslims and Hindus,{{sfn|Lorenzen|2006|p=24-33}} and a process of "mutual self-definition with a contrasting Muslim other",{{sfn|Lorenzen|2006|p=27}} which started well before 1800.{{sfn|Lorenzen|2006|p=26-27}} Both the Indian and the European thinkers who developed the term "Hinduism" in the 19th century were influenced by these philosophers.{{sfn|Nicholson|2010|p=2}}}} Michaels notes that a historicization emerged which preceded later nationalism, articulating ideas which glorified Hinduism and the past.{{sfn|Micaels|2004|p=44}} | |||
| In the 16th century, the ] was established. Under the Mughals, India experienced a period of relative stability and prosperity.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Smith |first1=Stephanie Honchell |title=Aurangzeb: Mughal Emperor |url=https://origins.osu.edu/read/aurangzeb-mughal-emperor?language_content_entity=en |website=The Ohio State University |access-date=February 25, 2024 |date=August 1, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kanwal |first1=Fariha |title=Mughal Rulers' (1526-1707) Religious Tolerance Policy and its Impacts on the Society of Sub-Continent |date=2020 |url=https://assap.wum.edu.pk/index.php/ojs/article/view/24 |journal=Annals of Social Sciences and Perspective |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=117–125 |doi=10.52700/assap.v1i2.24 |access-date=February 25, 2024|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The majestic Mughal Empire: The rise and fall of India's most powerful dynasty |url=https://www.historyskills.com/classroom/modern-history/mod-mughal-empire-reading/ |website=History Skills |access-date=February 25, 2024}}</ref> The ] were generally known for their religious tolerance,<ref>{{cite journal |title=Revisiting the History and Historiography of Mughal Pluralism |url=https://www.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.13169/reorient.5.2.0137 |journal=Reorient |access-date=March 2, 2024 |date=April 1, 2020| doi=10.13169/reorient.5.2.0137 | last1=Kinra | first1=Rajeev | volume=5 | issue=2 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=MUGHALS AND THE RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS |url=https://www.proquest.com/openview/99054ac16e7f4bff45b43e5af41a383a/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=646551 |website=Proquest |access-date=March 2, 2024 |date=September 2012}}</ref><ref name=a1>{{cite web |last1=Akhtar |first1=Awais |title=Religious Policy of Emperor Shahjahan (1627-1658AD) |url=http://pu.edu.pk/images/journal/indianStudies/PDF/1_v4_2_18.pdf |publisher=Journal of Indian Studies}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Giordan |first1=Giuseppe |title=Annual Review of the Sociology of Religion. Volume 10 (2019) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=isuiDwAAQBAJ |publisher=Verlag Ferdinand Schöningh |access-date=March 10, 2024 |page=278 |date=July 15, 2019|isbn=978-90-04-40126-6 }}</ref> and they actively patronized the arts and literature. There were instances of religious ] over control of territories. ] in particular was noted for his policies of religious intolerance towards non-Muslims and destruction of temples.<ref group=web>{{cite web |url=http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/southasia/History/Mughals/Aurang2.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121212204236/http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/southasia/History/Mughals/Aurang2.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=12 December 2012 |title=Aurangzeb: Religious Policies |publisher=Manas Group, UCLA |access-date=26 June 2011}}</ref>{{Sfn|Ayalon|1986|p=271}} | |||
| ===Early Modern period=== | |||
| The fall of ] to Muslim rulers had marked the end of Hindu imperial assertions in the ]. But, taking advantage of an over-stretched ] (1526–1857), Hinduism once again rose to political prestige, under the ], from 1674 to 1818. | |||
| The impact and consequences of the Muslim conquest of South Asia remain subjects of scrutiny and diverse viewpoints. ] characterizes the Muslim conquest of India as a particularly tumultuous chapter in history. He suggests that it was marked by significant violence and upheaval, which he attributes in part to factors such as internal divisions, the influence of religions like Buddhism and Jainism. ] criticized the Muslim rulers, claiming that the violence was often justified in the name of religious ].<ref name="BasuMiroshnik2017">{{cite book |author1=Dipak Basu |author2=Victoria Miroshnik |title=India as an Organization: Volume One: A Strategic Risk Analysis of Ideals, Heritage and Vision |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lhUwDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA52 |date=7 August 2017 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-3-319-53372-8 |pages=52ff |access-date=26 December 2018 |archive-date=23 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223183121/https://books.google.com/books?id=lhUwDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA52#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> Other, like ] and ], criticized the view that Islam was spread by force and sword as 'absurd.'<ref name=Munir>{{cite web |last1=Munir |first1=Hassam |date=May 12, 2018 |title=Did Islam Spread by the Sword? A Critical Look at Forced Conversions |url=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/did-islam-spread-by-the-sword-a-critical-look-at-forced-conversions |website=Yaqeen Institute |access-date=September 20, 2023 |archive-date=14 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231114042739/https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/did-islam-spread-by-the-sword-a-critical-look-at-forced-conversions |url-status=live }}</ref> According to ], while instances of forced conversion in Muslim regions did occur, they were relatively infrequent. Muslim conquerors generally sought to exert control rather than enforce conversion, with the majority of conversions to Islam being voluntary in nature.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lapidus |first1=Ira M. |author1-link=Ira M. Lapidus |year=2014 |title=A History of Islamic Societies |edition=3rd |url=https://www.cambridge.org/highereducation/books/a-history-of-islamic-societies/22183D81CFE5E37E5DBED1A0F5AB0FB9#overview |publisher=Cambridge University Press |doi=10.1017/CBO9781139048828 |isbn=9780521514309 |access-date=<!-- print source: September 20, 2023 --> |archive-date=3 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220503164345/https://www.cambridge.org/highereducation/books/a-history-of-islamic-societies/22183D81CFE5E37E5DBED1A0F5AB0FB9#overview |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=Munir /> | |||
| ====Mughal Empire (1526–1857)==== | |||
| ] | |||
| {{Further|Mughal period|Indo-Persian culture}} | |||
| === Bhakti Vedanta === | |||
| After the conquest of Persia by the ], a regional Turko-Persio-Mongol dynasty formed. Just as eastern Mongol dynasties inter-married with locals and adopted the local religion of ] and the ], this group adopted the local religion of ] and the ]; their descendants ruled in India as ]s. | |||
| Teachers such as ], ], and ] aligned the Bhakti movement with the textual tradition of Vedanta, which until the 11th century was only a peripheral school of thought,{{sfn|Nicholson|2010|p=157; 229 note 57}} while rejecting and opposing the abstract notions of Advaita. Instead, they promoted emotional, passionate devotion towards the more accessible ]s, especially Krishna and Rama.<ref name="{{ISBN|0-19-563921-9}}">{{Harvnb|Basham|1999}}</ref><ref name="JordensISBN 0-19-563921-9">J. T. F. Jordens, "Medieval Hindu Devotionalism" in {{harvnb|Basham|1999}}</ref>{{Page needed|date=March 2024}} | |||
| {{Gallery|align=center | |||
| The official State religion of the Mughal Empire was ], with the preference to the ] of the ] ] (Mazhab). Hinduism remained under strain during Babur and Humanyun's reigns. Sher Shah Suri, the Afghan ruler of North India was comparatively non-repressive. Hinduism came to fore during the three-year rule of Hindu king ']' during 1553-56 when he had defeated Akbar at Agra and Delhi and had taken up the reign from Delhi as a Hindu 'Vikramaditya' king after his 'Rajyabhishake' or ] at ']' in Delhi. However, during Mughal history, at times, subjects had freedom to practise any religion of their choice, though Non-Muslim able-bodied adult males with income were obliged to pay the ] (poll-tax to be spent by the State only on protection of non-Muslims), which signified their status as ] (responsibility of the State, in regard to safety of life and property). | |||
| |width=180||] is one of the most important exponents of the ] tradition within Hinduism, depicted with Vaishnava ] and Varadraja (Vishnu) statue.<ref>{{cite book |chapter=Rāmānuja (ca. 1077 – ca. 1157) |title=Encyclopedia of Global Religion |editor1-first=Mark |editor1-last=Juergensmeyer |editor2-first=Wade Clark |editor2-last=Roof |last=Mishra |first=Patit Paban| year=2012 |doi=10.4135/9781412997898.n598|isbn=9780761927297 }}</ref> | |||
| ] | |||
| ||], is chief proponent of ] tradition and ''] (])'' school of ] within Hinduism, depicted with Vaishnava Gopichandana ] and ] (or Jnana Mudra or Jana Mudra), a symbol of knowledge and wisdom.{{sfn|Stoker|2011}} | |||
| ], the Mughal emperor ]'s son and heir from his ] queen Hameeda Banu Begum, had a broad vision of Indian and Islamic traditions. One of Emperor ]'s most unusual ideas regarding religion was ] (Faith of God), which was an eclectic mix of ], ], Hinduism, ] and ]. It was proclaimed the state religion until his death. These actions however met with stiff opposition from the Muslim clergy, especially the ] Shaykh Alf Sani ]. Akbar's abolition of poll-tax on non-Muslims, acceptance of ideas from other religious philosophies, toleration of public worship by all religions and his interest in other faiths showed an attitude of considerable religious tolerance, which, in the minds of his orthodox Muslim opponents, were tantamount to ]. | |||
| }} | |||
| === Unifying Hinduism === | |||
| Akbar's son, ], half Rajput, was also a religious moderate, his mother being Hindu. The influence of his two Hindu queens (the Maharani Maanbai and Maharani Jagat) kept religious moderation as a centre-piece of state policy which was extended under his son, Emperor ], who was by blood 75% ] and less than 25% ]. | |||
| According to Nicholson, already between the 12th and the 16th century, "certain thinkers began to treat as a single whole the diverse philosophical teachings of the Upanishads, epics, Puranas, and the schools known retrospectively as the 'six systems' (''saddarsana'') of mainstream Hindu philosophy."{{sfn|Nicholson|2010|p=2}}{{refn|group=note|The tendency of "a blurring of philosophical distinctions" has also been noted by {{harvtxt|Burley|2007|p=34}}. Lorenzen locates the origins of a distinct Hindu identity in the interaction between Muslims and Hindus ({{harvnb|Lorenzen|2006|pp=24–33}}), and a process of "mutual self-definition with a contrasting Muslim other" which started well before 1800 ({{harvnb|Lorenzen|2006|pp=26–27}}). Both the Indian and the European thinkers who developed the term "Hinduism" in the 19th century were influenced by these philosophers ({{harvnb|Nicholson|2010|p=2}})}} Michaels notes that a historicization emerged which preceded later nationalism, articulating ideas which glorified Hinduism and the past.{{sfn|Michaels|2004|p=44}} | |||
| Several scholars suggest that the historical fame and cultural influence of Shankara and Advaita Vedanta was intentionally established during this period.{{sfn|Hacker|1995|p=29–30}}{{sfn|Blake Michael|1992|p=60–62 with notes 6, 7 and 8}}{{sfn|Nicholson|2010|pp=178–183}} ] (14th c.), also known as Madhava and a follower of Shankara, created legends to turn Shankara, whose elevated philosophy had no appeal to gain widespread popularity, into a "divine folk-hero who spread his teaching through his ''digvijaya'' ("universal conquest") all over India like a victorious conqueror."{{sfn|Hacker|1995|p=29}}{{sfn|Kulke|Rothermund|1998|p=177}} In his ''Savadarsanasamgraha'' ("Summary of all views") Vidyaranya presented Shankara's teachings as the summit of all ''darsanas'', presenting the other ''darsanas'' as partial truths which converged in Shankara's teachings.{{sfn|Hacker|1995|p=29}} Vidyaranya enjoyed royal support,<ref name=talbot>Cynthia Talbot (2001), ''Precolonial India in Practice: Society, Region, and Identity in Medieval Andhra'', Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0-19-513661-6}}, pp. 185–187, 199–201</ref> and his sponsorship and methodical efforts helped establish Shankara as a rallying symbol of values, spread historical and cultural influence of Shankara's Vedānta philosophies, and establish monasteries (''mathas'') to expand the cultural influence of Shankara and Advaita Vedānta.{{sfn|Hacker|1995|p=29–30}} | |||
| Religious orthodoxy would only play an important role during the reign of Shah Jahan's son and successor, ], a devout Sunni Muslim. Aurangzeb was comparatively less tolerant of other faiths than his predecessors had been, and his reign saw an increase in the number and importance of Islamic institutions and scholars. He led many military campaigns against the remaining non-Muslim powers of the Indian subcontinent – the ] states of the Punjab, the last independent Hindu ] and the ] rebels – as also against the Shia Muslim kingdoms of the ]. He also virtually stamped out, from his empire, open proselytisation of Hindus and Muslims by foreign Christian ], who remained successfully active, however, in the adjoining regions: the present day ], ] and ]. | |||
| === Eastern Ganga and Surya States === | |||
| ====Maratha Empire (1674 - 1818)==== | |||
| {{multiple image | |||
| {{Further|Maratha Empire}} | |||
| | perrow = 2 | |||
| ] empire of India – The ] in 1760.]] | |||
| | total_width = 400 | |||
| The ] Marathas long had lived in the ] region around ], in the western portion of the ] plateau, where the plateau meets the eastern slopes of the ] mountains. They had resisted incursions into the region by the ] ] rulers of northern India. Under their ambitious leader ], the Maratha freed themselves from the ] sultans of ] to the southeast and, becoming much more aggressive, began to frequently raid Mughal territory, eventually sacking the wealthy Mughal port of ] in 1664. After substantial territorial gains, Shivaji was proclaimed 'Chhatrapati' (Emperor) in 1674; the Marathas had spread and conquered much of central India by Chatrapati Shivaji's Maharaj death in 1680. Subsequently, under the able leadership of ] prime ministers (]), who often led as ] also, ] reached its zenith. ], the seat of Peshwas, flowered as a centre of Hindu learning and traditions. In 1761, the ] into smaller Maratha kingdoms that survived till they were ] by the ]. | |||
| | caption_align = center | |||
| | image1 = Konark sun temple 06.jpg | |||
| | caption1 = ] at ], ], built by ] (1238–1264 CE) of the ] | |||
| | image2 = PURI JAGANATHA TEMPLE, PURI, ORISSA, INDIA, ASIA.jpg | |||
| | caption2 = ] built by ] | |||
| }} | |||
| '']'' and ''Surya'' were Hindu polities, which ruled much of present-day ] (historically known as ]) from the 11th century until the mid-16th century CE. During the 13th and 14th centuries, when large parts of India were under the rule of Muslim powers, an independent Kalinga became a stronghold of Hindu religion, philosophy, art, and architecture. The Eastern Ganga rulers were great patrons of religion and the arts, and the temples they built are considered among the masterpieces of Hindu architecture.<ref group=web>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Ganga dynasty |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Ganga-dynasty |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=7 January 2020 |archive-date=27 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200427130753/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Ganga-dynasty |url-status=live }}</ref><ref group=web>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Odisha |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Odisha/History#ref486933 |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=7 January 2020 |archive-date=15 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191015191829/https://www.britannica.com/place/Odisha/History#ref486933 |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
| ====Early colonialism==== | |||
| {{Further|Christianity in India|Goa Inquisition}} | |||
| Portuguese missionaries had reached the ] in the late 15th century, made contact with the ] in ] and sought to introduce the ] among them. Since the priests for St Thomas Christians were served by the ], they were following Eastern Christian practices at that time. Throughout this period, foreign missionaries also made many new converts to Christianity. This led to the formation of the Latin Catholics in Kerala. | |||
| === Early Modern period (c. 1500–1850 CE) === | |||
| The ] was the office of the Christian ] acting in the Indian city of ] and the rest of the ] in Asia. ], in a 1545 letter to ], requested for an ] to be installed in Goa. It was installed eight years after the death of Francis Xavier in 1552. Established in 1560 and operating until 1774, this highly controversial institution was aimed primarily at ] and wayward new converts. | |||
| The fall of ] to Muslim rulers had marked the end of Hindu imperial defences in the ]. But, taking advantage of an over-stretched ] (1526–1857), Hinduism once again rose to political prestige, under the ], from 1674 to 1818. | |||
| ==== Vijayanagara Empire ==== | |||
| In the century from 1760 to 1860, India was once more divided into numerous petty and unstable kingdoms - most of them being subjects of the British Empire: the "lesser Mughals" following ]; the ]; ];];Rajput states,Polygar states,North-Eatern states,Himalayan states....and so on as well as the territories held by the ]. From 1799 to 1849 the only major stable and independent empire in India was the non Hindu ] although it had a secular character with a large number of Hindu and Muslim subjects living in peace. The ], unlike the other lesser Indian kingdoms and states was not under the paramountcy of the ]. The entire subcontinent fell under ] (partly ], via ]) following the ]. | |||
| The Vijayanagara Empire was established in 1336 by ] and his brother ] of ],<ref>M. Srinivasachariar, ''History of Classical Sanskrit Literature'', p. 211</ref> which originated as a political heir of the ], ],{{sfn|Eaton|2006|pp=28–29}} and the ].<ref>{{cite book |last= Nilakanta Sastri |first= K. A. |title= A history of South India from prehistoric times to the fall of Vijayanagar |orig-date=1955 |year=2002 |publisher= Indian Branch, Oxford University Press |location= New Delhi |page=239 |isbn= 0-19-560686-8}}</ref> The empire rose to prominence as a culmination of attempts by the south Indian powers to ward off ] by the end of the 13th century. According to one narrative, the empire's founders ] and ] were two brothers in the service of the ]. After Kampili fell to the Muslim invasion, they were taken to Delhi and converted to ]. They were sent back to Kampili as the ]'s vassals. After gaining power in the region, they approached ], who converted them back to the Hindu faith.{{sfn|Blake Michael|1992|p=}} | |||
| ] is dedicated to Lord Virupaksha, a form of ]]] | |||
| ==Modern Hinduism (after c. 1850 CE)== | |||
| ] in the Vitthala Temple at Hampi]] | |||
| With the onset of the ], the colonization of India by the British, there also started a ] in the 19th century, which profoundly changed the understanding of Hinduism in both India and the west.{{sfn|King|2002}} ] as an academic discipline of studying Indian culture from a European perspective was established in the 19th century, led by scholars such as ] and ]. They brought ], ] and ] literature and philosophy to Europe and the United States. Western ] searched for the "essence" of the Indian religions, discerning this in the Vedas,{{sfn|King|2002|118}} and meanwhile creating the notion of "Hinduism" as a unified body of religious praxis{{sfn|King|1999-B}} and the popular picture of 'mystical India'.{{sfn|King|1999-B}}{{sfn|King|2002}} This idea of a Vedic essence was taken over by ] as the ], which was supported for a while by the ],{{sfn|Jones|2006|p=114}} together with the ideas of ] and ], the idea that all religions share a common ] ground.{{sfn|King|2002|p==119-120}} This ], with proponents like ], ] and ], became central in the popular understanding of Hinduism.{{sfn|King|2002|p=123}}{{sfn|Muesse|2011|p=3-4}}{{sfn|Doniger|2010|p=18}}{{sfn|Jouhki|2006|p=10-11}}{{sfn|King|1999}} | |||
| The Vijayanagara Emperors were tolerant of all religions and sects, as writings by foreign visitors show.<ref name="democracy">From the notes of Duarte Barbosa {{harv|Kamath|2001|p=178}}</ref> The kings used titles such as ''Gobrahamana Pratipalanacharya'' (literally, "protector of cows and Brahmins") and ''Hindurayasuratrana'' (lit. "upholder of Hindu faith") that testified to their intention of protecting Hinduism and yet were at the same time staunchly Islamicate in their court ceremonials and dress.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Sultan among Hindu Kings: Dress, Titles, and the Islamicization of Hindu Culture at Vijayanagara |first=Phillip B. |last=Wagoner |journal=The Journal of Asian Studies |date=November 1996 |volume=55 |issue=4 |pages=851–880 |doi=10.2307/2646526 |jstor=2646526|s2cid=163090404 }}</ref> The empire's founders, Harihara I and Bukka Raya I, were devout ]s (worshippers of ]), but made grants to the ] order of ] with ] as their patron saint, and designated '']'' (the boar, an ] of ]) as their ].{{sfn|Kamath|2001|p=177}} Over one-fourth of the archaeological dig found an "Islamic Quarter" not far from the "Royal Quarter". Nobles from Central Asia's Timurid kingdoms also came to Vijayanagara. The later ] and ] kings were Vaishnava by faith, but worshipped at the feet of Virupaksha (Shiva) at Hampi as well as ] (Vishnu) at ]. A Sanskrit work, ''Jambavati Kalyanam'' by King Krishnadevaraya, called Virupaksha ''Karnata Rajya Raksha Mani'' ("protective jewel of Karnata Empire").{{sfn|Fritz|Michell|2001|p=14}} The kings patronised the saints of the ] order (philosophy of dualism) of ] at ].{{sfn|Kamath|2001|pp=177–178}} | |||
