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, ending at about 1750 BCE. This period was followed in northern India by the Vedic period, which saw the introduction of the historical Vedic religion with the Indo-Aryan migrations, starting somewhere between 1900 BCE to 1400 BCE.[434][note 30] The subsequent period, between 800 BCE and 200 BCE, is “a turning point between the Vedic religion and Hindu religions”,[437] and a formative period for Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism. The Epic and Early Puranic period, from c. 200 BCE to 500 CE, saw 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 Vedanta. Monotheistic sects like Shaivism and Vaishnavism developed during this same period through the Bhakti movement. The period from roughly 650 to 1100 CE forms the late Classical period[12] or early Middle Ages, in which classical Puranic Hinduism is established, and Adi Shankara‘s influential consolidation of Advaita Vedanta.
Hinduism under both Hindu and Islamic rulers from c. 1200 to 1750 CE,[438][439] saw the increasing prominence of the Bhakti movement, which remains influential today. The co[...x]
lonial 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.
The intrincate evolution of hinduism
If there is one thing that is common to pan-Indian “Hinduism” (the nineteenth century name for the post-Vedic religion Brahmanism), it is the varna-hierarchy. In the varna hierarchy there are two poles: one of purity and one of pollution – which makes people worthy and contemptible. This worthiness and unworthiness is distributed in the hierarchy. The top-most varna is considered the most worthy and the bottom-most the most unworthy. Distribution of worth and non-worth is decided by one’s karma in past lives and supported by the theory of transmigration of souls. No matter how much the Hindus deny the practice of caste discrimination in their faith, the foundation of Hinduism is inherently discriminatory and full of hostilities. Hinduism, or Brahminism, in its essence I would argue, is pure caste-hatred.
Though Brahmins claim the Vedas as their holy texts, the religion that we find in the Vedas themselves has little to do with contemporary Brahminism. In fact, the religion that we find in the oldest of the Vedas, the Rig Veda, which scholars classify as Early Vedism, is the very anti-thesis of Brahminism, what with its celebration of beef-eating, gambling, drinking and sexual orgies. The religion that has clear resemblance to contemporary Brahminism was largely consolidated in the post-Vedic age called the ‘Brahmana period’. In its earliest form, Brahminism was a ritualistic religion with the priestly caste of Brahmins wielding supreme power over the masses by claiming magical and supernatural powers for their rituals. The three gunas of sattva (goodness), rajas (passion) and tamas (darkness), hierarchically distributed among worthy and non-worthy varnas, formed its central tenet. But Brahminism, due to its Brahmin-supremacist and discriminatory practices, lost its appeal among the masses and was replaced with the more egalitarian religions of Buddhism and Jainism sometime in fifth century BCE. By second century BCE, Buddhism, as the state religion of King Ashoka, was influential in a geographical area larger than present-day India. It was quite significant on a pan-Indian level until the seventh century AD, when the religion was violently uprooted and destroyed by Adi Shankara and his followers. Adi Shankara re-instituted Brahminism as a pan-Indian religion by building mutts in four strategic parts of the country. Nonetheless, this ultra Brahmin-supremacist version of Brahminism lost popularity in the eleventh century and was reinvented as Bhagavatism. The new drastically changed Bhagavatism became a popular sect in which the blue God, Krishna, was portrayed as an apocalyptic deity with qualities of a super-God. Brahmanism, never a monotheistic religion, now broke into mutually antagonistic and warring sects like Shaivism and Vaishnavism. And these Brahminical sects began competing with the more heterodox religions like Jainism, Sikhism and Veerashaivism to win over the masses, which craved a more egalitarian and humane society.
Scholars who see Bhagavatism as a unitary religion, forming a phase in the evolution of Brahminism, often overlook the existence of disparate Brahminical sects. But since Bhagavatism was the more dominant, and therefore central, sect, they see it as the reinvention of Brahminism itself. It became very popular among the masses by allowing them to reach God directly through the path of Bhakthi marga (the path of devotion). It was this Bhagavatism, which branched into various smaller sects like Sri Vaishnavism and Ramanand-ism. These smaller sects were then brought together, nationalised and reinvented in the nineteenth century as ‘Hinduism’.
Although this is an extremely simplified account of the religious sects of India through the ages, I hope it shows that there is little, if anything, that is common about the various sects that go by the name of ‘Hinduism’. Yet, Mohandas Gandhi, who became the secular face of Hinduism in the twentieth century, outlined what he called the backbone of ‘Hinduism’ or Sanatana Dharma. This backbone was the varna system. He believed that the varna system and its concomitant karma theory were the very foundation of ‘Hinduism’. And any attempt to get rid of the varna system would not only dismantle the unity of ‘Hinduism’ but would result in the disintegration of India itself. ‘Hinduism’ had to be preserved to keep India together. This politicisation of ‘Hinduism’ by Gandhi (which is perhaps a more secular version of the anti-Islamic, Brahmin-supremacist, nationalist and racist Hinduism, or Hindutva, put forward by V.D. Savarkar) is directly responsible for the rise of communal political parties in India. This also led to the perpetuation of ‘Hinduism’ as a religion defined solely by caste-hatred. Thus, those of us who are extremely proud and fond of the Indian past, have no way of protesting against caste discrimination, and the systematic apportioning of hatred in the varna system, without totally rejecting ‘Hinduism’ as it is defined today.
‘Hinduism’ is, in fact, largely atheistic. Five out of the six major schools of orthodox Indian philosophy, which ‘Hinduism’ calls its own, are atheistic. The sole theistic school is the Vedantist.