The History of India & Hinduism

 

----- Original Message -----

From: Amal Rasheed

 

Dear brothers and sisters,

Kindly understand that Hinduism was not an authentically Indian religion but the result of cultural imperialism.

Hinduism has a long and complex history. It is a blend of ancient legends, beliefs and customs which has adapted, blended with, and spawned numerous creeds and practices.

'Aryan', is a Sanskrit word meaning 'noble', refers to an invading race. There is ongoing controversy over which version of Hindu history is the correct one.

Archaeological excavations in the Punjab and Indus valleys have revealed the existence of urban cultures at Harappa, the prehistoric capital of the Punjab (located in modern Pakistan); and Mohenjo-daro on the banks of the River Indus.

Archaeological work continues on other sites at Kalibangan, Lothal and Surkotada.

The excavations have revealed signs of early rituals and worship.

• In Mohenjodaro, for example, a large bath has been found, with side rooms and statues which could be evidence of early purification rites.
• Elsewhere, phallic symbols and a large number statues of goddesses have been discovered which could suggest the practice of early fertility rites.

This early Indian culture is sometimes called the Indus Valley civilisation.

The Aryans may have come to India from the areas around southern Russia and the Baltic.

They brought with them their language and their religious traditions. These both influenced and were influenced by the religious practices of the peoples who were already living in India.

Worship

• The Indus valley communities used to gather at rivers for their religious rituals.
• The Aryans gathered around fire for their rituals.
• The Indus valley communities regarded rivers as sacred, and had both male and female gods.
• The Aryan gods represented the forces of nature; the sun, the moon, fire, storm and so on.

Over time, the different religious practices tended to blend together.

Sacrifices were made to gods such as Agni, the God of Fire, and Indra, the God of storms.

Writings:-
Aspects of the Aryan faith began to be written down around 800 BCE in literature known as the Vedas. These developed from their oral and poetic traditions.

You can see some of the Vedic tradition in Hindu worship today.

The Caste System
The Aryans also introduced the varna system (varna = estates or classes) to India, which may have contributed to the caste system we see today. 

It was established and practised by the Aryan priests who divided society into three parts:

• The priests (or Brahmins).
• The warriors (the Kshatriyas).
• The ordinary people.

The Aryan Invasion Theory
One of the most controversial ideas about Hindu history is the Aryan invasion theory.

This theory, originally devised by F. Max Muller in 1848, traces the history of Hinduism to the invasion of India's indigenous people by lighter skinned Aryans around 1500 BCE.

The theory was reinforced by other research over the next 120 years, and became the accepted history of Hinduism, not only in the West but in India.

The Aryan invasion theory was based on archaeological, linguistic and ethnological evidence.

Dangers of the theory
The Aryan invasion theory denies the Indian origin of India's predominant culture, but gives the credit for Indian culture to invaders from elsewhere.

It even teaches that some of the most revered books of Hindu scripture are not actually Indian, and it devalues India's culture by portraying it as less ancient than it actually is.

The theory included racist ideas:

• it suggested that Indian culture was not a culture in its own right, but a synthesis of elements from other cultures
• it implied that Hinduism was not an authentically Indian religion but the result of cultural imperialism
• it suggested that Indian culture was static, and only changed under outside influences
• it suggested that the dark-skinned Dravidian people of the South of India had got their faith from light-skinned Aryan invaders
• it implied that indigenous people were incapable of creatively developing their faith
• it suggested that indigenous peoples could only acquire new religious and cultural ideas from other races, by invasion or other processes
• it accepted that race was a biologically based concept (rather than, at least in part, a social construct) that provided a sensible way of ranking people in a hierarchy, which provided a partial basis for the caste system
• it provided a basis for racism in the Imperial context by suggesting that the peoples of Northern India were descended from invaders from Europe and so racially closer to the British Raj
• it gave a historical precedent to justify the role and status of the British Raj, who could argue that they were transforming India for the better in the same way that the Aryans had done thousands of years earlier