| The ] (devotional) movement was active during this time, and involved well known ]s (devotee saints) of that time. Like the ] movement of the 12th century, this movement presented another strong current of devotion, pervading the lives of millions. The haridasas represented two groups, the '']'' and '']'', the former being required to be proficient in the ], ] and other ], while the ''Dasakuta'' merely conveyed the message of Madhvacharya through the Kannada language to the people in the form of devotional songs (''Devaranamas'' and ''Kirthanas''). The philosophy of Madhvacharya was spread by eminent disciples such as ], ], ], ], ] and others.<ref name="yathi trayaru">{{harvc|author=Shiva Prakash |c=Kannada |in=Ayyappapanicker |year=1997 |pp=192, 194–196}}</ref> Vyasatirtha, the ''guru'' (teacher) of Vadirajatirtha, ] (Father of Carnatic music{{sfn|Iyer|2006|p=93}}<ref group=note name="father">Owing to his contributions to carnatic music, Purandaradasa is known as ''Karnataka Sangita Pitamaha''. (Kamat, ''Saint Purandaradasa'')</ref>) and ]{{sfn|Shiva Prakash|1997|p=196}} earned the devotion of King Krishnadevaraya.{{sfn|Shiva Prakash|1997|p=195}}{{sfn|Kamath|2001|p=178}}{{sfn|Nilakanta Sastri|1955|p=324}} The king considered the saint his ''Kuladevata'' (family deity) and honoured him in his writings.<ref group=web>{{cite web |last1=Pujar |first1=Narahari S. |first2=Shrisha |last2=Rao |first3=H. P. |last3=Raghunandan |title=Sri Vyasa Tirtha |url=http://www.dvaita.org/scholars/vyasaraja/ |website=Dvaita |access-date=2006-12-31 |archive-date=28 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160328105033/http://dvaita.org/scholars/vyasaraja/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> During this time, another great composer of early carnatic music, ] composed hundreds of ''Kirthanas'' in ] at Tirumala – Tirupati, in present-day ].{{sfn|Kamath|2001|p=185}} | |||
| ===Hindu revivalism=== | |||
| {{Main|Hindu revivalism}} | |||
| {{Further|Bengal Renaissance|Brahmo Samaj|Arya Samaj|Ramakrishna Math}} | |||
| ] | |||
| The Vijayanagara Empire created an epoch in South Indian history that transcended regionalism by promoting Hinduism as a unifying factor. The empire reached its peak during the rule of ] when Vijayanagara armies were consistently victorious. The empire annexed areas formerly under the Sultanates in the northern Deccan and the territories in the eastern Deccan, including Kalinga, while simultaneously maintaining control over all its subordinates in the south.<ref>''World and Its Peoples: Eastern and Southern Asia''. Marshall Cavendish Corporation. p. 337</ref> Many important monuments were either completed or commissioned during the time of Krishna Deva Raya. | |||
| During the 19th century, Hinduism developed a large number of ]s, partly inspired by the European ], ], ] and ] (]) popular at the time (while conversely and contemporaneously, India had a similar effect on European culture with ], "]" architecture, reception of ] and similar). | |||
| Vijayanagara went into decline after the defeat in the ] (1565). After the death of ] in the Battle of Talikota, ] started the ], moved and founded a new capital of Penukonda to replace the destroyed Hampi, and attempted to reconstitute the remains of Vijayanagara Empire.{{sfn|Chatterjee|Eaton|2006|pp=100–101}} Tirumala abdicated in 1572, dividing the remains of his kingdom to his three sons, and pursued a religious life until his death in 1578. The Aravidu dynasty successors ruled the region but the empire collapsed in 1614, and the final remains ended in 1646, from continued wars with the Bijapur Sultanate and others.{{sfn|Kamath|2001|p=174}}<ref>{{cite book |author=Vijaya Ramaswamy |title=Historical Dictionary of the Tamils |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H4q0DHGMcjEC |year=2007 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=978-0-8108-6445-0 |pages=Li–Lii |access-date=5 January 2019 |archive-date=23 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223183104/https://books.google.com/books?id=H4q0DHGMcjEC |url-status=live }}</ref>{{sfn|Chatterjee|Eaton|2006|pp=101–115}} During this period, more kingdoms in South India became independent and separate from Vijayanagara. These include the ], ], ], ], ] and ] – all of which declared independence and went on to have a significant impact on the history of South India in the coming centuries.{{sfn|Kamath|2001|pp=220, 226, 234}} | |||
| These reform movements are summarised under ] and continue into the present. | |||
| *] establishes the ] sect around 1800. | |||
| *] is a social and religious movement founded in ] in 1828 by ]. He was one of the first Indians to visit Europe and was influenced by western thought. He died in ], England. The Brahmo Samaj movement thereafter resulted in the Brahmo religion in 1850 founded by ] — better known as the father of ]. | |||
| *] and his pupil ] led a reform in Hinduism in the late 19th century. Their ideals and sayings have inspired numerous Indians as well as non-Indians, Hindus as well as non-Hindus. Among the prominent figures whose ideals were very much influenced by them were ], ], ], ], ], and ].{{Citation needed|date=February 2010}} | |||
| *] ("Society of ]") is a ] ] in India that was founded by ] in 1875. He was a ] (renouncer) who believed in the ] ] of the ]. Dayananda advocated the doctrine of ] and ], and emphasised the ideals of ] (]) and ] (]). ] claimed to be rejecting all non-Vedic beliefs altogether. Hence the Arya Samaj unequivocally condemned ], ]s, ], ]s, priestcraft, offerings made in ]s, the ] system, ] and ]s, on the grounds that all these lacked Vedic sanction. It aimed to be a universal church based on the authority of the ]. Dayananda stated that he wanted 'to make the whole world Aryan', i.e. he wanted to develop '']'' Hinduism based on the universality of the Vedas. To this end, the Arya Samaj started ] movement in the early 20th century to bring back to ] people converted to ] and ], set up schools and missionary organisations, and extended its activities outside India. It now has branches around the world and has a disproportional number of adherents among people of Indian ancestry in ] and the Netherlands, in comparison with India.{{Citation needed|date=February 2010}} | |||
| === |
====Renovations of temples by the Vijayanagara Empire ==== | ||
| ] in ]. The temple complex has been nominated as a ].<ref name=unescosrirang> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220516231635/http://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/5894/ |date=16 May 2022 }}, UNESCO</ref>|alt=Aerial image of a temple campus]] | |||
| {{main|Hinduism in the West}} | |||
| The Vijayanagara Empire renovated many ancient temples of Ancient Tamilakam, they made significant contributions to temples like ], ], ], ] and many more. | |||
| {{Further|Sanskrit in the West|Esotericism in Germany and Austria|Ramakrishna's impact}} | |||
| An important development during the British colonial period was the influence Hindu traditions began to form on ]ern thought and ]. An early champion of Indian-inspired thought in the West was ] who in the 1850s advocated ethics based on an "Aryan-Vedic theme of spiritual self-conquest", as opposed to the ignorant drive toward earthly utopianism of the superficially this-worldly "Jewish" spirit.<ref>"Fragments for the history of philosophy", Parerga and Paralipomena, Volume I (1851).</ref> ] moved to India in 1879, and her ], founded in New York in 1875, evolved into a peculiar mixture of Western occultism and Hindu mysticism over the last years of her life. | |||
| ] under the ] site saw over 200 years of stability, repairs, first round of fortifications, and addition of mandapas.{{sfn|Michell|1995|pp=73–74}} The ] and ] images were reinstalled and the site became a Hindu temple again in 1371 CE under Kumara Kampana, a Vijayanagara commander and the son of ].{{sfn|Michell|1995|pp=76–77}} In the last decade of the 14th century, a pillared antechamber was gifted by the Vijayanagara rulers. In the 15th century, they coated the apsidal roofs with solid gold sheets, followed by financing the addition of a series of new shrines, mandapas and gopuras to the temple.{{sfn|Michell|1995|pp=76–77}}The Nayakas fortified the temple town and the seven ''prakaras''. Now this temple is the largest temple compound in India and one of the largest religious complexes in the world.<ref name=unescosrirang/>{{sfn|Mittal|Thursby|2005|p= 456}} Some of these structures have been renovated, expanded and rebuilt over the centuries as a living temple. Srirangam temple is often listed as one of the largest functioning ] in the world.{{sfn|Vater| 2010| p=40}}{{sfn|Jones| 2004| p= 4}} | |||
| The sojourn of ] to the ] in Chicago in 1893 had a lasting effect. Vivekananda founded the ], a Hindu missionary organisation still active today. | |||
| ==== Mughal period ==== | |||
| In the early 20th century, Western occultists influenced by Hinduism include ] – an advocate of "Aryan Paganism" – who styled herself ''Savitri Devi'' and ], founder of the ]. It was in this period, and until the 1920s, that the ] became a ] before its association with the ] became dominant in the 1930s. | |||
| {{multiple image | |||
| | align = left | |||
| | total_width = 300 | |||
| | caption_align = center | |||
| | image1 = Chaturbhuj Temple, Orchha.jpg | |||
| | caption1 = ], dedicated to ] | |||
| | image2 = Lakshmi Temple, Orchha.jpg | |||
| | caption2 = Lakshmi Temple, dedicated to ] | |||
| | footer = Chaturbhuj and Lakshmi temples, located in ], were built by Hindu Rajput ], who were vassal of the ]. | |||
| | footer_align = center | |||
| }} | |||
| The official state religion of ] was ], with the preference to the ] of the ] ] (Mazhab). Hinduism remained under strain during Babur and Humanyun's reigns. ], the Afghan ruler of North India was comparatively non-repressive. Hinduism came to fore during the three-year rule of Hindu ruler ] during 1553–1556 when he had defeated Akbar at Agra and Delhi and had taken up the reign from Delhi as a Hindu 'Vikramaditya' after his 'Rajyabhishake' or ] at ] in Delhi. However, during Mughal history, at times, subjects had the freedom to practise any religion of their choice, though ] able-bodied adult males with income were obliged to pay the ], which signified their status as ]. | |||
| ] holds a religious assembly of different faiths, including Hindus, in the ] in Fatehpur Sikri.]] | |||
| Hinduism-inspired elements in ] were also inherited by the spin-off movements of ] and ] and ultimately contributed to the renewed ] boom of the 1960s to 1980s, the term ''New Age'' itself deriving from Blavatsky's 1888 '']''. | |||
| ], the Mughal emperor ]'s son and heir from his ] queen Hameeda Banu Begum, had a broad vision of Indian and Islamic traditions. One of Emperor ]'s most unusual ideas regarding religion was ] (Faith of God), which was an eclectic mix of ], ], Hinduism, ] and ]. It was proclaimed the state religion until his death. These actions, however, met with stiff opposition from the Muslim clergy, especially the ] Shaykh Alf Sani ]. Akbar's abolition of poll-tax on non-Muslims, acceptance of ideas from other religious philosophies, toleration of public worship by all religions and his interest in other faiths showed an attitude of considerable religious tolerance, which, in the minds of his orthodox Muslim opponents, were tantamount to ]. Akbar's imperial expansion acquired many Hindu states, many of whom were Hindu ]s, through vassalage. The Rajput vassals maintained semi-autonomy in running religious affairs. Many Hindu Rajput vassals built monumental Hindu temples during the period, such as ] and Lakshmi Temple at ], by the Mughal vassal, the Hindu Rajput ].<ref name="busch29">{{cite book |title=Poetry of Kings: The Classical Hindi Literature of Mughal India |first=Allison |last=Busch |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-19-976592-8 |page=29 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Dl0sbzehWvAC&pg=PA29 |access-date=23 December 2023 |archive-date=23 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223183132/https://books.google.com/books?id=Dl0sbzehWvAC&pg=PA29 |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
| Akbar's son, ], half Rajput, was also a religious moderate, his mother being Hindu. The influence of his two Hindu queens (the Maharani Maanbai and Maharani Jagat) kept religious moderation as a centre-piece of state policy which was extended under his son, Emperor ], who was by blood 75% ] and less than 25% ]. | |||
| Influential 20th-century Hindus were ], ], ], ] (founder of ]), ], ] and others who translated, reformulated and presented Hinduism's foundational texts for contemporary audiences in new iterations, raising the profiles of Yoga and ] in the West and attracting followers and attention in India and abroad. | |||
| {{multiple image | |||
| == Contemporary Hinduism == | |||
| | align = left | |||
| {{Main|Contemporary Hindu movements|Hindu denominations|Contemporary Sant Mat movements|List of Hindu organisations|Hinduism by country}} | |||
| | total_width = 300 | |||
| As of 2007, of an estimated 944 million Hindus, 98.5% live in South Asia. Of the remaining 1.5% or 14 million, 6 million live in Southeast Asia (mostly ]), 2 million in Europe, 1.8 million in North America, 1.2 million in ]. | |||
| | caption_align = center | |||
| | image1 = Somnath temple ruins (1869).jpg | |||
| | alt1 = Somnath temple in ruins, 1869 | |||
| | link1 = Somnath temple in ruins, 1869 | |||
| | caption1 = Somnath temple in ruins, 1869 | |||
| | image2 = Somnath-current.jpg | |||
| | alt2 = Front view of the present Somnath Temple | |||
| | link2 = Front view of the present Somnath Temple | |||
| | caption2 = Front view of the present Somnath Temple | |||
| | footer = The ] was first attacked by Muslim Turkic invader ] and repeatedly rebuilt after being demolished by successive Muslim rulers, including the Mughals under ]. | |||
| }} | |||
| Religious orthodoxy would only play an important role during the reign of Shah Jahan's son and successor, ], a devout Sunni Muslim. Aurangzeb was comparatively less tolerant of other faiths than his predecessors had been; and has been subject to controversy and criticism for his policies that abandoned his predecessors' legacy of pluralism, citing his introduction of the ] tax, doubling of custom duties on Hindus while abolishing it for Muslims, destruction of ]s, forbidding construction and repairs of some non-Muslim temples, and the executions of ] ruler ]{{sfn|Mehta|2005|p=47}}<ref name="SBBhattacherje2009">{{cite book |first=S. B. |last=Bhattacherje |title=Encyclopaedia of Indian Events & Dates |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oGVSvXuCsyUC&pg=SL1-PA81 |access-date=6 March 2012 |date=1 May 2009 |publisher=Sterling |isbn=978-81-207-4074-7 |pages=A80–A81 |archive-date=23 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223183123/https://books.google.com/books?id=oGVSvXuCsyUC&pg=SL1-PA81#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> and the ninth ] guru, ],{{Sfn|Ayalon|1986|p=271}} and his reign saw an increase in the number and importance of Islamic institutions and scholars. He led many military campaigns against the remaining non-Muslim powers of the Indian subcontinent – the ] states of Punjab, the last independent Hindu ] and the ] rebels – as also against the Shia Muslim kingdoms of the ]. He also virtually stamped out, from his empire, open proselytisation of Hindus and Muslims by foreign Christian ], who remained successfully active, however, in the adjoining regions (i.e regions outside of his dominion) namely: present day ], ] and ]. The Hindus in Konkan were helped by Marathas, Hindus in Punjab, Kashmir and North India were helped by Sikhs and Hindus in Rajasthan and Central India were helped by Rajputs. | |||
| === |
==== Maratha Empire ==== | ||
| {{Main|Maratha Empire}} | |||
| Modern Hinduism is the reflection of continuity and progressive changes that occurred in various traditions and institutions of Hinduism during the 19th and 20th centuries. | |||
| The ] Marathas had resisted incursions into the region by the ] ] rulers of northern India. Under their ambitious leader ] Maharaj, the Maratha freed themselves from the ] sultans of ] to the southeast and, becoming much more aggressive, began to frequently raid Mughal territory. The Marathas had spread and conquered much of central India by Shivaji's death in 1680. Subsequently, under the able leadership of ] prime ministers (]), the ] reached its zenith; ], the seat of Peshwas, flowered as a centre of Hindu learning and traditions. The empire at its peak stretched from ]{{sfn|Mehta|2005|p=204}} in the south, to ], present day ]<ref name="XWiACEwPR8C p.16">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bXWiACEwPR8C&q=Tukoji&pg=PR22 |title=An Advanced History of Modern India |first=Sailendra Nath |last=Sen |date=24 January 2019 |publisher=Macmillan India |isbn=978-0-230-32885-3 |via=Google Books |access-date=23 December 2023 |archive-date=23 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223183133/https://books.google.com/books?id=bXWiACEwPR8C&q=Tukoji&pg=PR22 |url-status=live }}</ref>{{refn|group=note|Many historians consider ] to be the final frontier of the Maratha Empire.<ref>Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Bharatiya Itihasa Samiti, Ramesh Chandra Majumdar – '']: The Maratha supremacy''{{Page needed|date=June 2015}}</ref>}} in the north, and ] in the east.<ref group=web>{{cite web |title=History of Andaman & Nicobar |website=andamanonline.in |url=http://www.andamanonline.in/about/Profile/History/index.html |access-date=12 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141215163141/http://www.andamanonline.in/about/Profile/History/index.html |archive-date=15 December 2014 |url-status=dead}}</ref> | |||
| Its main divisions are into ] (largely influenced by ]), ], ] and ] (]). | |||
| <gallery widths="200px" heights="200px"> | |||
| Besides these traditional denominations, movements of ] look to founders such as ], ] (]), ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ] (]) and others. | |||
| India1760_1905.jpg|The last ] empire of India, the ], in 1760 CE | |||
| Ahilya Ghat by the Ganges, Varanasi.jpg|Ahilya Ghat, part of the ], many of which were built by the Marathas<ref>Diana Eck, ''Banaras: City of Light'', {{ISBN|978-0691020235}}, Princeton University Press</ref> | |||
| </gallery> | |||
| ==== Kingdom of Nepal ==== | |||
| The ] movement advocating ] originated in the 1920s and has remained a strong political force in India. The major party of the religious right, ] (BJP), since its foundation in 1980 has won several elections, and after a ] remained the leading force of opposition against the coalition government of the ]. The last national general election, held in early 2014, saw a dramatic victory of BJP; it gained an absolute majority and formed the government, under the Prime Ministership of ], a prominent BJP leader and till then the ] of ] state. | |||
| {{Main|Kingdom of Nepal}} | |||
| {{further|Hinduism in Nepal}} | |||
| King ], the last ] monarch, self-proclaimed the newly unified ] as '''''Asal Hindustan''''' ("Real Land of Hindus") due to North India being ruled by the ] ]. The proclamation was done to enforce Hindu social code ] over his reign and refer to his country as being inhabitable for ]. He also referred Northern India as ''Mughlan'' (Country of ]) and called the region infiltrated by Muslim foreigners.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Badamaharaj Prithivi Narayan Shah ko Divya Upadesh |author1-link=Yogi Naraharinath |last1=Naraharinath |first1=Yogi |author2-link=Baburam Acharya |last2=Acharya |first2=Baburam |publisher=Shree Krishna Acharya |year=2014 |edition=2014 reprint |isbn=978-99933-912-1-0 |location=Kathmandu |pages=4, 5}}</ref> | |||
| After the Gorkhali conquest of ], King ] expelled the ] Capuchin missionaries from ] and revisioned Nepal as ''Asal ]'' ("real land of ]").<ref name="HarkaG"> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100417055323/http://www.nepjol.info/index.php/OPSA/article/download/1133/1558 |date=17 April 2010 }}; ''The Dalit context''</ref> The ] ]s, a Nepalese Hindu socio-religious group, were given the privileged status in the Nepalese capital thereafter.<ref>{{cite book |author=Dharam Vir |title=Education and Polity in Nepal: An Asian Experiment |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yEHODCDK-8kC&pg=PA56 |year=1988 |publisher=Northern Book Centre |isbn=978-81-85119-39-7 |page=65 |access-date=2 March 2019 |archive-date=1 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201001113713/https://books.google.com/books?id=yEHODCDK-8kC&pg=PA56%2F |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Borgström|first=Bengt-Erik|title=The patron and the panca: village values and pancayat democracy in Nepal|publisher=Vikas House|year=1980|isbn=978-0-7069-0997-5|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DxY1AAAAIAAJ|page=11|access-date=23 December 2023|archive-date=23 December 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223184131/https://books.google.com/books?id=DxY1AAAAIAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref> Since then Hinduisation became the significant policy of the ].<ref name="HarkaG" /> Professor ] speculates that the presence of Islamic ] and Christian ] had compelled the foundation of ] in Nepal for the purpose building a haven for Hindus in the ].<ref name="HarkaG" /> | |||
