Page 84 - Encyclopedia Of World History Vol III

hinduism 903

God has made different religions to suit different
aspirations, times and countries...one can reach God
When and Where
if one follows any of the paths with wholehearted
World Religions Began
devotion. • Ramakrishna (1836–1886)
4000–2500 bce Hinduism South Asia
1300–1200 bce Judaism West Asia been destroyed by the Aryans’ warrior-god Indra. It later
500–400 bce Buddhism South Asia emerged that these cities were not destroyed by foreign
Confucianism China invaders but abandoned by 1750 BCE, probably because
of drastic climate changes.The Sarasvati River, described
Zoroastrianism West Asia
in the Rig Veda as a mighty river, had completely dried
Jainism South Asia
out by 1900 BCE.
400–221 bce Daoism China There is growing agreement today that the Vedic civi-
1st century ce Christianity West Asia, lization originated around 4000 BCE or earlier in north-
Europe ern India itself (and not in the West) and that the Indus
civilization (c. 2500–1750 BCE) now called the Sindhu-
3rd century ce Manichaeism West Asia
Sarasvati civilization, was part of it.When the settlements
6th century ce Shinto Japan
in Sapta Sindhava had to be abandoned, most of the
7th century ce Islam West Asia inhabitants moved east into the densely wooded region
11th century Orthodoxy West Asia of the land between the Yamuna and Ganges Rivers
15th–16th Sikhism South Asia (called the Yamuna-Ganges Doab), which became the
new center of Vedic civilization. Archaeologists affirm
century
that there is no cultural break between the earlier and the
16th century Protestantism Europe
later civilizations in North India.
19th century Latter-day Saints North
America
The Hindu Holy Land
Babi and Baha’i West Asia Hindu civilization was from the very beginning closely
19th–20th Pentecostalism North tied to the land that is present-day India. “The Mother-
century America land” has a unique emotional appeal for Indians: The
physical features of the country are associated with the
gods and goddesses, the religious practices, and the
To account for the close affinity of many European eschatological expectations of the Hindus. The Ganges
and Indian languages, around 1860 British scholars (or, in Sanskrit and Hindi, Ganga), the Yamuna, the Nar-
invented the Aryan invasion theory. Not supported by lit- mada, the Kaveri are not only reservoirs of water and
erary or archaeological evidence but based purely on lin- transportation ways, but also sources of inspiration and
guistic speculation, they asserted that a warrior people, ritual purification: They are divinities to be worshipped.
coming from the West, invaded India and imposed their The towns and cities along their banks—Varanasi,
culture, their language, and their social structure on the Mathura, Nasik, Prayaga (Allahabad), and so on—are
indigenous population. The supporters of this theory places where pilgrims congregate to obtain supernatural
equated this invading people with the Aryans mentioned blessings and from which one can reach liberation. The
in the Vedas, India’s ancient liturgical literature (c. 1500– Himalayas, the Vindhyas, the Ghats, and the Nilgiri Hills
1200 BCE). Such an invasion would have been quite a are the abodes of gods, sanctified by thousands of rishis
feat, considering that the indigenous population of India (visionaries or sages) and sannyasins (renunciates) since
at that time is estimated to have been around 23 million. ages immemorial. Ancient and medieval India was dot-
When in the 1920s the first major remnants of the ted with numerous sacred groves—large uninhabited
Indus Valley civilizations were unearthed—ruins of large, areas in which the gods dwelled and where nobody
ancient, well laid-out cities—these were first identified could harm an animal or a tree with impunity. Countless
with the fortified places described in the Vedas as having temples embellish India’s landscape, visibly transforming