History or origin for
Hinduism
The Brief History or origin for hinduism can
be explained by the following steps:
»
Advanced civilization began to flourish in Indus
River Valley ca 2500 BC (Abraham, ca 1800)
»
Drainage systems, from houses to brick sewers
»
Brick houses, several stories high
» Large
city baths
» Well
planned streets
» Irrigation
ditches
»Timeline
» Pre-Aryan
to 1500 BCE
» Brahmanism
to 450 BCE
»Vedas/
Upanishads
»Classical
period to 600 CE
»
Bhagavad Gita
»
Medieval period to 1600 CE
»
Modern period 1600 -
»
Ca. 1500 the Aryans invaded (a fair-skinned
people); “Aryans” – “the
noble ones”
»
Primarily shepherds
» Many
Dravidians migrated south, which the Aryans
never controlled
»
Aryans considered the Dravidians inferior to
them; established social barriers
»
Beginnings of caste system
»
Later the caste system became part of Hinduism
»
Four Castes: (varnas)
» Brahmins
– the priests and scholars
» Kshatriyas
– rulers and warriors
» Vaishyas
– merchants and professionals
» Shudras
– laborers and servants
» Thousands
of sub-castes, each has its own set of rules
» Every
individual knows where they stand and how they
are expected to act (duty)
» The
“untouchables” existed outside the
caste system for centuries
» The
Indian constitution of 1950 outlawed untouchability
and gave the group full citizenship
» Mohandas
Gandhi (d. 1940) was influential in the struggle
for this right
» The
caste system has weakened some, but still very
strong
The Aryans - “Noble Folk”
»
Invaded from NW – dominated North &
Central India
»The
religion of the Aryans combined with the religion
of the people of India (Dasyu) resulted
in:
»
Hinduism
»
Jainism
»
Buddhism
Main Characteristics
and features of hinduism
»
“Hindu”- ancient Persian term translating
a Greek term (Indos) that translated the Sanskrit
name for the Indus River – “Sindhu”.
“
» Hinduism”
was applied to the religion
» The
name was applied to the people
»
Hindus themselves use the term “dharma”
– duty for their religion
» Jainism
& Buddhism came from Hinduism as reforms