| ===Southeast Asia=== | |||
| {{Main|Hinduism in Southeast Asia}} | |||
| ==== Early colonialism ==== | |||
| The resurgence of ] is occurring in all parts of the country. In the early seventies, the ] people of ] were the first to be identified under the umbrella of 'Hinduism', followed by the ] of Sumatra in 1977 and the ] of ] in 1980. | |||
| {{Further|Christianity in India|Goa Inquisition}} | |||
| ] procession of the Inquisition at Goa.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Bethencourt |first=Francisco |title=The Auto da Fe: Ritual and Imagery |journal=Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes |publisher=The Warburg Institute |volume=55 |year=1992 |doi=10.2307/751421 |pages=155–168| jstor=751421|s2cid=192167324 }}</ref> An annual event to publicly humiliate and punish the heretics, it shows the Chief Inquisitor, Dominican friars, Portuguese soldiers, as well as religious criminals condemned to be burnt in the procession.]] | |||
| The ] was the office of the Christian ] acting in the Indian city of ] and the rest of the ] in Asia. ], in a 1545 letter to ], requested for an ] to be installed in Goa. It was installed eight years after the death of Francis Xavier in 1552. Established in 1560 and operating until 1774, this highly controversial institution was aimed primarily at ] and wayward new converts.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2014-04-29 |title=Goa Inquisition and massacre of Native Hindus by Portuguese {{!}} Sanskriti - Hinduism and Indian Culture Website |url=https://www.sanskritimagazine.com/little-known-history-of-goa-and-the-portuguese-inquistion/ |access-date=2023-08-12 |language=en-US |archive-date=3 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231003052655/https://www.sanskritimagazine.com/little-known-history-of-goa-and-the-portuguese-inquistion/ |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
| The growth of Hinduism has been driven also by the famous Javanese prophesies of ] and ]. Many recent converts to Hinduism had been members of the families of ]'s PNI, and now support ]. This return to the 'religion of ]' (Hinduism) is a matter of nationalist pride. | |||
| The ] would see the emergence of the ] as a political power; their rule later expanded to cover much of India over the next hundred years, conquering all of the Hindu states on the Indian subcontinent,{{sfn|Naravane|2014|p=38}} with the exception of the ]. While the ] remained the preeminent power in India, making it the last remaining Hindu empire,<ref>J. N. Sarkar (1919), ''Shivaji and his Times''</ref> until their defeat in the ] which left the East India Company in control of most of India; as noted by acting Governor-General Charles Metcalfe, after surveying and analyzing the conditions in India, in 1806 wrote: "India contains no more than two great powers, British and Mahratta."<ref>{{cite book |editor=John William Kaye |url=https://archive.org/details/selectionsfromp01metcgoog |title=Selections from the papers of Lord Metcalfe; late governor-general of India, governor of Jamaica, and governor-general of Canada |year=1855 |place=London |publisher=Smith, Elder and Co.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Panigrahi |first=D. N. |title=Charles Metcalfe In India: Ideas And Administration 1806–35 |publisher=Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers |isbn=978-81-215-0365-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a5d4PgAACAAJ |access-date=23 December 2023 |archive-date=23 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223184107/https://books.google.com/books?id=a5d4PgAACAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> During this period, Northeastern India was divided into many kingdoms, most notable being the ], which ruled from their seat of power at ] and developed a sophisticated Hindu ] culture, later the kingdom became a ] of the British.{{Sfn|Williams|2004 |pp=83–84|ps=; the other major classical Indian dances are: Bharatanatyam, Kathak, Odissi, Kathakali, Kuchipudi, Chau, Satriya, Yaksagana, and Bhagavata Mela}}{{Sfn|Reginald Massey|2004|p=177}}{{Sfn|Ragini Devi|1990|pp=175–180}} The ] was defeated in the ] by the British East India Company, leading to the reinstatement of the Hindu ] in Mysore as a princely states.{{sfn|Naravane|2014|pp=178–181}} In 1817, the British went to war with the ]s, raiders who were based in Maratha territory, which quickly became the ], and the British government offered its protection to the mainly Hindu Rajput rulers of ] from the Pindaris and the Marathas.{{sfn|Black|2006|p=78}} The mainly Hindu ] states emerged from the fall of the ], and were a bastion of Hindu resistance; and managed to weather invasions and survive till the advent of the British.<ref group=web>{{Cite web |url=http://princelystatesofindia.com/Polegars/polegars.html |title=The polegars of South India |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110715114125/http://princelystatesofindia.com/Polegars/polegars.html |archive-date=2011-07-15}}</ref> From 1799 to 1849, the ], ruled by members of the ], emerged as the last major indigenous power in the Northwest of the Indian subcontinent under the leadership of ] ].<ref>Gulcharan Singh, "Maharaja Ranjit Singh and the Principles of War", ''USI Journal'', July 1981, Vol. 111 Issue 465, pp. 184–192</ref><ref name="Grewal">{{cite book |last=Grewal |first=J. S. |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1990 |series=The New Cambridge History of India |title=The Sikhs of the Punjab |chapter=Chapter 6: The Sikh empire (1799–1849) |chapter-url=http://histories.cambridge.org/extract?id=chol9780521268844_CHOL9780521268844A008 |access-date=26 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120216043951/http://histories.cambridge.org/extract?id=chol9780521268844_CHOL9780521268844A008 |archive-date=16 February 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref> After the death of Ranjit Singh, the empire weakened, alienating Hindu vassals and Wazirs, and leading to the conflict with the British East India Company, marked the downfall of the Sikh Empire, making it the last area of the Indian subcontinent to be conquered by the British. The entire subcontinent fell under ] (partly ], via ]) following the ]. | |||
| The new ] tend to be concentrated around recently built temples (''pura'') or around archaeological temple sites (''candi'') which are being reclaimed as places of Hindu worship. An important new Hindu temple in eastern Java is ], located on the slope of ], Java's highest mountain. Mass conversions have also occurred in the region around Pura Agung Blambangan, another new temple, built on a site with minor archaeological remnants attributed to the kingdom of ], the last Hindu polity on Java, and ] (in the village of Menang near Kediri). | |||
| == Modern Hinduism (after c. 1850 CE) == | |||
| ===Neo-Hindu movements in the west=== | |||
| ] was a key figure in introducing ] and ] in the ],<ref>{{cite book |last=Georg |first=Feuerstein |author-link=Georg Feuerstein |title=The Yoga Tradition |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |year=2002 |location =Delhi |page=600}}</ref> raising interfaith awareness and making Hinduism a world religion.{{sfn|Clarke|2006|p=209}}]] | |||
| With the onset of the ], the colonization of India by the British, there also started a ] in the 19th century, which profoundly changed the understanding of Hinduism in both India and the west.{{sfn|King|2002}} ] as an academic discipline of studying Indian culture from a European perspective was established in the 19th century, led by scholars such as ] and ]. They brought ], ] and ] literature and philosophy to Europe and the United States. Western ] searched for the "essence" of the Indian religions, discerning this in the Vedas,{{sfn|King|2002|p=118}} and meanwhile creating the notion of "Hinduism" as a unified body of religious praxis{{sfn|King|1999}} and the popular picture of 'mystical India'.{{sfn|King|1999}}{{sfn|King|2002}} This idea of a Vedic essence was taken over by ] as the ], which was supported for a while by the ],{{sfn|Jones|Ryan|2006|p=114}} together with the ideas of ] and ], the idea that all religions share a common ] ground.{{sfn|King|2002|pp=119–120}} This "]", with proponents like ], ], ] and ], became central in the popular understanding of Hinduism.{{sfn|King|2002|p=123}}{{sfn|Muesse|2011|pp=3–4}}{{sfn|Doniger|2010|p=18}}{{sfn|Jouhki|2006|pp=10–11}}{{sfn|King|1999}} | |||
| === Hindu revivalism === | |||
| {{more citations needed section|date=August 2019}} | |||
| {{Main|Hindu revivalism}} | |||
| {{Further|Bengali Renaissance|Brahmo Samaj|Arya Samaj|Ramakrishna Math}} | |||
| ] | |||
| During the 19th century, Hinduism developed a large number of ]s, partly inspired by the European ], ], ] and ] (]) popular at the time (while conversely and contemporaneously, India had a similar effect on European culture with ], "]" architecture, reception of ] and similar). According to Paul Hacker, "the ethical values of Neo-Hinduism stem from Western philosophy and Christianity, although they are expressed in Hindu terms".<ref>{{Cite book |title=Religions of the Modern World |last=Woodhead |first=Linda |publisher=Routledge |year= 2016 |isbn=978-0-415-85881-6 |pages=57, 58| quote=The term 'Neo Hinduism' has been applied to reformed Hinduism by Paul Hacker and others. According to Hacker, the ethical values of Neo-Hinduism stem from Western philosophy and Christianity, although they are expressed in Hindu terms.}}</ref> | |||
| These reform movements are summarised under ] and continue into the present. | |||
| * ] establishes the ] sect around 1800.<ref>{{Cite book |title=An introduction to Swaminarayan Hinduism |last=Williams, Raymond Brady. |date=2001 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0-521-65422-X |location=Cambridge, UK |oclc=43615520}}</ref> | |||
| * ] is a social and religious movement founded in ] in 1828 by ]. He was one of the first Indians to visit Europe and was influenced by western thought. He died in ], England. The Brahmo Samaj movement thereafter resulted in the Brahmo religion in 1850 founded by ] — better known as the father of ].<ref>{{Cite book |url=http://archive.org/details/modernreligiousm00farquoft |title=Modern religious movements in India |last=Farquhar |first=J. N. |date=1915 |location=New York |publisher=Macmillan |others=Robarts – University of Toronto}}</ref> | |||
| * ] and his pupil ] led reform in Hinduism in the late 19th century. Their ideals and sayings have inspired numerous Indians as well as non-Indians, Hindus as well as non-Hindus.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Life and philosophy of Swami Vivekananda |last=Banhatti |first=G. S. |date=1995 |publisher=Atlantic |isbn=81-7156-291-4 |location=New Delhi |oclc=499226506}}</ref> | |||
| * ] ("Society of ]") is a ] ] in India that was founded by ] in 1875. He was a ] (renouncer) who believed in the ] ] of the ]. Dayananda advocated the doctrine of ] and ], and emphasised the ideals of ] (]) and ] (]). ] claimed to be rejecting all non-Vedic beliefs altogether. Hence the Arya Samaj unequivocally condemned ], ]s, ], ]s, priestcraft, offerings made in ]s, the ] system, ] and ]s, on the grounds that all these lacked Vedic sanction. It aimed to be a universal church based on the authority of the ]. Dayananda stated that he wanted 'to make the whole world Aryan', i.e. he wanted to develop '']'' Hinduism based on the universality of the Vedas. To this end, the Arya Samaj started ] movement in the early 20th century to bring back to ] people converted to ] and ], set up schools and missionary organisations, and extended its activities outside India.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Arya Samaj movement in India, 1875–1947 |last=Saxenab |first=Gulshan Swarup |date=1990 |publisher=Commonwealth Publishers |isbn=81-7169-045-9 |edition=1st |location=New Delhi, India |oclc=21563139}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Barrier |first=Norman G. |date=May 1967 |title=The Arya Samaj and Congress Politics in the Punjab, 1894–1908 |journal=The Journal of Asian Studies |volume=26 |issue=3 |pages=363–379 |doi=10.2307/2051414 |issn=0021-9118 |jstor=2051414|s2cid=154569230 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=From autocracy to integration: political developments in Hyderabad State, 1938–1948 |last=Benichou |first=Lucien D. |date=2000 |publisher=Orient Longman |isbn=81-250-1847-6 |location=Chennai |oclc=44504036}}</ref> | |||
| === Reception in the West === | |||
| {{Main|Hinduism in the West}} | |||
| An important development during the British colonial period was the influence Hindu traditions began to form on ]ern thought and ]. An early champion of Indian-inspired thought in the West was ] who in the 1850s advocated ethics based on an "Aryan-Vedic theme of spiritual self-conquest", as opposed to the ignorant drive toward earthly utopianism of the superficially this-worldly "Jewish" spirit.<ref>"Fragments for the history of philosophy", ''Parerga and Paralipomena'', Volume I (1851).</ref> ] moved to India in 1879, and her ], founded in New York in 1875, evolved into a peculiar mixture of Western occultism and Hindu mysticism over the last years of her life. | |||
| The sojourn of ] to the ] in Chicago in 1893 had a lasting effect. Vivekananda founded the ], a Hindu missionary organisation still active today. | |||
| In the early 20th century, Western occultists influenced by Hinduism include ] – an advocate of "Aryan Paganism" – who styled herself ''Savitri Devi'' and ], founder of the ]. It was in this period, and until the 1920s, that the ] became a ] before its association with the ] became dominant in the 1930s. | |||
| Hinduism-inspired elements in ] were also inherited by the spin-off movements of ] and ] and ultimately contributed to the renewed ] boom of the 1960s to 1980s, the term ''New Age'' itself deriving from Blavatsky's 1888 '']''. | |||
| Influential 20th-century Hindus were ], ], ], ] (founder of ]), ], ] and others who translated, reformulated and presented Hinduism's foundational texts for contemporary audiences in new iterations, raising the profiles of Yoga and ] in the West and attracting followers and attention in India and abroad. | |||
| == Contemporary Hinduism == | |||
| {{Main|Hindu reform movements|Hindu denominations|Contemporary Sant Mat movements|List of Hindu organisations|Hinduism by country}} | |||
| Hinduism is followed by around 1.1 billion people in India.<ref group=web>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/india/|title=India – The World Factbook|website=cia.gov|date=21 June 2022|access-date=24 January 2021|archive-date=18 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210318202107/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/india|url-status=live}}</ref> Other ] are found in Nepal (21.5 million), Bangladesh (13.1 million), and the ] island of ] (3.9 million).<ref group=web>{{cite web |title=Peringatan |url=http://sp2010.bps.go.id/index.php/site/tabel?tid=321&wid=0%7ctitle=Peringatan%7cpublisher=sp2010.bps.go.id%7caccess-date=2014-05-27 |access-date=23 December 2023 |archive-date=23 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223184133/https://sensus.bps.go.id/main/index/sp2010 |url-status=live }}</ref> The majority of the Vietnamese ] also follow Hinduism, with the largest proportion in ].<ref group=web>{{cite web |title=Vietnam |publisher=State.gov |date=22 October 2002 |url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2004/35433.htm |access-date=17 June 2014 |archive-date=9 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190809115408/https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2004/35433.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
| === Neo-Hindu movements in the West === | |||
| {{further|Hinduism in the West}} | {{further|Hinduism in the West}} | ||
| In modern times Smarta-views have been highly influential in both the Indian<ref group=web name="iskon-smarta">{{cite web |url=http://hinduism.iskcon.org/tradition/1204.htm |work=iskcon.org |title=Heart of Hinduism: The Smarta Tradition |access-date=13 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131113092719/http://hinduism.iskcon.org/tradition/1204.htm |archive-date=13 November 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref> and western<ref group=web name="hinduism-guide.com-Hinduism">{{Cite web |url=http://www.hinduism-guide.com/hinduism/hinduism.htm |website=Hinduism Guide |title=Hinduism |access-date=13 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160909123903/http://www.hinduism-guide.com/hinduism/hinduism.htm |archive-date=9 September 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref> understanding of Hinduism via ]. Vivekananda was an advocate of Smarta-views,<ref group=web name="hinduism-guide.com-Hinduism" /> and Radhakrishnan was himself a Smarta-Brahman.{{sfn|Fort|1998|p=179}}{{sfn|Minor|1987|p=3}} According to iskcon.org, | |||
| {{blockquote|Many Hindus may not strictly identify themselves as Smartas but, by adhering to Advaita Vedanta as a foundation for non-sectarianism, are indirect followers.<ref group=web name="iskon-smarta" />}} | |||
| In modern times Smarta-views have been highly influential in both the Indian<ref group=web name="iskon-smarta"></ref> and western<ref group=web name="hinduism-guide.com-Hinduism"></ref> understanding of Hinduism via ]. Vivekananda was an advocate of Smarta-views,<ref group=web name="hinduism-guide.com-Hinduism" /> and Radhakrishnan was himself a Smarta-Brahman.{{sfn|Fort|1998|p=179}}{{sfn|Minor|1987|p=3}} According to iskcon.org, | |||
| {{quote|Many Hindus may not strictly identify themselves as Smartas but, by adhering to Advaita Vedanta as a foundation for non-sectarianism, are indirect followers.<ref group=web name="iskon-smarta" />}} | |||
| Influential in spreading Hinduism to a western audience were ], ] (]), ], ], ], ] (]), |
Influential in spreading Hinduism to a western audience were ], ], ] (]), ], ], ] (]), ], ], ], among others. | ||
| ===Hindutva=== | === Hindutva === | ||
| {{Main|Hindutva}} | |||
| In the 20th century, Hinduism also gained prominence as a political force and a source for national identity in India. With origins traced back to the establishment of the ] in the 1910s, the movement grew with the formulation and development of the ] ideology in the following decades; the establishment of ] (RSS) in 1925; and the entry, and later success, of RSS offshoots ] and ] (BJP) in electoral politics in post-independence India.<ref name=Ram-Prasad>{{cite book|last=Ram-Prasad|first=C|title=The Blackwell Companion to Hinduism|year=2003|publisher=]|isbn=0-631-21535-2|pages=526–550|editor-link=Gavin Flood|editor=Flood, Gavin|chapter=Contemporary political Hinduism}}</ref> Hindu religiosity plays an important role in the nationalist movement.{{sfn|Rinehart|2004|p=196-197}}{{refn|group=note|This conjunction of nationalism and religion is not unique to India. The complexities of Asian nationalism are to be seen and understood in the context of colonialism, modernization and ]. See, for example, ], for the role of Theravada Buddhism in Sri Lankese struggle for independence,{{sfn|McMahan|2008}} and ], who conjuncted ] to ] and ], in defense against both western hegemony ''and'' the pressure on Japanese Zen during the ] to conform to ].{{sfn|Sharf|1993}}{{sfn|Sharf|1995-A}}}}{{refn|group=note|name="neo"|Neo-Vedanta also contributed to ] ideology, ] and ]. Yet, Rinehart emphasises that it is "clear that there isn't a neat line of causation that leads from the philosophies of Rammohan Roy, Vivekananda and Radhakrishnan to the agenda of militant Hindus."{{sfn|Rinehart|2004|p=198}}}} | |||
| In the 20th century, Hinduism also gained prominence as a political force and a source for national identity in India. With origins traced back to the establishment of the ] in the 1910s, the movement grew with the formulation and development of the ] ideology in the following decades; the establishment of ] (RSS) in 1925; and the entry, and later success, of RSS offshoots ] and ] (BJP) in electoral politics in post-independence India.<ref name="Ram-Prasad">{{cite book |last=Ram-Prasad |first=C |title=The Blackwell Companion to Hinduism |year=2003 |publisher=] |isbn=0-631-21535-2 |pages=526–550 |editor-link=Gavin Flood |editor-last=Flood |editor-first=Gavin |chapter=Contemporary political Hinduism}}</ref> Hindu religiosity plays an important role in the nationalist movement.{{sfn|Rinehart|2004|pp=196–197}}{{refn|group=note|This conjunction of nationalism and religion is not unique to India. The complexities of Asian nationalism are to be seen and understood in the context of colonialism, modernization and ]. See, for example, ], for the role of Theravada Buddhism in Sri Lankese struggle for independence ({{harvnb|McMahan|2008}}), and ], who conjuncted ] to ] and ], in defense against both western hegemony ''and'' the pressure on Japanese Zen during the ] to conform to ] ({{harvnb|Sharf|1993}}, {{harvnb|Sharf|1995}}).}}{{refn|group=note|name="neo"|{{harvtxt|Rinehart|2004|p=198}}: Neo-Vedanta also contributed to ] ideology, ] and ]. Yet, Rinehart emphasises that it is "clear that there isn't a neat line of causation that leads from the philosophies of Rammohan Roy, Vivekananda and Radhakrishnan to the agenda of ... militant Hindus."}} | |||
