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Chronology of India

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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 criticised, for the misconceptions it has given rise to. Another periodisation is the division into "ancient, classical, mediaeval and modern periods". Smart and Michaels seem to follow Mill's periodisation,, while Flood and Muesse follow the "ancient, classical, mediaeval and modern periods" periodisation.

Smart Michaels
(overall) 		Michaels
(detailed) 		Muesse Flood
Indus Valley Civilisation and Vedic period
(c. 3000–1000 BCE) 		Prevedic religions
(until c. 1750 BCE) 		Prevedic religions
(until c. 1750 BCE) 		Indus Valley Civilization
(3300–1400 BCE) 		Indus Valley Civilisation
(c. 2500 to 1500 BCE)
Vedic religion
(c. 1750–500 BCE) 		Early Vedic Period
(c. 1750–1200 BCE) 		Vedic Period
(1600–800 BCE) 		Vedic period
(c. 1500–500 BCE)
Middle Vedic Period
(from 1200 BCE)
Pre-classical period
(c. 1000 BCE – 100 CE) 		Late Vedic period
(from 850 BCE) 		Classical Period
(800–200 BCE)
Ascetic reformism
(c. 500–200 BCE) 		Ascetic reformism
(c. 500–200 BCE) 		Epic and Puranic period
(c. 500 BCE to 500 CE)
Classical Hinduism
(c. 200 BCE – 1100 CE) 		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) 		Islamic rule and "Sects of Hinduism"
(c. 1100–1850 CE)
Modern Age
(1500–present) 		Modern period
(c. 1500 CE to present)
Modern period
(c. 1750 CE – present) 		Modern Hinduism
(from c. 1850) 		Modern Hinduism
(from c. 1850)

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, 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, 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 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.

Notes

  1. Michaels mentions Flood 1996 as a source for "Prevedic Religions".
  2. Smart distinguishes "Brahmanism" from the Vedic religion, connecting "Brahmanism" with the Upanishads.

References

  1. ^ Khanna 2007, p. xvii.
  2. Misra 2004, p. 194.
  3. Kulke 2004, p. 7. sfn error: no target: CITEREFKulke2004 (help)
  4. Flood 1996, p. 21.
  5. ^ Smart 2003, p. 52-53.
  6. ^ Michaels 2004, p. 32.
  7. ^ Flood 1996.
  8. Michaels 2004, p. 31, 348.
  9. Muesse 2003.
  10. ^ Muesse 2011.
  11. Muesse 2011, p. 16.
  12. ^ Michaels 2004.
  13. Flood, 1996 & 21-22. sfn error: no target: CITEREFFlood199621-22 (help)
  14. ^ Michaels 2004, p. 38.
  15. Michaels 2004, p. 39.
  16. Michaels 2004, p. 40.
  17. Michaels 2004, p. 41.
  18. ^ Michaels 2004, p. 43.
  19. ^ Michaels 2004, p. 45.
  20. Smart 2003, p. 52, 83-86.
  21. Smart 2003, p. 52.
  22. Michaels 2004, p. 36.
  23. Muesse 2003, p. 14.

Sources

  • Flood, Gavin D. (1996), An Introduction to Hinduism, Cambridge University Press
  • Khanna, Meenakshi (2007), Cultural History Of Medieval India, Berghahn Books
  • Kulke, Hermann; Rothermund, Dietmar (2004), A History of India, Routledge
  • Michaels, Axel (2004), Hinduism. Past and present, Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press
  • Misra, Amalendu (2004), Identity and Religion: Foundations of Anti-Islamism in India, SAGE
  • Muesse, Mark William (2003), Great World Religions: Hinduism
  • Muesse, Mark W. (2011), The Hindu Traditions: A Concise Introduction, Fortress Press
  • Smart, Ninian (2003), Godsdiensten van de wereld (The World's religions), Kampen: Uitgeverij Kok