ORIGINS AND GROWTH OF

HINDUISM
lloyd v villanueva
• Hinduism originated around the indus valley near
the indus river (in present day pakistan)about 3 000
years ago with the migration of aryans from persia
to india. the aryans settled along the banks of indus
valley, bringing their own cultural and religious
habits,which later developed into a sysytem.
• the aryans believed in deities and offered sacrifices
as a form of honoring these deities. they also used
animals as sacrificial offerings.these beliefs and
practices heavily influenced the core religious traits
abd character of hinduism(e.g.,the belief in
hundreds of god and goddesses).
period significant events

3000-1500 BCE Aryans migrated to

(Indus valley india and established
civilization) a civilization near the
indus river.
1500-500 CE (vedic the vedas, the oldest
period) scriptures of
hinduism, were
composed.
500 BCE-500 the other scriptures or text of
CE hinduism, namely, the dharma
(epic,purganic, sutras,the shastras, the mahabharata,
and classical the ramayana, and the puranas, were
ages) composed. some pillars of hinduism,
such as devotion(bhakti) and temple
worship were developed.
the gupta empire flourished along
with the development of the great
traditions of vaishnavism (focussed on
vishnu), shaivism (focussed on shiva),
and shaktism(focussed on devi).
500-1200(early The gupta empire collapsed,
and middle resulting in the development of
medieval regional kingdoms which
period) patronized different deities.
religious literature, where hindu
poet-saints recorded their
devotional sentiments, flourished
in vernacular ( regional) languages.
1200-1757 muslim political power began with the
(muslim turkish sultanate around 1200 and
period) cultimated in the mughal (mogul)
empire (from 1526). akbar, the
founder of the empire, was a liberal
emperor and allowed hindus to
practice their religion freely. however,
his great grandson, aurangzeb, who
reigned from 1658-1705, restrcted
hindu practice and demolished many
temples.
1757-1947 Robert clive's victory at the battle of plassey
(british in 1757 established british supremacy in
period) india and heralded the collapse of the
mughal empire. At first, the british did not
interfere with the religion and culture of the
indian people. later , however, missionaries
arrived and begun preaching christianity.
Attempts to westernize and christianize india
prompted some hindus to defend their
religion and culture. Reformation movements
of the 19th and20th centuries transformed
hinduism by stimulating the tradition to
change and adapt.
these were
instrumental in sowing
the seeds of indian
nationaliam and a
missionary spirit that
later brought hinduism
to the west.
1947- the partition of india in 1947, and the
present resultant bloodshed, served only to
(independe reinforce nationalistic tendencies and
nt india) notions of india as " a hindu
country". subsequently, the large
number of hindu movements
imported into the west, and wide
migration of hidus themselves, meant
that hinduism was no longer simply
"the religion of india" it was
identified as one of the major world
religions.