| Besides ], the idea of ] and ] can also be seen in the other areas with good population of ], such as in ], ], ] and ].<ref group=web>{{Cite web|last=Gill|first=Peter|title=Indian Hindu Nationalism's Nepali Cousin|website=thediplomat.com|url=https://thediplomat.com/2019/02/indian-hindu-nationalisms-nepali-cousin/|access-date=2021-05-23|archive-date=23 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210523063521/https://thediplomat.com/2019/02/indian-hindu-nationalisms-nepali-cousin/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Sri Lankan Tamil nationalists seek alliance with India's Hindu-chauvinist BJP|url=https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2021/03/04/tami-m04.html|access-date=2021-05-23|website=World Socialist Web Site|date=3 March 2021 |archive-date=23 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210523063522/https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2021/03/04/tami-m04.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Shamshad|first=Rizwana|date=2017-10-02|title=Bengaliness, Hindu nationalism and Bangladeshi migrants in West Bengal, India|journal=Asian Ethnicity|volume=18|issue=4 |pages=433–451|doi=10.1080/14631369.2016.1175918 |s2cid=147606595|issn=1463-1369}}</ref> In the modern world, the Hindu identity and nationalism is encouraged by many organisations as per their areas and territories. In India, ] is the umbrella organisation for most of the ], including that of ], ], ], etc.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Frederiksen|first1=Bodil Folke|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UwvKAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA93|title=Ethnicity, Gender and the Subversion of Nationalism|last2=Wilson|first2=Fiona|date=2014-02-04|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-135-20566-9|access-date=5 June 2021|archive-date=7 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230207082452/https://books.google.com/books?id=UwvKAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA93|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Valiani|first=A.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_XLHAAAAQBAJ|title=Militant Publics in India: Physical Culture and Violence in the Making of a Modern Polity|date=2011-11-11|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-0-230-37063-0|access-date=23 December 2023|archive-date=23 December 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223184133/https://books.google.com/books?id=_XLHAAAAQBAJ|url-status=live}}</ref> The other nationalist organisations include ] (]), ], ], ], (]) ] (]) and ] (]). | |||
| ==See also== | |||
| *] | |||
| *] | |||
| *] | |||
| *] | |||
| *] | |||
| <gallery widths="200" heights="200"> | |||
| ==Notes== | |||
| File:Path Sanchalan Bhopal-1.jpg|] in India | |||
| {{reflist|group=note|2}} | |||
| File:Jhandi.gif|Saffron Flag of Hinduism in India | |||
| </gallery> | |||
| == |
== See also == | ||
| {{div col|colwidth=27em}} | |||
| {{Reflist|30em}} | |||
| * ] | |||
| ** ] | |||
| ** ] | |||
| ** ] | |||
| ** ] | |||
| ** ] | |||
| ** ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| ** ] | |||
| ** ] | |||
| ** ] | |||
| ** ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| ** ] | |||
| ** ] | |||
| *** ] | |||
| *** ] | |||
| *** ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| ** ] | |||
| ** ] | |||
| ** ] | |||
| ** ] | |||
| ** ] | |||
| **] | |||
| {{div col end}} | |||
| == |
== Notes == | ||
| {{reflist|group=note|30em}} | |||
| '''Print''' | |||
| {{notelist|refs= | |||
| <!-- O --> | |||
| <!-- "Oldest_religion" --> | |||
| {{efn|name="Oldest_religion"|See: | |||
| * "Oldest religion": | |||
| ** {{harvtxt|Fowler|1997|p=1}}: "probably the oldest religion in the world" | |||
| ** {{harvtxt|Gellman|Hartman|2011}}: "Hinduism, the world's oldest religion" | |||
| ** {{harvtxt|Stevens|2001|p=191}}: "Hinduism, the oldest religion in the world" | |||
| * {{harvtxt|Sarma|1987|p={{page needed|date=March 2021}}}}: the "]" | |||
| * The "oldest living major religion" in the world.<ref>{{Citation |last=Merriam-Webster |year=2000 |title=Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Encyclopedia| publisher=Merriam-Webster |page=751}}</ref>{{harv|Klostermaier|2007|p=1}} | |||
| ** {{harvtxt|Laderman|2003|p=119}}: "world's oldest living civilisation and religion" | |||
| ** {{harvtxt|Turner|1996-B|p=359}}: "It is also recognized as the oldest major religion in the world." | |||
| {{harvtxt|Smart|1993|p=1}}, on the other hand, calls it also one of the youngest religions: "Hinduism could be seen to be much more recent, though with various ancient roots: in a sense it was formed in the late 19th Century and early 20th Century."<br>See also: | |||
| * ], ], ], ] for some of the oldest forms of religion | |||
| * ] and ], Indian Tribal religions connected to the earliest migrations into India | |||
| * ], one of the oldest surviving religions in the world.}} | |||
| <!-- R --> | |||
| <!-- "roots" --> | |||
| {{efn|name="roots"|Among its roots are the ] {{harv|Flood|1996|p=16}} of the late ] and its emphasis on the status of Brahmans {{harv|Samuel|2010|pp=48–53}}, but also the religions of the ] ({{harvnb|Narayanan|2009|p=11}}, {{harvnb|Lockard|2007|p=52}}, {{harvnb|Hiltebeitel|2007|p=3}}, {{harvnb|Jones|Ryan|2006|p=xviii}}), the ] {{harv|Gomez|2013|p=42}} or renouncer traditions {{harv|Flood|1996|p=16}} of ] {{harv|Gomez|2013|p=42}}, and "popular or ]" {{harv|Flood|1996|p=16}}.}} | |||
| <!-- S --> | |||
| <!-- "synthesis_date" --> | |||
| {{efn|name="Hindu-synthesis_date"|More specifically, between {{Circa|500}} {{harv|Hiltebeitel|2007|p=12}} - 200 {{harv|Larson|2009}} BCE and {{Circa|300 CE}} {{harv|Hiltebeitel|2007|p=12}} in or after the period of the ], and during the early ] (200 BCE – 300 CE) ({{harvnb|Hiltebeitel|2007|p=12}}, {{harvnb|Larson|2009}}).}} | |||
| <!-- V --> | |||
| <!-- "Vedic Hinduism" --> | |||
| {{efn|name="Vedic Hinduism"|Scholars such as Jan Gonda have used the term '''ancient Hinduism''', distinguishing it from "recent Hinduism".<br>{{harvtxt|Jamison|Witzel|1992|p=3}} use the term "Vedic Hinduism," but state:"... to call this period Vedic Hinduism is a '']'' since Vedic religion is very different from what we generally call Hindu religion – at least as much as Old Hebrew religion is from medieval and modern Christian religion. However, Vedic religion is treatable as a predecessor of Hinduism".<br>{{harvtxt|Michaels|2004|p=38}} also emphasizes the differences: "The legacy of the Vedic religion in Hinduism is generally overestimated. The influence of the mythology is indeed great, but the religious terminology changed considerably: all the key terms of Hinduism either do not exist in Vedic or have a completely different meaning. The religion of the Veda does not know the ethicised migration of the soul with retribution for acts (''karma''), the cyclical destruction of the world, or the idea of salvation during one's lifetime (''jivanmukti; moksa; nirvana''); the idea of the world as illusion (''maya'') must have gone against the grain of ancient India, and an omnipotent creator god emerges only in the late hymns of the rgveda. Nor did the Vedic religion know a caste system, the burning of widows, the ban on remarriage, images of gods and temples, Puja worship, Yoga, pilgrimages, vegetarianism, the holiness of cows, the doctrine of stages of life (''asrama''), or knew them only at their inception. Thus, it is justified to see a turning point between the Vedic religion and Hindu religions."<br>See also {{harvtxt|Halbfass|1991|pp=1–2}}<br>Encyclopedia Britannica, : "It takes its name from the collections of sacred texts known as the Vedas. Vedism is the oldest stratum of religious activity in India for which there exist written materials. It was one of the major traditions that shaped Hinduism."<br>The Encyclopædia Britannica, , further explains that from the Vedic religion emerged '''Brahmanism''', a religious tradition of ancient India. It states, "Brahmanism emphasized the rites performed by, and the status of, the Brahman, or priestly, class as well as speculation about Brahman (the Absolute reality) as theorized in the Upanishads (speculative philosophical texts that are considered to be part of the Vedas, or scriptures)."<br>From Brahmanism developed Hinduism, when it was synthesized, around the start of the Common Era, with the non-Vedic Indo-Aryan religious heritage of the eastern Ganges plain and with local religious traditions; see {{harvnb|Witzel|1995}}; {{harvnb|Hiltebeitel|2002}}; {{harvnb|Welbon|2004}}; {{harvnb|Bronkhorst|2007}}; {{harvnb|Samuel|2010}}.}}}} | |||
| '''Subnotes''' | |||
| {{reflist|group=subnote|30em}} | |||
| == References == | |||
| {{Reflist}} | |||
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| {{refend}} | {{refend}} | ||
| === Web sources === | |||
| '''Web''' | |||
| {{reflist|group=web}} | {{reflist|group=web}} | ||
| ==Further reading== | == Further reading == | ||
| {{refbegin}} | {{refbegin}} | ||
| *{{ |
* {{citation |ref=none |last1=Majumdar |first1=R. C. |author-link=R. C. Majumdar |last2=Raychauduri |first2=H. C. |last3=Datta |first3=Kaukinkar |year=1960 |title=An Advanced History of India |url=http://dli.iiit.ac.in/cgi-bin/Browse/scripts/use_scripts/advnew/aui/bookreader/bookReader_public.cgi?path1=/server6/disk2/DATA%20SUBMITTED/An_Advancd_History_Of_India_Part%20II/&first=1&last=432&barcode=5010010000259 |publisher=Macmillan and Company |isbn=0-333-90298-X |access-date=22 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090206173606/http://dli.iiit.ac.in/cgi-bin/Browse/scripts/use_scripts/advnew/aui/bookreader/bookReader_public.cgi?path1=%2Fserver6%2Fdisk2%2FDATA%20SUBMITTED%2FAn_Advancd_History_Of_India_Part%20II%2F&first=1&last=432&barcode=5010010000259 |archive-date=6 February 2009 |url-status=dead}} | ||
| *] ''Hindu World: An Encyclopaedic Survey of Hinduism'', (Two Volumes), Allen & Unwin, London, 1968; Praeger, New York, 1968; Munshiram Manohar Lal, New Delhi, 1983; |
* ] ''Hindu World: An Encyclopaedic Survey of Hinduism'', (Two Volumes), Allen & Unwin, London, 1968; Praeger, New York, 1968; Munshiram Manohar Lal, New Delhi, 1983; HarperCollins, New Delhi, 1985; Rupa, New Delhi, 2005, {{ISBN|81-291-0670-1}}. | ||
| * {{Citation |ref=none |last=Basham |first=A. L. |author-link=A. L. Basham |year=1967 |title=The Wonder That was India |title-link=The Wonder That was India}} | |||
| *{{Citation | |||
| * Gangooly, J. C. (1860). '''', United States: Crosby, Nichols, Lee and Company | |||
| | last = Basham | first = A. L. | author-link = A. L. Basham | |||
| | year = 1967 | |||
| | title = ] | |||
| }} | |||
| {{refend}} | {{refend}} | ||
| ==External links== | == External links == | ||
| {{Commons category|History of Hinduism}} | |||
| * | |||
| * {{Cite encyclopedia|title=History of Hinduism|encyclopedia=]|url=https://www.worldhistory.org/hinduism/}} | |||
| * ( 2009-10-31) | |||
| * {{Cite encyclopedia|title=History of Hinduism|encyclopedia=]|url=http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761555715_9/Hinduism.html|date=31 October 2002|access-date=25 November 2005|archive-date=29 October 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091029093051/http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761555715_9/Hinduism.html|url-status=dead}} | |||
| * | |||
| * {{Cite encyclopedia|title=The history of Hinduism (article)|encyclopedia=]|url=https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/world-history/ancient-medieval/early-indian-empires/a/hinduism-in-indian-culture}} | |||
| * | |||
| {{Hindudharma}} | {{Hindudharma}} | ||
| {{Religion topics}} | {{Religion topics}} | ||
| {{History of religions|state=collapsed}} | {{History of religions|state=collapsed}} | ||
| {{Portalbar|Hinduism|India|History}}{{Authority control}} | |||
| {{Timetable of South Asia}} | |||
| {{Portalbar|Hinduism|India}} | |||
| {{DEFAULTSORT:History Of Hinduism}} | |||
| ] | ] | ||
| ] | |||
Latest revision as of 07:02, 19 December 2024
Hindu artifacts, artworks and temples ranging from the 9th-century to the 21st-century
The history of Hinduism covers a wide variety of related religious traditions native to the Indian subcontinent. It overlaps or coincides with the development of religion in the Indian subcontinent since the Iron Age, with some of its traditions tracing back to prehistoric religions such as those of the Bronze Age Indus Valley Civilisation. Hinduism has been called the "oldest religion" in the world, but scholars regard Hinduism as a relatively recent synthesis of various Indian cultures and traditions, with diverse roots and no single founder, which emerged around the beginning of the Common Era.
The history of Hinduism is often divided into periods of development. The first period is the pre-Vedic period, which includes the Indus Valley Civilization and local pre-historic religions. Northern India had the Vedic period with the introduction of the historical Vedic religion (sometimes called Vedic Hinduism or ancient Hinduism) by the Indo-Aryan migrations, starting somewhere between 1900 BCE and 1400 BCE. The subsequent period of the second urbanisation (600-200 BCE) is a formative period for Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism followed by "a turning point between the Vedic religion and Hindu religions," during the Epic and Early Puranic period (c. 200 BCE to 500 CE), when the Epics and the first Purānas were composed. This was followed by the classical "Golden Age" of Hinduism (c. 320–650 CE), which coincides with the Gupta Empire. In this period the six branches of Hindu philosophy evolved, namely, Samkhya, Yoga, Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Mīmāṃsā, and Vedānta. Monotheistic sects like Shaivism and Vaishnavism developed during this same period through the Bhakti movement. It flourished in the medieval period period from roughly 650 to 1100 CE, which forms the late Classical period or early Middle Ages, with the decline of Buddhism in India and the establishment of classical Puranic Hinduism is established.
Hinduism under both Hindu and Islamic rulers from c. 1200 to 1750 CE saw the increasing prominence of the Bhakti movement, which remains influential today. Adi Shankara became glorified as the main proponent of Advaita Vedanta, in response to the success of Vaishnavite bhakti.
The colonial period saw the emergence of various Hindu reform movements partly inspired by western movements, such as Unitarianism and Theosophy. The Partition of India in 1947 was along religious lines, with the Republic of India emerging with a Hindu majority. During the 20th century, due to the Indian diaspora, Hindu minorities have formed in all continents, with the largest communities in absolute numbers in the United States and the United Kingdom.
Roots of Hinduism
While the Puranic chronology presents a genealogy of thousands of years, scholars regard Hinduism as a fusion or synthesis of various Indian cultures and traditions. Among its roots are the historical Vedic religion, itself already the product of "a composite of the Indo-Aryan and Harappan cultures and civilizations", which evolved into the Brahmanical religion and ideology of the Kuru Kingdom of Iron Age northern India; but also the Śramaṇa or renouncer traditions of northeast India, and mesolithic and neolithic cultures of India, such as the religions of the Indus Valley Civilisation, Dravidian traditions, and the local traditions and tribal religions.
This Hindu synthesis emerged after the Vedic period, between 500–200 BCE and c. 300 CE, in the period of the second urbanisation and the early classical period of Hinduism, when the Epics and the first Puranas were composed. This Brahmanical synthesis incorporated śramaṇic and Buddhist influences and the emerging bhakti tradition into the Brahmanical fold via the smriti literature. This synthesis emerged under the pressure of the success of Buddhism and Jainism, starting with the conquest of the Vedic heartland by the Nanda and Maurya rulers, which deprived the Brahmins of their patrons, threatening the survival of the Vedic ritual tradition. In response, Brahmins broadened their services, eventually resulting in the Hindu synthesis of Brahmanical orthodoxy with local religious traditions, which, centuries later, came to dominate India. During the Gupta reign the first Puranas were written, which were used to disseminate "mainstream religious ideology amongst pre-literate and tribal groups undergoing acculturation." The resulting Puranic Hinduism differed markedly from the earlier Brahmanism of the Dharmasutras and the smritis. Hinduism co-existed for several centuries with Buddhism, to finally gain the upper hand at all levels in the 8th century.
From northern India this "Hindu synthesis", and its societal divisions, spread to southern India and parts of Southeast Asia, as courts and rulers adopted the Brahmanical culture. It was aided by the settlement of Brahmins on land granted by local rulers, the incorporation and assimilation of popular non-Vedic gods, and the process of Sanskritization, in which "people from many strata of society throughout the subcontinent tended to adapt their religious and social life to Brahmanic norms". This process of assimilation explains the wide diversity of local cultures in India "half shrouded in a taddered cloak of conceptual unity".
According to Eliot Deutsch, Brahmins played an essential role in the development of this synthesis. They were bilingual and bicultural, speaking both their local language, and popular Sanskrit, which transcended regional differences in culture and language. They were able to "translate the mainstream of the large culture in terms of the village and the culture of the village in terms of the mainstream", thereby integrating the local culture into a larger whole. While vaidikas and, to a lesser degree, smartas, remained faithful to the traditional Vedic lore, a new brahminism arose which composed litanies for the local and regional gods, and became the ministers of these local traditions.
Periodisation
See also: Outline of South Asian historyAuthors on Hinduism and its history have used various periodisations, elaborating on influential periodisations like Mill's, and also describing some of the constituting traditions preceding the Hindu-synthesis. An elaborate periodisation may be as follows:
- Pre-history and Indus Valley Civilisation (until c. 1750 BCE);
- Vedic period (c. 1750–500 BCE);
- "Second Urbanisation" (c. 600–200 BCE);
- Classical Period (c. 200 BCE – 1200 CE);
- Pre-classical period (c. 200 BCE – 300 CE);
- "Golden Age" of India (Gupta Empire) (c. 320–650 CE);
- Late-Classical period - Puranic Hinduism (c. 650–1200 CE);
- Medieval Period (c. 1200–1500 CE);
- Early Modern Period (c. 1500–1850);
- Modern period (British Raj and independence) (from c. 1850).
| History of Hinduism | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| James Mill (1773–1836), in his The History of British India (1817), distinguished three phases in the history of India, namely Hindu, Muslim and British civilisations. This periodisation has been influential, but has also been criticised, for the misconceptions it has given rise to. Another influential periodisation is the division into "ancient, classical, mediaeval and modern periods". | |||||||||||||
| Smart | Michaels | Muesse | Flood | ||||||||||
| Indus Valley civilisation and Vedic period (c. 3000–1000 BCE) |
Prevedic religions (until c. 1750 BCE) |
Indus Valley civilisation (3300–1400 BCE) |
Indus Valley civilisation (c. 2500 to 1500 BCE) | ||||||||||
| Vedic | Early Vedic Period (c. 1750–1200 BCE) |
Vedic period (1600–800 BCE) |
Vedic period (c. 1500–500 BCE) | ||||||||||
| Middle Vedic period (c. 1200–850 BCE) | |||||||||||||
| Pre-classical period (c. 1000 BCE – 100 CE) |
Late Vedic period (c. 850–500 BCE) |
Classical period (800–200 BCE) | |||||||||||
| Ascetic reformism (c. 500–200 BCE) |
Epic and Puranic period (c. 500 BCE to 500 CE) | ||||||||||||
| Classical | Preclassical Hinduism (c. 200 BCE – 300 CE) |
Epic and Puranic period (200 BCE – 500 CE) | |||||||||||
| Classical period (c. 100 – 1000 CE) |
"Golden Age" (Gupta Empire) (c. 320–650 CE) | ||||||||||||
| Late-Classical Hinduism (c. 650–1100 CE) |
Medieval and Late Puranic period (500–1500 CE) |
Medieval and Late Puranic period (500–1500 CE) | |||||||||||
| Hindu-Islamic civilisation (c. 1000–1750 CE) |
Islamic rule and "Sects of Hinduism" (c. 1100–1850 CE) | ||||||||||||
| Modern (1500–present) |
Modern period (c. 1500 CE to present) | ||||||||||||
| Modern period (c. 1750 CE – present) |
Modern Hinduism (from c. 1850) | ||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
Pre-Vedic religions (until c. 1750 BCE)
Prehistory
According to Doniger, Hinduism may have roots in pre-historic (pre-textual, pre-Vedic) Mesolithic prehistoric religion, such as evidenced in the rock paintings of Bhimbetka rock shelters, which are about 10,000 years old (c. 8,000 BCE), as well as neolithic times. At least some of these shelters were occupied over 100,000 years ago. Several tribal religions still exist, though their practices may not resemble those of prehistoric religions.
Indus Valley Civilization (c. 3300–1700 BCE)
Main article: Religion of the Indus Valley Civilization Further information: Prehistoric religion and History of JainismSome Indus valley seals show swastikas, which are found in other religions worldwide. Phallic symbols interpreted as the much later Hindu linga have been found in the Harappan remains. Many Indus valley seals show animals. One seal showing a horned figure seated in a posture reminiscent of the Lotus position and surrounded by animals was named by early excavators "Pashupati", an epithet of the later Hindu gods Shiva and Rudra. Writing in 1997, Doris Meth Srinivasan said, "Not too many recent studies continue to call the seal's figure a 'Proto-Siva', rejecting thereby Marshall's package of proto-Shiva features, including that of three heads. She interprets what John Marshall interpreted as facial as not human but more bovine, possibly a divine buffalo-man." According to Iravatham Mahadevan, symbols 47 and 48 of his Indus script glossary The Indus Script: Texts, Concordance and Tables (1977), representing seated human-like figures, could describe the South Indian deity Murugan.
