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History of Hinduism goes 4000 years back. As per an estimate, Hinduism was established in year 2000 B.C (. Majority of Hindus reside in India and Nepal. There is no direct definition of Hinduism as there are many beliefs and practices associated with it. One can say that no one person is responsible for Hinduism. This is one religion where other religions have their roots within it, like Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism. In the entire history of the religion there have been a many personalities who have preached many philosophies. There have been many holy books and various writings on Hinduism. This religion many a times is referred as ‘a family of religions’, ‘a way of life’. Hence this is not single religion, but many ways into one religion.
Hinduism started with Indus valley civilisation around 2000BCE. Hinduism continued in the Vedic period (1500BCE – 500BCE), where ‘Aryans’ became a dominant force and migrated to various places in the sub-continent. This is the time when ‘Vedas’ were composed and its language was Vedic Sanskrit. Then came the Epic, Puranic and Classical age (500BCE – 500CE), where the concept of ‘Dharma’ (law, duty and truth) prevailed. Worshiping of Vishnu, Shiva and Devi commenced. The Medieval period (500CE – 1500CE) saw and era of Gurus and Poet-Saints, who propagated and developed Vaishnavism and Shaivism. Then came the Pre-Modern period (1500CE – 1757CE), where there was a rise in Sant traditions of Bhakti, Yoga and Sufism. The British period (1757CE – 1947CE) saw a lot of Hindu reformers. After 1947, till today, Hinduism is the mainstay religion of India.
During British period, V.D.Savarkar created a socio-political force of Hindus, which worked against the ‘threatening’ forces. After independence, this ideology was adopted by RSS and VHP and was further adopted by the political party BJP .
References
Religion Library: Hinduism. (2014). Retrieved from www.patheos.com: http://www.patheos.com/Library/Hinduism.html
The Monastic Path. (2014). Retrieved from www.photius.com: http://www.photius.com/religion/india_the_monastic_path.html