In view of the large number of figurines found in the Indus valley, some scholars believe that the Harappan people worshipped a mother goddess symbolizing fertility, a common practice among rural Hindus even today. However, this view has been disputed by S. Clark who sees it as an inadequate explanation of the function and construction of many of the figurines.
There are no religious buildings or evidence of elaborate burials. If there were temples, they have not been identified. However, House – 1 in HR-A area in Mohenjo Daro's Lower Town has been identified as a possible temple.
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Horned deity with one-horned attendants on an Indus Valley seal. Horned deities are a standard Mesopotamian theme. 2000-1900 BCE. Islamabad Museum.
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Fighting scene between a beast and a man with horns, hooves and a tail, who has been compared to the Mesopotamian bull-man Enkidu. Indus Valley Civilisation seal.
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Swastika Seals from the Indus Valley Civilization preserved at the British Museum
Vedic period (c. 1750–500 BCE)
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The historical Vedic religion, also known as Vedicism and Vedism, sometimes referred to as an early phase of Hinduism called Vedic Hinduism and Ancient Hinduism, was the sacrificial religion of the early Indo-Aryans, speakers of early Old Indic dialects, ultimately deriving from the Proto-Indo-Iranian peoples of the Bronze Age who lived on the Central Asian steppes.
Origins
Main articles: Indo-Aryan peoples and Indo-Aryan migrations See also: Proto-Indo-Europeans, Proto-Indo-European religion, Indo-Iranians, and Proto-Indo-Iranian religion.png)
The Vedic period, named after the Vedic religion of the Indo-Aryans of the Kuru Kingdom 1200 BCE – 525 BCE, lasted from c. 1750 to 500 BCE. The Indo-Aryans were a branch of the Indo-European language family, which many scholars believe originated in Kurgan culture of the Central Asian steppes. Indeed, the ancient Vedic religion, including the names of certain deities, was in essence a branch of the same religious tradition as the ancient Greeks, Romans, Persians, and Germanic peoples. For example, the Vedic god Dyaus is a variant of the Proto-Indo-European god *Dyēus ph2ter (or simply *Dyēus), from which also derive the Greek Zeus and the Roman Jupiter. Similarly the Vedic Manu and Yama derive from the Proto-Indo-European *Manu and *Yemo, from which also derive the Germanic Mannus and Ymir.
According to the Indo-European migration theory, the Indo-Iranians were the common ancestor of the Indo-Aryans and the Proto-Iranians. The Indo-Iranians split into the Indo-Aryans and Iranians around 1800–1600 BCE.
The Indo-Aryans were pastoralists who migrated into north-western India after the collapse of the Indus Valley Civilization. The Indo-Aryans were a branch of the Indo-Iranians, which originated in the Andronovo culture in the Bactria-Margiana era, in present northern Afghanistan. The roots of this culture go back further to the Sintashta culture, with funeral sacrifices which show close parallels to the sacrificial funeral rites of the Rigveda.
Although some early depictions of deities seem to appear in the art of the Indus Valley Civilisation, very few religious artifacts remain from the period corresponding to the Indo-Aryan migration during the Vedic period. It has been suggested that the early Vedic religion focused exclusively on the worship of purely "elementary forces of nature by means of elaborate sacrifices", which did not lend themselves easily to anthropomorphological representations. Various artefacts may belong to the Copper Hoard culture (2nd millennium CE), some of them suggesting anthropomorphological characteristics. Interpretations vary as to the exact signification of these artifacts, or even the culture and the periodization to which they belonged.
During the Early Vedic period (c. 1500–1100 BCE) Indo-Aryan tribes were pastoralists in north-west India. After 1100 BCE, with the introduction of iron, the Indo-Aryan tribes moved into the western Ganges Plain, adopting an agrarian lifestyle. Rudimentary state-forms appeared, of which the Kuru-tribe and realm was the most influential. It was a tribal union, which developed into the first recorded state-level society in South Asia around 1000 BCE. It decisively changed their religious heritage of the early Vedic period, collecting their ritual hymns into the Veda-collections, and developing new rituals which gained their position in Indian civilization as the orthodox Śrauta rituals, which contributed to the so-called "classical synthesis" or "Hindu synthesis".
Rigvedic religion
Who really knows?
— Nasadiya Sukta, concerns the origin of the universe, Rigveda, 10:129-6
Who will here proclaim it?
Whence was it produced? Whence is this creation?
The gods came afterwards, with the creation of this universe.
Who then knows whence it has arisen?
,_Adhyaya_1,_lines_1.1.1_to_1.1.9,_Sanskrit,_Devanagari.jpg)
The Indo-Aryans brought with them their language and religion. The Indo-Aryan and Vedic beliefs and practices of the pre-classical era were closely related to the hypothesised Proto-Indo-European religion, and the Indo-Iranian religion. According to Anthony, the Old Indic religion probably emerged among Indo-European immigrants in the contact zone between the Zeravshan River (present-day Uzbekistan) and (present-day) Iran. It was "a syncretic mixture of old Central Asian and new Indo-European elements", which borrowed "distinctive religious beliefs and practices" from the Bactria–Margiana culture. At least 383 non-Indo-European words were borrowed from this culture, including the god Indra and the ritual drink Soma. According to Anthony,
Many of the qualities of Indo-Iranian god of might/victory, Verethragna, were transferred to the adopted god Indra, who became the central deity of the developing Old Indic culture. Indra was the subject of 250 hymns, a quarter of the Rig Veda. He was associated more than any other deity with Soma, a stimulant drug (perhaps derived from Ephedra) probably borrowed from the BMAC religion. His rise to prominence was a peculiar trait of the Old Indic speakers.
The oldest inscriptions in Old Indic, the language of the Rig Veda, are found not in northwestern India and Pakistan, but in northern Syria, the location of the Mitanni kingdom. The Mitanni kings took Old Indic throne names, and Old Indic technical terms were used for horse-riding and chariot-driving. The Old Indic term r'ta, meaning "cosmic order and truth", the central concept of the Rig Veda, was also employed in the Mitanni kingdom. And Old Indic gods, including Indra, were also known in the Mitanni kingdom.
Their religion was further developed when they migrated into the Ganges Plain after c. 1100 BCE and became settled farmers, further syncretising with the native cultures of northern India. The Brahmanical culture of the later Vedic period co-existed with local religions, such as the Yaksha cults, and was itself the product of "a composite of the Indo-Aryan and Harappan cultures and civilizations". David Gordon White cites three other mainstream scholars who "have emphatically demonstrated" that Vedic religion is partially derived from the Indus Valley Civilisation.
Vedas
Its liturgy is preserved in the three Vedic Samhitas: the Rigveda, Samaveda and the Yajurveda. The Vedic texts were the texts of the elite, and do not necessarily represent popular ideas or practices. Of these, the Rig-Veda is the oldest, a collection of hymns composed between c. 1500 and 1200 BCE. The other two add ceremonial detail for the performance of the actual sacrifice. The Atharvaveda may also contain compositions dating to before 1000 BCE. It contains material pertinent to domestic ritual and folk magic of the period.
These texts, as well as the voluminous commentary on orthopraxy collected in the Brahmanas compiled during the early 1st millennium BCE, were transmitted by oral tradition alone until the advent, in the 4th century CE, of the Pallava and Gupta period and by a combination of written and oral tradition since then.
The Hindu samskaras
go back to a hoary antiquity. The Vedas, the Brahmanas, the Grhyasutras, the Dharmasutras, the Smritis and other treatises describe the rites, ceremonies and customs.
The earliest text of the Vedas is the Rigveda, a collection of poetic hymns used in the sacrificial rites of Vedic priesthood. Many Rigvedic hymns concern the fire ritual (Agnihotra) and especially the offering of Soma to the gods (Somayajna). Soma is both an intoxicant and a god itself, as is the sacrificial fire, Agni. The royal horse sacrifice (Ashvamedha) is a central rite in the Yajurveda.
The gods in the Rig-Veda are mostly personified concepts, who fall into two categories: the devas – who were gods of nature – such as the weather deity Indra (who is also the King of the gods), Agni ("fire"), Usha ("dawn"), Surya ("sun") and Apas ("waters") on the one hand, and on the other hand the asuras – gods of moral concepts – such as Mitra ("contract"), Aryaman (guardian of guest, friendship and marriage), Bhaga ("share") or Varuna, the supreme Asura (or Aditya). While Rigvedic deva is variously applied to most gods, including many of the Asuras, the Devas are characterised as Younger Gods while Asuras are the Older Gods (pūrve devāḥ). In later Vedic texts, "Asura" comes to mean demon.
The Rigveda has 10 mandalas ('books'). There is significant variation in the language and style between the family books (RV books 2–7), book 8, the "Soma Mandala" (RV 9), and the more recent books 1 and 10. The older books share many aspects of common Indo-Iranian religion, and is an important source for the reconstruction of earlier common Indo-European traditions. Especially RV 8 has striking similarity to the Avesta, containing allusions to Afghan flora and fauna, e.g. to camels (úṣṭra- = Avestan uštra). Many of the central religious terms in Vedic Sanskrit have cognates in the religious vocabulary of other Indo-European languages (deva: Latin deus; hotar: Germanic god; asura: Germanic ansuz; yajna: Greek hagios; brahman: Norse Bragi or perhaps Latin flamen etc.). In the Avesta, Asura (Ahura) is considered good and Devas (Daevas) are considered evil entities, quite the opposite of the Rig Veda.
Cosmic order
Ethics in the Vedas are based on the concepts of Satya and Ṛta. Satya is the principle of integration rooted in the Absolute. Ṛta is the expression of Satya, which regulates and coordinates the operation of the universe and everything within it. Conformity with Ṛta would enable progress whereas its violation would lead to punishment. Panikkar remarks:
Ṛta is the ultimate foundation of everything; it is "the supreme", although this is not to be understood in a static sense. ... It is the expression of the primordial dynamism that is inherent in everything....
The term "dharma" was already used in Brahmanical thought, where it was conceived as an aspect of Rta. The term rta is also known from the Proto-Indo-Iranian religion, the religion of the Indo-Iranian peoples prior to the earliest Vedic (Indo-Aryan) and Zoroastrian (Iranian) scriptures. Asha (aša) is the Avestan language term corresponding to Vedic language ṛta.
Upanishads
The 9th and 8th centuries BCE witnessed the composition of the earliest Upanishads. Upanishads form the theoretical basis of classical Hinduism and are known as Vedanta (conclusion of the Veda). The older Upanishads launched attacks of increasing intensity on the rituals, however, a philosophical and allegorical meaning is also given to these rituals. In some later Upanishads there is a spirit of accommodation towards rituals. The tendency which appears in the philosophical hymns of the Vedas to reduce the number of gods to one principle becomes prominent in the Upanishads.
Although it is sometimes assumed that the Upanishads propound a monistic framework, scholars like Brian Black and Andrew Nicholson have argued that this is an unfair assumption, referring to the presence of philosophically diverse themes in early Upanishads like the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad and Chandogya Upanishad. The ideas of the Upanishads were synthesised into a theistic framework in the Bhagavad Gita.
Brahmanism
Further information: Brahmana, Aranyaka, and Shrauta Sutra,_Sanskrit,_Southern_Grantha_script,_sample_i.jpg)
Brahmanism, also called Brahminism or Brahmanical Hinduism, developed out of the Vedic religion, incorporating non-Vedic religious ideas, and expanding to a region stretching from the northwest Indian subcontinent to the Ganges valley. Brahmanism included the Vedic corpus, but also post-Vedic texts such as the Dharmasutras and Dharmasastras, which gave prominence to the priestly (Brahmin) class of the society. The emphasis on ritual and the dominant position of Brahmans developed as an ideology developed in the Kuru-Pancala realm, and expanded into a wider realm after the demise of the Kuru-Pancala realm. It co-existed with local religions, such as the Yaksha cults.
In Iron Age India, during a period roughly spanning the 10th to 6th centuries BCE, the Mahajanapadas arise from the earlier kingdoms of the various Indo-Aryan tribes, and the remnants of the Late Harappan culture. In this period the mantra portions of the Vedas are largely completed, and a flowering industry of Vedic priesthood organised in numerous schools (shakha) develops exegetical literature, viz. the Brahmanas. These schools also edited the Vedic mantra portions into fixed recensions, that were to be preserved purely by oral tradition over the following two millennia.
Second Urbanisation and decline of Brahmanism (c. 600–200 BCE)
Upanishads and Śramaṇa movements
Main articles: Upanishads and Śramaṇa
City of Kushinagar in the 5th century BCE, according to a 1st-century BCE relief in Sanchi
Buddhism and Jainism are two of many Indian philosophies considered as Śramaṇic traditions.
Brahmanism, with its orthodox rituals, may have been challenged as a consequence of the increasing urbanisation of India in the 7th and 6th centuries BCE, and the influx of foreign stimuli initiated with the Achaemenid conquest of the Indus Valley (circa 535 BCE). New ascetic or sramana movements arose, such as Buddhism, Jainism and local popular cults, which challenged the established religious orthodoxy. The anthropomorphic depiction of various deities apparently resumed in the middle of the 1st millennium BCE, also as the consequence of the reduced authority of Vedism.
Mahavira (c. 549–477 BCE), proponent of Jainism, and Buddha (c. 563–483 BCE), founder of Buddhism, were the most prominent icons of this movement. According to Heinrich Zimmer, Jainism and Buddhism are part of the pre-Vedic heritage, which also includes Samkhya and Yoga:
does not derive from Brahman-Aryan sources, but reflects the cosmology and anthropology of a much older pre-Aryan upper class of northeastern India – being rooted in the same subsoil of archaic metaphysical speculation as Yoga, Sankhya, and Buddhism, the other non-Vedic Indian systems.
The Sramana tradition in part created the concept of the cycle of birth and death, the concept of Saṃsāra, and the concept of liberation, which became characteristic for Hinduism.
Pratt notes that Oldenberg (1854–1920), Neumann (1865–1915) and Radhakrishnan (1888–1975) believed that the Buddhist canon had been influenced by Upanishads, while la Vallee Poussin thinks the influence was nil, and "Eliot and several others insist that on some points the Buddha was directly antithetical to the Upanishads".
Mauryan Empire
Main article: Maurya EmpireThe Mauryan period saw an early flowering of classical Sanskrit Sutra and Shastra literature and the scholarly exposition of the "circum-Vedic" fields of the Vedanga. However, during this time Buddhism was patronised by Ashoka, who ruled large parts of India, and Buddhism was also the mainstream religion until the Gupta period.
Decline of Brahmanism
Decline
The post-Vedic period of the Second Urbanisation saw a decline of Brahmanism. At the end of the Vedic period, the meaning of the words of the Vedas had become obscure, and was perceived as "a fixed sequence of sounds" with a magical power, "means to an end." With the growth of cities, which threatened the income and patronage of the rural Brahmins; the rise of Buddhism; and the Indian campaign of Alexander the Great (327–325 BCE), the expansion of the Maurya Empire (322–185 BCE) with its embrace of Buddhism, and the Saka invasions and rule of northwestern India (2nd c. BCE – 4th c. CE), Brahmanism faced a grave threat to its existence. In some later texts, Northwest-India (which earlier texts consider as part of "Aryavarta") is even seen as "impure", probably due to invasions.
Survival of Vedic ritual
Main article: ŚrautaVedism as the religious tradition of a priestly elite was marginalised by other traditions such as Jainism and Buddhism in the later Iron Age, but in the Middle Ages would rise to renewed prestige with the Mimamsa school, which as well as all other astika traditions of Hinduism, considered them authorless (apaurusheyatva) and eternal. A last surviving elements of the Historical Vedic religion or Vedism is Śrauta tradition, following many major elements of the ancient Vedic religion and is prominent in South India, with communities in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, but also in some pockets of Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and other states; the best known of these groups are the Nambudiri of Kerala, whose traditions were notably documented by Frits Staal.
Hindu synthesis and Classical Hinduism (c. 200 BCE – 1200 CE)
Early Hinduism (c. 200 BCE – 320 CE)
See also: Buddhism and Hinduism, Vedanga, Dharmaśāstra, Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Nyāya Sūtras, and Brahma SutrasHindu synthesis
The decline of Brahmanism was overcome by providing new services and incorporating the non-Vedic Indo-Aryan religious heritage of the eastern Ganges plain and local religious traditions, giving rise to contemporary Hinduism. Between about 500 BCE and c. 400 CE or starting from 200 BCE the "Hindu synthesis" developed, which incorporated Sramanic and Buddhist influences and the emerging Bhakti tradition into the Brahmanical fold via the smriti literature. This synthesis emerged under the pressure of the success of Buddhism and Jainism.
According to Embree, several other religious traditions had existed side by side with the Vedic religion. These indigenous religions "eventually found a place under the broad mantle of the Vedic religion". When Brahmanism was declining and had to compete with Buddhism and Jainism, the popular religions had the opportunity to assert themselves. According to Embree,
he Brahmanists themselves seem to have encouraged this development to some extent as a means of meeting the challenge of the heterodox movements. At the same time, among the indigenous religions, a common allegiance to the authority of the Vedas provided a thin, but nonetheless significant, thread of unity amid their variety of gods and religious practices.
This "new Brahmanism" appealed to rulers, who were attracted to the supernatural powers and the practical advice Brahmins could provide, and resulted in a resurgence of Brahmanical influence, dominating Indian society since the classical Age of Hinduism in the early centuries CE. It is reflected in the process of Sanskritization, a process in which "people from many strata of society throughout the subcontinent tended to adapt their religious and social life to Brahmanic norms". It is reflected in the tendency to identify local deities with the gods of the Sanskrit texts.
Smriti
The Brahmins response of assimilation and consolidation is reflected in the smriti literature which took shape in this period. The smriti texts of the period between 200 BCE and 100 CE proclaim the authority of the Vedas, and acceptance of the Vedas became a central criterion for defining Hinduism over and against the heterodoxies, which rejected the Vedas. Most of the basic ideas and practices of classical Hinduism derive from the new smriti literature.
Of the six Hindu darsanas, the Mimamsa and the Vedanta "are rooted primarily in the Vedic sruti tradition and are sometimes called smarta schools in the sense that they develop smarta orthodox current of thoughts that are based, like smriti, directly on sruti". According to Hiltebeitel, "the consolidation of Hinduism takes place under the sign of bhakti". It is the Bhagavadgita that seals this achievement. The result is a "universal achievement" that may be called smarta. It views Shiva and Vishnu as "complementary in their functions but ontologically identical".
The major Sanskrit epics, Ramayana and Mahabharata, which belong to the smriti, were compiled over a protracted period during the late centuries BCE and the early centuries CE. They contain mythological stories about the rulers and wars of ancient India, and are interspersed with religious and philosophical treatises. The later Puranas recount tales about devas and devis, their interactions with humans and their battles against rakshasa. The Bhagavad Gita "seals the achievement" of the "consolidation of Hinduism", integrating Brahmanic and sramanic ideas with theistic devotion.
Schools of Hindu philosophy
In early centuries CE several schools of Hindu philosophy were formally codified, including Samkhya, Yoga, Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Purva-Mimamsa and Vedanta.
Sangam literature
See also: Vaishnavism in Ancient TamilakamThe Sangam literature (300 BCE – 400 CE), written in the Sangam period, is a mostly secular body of classical literature in the Tamil language. Nonetheless, there are some works, significantly Pattuppāṭṭu and Paripāṭal, wherein the personal devotion to God was written in the form of devotional poems. Vishnu, Shiva and Murugan were mentioned gods. These works are therefore the earliest evidence of monotheistic Bhakti traditions, preceding the large bhakti movement, which was given great attention in later times.
Indian trade with Africa
During the time of the Roman Empire, trade took place between India and east Africa, and there is archaeological evidence of small Indian presence in Zanzibar, Zimbabwe, Madagascar, and the coastal parts of Kenya along with the Swahili coast, but no conversion to Hinduism took place.
Hindu Colony in the Middle East (The Levant)
Armenian historian Zenob Glak (300–350 CE) said "there was an Indian colony in the canton of Taron on the upper Euphrates, to the west of Lake Van, as early as the second century B.C. The Indians had built there two temples containing images of gods about 18 and 22 feet high."
"Golden Age" of India (Gupta and Pallava period) (c. 320–650 CE)
Further information: Hindu philosophy, Mīmāṃsā, and Samkhya
During this period, power was centralised, along with a growth of near distance trade, standardization of legal procedures, and general spread of literacy. Mahayana Buddhism flourished, but orthodox Brahmana culture began to be rejuvenated by the patronage of the Gupta Dynasty, who were Vaishnavas. The position of the Brahmans was reinforced, the first Hindu temples dedicated to the gods of the Hindu deities, emerged during the late Gupta age. During the Gupta reign the first Puranas were written, which were used to disseminate "mainstream religious ideology amongst pre-literate and tribal groups undergoing acculturation". The Guptas patronised the newly emerging Puranic religion, seeking legitimacy for their dynasty. The resulting Puranic Hinduism, differed markedly from the earlier Brahmanism of the Dharmasastras and the smritis.
According to P. S. Sharma, "the Gupta and Harsha periods form really, from the strictly intellectual standpoint, the most brilliant epocha in the development of Indian philosophy", as Hindu and Buddhist philosophies flourished side by side. Charvaka, the atheistic materialist school, came to the fore in North India before the 8th century CE.
Gupta and Pallava Empires
Main articles: Pallava dynasty and Gupta EmpireThe Gupta period (4th to 6th centuries) saw a flowering of scholarship, the codification of the classical schools of Hindu philosophy, and of classical Sanskrit literature in general on topics ranging from medicine, veterinary science, mathematics, to astrology and astronomy and astrophysics. The famous Aryabhata and Varāhamihira belong to this age. The Gupta established a strong central government which also allowed a degree of local control. Gupta society was ordered in accordance with Brahmanical beliefs. This included a strict caste system, or class system. The peace and prosperity created under Gupta leadership enabled the pursuit of scientific and artistic endeavors.
The Pallavas (4th to 9th centuries) were, alongside the Guptas of the North, patronisers of Sanskrit in the South of the Indian subcontinent. The Pallava reign saw the first Sanskrit inscriptions in a script called Grantha. The Pallavas used Dravidian architecture to build some very important Hindu temples and academies in Mahabalipuram, Kanchipuram and other places; their rule saw the rise of great poets, who are as famous as Kalidasa.
During early Pallavas period, there are different connections to Southeast Asian and other countries. Due to it, in the Middle Ages, Hinduism became the state religion in many kingdoms of Asia, the so-called Greater India—from Afghanistan (Kabul) in the West and including almost all of Southeast Asia in the East (Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines)—and only by the 15th century was near everywhere supplanted by Buddhism and Islam.
The practice of dedicating temples to different deities came into vogue followed by fine artistic temple architecture and sculpture (see Vastu shastra).
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The Hindu Shore Temple (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) at Mamallapuram built by Narasimhavarman II
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Maha Vishnu sleeping, protected by Shesha, Dashavatara Temple, Deogarh. Sculpted by Gupta Empire around 400 CE.
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Bhakti
See also: Vaishnavism in Ancient Tamilakam and Bhakti movementThis period saw the emergence of the Bhakti movement. The Bhakti movement was a rapid growth of bhakti beginning in Tamil Nadu in Southern India with the Vaisnava Alvars (3rd to 9th centuries CE) and Saiva Nayanars (4th to 10th centuries CE) who spread bhakti poetry and devotion throughout India by the 12th to 18th centuries CE.
Expansion in South-East Asia
Further information: Hinduism in Southeast Asia, Sanskritisation, and Greater India-
Expansion of Hinduism in Southeast Asia
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Angkor Wat in Cambodia is the largest Hindu monument in the world. It is one of hundreds of ancient Hindu temples in Southeast Asia.
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Pura Besakih, the holiest temple of Hindu religion in Bali
Hindu influences reached the Indonesian Archipelago as early as the first century. At this time, India started to strongly influence Southeast Asian countries. Trade routes linked India with southern Burma, central and southern Siam, lower Cambodia and southern Vietnam and numerous urbanised coastal settlements were established there.
For more than a thousand years, Indian Hindu/Buddhist influence was, therefore, the major factor that brought a certain level of cultural unity to the various countries of the region. The Pali and Sanskrit languages and the Indian script, together with Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism, Brahmanism and Hinduism, were transmitted from direct contact as well as through sacred texts and Indian literature, such as the Ramayana and the Mahabharata epics.
From the 5th to the 13th century, South-East Asia had very powerful Indian colonial empires and became extremely active in Hindu and Buddhist architectural and artistic creation. The Sri Vijaya Empire to the south and the Khmer Empire to the north competed for influence.
Langkasuka (-langkha Sanskrit for "resplendent land" -sukkha of "bliss") was an ancient Hindu kingdom located in the Malay Peninsula. The kingdom, along with Old Kedah settlement, are probably the earliest territorial footholds founded on the Malay Peninsula. According to tradition, the founding of the kingdom happened in the 2nd century; Malay legends claim that Langkasuka was founded at Kedah, and later moved to Pattani.
From the 5th to 15th centuries Sri Vijayan empire, a maritime empire centred on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia, had adopted Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism under a line of rulers named the Sailendras. The Empire of Sri Vijaya declined due to conflicts with the Chola rulers of India. The Majapahit Empire succeeded the Singhasari empire. It was one of the last and greatest Hindu empires in maritime Southeast Asia.
Funan was a pre-Angkor Cambodian kingdom, located around the Mekong delta, probably established by Mon-Khmer settlers speaking an Austroasiatic language. According to reports by two Chinese envoys, K'ang T'ai and Chu Ying, the state was established by an Indian Brahmin named Kaundinya, who in the 1st century CE was given instruction in a dream to take a magic bow from a temple and defeat a Khmer queen, Soma. Soma, the daughter of the king of the Nagas, married Kaundinya and their lineage became the royal dynasty of Funan. The myth had the advantage of providing the legitimacy of both an Indian Brahmin and the divinity of the cobras, who at that time were held in religious regard by the inhabitants of the region.
The kingdom of Champa (or Lin-yi in Chinese records) controlled what is now south and central Vietnam from approximately 192 through 1697. The dominant religion of the Cham people was Hinduism and the culture was heavily influenced by India.
Later, from the 9th to the 13th century, the Mahayana Buddhist and Hindu Khmer Empire dominated much of the South-East Asian peninsula. Under the Khmer, more than 900 temples were built in Cambodia and in neighboring Thailand. Angkor was at the centre of this development, with a temple complex and urban organisation able to support around one million urban dwellers. The largest temple complex of the world, Angkor Wat, stands here; built by the king Vishnuvardhan.
Late-Classical Hinduism – Puranic Hinduism and decline of Buddhism (c. 650–1200 CE)
See also: Early medieaval period in India.jpg)
After the end of the Gupta Empire and the collapse of the Harsha Empire, power became decentralised in India. Several larger kingdoms emerged, with "countless vasal states". The kingdoms were ruled via a feudal system. Smaller kingdoms were dependent on the protection of the larger kingdoms. "The great king was remote, was exalted and deified", as reflected in the Tantric Mandala, which could also depict the king as the centre of the mandala.
The disintegration of central power also lead to regionalisation of religiosity, and religious rivalry. Local cults and languages were enhanced, and the influence of "Brahmanic ritualistic Hinduism" was diminished. Rural and devotional movements arose, along with Shaivism, Vaisnavism, Bhakti and Tantra, though "sectarian groupings were only at the beginning of their development". Religious movements had to compete for recognition by the local lords. Buddhism lost its position after the 8th century, due to the loss of financial support from royal donors and the lack of appeal among the rural masses, and began to disappear in India. This was reflected in the change of puja-ceremonies at the courts in the 8th century, where Hindu gods replaced the Buddha as the "supreme, imperial deity".
Puranic Hinduism
Further information: Puranas.jpg)
The Brahmanism of the Dharmaśāstra and the smritis underwent a radical transformation at the hands of the Purana composers, resulting in the rise of Puranic Hinduism, "which like a colossus striding across the religious firmanent soon came to overshadow all existing religions". Puranic Hinduism was a "multiplex belief-system which grew and expanded as it absorbed and synthesised polaristic ideas and cultic traditions". It was distinguished from its Vedic Smarta roots by its popular base, its theological and sectarian pluralism, its Tantric veneer, and the central place of bhakti.
The early mediaeval Puranas were composed to disseminate religious mainstream ideology among the pre-literate tribal societies undergoing acculturation. With the breakdown of the Gupta empire, gifts of virgin waste-land were heaped on brahmanas, to ensure profitable agrarian exploitation of land owned by the kings, but also to provide status to the new ruling classes. Brahmanas spread further over India, interacting with local clans with different religions and ideologies. The Brahmanas used the Puranas to incorporate those clans into the agrarian society and its accompanying religion and ideology. According to Flood, "he Brahmans who followed the puranic religion became known as smarta, those whose worship was based on the smriti, or pauranika, those based on the Puranas." Local chiefs and peasants were absorbed into the varna, which was used to keep "control over the new kshatriyas and shudras."
The Brahmanic group was enlarged by incorporating local subgroups, such as local priests. This also lead to stratification within the Brahmins, with some Brahmins having a lower status than other Brahmins. The use of caste worked better with the new Puranic Hinduism than with the Sramanic sects. The Puranic texts provided extensive genealogies which gave status to the new kshatriyas. Buddhist myths pictured government as a contract between an elected ruler and the people. And the Buddhist chakkavatti "was a distinct concept from the models of conquest held up to the kshatriyas and the Rajputs".
Many local religions and traditions were assimilated into puranic Hinduism. Vishnu and Shiva emerged as the main deities, together with Sakti/Deva. Vishnu subsumed the cults of Narayana, Jagannaths, Venkateswara "and many others". Nath:
ome incarnations of Vishnu such as Matsya, Kurma, Varaha and perhaps even Nrsimha helped to incorporate certain popular totem symbols and creation myths, especially those related to wild boar, which commonly permeate preliterate mythology, others such as Krsna and Balarama became instrumental in assimilating local cults and myths centering around two popular pastoral and agricultural gods.
The transformation of Brahmanism into Pauranic Hinduism in post-Gupta India was due to a process of acculturation. The Puranas helped establish a religious mainstream among the pre-literate tribal societies undergoing acculturation. The tenets of Brahmanism and of the Dharmashastras underwent a radical transformation at the hands of the Purana composers, resulting in the rise of a mainstream "Hinduism" that overshadowed all earlier traditions.
Bhakti movement
Main article: Bhakti movement See also: Tulsidas, Kabir, Mirabai, and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu
Rama and Krishna became the focus of a strong bhakti tradition, which found expression particularly in the Bhagavata Purana. The Krishna tradition subsumed numerous Naga, yaksa and hill and tree-based cults. Shiva absorbed local cults by the suffixing of Isa or Isvara to the name of the local deity, for example, Bhutesvara, Hatakesvara, and Chandesvara. In 8th-century royal circles, the Buddha started to be replaced by Hindu gods in pujas. This also was the same period of time the Buddha was made into an avatar of Vishnu.
The first documented Bhakti movement was founded by the first three Vaishnavite Alvars. Traditionally, the Alvars are considered to have lived between 4200 BCE and 2700 BCE, while some texts account for range between 4200 BCE and early 5th century. Traditional dates take them to the age of Shuka from the period of the Mahabharata and Bhagavata Purana, the first four (Poigai Alvar, Bhoothath Alvar, Peyalvar and Tirumalisai Alvar) are from the Dvapara Yuga, while Nammalvar, Madhurakavi Alvar and others belong to the Kali Yuga. Shuka is dated minimum around 200 BCE. Hence the first three Alvars are also considered minimum 200 BCE. The twelve Alvars who were Vaishnavite devotees and the sixty-three Nayanars who were Shaivite devotees nurtured the incipient Bhakti movement in Tamil Nadu.
During the 12th century CE in Karnataka, the Bhakti movement took the form of the Virashaiva movement. It was inspired by Basavanna, a Hindu reformer who created the sect of Lingayats or Shiva bhaktas. During this time, a unique and native form of Kannada literature-poetry called Vachanas was born.
Advaita Vedanta
Main articles: Advaita Vedanta and Adi Shankara
The early Advaitin Gaudapada (6th–7th c. CE) was influenced by Buddhism. Gaudapda took over the Buddhist doctrines that ultimate reality is pure consciousness (vijñapti-mātra) and "that the nature of the world is the four-cornered negation". Gaudapada "wove into a philosophy of the Mandukya Upanishad, which was further developed by Shankara". Gaudapada also took over the Buddhist concept of "ajāta" from Nagarjuna's Madhyamaka philosophy. Gaudapada seems to have ignored the Brahma-sutras, and it was Shankara who succeeded in reading Gaudapada's mayavada, a polemic term used by opponents, into Badarayana's Brahma Sutras, "and give it a locus classicus", against the realistic strain of the Brahma Sutras.
Shankara (8th century CE) was a scholar who synthesized and systematized Advaita Vedanta views which already existed at his lifetime. Shankara propounded a unified reality, in which the innermost self of a person (atman) and the supernatural power of the entire world (brahman) are one and the same. Perceiving the changing multiplicity of forms and objects as the final reality is regarded as maya, "illusion", obscuring the unchanging ultimate reality of brahman.
While Shankara has an unparalleled status in the history of Advaita Vedanta, Shankara's early influence in India is doubtful. Until the 11th century, Vedanta itself was a peripheral school of thought, and until the 10th century Shankara himself was overshadowed by his older contemporary Maṇḍana Miśra, who was considered to be the major representative of Advaita.
Several scholars suggest that the historical fame and cultural influence of Shankara and Advaita Vedanta grew only centuries later, during the era of the Muslim invasions and consequent devastation of India, due to the efforts of Vidyaranya (14th c.), who created legends to turn Shankara into a "divine folk-hero who spread his teaching through his digvijaya ("universal conquest") all over India like a victorious conqueror."
Shankara's position was further established in the 19th and 20th centuries, when neo-Vedantins and western Orientalists elevated Advaita Vedanta "as the connecting theological thread that united Hinduism into a single religious tradition". Advaita Vedanta has acquired a broad acceptance in Indian culture and beyond as the paradigmatic example of Hindu spirituality, Shankara became "an iconic representation of Hindu religion and culture", despite the fact that most Hindus do not adhere to Advaita Vedanta.
Contact with Persia and Mesopotamia
Hindu and also Buddhist religious and secular learning had first reached Persia in an organised manner in the 6th century, when the Sassanid Emperor Khosrow I (531–579) deputed Borzuya the physician as his envoy, to invite Indian and Chinese scholars to the Academy of Gondishapur. Burzoe had translated the Sanskrit Panchatantra. His Pahlavi version was translated into Arabic by Ibn al-Muqaffa' under the title of Kalila and Dimna or The Fables of Bidpai.
Under the Abbasid caliphate, Baghdad had replaced Gundeshapur as the most important centre of learning in the then vast Islamic Empire, wherein the traditions, as well as scholars of the latter, flourished. Hindu scholars were invited to the conferences on sciences and mathematics held in Baghdad.
Medieval and early modern periods (c. 1200–1850 CE)
Muslim period
Main articles: Muslim conquests in the Indian subcontinent and Islam in India-
The Kashi Vishwanath Temple was destroyed by the army of Delhi Sultan Qutb ud-Din Aibak.
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The Muslim conquests in the Indian subcontinent took place between the 13th and the 18th centuries. The Ghurid ruler Muhammad of Ghor laid the foundation of Muslim rule in India in 1192, expanding up to Bengal by 1202. The Ghurid Empire soon evolved into the Delhi Sultanate in 1206, transitioning to the Mamluk dynasty. During this historical period, Buddhism experienced a decline, and there were instances of religious tensions and conflicts in the Indian subcontinent. Some records indicate incidents of raids, property seizures, and the enslavement of some Hindu families. Additionally, there were accounts suggesting that some Hindus may have converted to Islam, possibly under various circumstances, including to secure their freedom. In between the periods of wars and conquests, there were periods of cooperation and syncretism. There were harmonious Hindu-Muslim relations in most Indian communities. No populations were expelled based on their religion by either the Muslim or Hindu kings, nor were attempts made to annihilate a specific religion.
In the 16th century, the Mughal Empire was established. Under the Mughals, India experienced a period of relative stability and prosperity. The Mughals were generally known for their religious tolerance, and they actively patronized the arts and literature. There were instances of religious conflicts between the Mughals and the Rajput over control of territories. Aurangzeb in particular was noted for his policies of religious intolerance towards non-Muslims and destruction of temples.
The impact and consequences of the Muslim conquest of South Asia remain subjects of scrutiny and diverse viewpoints. Will Durant characterizes the Muslim conquest of India as a particularly tumultuous chapter in history. He suggests that it was marked by significant violence and upheaval, which he attributes in part to factors such as internal divisions, the influence of religions like Buddhism and Jainism. Alain Daniélou criticized the Muslim rulers, claiming that the violence was often justified in the name of religious holy wars. Other, like Sir Thomas Arnold and De Lacy O'Leary, criticized the view that Islam was spread by force and sword as 'absurd.' According to Ira Lapidus, while instances of forced conversion in Muslim regions did occur, they were relatively infrequent. Muslim conquerors generally sought to exert control rather than enforce conversion, with the majority of conversions to Islam being voluntary in nature.
Bhakti Vedanta
Teachers such as Ramanuja, Madhva, and Chaitanya aligned the Bhakti movement with the textual tradition of Vedanta, which until the 11th century was only a peripheral school of thought, while rejecting and opposing the abstract notions of Advaita. Instead, they promoted emotional, passionate devotion towards the more accessible Avatars, especially Krishna and Rama.
Unifying Hinduism
According to Nicholson, already between the 12th and the 16th century, "certain thinkers began to treat as a single whole the diverse philosophical teachings of the Upanishads, epics, Puranas, and the schools known retrospectively as the 'six systems' (saddarsana) of mainstream Hindu philosophy." Michaels notes that a historicization emerged which preceded later nationalism, articulating ideas which glorified Hinduism and the past.
Several scholars suggest that the historical fame and cultural influence of Shankara and Advaita Vedanta was intentionally established during this period. Vidyaranya (14th c.), also known as Madhava and a follower of Shankara, created legends to turn Shankara, whose elevated philosophy had no appeal to gain widespread popularity, into a "divine folk-hero who spread his teaching through his digvijaya ("universal conquest") all over India like a victorious conqueror." In his Savadarsanasamgraha ("Summary of all views") Vidyaranya presented Shankara's teachings as the summit of all darsanas, presenting the other darsanas as partial truths which converged in Shankara's teachings. Vidyaranya enjoyed royal support, and his sponsorship and methodical efforts helped establish Shankara as a rallying symbol of values, spread historical and cultural influence of Shankara's Vedānta philosophies, and establish monasteries (mathas) to expand the cultural influence of Shankara and Advaita Vedānta.
Eastern Ganga and Surya States
Konark Sun Temple at Konark, Odisha, built by Narasimhadeva I (1238–1264 CE) of the Eastern Ganga dynasty
Jagannath Temple, Puri built by Anantavarman Chodaganga Deva
Eastern Ganga and Surya were Hindu polities, which ruled much of present-day Odisha (historically known as Kalinga) from the 11th century until the mid-16th century CE. During the 13th and 14th centuries, when large parts of India were under the rule of Muslim powers, an independent Kalinga became a stronghold of Hindu religion, philosophy, art, and architecture. The Eastern Ganga rulers were great patrons of religion and the arts, and the temples they built are considered among the masterpieces of Hindu architecture.
Early Modern period (c. 1500–1850 CE)
The fall of Vijayanagara Empire to Muslim rulers had marked the end of Hindu imperial defences in the Deccan. But, taking advantage of an over-stretched Mughal Empire (1526–1857), Hinduism once again rose to political prestige, under the Maratha Empire, from 1674 to 1818.
Vijayanagara Empire
The Vijayanagara Empire was established in 1336 by Harihara I and his brother Bukka Raya I of Sangama dynasty, which originated as a political heir of the Hoysala Empire, Kakatiya Empire, and the Pandyan Empire. The empire rose to prominence as a culmination of attempts by the south Indian powers to ward off Islamic invasions by the end of the 13th century. According to one narrative, the empire's founders Harihara I and Bukka Raya I were two brothers in the service of the Kampili chief. After Kampili fell to the Muslim invasion, they were taken to Delhi and converted to Islam. They were sent back to Kampili as the Delhi Sultan's vassals. After gaining power in the region, they approached Vidyaranya, who converted them back to the Hindu faith.
The Vijayanagara Emperors were tolerant of all religions and sects, as writings by foreign visitors show. The kings used titles such as Gobrahamana Pratipalanacharya (literally, "protector of cows and Brahmins") and Hindurayasuratrana (lit. "upholder of Hindu faith") that testified to their intention of protecting Hinduism and yet were at the same time staunchly Islamicate in their court ceremonials and dress. The empire's founders, Harihara I and Bukka Raya I, were devout Shaivas (worshippers of Shiva), but made grants to the Vaishnava order of Sringeri with Vidyaranya as their patron saint, and designated Varaha (the boar, an avatar of Vishnu) as their emblem. Over one-fourth of the archaeological dig found an "Islamic Quarter" not far from the "Royal Quarter". Nobles from Central Asia's Timurid kingdoms also came to Vijayanagara. The later Saluva and Tuluva kings were Vaishnava by faith, but worshipped at the feet of Virupaksha (Shiva) at Hampi as well as Venkateswara (Vishnu) at Tirupati. A Sanskrit work, Jambavati Kalyanam by King Krishnadevaraya, called Virupaksha Karnata Rajya Raksha Mani ("protective jewel of Karnata Empire"). The kings patronised the saints of the dvaita order (philosophy of dualism) of Madhvacharya at Udupi.
The Bhakti (devotional) movement was active during this time, and involved well known Haridasas (devotee saints) of that time. Like the Virashaiva movement of the 12th century, this movement presented another strong current of devotion, pervading the lives of millions. The haridasas represented two groups, the Vyasakuta and Dasakuta, the former being required to be proficient in the Vedas, Upanishads and other Darshanas, while the Dasakuta merely conveyed the message of Madhvacharya through the Kannada language to the people in the form of devotional songs (Devaranamas and Kirthanas). The philosophy of Madhvacharya was spread by eminent disciples such as Naraharitirtha, Jayatirtha, Sripadaraya, Vyasatirtha, Vadirajatirtha and others. Vyasatirtha, the guru (teacher) of Vadirajatirtha, Purandaradasa (Father of Carnatic music) and Kanakadasa earned the devotion of King Krishnadevaraya. The king considered the saint his Kuladevata (family deity) and honoured him in his writings. During this time, another great composer of early carnatic music, Annamacharya composed hundreds of Kirthanas in Telugu at Tirumala – Tirupati, in present-day Andhra Pradesh.
The Vijayanagara Empire created an epoch in South Indian history that transcended regionalism by promoting Hinduism as a unifying factor. The empire reached its peak during the rule of Sri Krishnadevaraya when Vijayanagara armies were consistently victorious. The empire annexed areas formerly under the Sultanates in the northern Deccan and the territories in the eastern Deccan, including Kalinga, while simultaneously maintaining control over all its subordinates in the south. Many important monuments were either completed or commissioned during the time of Krishna Deva Raya.
Vijayanagara went into decline after the defeat in the Battle of Talikota (1565). After the death of Aliya Rama Raya in the Battle of Talikota, Tirumala Deva Raya started the Aravidu dynasty, moved and founded a new capital of Penukonda to replace the destroyed Hampi, and attempted to reconstitute the remains of Vijayanagara Empire. Tirumala abdicated in 1572, dividing the remains of his kingdom to his three sons, and pursued a religious life until his death in 1578. The Aravidu dynasty successors ruled the region but the empire collapsed in 1614, and the final remains ended in 1646, from continued wars with the Bijapur Sultanate and others. During this period, more kingdoms in South India became independent and separate from Vijayanagara. These include the Mysore Kingdom, Keladi Nayaka, Nayaks of Madurai, Nayaks of Tanjore, Nayakas of Chitradurga and Nayak Kingdom of Gingee – all of which declared independence and went on to have a significant impact on the history of South India in the coming centuries.
Renovations of temples by the Vijayanagara Empire
The Vijayanagara Empire renovated many ancient temples of Ancient Tamilakam, they made significant contributions to temples like Srirangam Ranganathaswamy Perumal temple, Madurai Meenakshi Amman Temple, Kallalagar temple, Rajagopalaswamy Temple, Mannargudi and many more.
Srirangam Ranganathaswamy Perumal temple under the Vijayanagara Empire site saw over 200 years of stability, repairs, first round of fortifications, and addition of mandapas. The Maha Vishnu and Mahalakshmi images were reinstalled and the site became a Hindu temple again in 1371 CE under Kumara Kampana, a Vijayanagara commander and the son of Bukka I. In the last decade of the 14th century, a pillared antechamber was gifted by the Vijayanagara rulers. In the 15th century, they coated the apsidal roofs with solid gold sheets, followed by financing the addition of a series of new shrines, mandapas and gopuras to the temple.The Nayakas fortified the temple town and the seven prakaras. Now this temple is the largest temple compound in India and one of the largest religious complexes in the world. Some of these structures have been renovated, expanded and rebuilt over the centuries as a living temple. Srirangam temple is often listed as one of the largest functioning Hindu temple in the world.
Mughal period
Chaturbhuj Temple, dedicated to Vishnu
Lakshmi Temple, dedicated to LakshmiChaturbhuj and Lakshmi temples, located in Orchha, were built by Hindu Rajput Orchha State, who were vassal of the Mughal Empire.
The official state religion of Mughal India was Islam, with the preference to the jurisprudence of the Hanafi Madhhab (Mazhab). Hinduism remained under strain during Babur and Humanyun's reigns. Sher Shah Suri, the Afghan ruler of North India was comparatively non-repressive. Hinduism came to fore during the three-year rule of Hindu ruler Hemu Vikramaditya during 1553–1556 when he had defeated Akbar at Agra and Delhi and had taken up the reign from Delhi as a Hindu 'Vikramaditya' after his 'Rajyabhishake' or coronation at Purana Quila in Delhi. However, during Mughal history, at times, subjects had the freedom to practise any religion of their choice, though kafir able-bodied adult males with income were obliged to pay the jizya, which signified their status as dhimmis.
Akbar, the Mughal emperor Humayun's son and heir from his Sindhi queen Hameeda Banu Begum, had a broad vision of Indian and Islamic traditions. One of Emperor Akbar's most unusual ideas regarding religion was Din-i-Ilahi (Faith of God), which was an eclectic mix of Islam, Zoroastrianism, Hinduism, Jainism and Christianity. It was proclaimed the state religion until his death. These actions, however, met with stiff opposition from the Muslim clergy, especially the Sufi Shaykh Alf Sani Ahmad Sirhindi. Akbar's abolition of poll-tax on non-Muslims, acceptance of ideas from other religious philosophies, toleration of public worship by all religions and his interest in other faiths showed an attitude of considerable religious tolerance, which, in the minds of his orthodox Muslim opponents, were tantamount to apostasy. Akbar's imperial expansion acquired many Hindu states, many of whom were Hindu Rajputs, through vassalage. The Rajput vassals maintained semi-autonomy in running religious affairs. Many Hindu Rajput vassals built monumental Hindu temples during the period, such as Chaturbhuj Temple and Lakshmi Temple at Orchha, by the Mughal vassal, the Hindu Rajput Orchha State.
Akbar's son, Jahangir, half Rajput, was also a religious moderate, his mother being Hindu. The influence of his two Hindu queens (the Maharani Maanbai and Maharani Jagat) kept religious moderation as a centre-piece of state policy which was extended under his son, Emperor Shah Jahan, who was by blood 75% Rajput and less than 25% Moghul.
Somnath temple in ruins, 1869
Front view of the present Somnath TempleThe Somnath temple was first attacked by Muslim Turkic invader Mahmud of Ghazni and repeatedly rebuilt after being demolished by successive Muslim rulers, including the Mughals under Aurangzeb.
Religious orthodoxy would only play an important role during the reign of Shah Jahan's son and successor, Aurangzeb, a devout Sunni Muslim. Aurangzeb was comparatively less tolerant of other faiths than his predecessors had been; and has been subject to controversy and criticism for his policies that abandoned his predecessors' legacy of pluralism, citing his introduction of the jizya tax, doubling of custom duties on Hindus while abolishing it for Muslims, destruction of Hindu temples, forbidding construction and repairs of some non-Muslim temples, and the executions of Maratha ruler Sambhaji and the ninth Sikh guru, Guru Tegh Bahadur, and his reign saw an increase in the number and importance of Islamic institutions and scholars. He led many military campaigns against the remaining non-Muslim powers of the Indian subcontinent – the Sikh states of Punjab, the last independent Hindu Rajputs and the Maratha rebels – as also against the Shia Muslim kingdoms of the Deccan. He also virtually stamped out, from his empire, open proselytisation of Hindus and Muslims by foreign Christian missionaries, who remained successfully active, however, in the adjoining regions (i.e regions outside of his dominion) namely: present day Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Goa. The Hindus in Konkan were helped by Marathas, Hindus in Punjab, Kashmir and North India were helped by Sikhs and Hindus in Rajasthan and Central India were helped by Rajputs.
Maratha Empire
Main article: Maratha EmpireThe Hindu Marathas had resisted incursions into the region by the Muslim Mughal rulers of northern India. Under their ambitious leader Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, the Maratha freed themselves from the Muslim sultans of Bijapur to the southeast and, becoming much more aggressive, began to frequently raid Mughal territory. The Marathas had spread and conquered much of central India by Shivaji's death in 1680. Subsequently, under the able leadership of Brahmin prime ministers (Peshwas), the Maratha Empire reached its zenith; Pune, the seat of Peshwas, flowered as a centre of Hindu learning and traditions. The empire at its peak stretched from Tamil Nadu in the south, to Peshawar, present day Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the north, and Bengal in the east.
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The last Hindu empire of India, the Maratha Empire, in 1760 CE
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Ahilya Ghat, part of the Ghats in Varanasi, many of which were built by the Marathas
Kingdom of Nepal
Main article: Kingdom of Nepal Further information: Hinduism in NepalKing Prithvi Narayan Shah, the last Gorkhali monarch, self-proclaimed the newly unified Kingdom of Nepal as Asal Hindustan ("Real Land of Hindus") due to North India being ruled by the Islamic Mughal rulers. The proclamation was done to enforce Hindu social code Dharmaśāstra over his reign and refer to his country as being inhabitable for Hindus. He also referred Northern India as Mughlan (Country of Mughals) and called the region infiltrated by Muslim foreigners.
After the Gorkhali conquest of Kathmandu valley, King Prithvi Narayan Shah expelled the Christian Capuchin missionaries from Patan and revisioned Nepal as Asal Hindustan ("real land of Hindus"). The Hindu Tagadharis, a Nepalese Hindu socio-religious group, were given the privileged status in the Nepalese capital thereafter. Since then Hinduisation became the significant policy of the Kingdom of Nepal. Professor Harka Gurung speculates that the presence of Islamic Mughal rule and Christian British rule in India had compelled the foundation of Brahmin Orthodoxy in Nepal for the purpose building a haven for Hindus in the Kingdom of Nepal.
Early colonialism
Further information: Christianity in India and Goa Inquisition
The Goa Inquisition was the office of the Christian Inquisition acting in the Indian city of Goa and the rest of the Portuguese empire in Asia. Francis Xavier, in a 1545 letter to John III, requested for an Inquisition to be installed in Goa. It was installed eight years after the death of Francis Xavier in 1552. Established in 1560 and operating until 1774, this highly controversial institution was aimed primarily at Hindus and wayward new converts.
The Battle of Plassey would see the emergence of the British as a political power; their rule later expanded to cover much of India over the next hundred years, conquering all of the Hindu states on the Indian subcontinent, with the exception of the Kingdom of Nepal. While the Maratha Empire remained the preeminent power in India, making it the last remaining Hindu empire, until their defeat in the Third Anglo-Maratha War which left the East India Company in control of most of India; as noted by acting Governor-General Charles Metcalfe, after surveying and analyzing the conditions in India, in 1806 wrote: "India contains no more than two great powers, British and Mahratta." During this period, Northeastern India was divided into many kingdoms, most notable being the Kingdom of Manipur, which ruled from their seat of power at Kangla Palace and developed a sophisticated Hindu Gaudiya Vaishnavism culture, later the kingdom became a princely state of the British. The Kingdom of Mysore was defeated in the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War by the British East India Company, leading to the reinstatement of the Hindu Wadiyar dynasty in Mysore as a princely states. In 1817, the British went to war with the Pindaris, raiders who were based in Maratha territory, which quickly became the Third Anglo-Maratha War, and the British government offered its protection to the mainly Hindu Rajput rulers of Rajputana from the Pindaris and the Marathas. The mainly Hindu Palaiyakkarar states emerged from the fall of the Vijayanagara Empire, and were a bastion of Hindu resistance; and managed to weather invasions and survive till the advent of the British. From 1799 to 1849, the Sikh Empire, ruled by members of the Sikh religion, emerged as the last major indigenous power in the Northwest of the Indian subcontinent under the leadership of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. After the death of Ranjit Singh, the empire weakened, alienating Hindu vassals and Wazirs, and leading to the conflict with the British East India Company, marked the downfall of the Sikh Empire, making it the last area of the Indian subcontinent to be conquered by the British. The entire subcontinent fell under British rule (partly indirectly, via princely states) following the Indian Rebellion of 1857.
Modern Hinduism (after c. 1850 CE)
With the onset of the British Raj, the colonization of India by the British, there also started a Hindu Renaissance in the 19th century, which profoundly changed the understanding of Hinduism in both India and the west. Indology as an academic discipline of studying Indian culture from a European perspective was established in the 19th century, led by scholars such as Max Müller and John Woodroffe. They brought Vedic, Puranic and Tantric literature and philosophy to Europe and the United States. Western orientalist searched for the "essence" of the Indian religions, discerning this in the Vedas, and meanwhile creating the notion of "Hinduism" as a unified body of religious praxis and the popular picture of 'mystical India'. This idea of a Vedic essence was taken over by Hindu reform movements as the Brahmo Samaj, which was supported for a while by the Unitarian Church, together with the ideas of Universalism and Perennialism, the idea that all religions share a common mystic ground. This "Hindu modernism", with proponents like Vivekananda, Aurobindo, Rabindranath and Radhakrishnan, became central in the popular understanding of Hinduism.
Hindu revivalism
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During the 19th century, Hinduism developed a large number of new religious movements, partly inspired by the European Romanticism, nationalism, scientific racism and esotericism (Theosophy) popular at the time (while conversely and contemporaneously, India had a similar effect on European culture with Orientalism, "Hindoo style" architecture, reception of Buddhism in the West and similar). According to Paul Hacker, "the ethical values of Neo-Hinduism stem from Western philosophy and Christianity, although they are expressed in Hindu terms".
These reform movements are summarised under Hindu revivalism and continue into the present.
- Swaminarayan establishes the Swaminarayan Sampradaya sect around 1800.
- Brahmo Samaj is a social and religious movement founded in Kolkata in 1828 by Raja Ram Mohan Roy. He was one of the first Indians to visit Europe and was influenced by western thought. He died in Bristol, England. The Brahmo Samaj movement thereafter resulted in the Brahmo religion in 1850 founded by Debendranath Tagore — better known as the father of Rabindranath Tagore.
- Ramakrishna and his pupil Swami Vivekananda led reform in Hinduism in the late 19th century. Their ideals and sayings have inspired numerous Indians as well as non-Indians, Hindus as well as non-Hindus.
- Arya Samaj ("Society of Nobles") is a Hindu reform movement in India that was founded by Swami Dayananda in 1875. He was a sannyasin (renouncer) who believed in the infallible authority of the Vedas. Dayananda advocated the doctrine of karma and reincarnation, and emphasised the ideals of brahmacharya (chastity) and sanyasa (renunciation). Dayananda claimed to be rejecting all non-Vedic beliefs altogether. Hence the Arya Samaj unequivocally condemned idolatry, animal sacrifices, ancestor worship, pilgrimages, priestcraft, offerings made in temples, the caste system, untouchability and child marriages, on the grounds that all these lacked Vedic sanction. It aimed to be a universal church based on the authority of the Vedas. Dayananda stated that he wanted 'to make the whole world Aryan', i.e. he wanted to develop missionary Hinduism based on the universality of the Vedas. To this end, the Arya Samaj started Shuddhi movement in the early 20th century to bring back to Hinduism people converted to Islam and Christianity, set up schools and missionary organisations, and extended its activities outside India.
Reception in the West
Main article: Hinduism in the WestAn important development during the British colonial period was the influence Hindu traditions began to form on Western thought and new religious movements. An early champion of Indian-inspired thought in the West was Arthur Schopenhauer who in the 1850s advocated ethics based on an "Aryan-Vedic theme of spiritual self-conquest", as opposed to the ignorant drive toward earthly utopianism of the superficially this-worldly "Jewish" spirit. Helena Blavatsky moved to India in 1879, and her Theosophical Society, founded in New York in 1875, evolved into a peculiar mixture of Western occultism and Hindu mysticism over the last years of her life.
The sojourn of Swami Vivekananda to the World Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1893 had a lasting effect. Vivekananda founded the Ramakrishna Mission, a Hindu missionary organisation still active today.
In the early 20th century, Western occultists influenced by Hinduism include Maximiani Portaz – an advocate of "Aryan Paganism" – who styled herself Savitri Devi and Jakob Wilhelm Hauer, founder of the German Faith Movement. It was in this period, and until the 1920s, that the swastika became a ubiquitous symbol of good luck in the West before its association with the Nazi Party became dominant in the 1930s.
Hinduism-inspired elements in Theosophy were also inherited by the spin-off movements of Ariosophy and Anthroposophy and ultimately contributed to the renewed New Age boom of the 1960s to 1980s, the term New Age itself deriving from Blavatsky's 1888 The Secret Doctrine.
Influential 20th-century Hindus were Ramana Maharshi, B. K. S. Iyengar, Paramahansa Yogananda, Prabhupada (founder of ISKCON), Sri Chinmoy, Swami Rama and others who translated, reformulated and presented Hinduism's foundational texts for contemporary audiences in new iterations, raising the profiles of Yoga and Vedanta in the West and attracting followers and attention in India and abroad.
Contemporary Hinduism
Main articles: Hindu reform movements, Hindu denominations, Contemporary Sant Mat movements, List of Hindu organisations, and Hinduism by countryHinduism is followed by around 1.1 billion people in India. Other significant populations are found in Nepal (21.5 million), Bangladesh (13.1 million), and the Indonesian island of Bali (3.9 million). The majority of the Vietnamese Cham people also follow Hinduism, with the largest proportion in Ninh Thuận province.
Neo-Hindu movements in the West
Further information: Hinduism in the WestIn modern times Smarta-views have been highly influential in both the Indian and western understanding of Hinduism via Neo-Vedanta. Vivekananda was an advocate of Smarta-views, and Radhakrishnan was himself a Smarta-Brahman. According to iskcon.org,
Many Hindus may not strictly identify themselves as Smartas but, by adhering to Advaita Vedanta as a foundation for non-sectarianism, are indirect followers.
Influential in spreading Hinduism to a western audience were Swami Vivekananda, Paramahansa Yogananda, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (Hare Krishna movement), Sri Aurobindo, Meher Baba, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (Transcendental Meditation), Jiddu Krishnamurti, Sathya Sai Baba, Mother Meera, among others.
Hindutva
Main article: HindutvaIn the 20th century, Hinduism also gained prominence as a political force and a source for national identity in India. With origins traced back to the establishment of the Hindu Mahasabha in the 1910s, the movement grew with the formulation and development of the Hindutva ideology in the following decades; the establishment of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in 1925; and the entry, and later success, of RSS offshoots Jana Sangha and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in electoral politics in post-independence India. Hindu religiosity plays an important role in the nationalist movement.
Besides India, the idea of Hindu nationalism and Hindutva can also be seen in the other areas with good population of Hindus, such as in Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Malaysia. In the modern world, the Hindu identity and nationalism is encouraged by many organisations as per their areas and territories. In India, Sangh Parivar is the umbrella organisation for most of the Hindu nationalist organisations, including that of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Bharatiya Janata Party, Vishva Hindu Parishad, etc. The other nationalist organisations include Siva Senai (Sri Lanka), Nepal Shivsena, Rastriya Prajatantra Party, Hindu Prajatantrik Party, (Nepal) Bangabhumi (Bangladesh) and HINDRAF (Malaysia).
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Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh in India
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Saffron Flag of Hinduism in India
See also
Notes
- There is no exact dating possible for the beginning of the Vedic period. Witzel mentions a range between 1900 and 1400 BCE. Flood mentions 1500 BCE.
- Lockard (2007, p. 50): "The encounters that resulted from Aryan migration brought together several very different peoples and cultures, reconfiguring Indian society. Over many centuries a fusion of Aryan and Dravidian occurred, a complex process that historians have labeled the Indo-Aryan synthesis." Lockard: "Hinduism can be seen historically as a synthesis of Aryan beliefs with Harappan and other Dravidian traditions that developed over many centuries."
- Hiltebeitel (2007, p. 12): "A period of consolidation, sometimes identified as one of 'Hindu synthesis', 'Brahmanic synthesis', or 'orthodox synthesis', takes place between the time of the late Vedic Upanishads (c. 500 BCE) and the period of Gupta imperial ascendency (c. 320–467 CE)."
- See also:
- J. H. Hutton (1931), in Ghurye (1980, pp. 3–4)
- Zimmer (1951, pp. 218–219)
- Tyler (1973), India: An Anthropological Perspective, Goodyear Publishing Company. In: Sjoberg (1990, p. 43).
- Sjoberg (1990)
- Flood (1996, p. 16)
- Vijay Nath (2001)
- Werner (2005, pp. 8–9)
- Lockard (2007, p. 50)
- Hiltebeitel (2007)
- Hopfe & Woodward (2008, p. 79)
- Samuel (2010)
- ^ See:
- White (2006, p. 28): "he religion of the Vedas was already a composite of the indo-Aryan and Harappan cultures and civilizations."
- Gombrich (1996, pp. 35–36): "It is important to bear in mind that the Indo-Aryans did not enter an uninhabited land. For nearly two millennia they and their culture gradually penetrated India, moving east and south from their original seat in the Punjab. They mixed with people who spoke Munda or Dravidian languages, who have left no traces of their culture beyond some archaeological remains; we know as little about them as we would about the Indo-Aryans if they had left no texts. In fact we cannot even be sure whether some of the archaeological finds belong to Indo-Aryans, autochthonous populations, or a mixture. It is to be assumed – though this is not fashionable in Indian historiography – that the clash of cultures between Indo-Aryans and autochtones was responsible for many of the changes in Indo-Aryan society. We can also assume that many – perhaps most – of the indigenous population came to be assimilated into Indo-Aryan culture.
- ^ The date of the production of the written texts does not define the date of origin of the Puranas (Johnson 2009, p. 247). They may have existed in some oral form before being written down (Johnson 2009, p. 247).
- ^ Michaels (2004, p. 38): "The legacy of the Vedic religion in Hinduism is generally overestimated. The influence of the mythology is indeed great, but the religious terminology changed considerably: all the key terms of Hinduism either do not exist in Vedic or have a completely different meaning. The religion of the Veda does not know the ethicised migration of the soul with retribution for acts (karma), the cyclical destruction of the world, or the idea of salvation during one's lifetime (jivanmukti; moksa; nirvana); the idea of the world as illusion (maya) must have gone against the grain of ancient India, and an omnipotent creator god emerges only in the late hymns of the rgveda. Nor did the Vedic religion know a caste system, the burning of widows, the ban on remarriage, images of gods and temples, Puja worship, Yoga, pilgrimages, vegetarianism, the holiness of cows, the doctrine of stages of life (asrama), or knew them only at their inception. Thus, it is justified to see a turning point between the Vedic religion and Hindu religions." See also Halbfass 1991, pp. 1–2
- University of Oslo: "During the period following Ashoka, until the end of the 7th century AD, the great gift ceremonies honoring the Buddha remained the central cult of Indian imperial kingdoms".
- Samuel (2010, p. 76): "Certainly, there is substantial textual evidence for the outward expansion of Vedic-Brahmanical culture." Samuel (2010, p. 77): "he Buddhist sutras describe what was in later periods a standard mechanism for the expansion of Vedic-Brahmanical culture: the settlement of Brahmins on land granted by local rulers." See also Vijay Nath (2001).
Samuel (2010, p. 199): "By the first and second centuries CE, the Dravidian-speaking regions of the south were also increasingly being incorporated into the general North and Central Indian cultural pattern, as were parts at least of Southeast Asia. The Pallava kingdom in South India was largely Brahmanical in orientation although it included a substantial Jain and Buddhist population, while Indic states were also beginning to develop in Southeast Asia."
- Larson (1995, p. 81): "Also, the spread of the culture of North India to the South was accomplished in many instances by the spread of Buddhist and Jain institutions (monasteries, lay communities, and so forth). The Pallavas of Kanci appear to have been one of the main vehicles for the spread of specifically Indo-Brahmanical or Hindu institutions in the South, a process that was largely completed after the Gupta Age. As Basham has noted, "the contact of Aryan and Dravidian produced a vigorous cultural synthesis, which in turn had an immense influence on Indian civilization as a whole."
- Flood (1996, p. 129): "The process of Sanskritization only began to significantly influence the south after the first two centuries CE and Tamil deities and forms of worship became adapted to northern Sanskrit forms."
- Wendy Doniger: "If Sanskritization has been the main means of connecting the various local traditions throughout the subcontinent, the converse process, which has no convenient label, has been one of the means whereby Hinduism has changed and developed over the centuries. Many features of Hindu mythology and several popular gods—such as Ganesha, an elephant-headed god, and Hanuman, the monkey god—were incorporated into Hinduism and assimilated into the appropriate Vedic gods by this means. Similarly, the worship of many goddesses who are now regarded as the consorts of the great male Hindu gods, as well as the worship of individual unmarried goddesses, may have arisen from the worship of non-Vedic local goddesses. Thus, the history of Hinduism can be interpreted as the interplay between orthoprax custom and the practices of wider ranges of people and, complementarily, as the survival of features of local traditions that gained strength steadily until they were adapted by the Brahmans." Vijay Nath (2001, p. 31): "Visnu and Siva, on the other hand, as integral components of the Triad while continuing to be a subject of theological speculation, however, in their subsequent "avataras" began to absorb countless local cults and deities within their folds. The latter were either taken to represent the multiple facets of the same god or else were supposed to denote different forms and appellations by which the god came to be known and worshipped. Thus, whereas Visnu came to subsume the cults of Narayana, Jagannatha, Venkateswara and many others, Siva became identified with countless local cults by the sheer suffixing of Isa or Isvarato the name of the local deity, e.g., Bhutesvara, Hatakesvara, Chandesvara."
- Wendy Doniger: "The process, sometimes called 'Sanskritization', began in Vedic times and was probably the principal method by which the Hinduism of the Sanskrit texts spread through the subcontinent and into Southeast Asia. Sanskritization still continues in the form of the conversion of tribal groups, and it is reflected in the persistence of the tendency among some Hindus to identify rural and local deities with the gods of the Sanskrit texts."
- Different periods are designated as "classical Hinduism":
- Smart (2003, p. 52) calls the period between 1000 BCE and 100 CE "pre-classical". It is the formative period for the Upanishads and Brahmanism Jainism and Buddhism. For Smart, the "classical period" lasts from 100 to 1000 CE, and coincides with the flowering of "classical Hinduism" and the flowering and deterioration of Mahayana-buddhism in India.
- For Michaels (2004, pp. 36, 38), the period between 500 BCE and 200 BCE is a time of "Ascetic reformism", whereas the period between 200 BCE and 1100 CE is the time of "classical Hinduism", since there is "a turning point between the Vedic religion and Hindu religions".
- Muesse (2003, p. 14) discerns a longer period of change, namely between 800 BCE and 200 BCE, which he calls the "Classical Period". According to Muesse, some of the fundamental concepts of Hinduism, namely karma, reincarnation and "personal enlightenment and transformation", which did not exist in the Vedic religion, developed in this time.
- Stein (2010, p. 107) The Indian History Congress, formally adopted 1206 CE as the date medieval India began.
- Doniger 2010, p. 66: "Much of what we now call Hinduism may have had roots in cultures that thrived in South Asia long before the creation of textual evidence that we can decipher with any confidence. Remarkable cave paintings have been preserved from Mesolithic sites dating from c. 30,000 BCE in Bhimbetka, near present-day Bhopal, in the Vindhya Mountains in the province of Madhya Pradesh."
- Jones & Ryan 2006, p. xvii: "Some practices of Hinduism must have originated in Neolithic times (c. 4000 BCE). The worship of certain plants and animals as sacred, for instance, could very likely have very great antiquity. The worship of goddesses, too, a part of Hinduism today, may be a feature that originated in the Neolithic."
- Mallory 1989, p. 38f. The separation of the early Indo-Aryans from the Proto-Indo-Iranian stage is dated to roughly 1800 BCE in scholarship.
- Michaels (2004, p. 33): "They called themselves arya ('Aryans', literally 'the hospitable', from the Vedic arya, 'homey, the hospitable') but even in the Rgveda, arya denotes a cultural and linguistic boundary and not only a racial one."
- There is no exact dating possible for the beginning of the Vedic period. Witzel (1995, pp. 3–4) mentions a range between 1900 and 1400 BCE. Flood (1996, p. 21) mentions 1500 BCE.
- Allchin & Erdosy (1995): "There has also been a fairly general agreement that the Proto-Indoaryan speakers at one time lived on the steppes of Central Asia and that at a certain time they moved southwards through Bactria and Afghanistan, and perhaps the Caucasus, into Iran and India-Pakistan (Burrow 1973; Harmatta 1992)."
- Kulke & Rothermund (1998): "During the last decades intensive archaeological research in Russia and the Central Asian Republics of the former Soviet Union as well as in Pakistan and northern India has considerably enlarged our knowledge about the potential ancestors of the Indo-Aryans and their relationship with cultures in west, central and south Asia. Previous excavations in southern Russia and Central Asia could not confirm that the Eurasian steppes had once been the original home of the speakers of Indo-European language."
- The Aryan migration theory has been challenged by some researchers (Michaels 2004, p. 33, Singh 2008, p. 186), due to a lack of archaeological evidence and signs of cultural continuity (Michaels 2004, p. 33), hypothesizing instead a slow process of acculturation or transformation (Michaels 2004, p. 33, Flood 1996, pp. 30–35). Nevertheless, linguistic and archaeological data clearly show a cultural change after 1750 BCE (Michaels 2004, p. 33), with the linguistic and religious data clearly showing links with Indo-European languages and religion (Flood 1996, p. 33). According to Singh 2008, p. 186, "The dominant view is that the Indo-Aryans came to the subcontinent as immigrants."
- Zimmer's point of view is supported by other scholars, such as:
- Smart (1964, pp. 27–32)
- Belvakar & Ranade (1974, pp. 81, 303–409)
- Flood (2008, pp. 273–274): "The second half of the first millennium BCE was the period that created many of the ideological and institutional elements that characterise later Indian religions. The renouncer tradition played a central role during this formative period of Indian religious history ... Some of the fundamental values and beliefs that we generally associate with Indian religions in general and Hinduism, in particular, were in part the creation of the renouncer tradition. These include the two pillars of Indian theologies: samsara – the belief that life in this world is one of suffering and subject to repeated deaths and births (rebirth); moksa/nirvana – the goal of human existence."
- King (1999) notes that Radhakrishnan was a representative of Neo-Vedanta, which had a specific understanding of Indian religions: "The inclusivist appropriation of other traditions, so characteristic of neo-Vedanta ideology, appears on three basic levels. First, it is apparent in the suggestion that the (Advaita) Vedanta philosophy of Sankara (c. eighth century CE) constitutes the central philosophy of Hinduism. Second, in an Indian context, neo-Vedanta philosophy subsumes Buddhist philosophies in terms of its own Vedantic ideology. The Buddha becomes a member of the Vedanta tradition, merely attempting to reform it from within. Finally, at a global level, neo-Vedanta colonises the religious traditions of the world by arguing for the centrality of a non-dualistic position as the philosophia perennis underlying all cultural differences."
- ^ Michaels (2004, p. 38): "At the time of upheaval , many elements of the Vedic religion were lost".
- Klostermaier 2007, p. 55: "Kautas, a teacher mentioned in the Nirukta by Yāska (ca. 500 BCE), a work devoted to an etymology of Vedic words that were no longer understood by ordinary people, held that the word of the Veda was no longer perceived as meaningful "normal" speech but as a fixed sequence of sounds, whose meaning was obscure beyond recovery."
- Klostermaier: "Brahman, derived from the root bŗh = to grow, to become great, was originally identical with the Vedic word, that makes people prosper: words were the principal means to approach the gods who dwelled in a different sphere. It was not a big step from this notion of "reified speech-act" to that "of the speech-act being looked at implicitly and explicitly as a means to an end". Klostermaier 2007, p. 55 quotes Madhav M. Deshpande (1990), Changing Conceptions of the Veda: From Speech-Acts to Magical Sounds, p. 4.
- Hiltebeitel (2007, p. 13): "The emerging self-definitions of Hinduism were forged in the context of continuous interaction with heterodox religions (Buddhists, Jains, Ajivikas) throughout this whole period, and with foreign people (Yavanas, or Greeks; Sakas, or Scythians; Pahlavas, or Parthians; and Kusanas, or Kushans) from the third phase on .
- Larson (2009, p. 185): "n contrast to the sruti, which Hindus, for the most part, pay little more than lip service to."
- Michaels (2004, p. 40) mentions the Durga temple in Aihole and the Visnu Temple in Deogarh. Michell (1977, p. 18) notes that earlier temples were built of timber, brick and plaster, while the first stone temples appeared during the period of Gupta rule.
- Michaels (2004, p. 41):
- In the east the Pala Empire (770–1125 CE),
- in the west and north the Gurjara-Pratihara (7th–10th century),
- in the southwest the Rashtrakuta Dynasty (752–973),
- in the Dekkhan the Chalukya dynasty (7th–8th century),
- and in the south the Pallava dynasty (7th–9th century) and the Chola dynasty (9th century).
- McRae (2003): This resembles the development of Chinese Chán during the An Lu-shan rebellion and the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period (907–960/979), during which power became decentralised end new Chán-schools emerged.
- ^ Inden (1998, p. 67): "Before the eighth century, the Buddha was accorded the position of universal deity and ceremonies by which a king attained to imperial status were elaborate donative ceremonies entailing gifts to Buddhist monks and the installation of a symbolic Buddha in a stupa ... This pattern changed in the eighth century. The Buddha was replaced as the supreme, imperial deity by one of the Hindu gods (except under the Palas of eastern India, the Buddha's homeland) ... Previously the Buddha had been accorded imperial-style worship (puja). Now as one of the Hindu gods replaced the Buddha at the imperial centre and pinnacle of the cosmo-political system, the image or symbol of the Hindu god comes to be housed in a monumental temple and given increasingly elaborate imperial-style puja worship."
- Thapar (2003, p. 325): The king who ruled not by conquest but by setting in motion the wheel of law.
- The term "mayavada" is still being used, in a critical way, by the Hare Krshnas. See
- The tendency of "a blurring of philosophical distinctions" has also been noted by Burley (2007, p. 34). Lorenzen locates the origins of a distinct Hindu identity in the interaction between Muslims and Hindus (Lorenzen 2006, pp. 24–33), and a process of "mutual self-definition with a contrasting Muslim other" which started well before 1800 (Lorenzen 2006, pp. 26–27). Both the Indian and the European thinkers who developed the term "Hinduism" in the 19th century were influenced by these philosophers (Nicholson 2010, p. 2)
- Owing to his contributions to carnatic music, Purandaradasa is known as Karnataka Sangita Pitamaha. (Kamat, Saint Purandaradasa)
- Many historians consider Attock to be the final frontier of the Maratha Empire.
- This conjunction of nationalism and religion is not unique to India. The complexities of Asian nationalism are to be seen and understood in the context of colonialism, modernization and nation-building. See, for example, Anagarika Dharmapala, for the role of Theravada Buddhism in Sri Lankese struggle for independence (McMahan 2008), and D. T. Suzuki, who conjuncted Zen to Japanese nationalism and militarism, in defense against both western hegemony and the pressure on Japanese Zen during the Meiji Restoration to conform to Shinbutsu Bunri (Sharf 1993, Sharf 1995).
- Rinehart (2004, p. 198): Neo-Vedanta also contributed to Hindutva ideology, Hindu politics and communalism. Yet, Rinehart emphasises that it is "clear that there isn't a neat line of causation that leads from the philosophies of Rammohan Roy, Vivekananda and Radhakrishnan to the agenda of ... militant Hindus."
- See:
- "Oldest religion":
- Fowler (1997, p. 1): "probably the oldest religion in the world"
- Gellman & Hartman (2011): "Hinduism, the world's oldest religion"
- Stevens (2001, p. 191): "Hinduism, the oldest religion in the world"
- Sarma (1987, p. ): the "oldest living religion"
- The "oldest living major religion" in the world.(Klostermaier 2007, p. 1)
- Laderman (2003, p. 119): "world's oldest living civilisation and religion"
- Turner & 1996-B, p. 359): "It is also recognized as the oldest major religion in the world."
See also:- Urreligion, Shamanism, Animism, Ancestor worship for some of the oldest forms of religion
- Sarnaism and Sanamahism, Indian Tribal religions connected to the earliest migrations into India
- Australian Aboriginal mythology, one of the oldest surviving religions in the world.
- "Oldest religion":
- Among its roots are the Vedic religion (Flood 1996, p. 16) of the late Vedic period and its emphasis on the status of Brahmans (Samuel 2010, pp. 48–53), but also the religions of the Indus Valley civilisation (Narayanan 2009, p. 11, Lockard 2007, p. 52, Hiltebeitel 2007, p. 3, Jones & Ryan 2006, p. xviii), the Sramana (Gomez 2013, p. 42) or renouncer traditions (Flood 1996, p. 16) of east India (Gomez 2013, p. 42), and "popular or local traditions" (Flood 1996, p. 16).
- More specifically, between c. 500 (Hiltebeitel 2007, p. 12) - 200 (Larson 2009) BCE and c. 300 CE (Hiltebeitel 2007, p. 12) in or after the period of the Second Urbanisation, and during the early classical period of Hinduism (200 BCE – 300 CE) (Hiltebeitel 2007, p. 12, Larson 2009).
- ^ Scholars such as Jan Gonda have used the term ancient Hinduism, distinguishing it from "recent Hinduism".
Jamison & Witzel (1992, p. 3) use the term "Vedic Hinduism," but state:"... to call this period Vedic Hinduism is a contradictio in terminis since Vedic religion is very different from what we generally call Hindu religion – at least as much as Old Hebrew religion is from medieval and modern Christian religion. However, Vedic religion is treatable as a predecessor of Hinduism".
Michaels (2004, p. 38) also emphasizes the differences: "The legacy of the Vedic religion in Hinduism is generally overestimated. The influence of the mythology is indeed great, but the religious terminology changed considerably: all the key terms of Hinduism either do not exist in Vedic or have a completely different meaning. The religion of the Veda does not know the ethicised migration of the soul with retribution for acts (karma), the cyclical destruction of the world, or the idea of salvation during one's lifetime (jivanmukti; moksa; nirvana); the idea of the world as illusion (maya) must have gone against the grain of ancient India, and an omnipotent creator god emerges only in the late hymns of the rgveda. Nor did the Vedic religion know a caste system, the burning of widows, the ban on remarriage, images of gods and temples, Puja worship, Yoga, pilgrimages, vegetarianism, the holiness of cows, the doctrine of stages of life (asrama), or knew them only at their inception. Thus, it is justified to see a turning point between the Vedic religion and Hindu religions."
See also Halbfass (1991, pp. 1–2)
Encyclopedia Britannica, Vedic religion: "It takes its name from the collections of sacred texts known as the Vedas. Vedism is the oldest stratum of religious activity in India for which there exist written materials. It was one of the major traditions that shaped Hinduism."
The Encyclopædia Britannica, Brahmanism, further explains that from the Vedic religion emerged Brahmanism, a religious tradition of ancient India. It states, "Brahmanism emphasized the rites performed by, and the status of, the Brahman, or priestly, class as well as speculation about Brahman (the Absolute reality) as theorized in the Upanishads (speculative philosophical texts that are considered to be part of the Vedas, or scriptures)."
From Brahmanism developed Hinduism, when it was synthesized, around the start of the Common Era, with the non-Vedic Indo-Aryan religious heritage of the eastern Ganges plain and with local religious traditions; see Witzel 1995; Hiltebeitel 2002; Welbon 2004; Bronkhorst 2007; Samuel 2010.
Subnotes
- Ghurye: He considers modern Hinduism to be the result of an amalgam between pre-Aryan Indian beliefs of Mediterranean inspiration and the religion of the Rigveda. "The Tribal religions present, as it were, surplus material not yet built into the temple of Hinduism".
- Tyler, in India: An Anthropological Perspective (1973), p. 68, as quoted by Sjoberg, calls Hinduism a "synthesis" in which the Dravidian elements prevail: "The Hindu synthesis was less the dialectical reduction of orthodoxy and heterodoxy than the resurgence of the ancient, aboriginal Indus civilization. In this process the rude, barbaric Aryan tribes were gradually civilised and eventually merged with the autochthonous Dravidians. Although elements of their domestic cult and ritualism were jealously preserved by Brahman priests, the body of their culture survived only in fragmentary tales and allegories embedded in vast, syncretistic compendia. On the whole, the Aryan contribution to Indian culture is insignificant. The essential pattern of Indian culture was already established in the third millennium B.C., and ... the form of Indian civilization perdured and eventually reasserted itself."
- Hopfe & Woodward (2008, p. 79): "The religion that the Aryans brought with them mingled with the religion of the native people, and the culture that developed between them became classical Hinduism."
- Smart (2003, pp. 52, 83–86) distinguishes "Brahmanism" from the Vedic religion, connecting "Brahmanism" with the Upanishads.
- 30,000 BCE is incorrect; this must be 8,000 BCE.
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- Basham, A. L. (1967), The Wonder That was India
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- "History of Hinduism". Encarta. 31 October 2002. Archived from the original on 29 October 2009. Retrieved 25 November 2005.
- "The history of Hinduism (article)". Khan Academy.
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