Untouchability is a form of social institution that legitimises and enforces practices that are discriminatory, humiliating, exclusionary and exploitative against people belonging to certain social groups. Although comparable forms of discrimination are found all over the world, untouchability involving the caste system is largely unique to South Asia .
110-569: The Bharwad are a Hindu caste found in the state of Gujarat in India, primarily engaged in herding livestock. According to Sudipta Mitra, historians believe the Bharwards arrived in northern Gujarat in the 10th century, fleeing the Muslim invasions of Sindh . They then spread out throughout Saurashtra . According to their origin myth, the goddess Parvati fashioned animals and four men from
220-429: A Bharwad. That is the way it is among our caste. Better to die than change your clothes." The men commonly wear a silver ear-ring, called a variya , and a pagri (turban) . The length of the turban differs between the two divisions, and there are numerous ways of tying them. A white turban, rather than the more usual pink or red, is a symbol of seniority. Wearing Western-style clothing is still not generally accepted but
330-489: A Hindu religious identity". Scholars state that Hindu, Buddhist and Jain identities are retrospectively-introduced modern constructions. Inscriptional evidence from the 8th century onwards, in regions such as South India, suggests that medieval era India, at both elite and folk religious practices level, likely had a "shared religious culture", and their collective identities were "multiple, layered and fuzzy". Even among Hinduism denominations such as Shaivism and Vaishnavism,
440-463: A cave with their cows, which was actually a giant serpent owned by Brahma . Inside the cave was a duplicate universe, so the Bharvads never realized anything was amiss and did not leave. Krishna then created a new set of Bharvads to replace the ones who were lost. When Brahma released the trapped original Bharvads from his serpent, they became known as Nanabhai, while the ones created by Krishna became
550-668: A common name for the country. Al-Biruni 's 11th-century text Tarikh Al-Hind , and the texts of the Delhi Sultanate period use the term 'Hindu', where it includes all non-Islamic people such as Buddhists, and retains the ambiguity of being "a region or a religion". The 'Hindu' community occurs as the amorphous 'Other' of the Muslim community in the court chronicles, according to the Indian historian Romila Thapar . The comparative religion scholar Wilfred Cantwell Smith notes that
660-534: A consequence, religious groups have an interest in being recognised as distinct from the Hindu majority in order to qualify as a "religious minority". Thus, the Supreme Court was forced to consider the question whether Jainism is part of Hinduism in 2005 and 2006. Starting after the 10th century and particularly after the 12th century Islamic invasion, states Sheldon Pollock , the political response fused with
770-582: A diversity of beliefs, and seems to oscillate between Hindus holding a centralist and pluralist religious views. In the texts of Delhi Sultanate era, states Sharma, the term Hindu remains ambiguous on whether it means people of a region or religion, giving the example of Ibn Battuta's explanation of the name "Hindu Kush" for a mountain range in Afghanistan. It was so called, wrote Ibn Battuta, because many Indian slaves died there of snow cold, as they were marched across that mountain range. The term Hindu there
880-543: A fire, which he then shaped into Gowals (to watch over his cattle). Krishna had many wives, but due his generosity he gave away all but three of them. He wanted to give his last three wives to the Gowals, but they regarded Krishna as their father and would not accept wives from him. Later Krishna ordered the Gowals to watch over the cattle, but they complained that they would not work until they had wives. Thus Krishna took them to
990-571: A fixed set of religious beliefs within Hinduism. One need not be religious in the minimal sense, states Julius Lipner , to be accepted as Hindu by Hindus, or to describe oneself as Hindu. Hindus subscribe to a diversity of ideas on spirituality and traditions, but have no ecclesiastical order, no unquestionable religious authorities, no governing body, nor a single founding prophet; Hindus can choose to be polytheistic, pantheistic, monotheistic, monistic, agnostic, atheistic or humanist. Because of
1100-570: A geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for people living in the Indian subcontinent . It is assumed that the term "Hindu" traces back to Avestan scripture Vendidad which refers to land of seven rivers as Hapta Hendu which itself is a cognate to Sanskrit term Sapta Sindhuḥ (This term Sapta Sindhuḥ is mentioned in RigVeda that refers to a North western Indian region of seven rivers and as an India whole). The Greek cognates of
1210-569: A performer of the Vishvajit sacrifice must live with the Nishadas (a tribe regarded as untouchable in later period) for three days, in their village, and eat their food. Scholars such as Suvira Jaiswal, R. S. Sharma, and Vivekanand Jha characterize untouchability as a relatively later development after the establishment of the varna and caste system. Jha notes that the earliest Vedic text Rigveda makes no mention of untouchability, and even
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#17327830718481320-401: A reasonable construction of history. However, the existence of non-textual evidence such as cave temples separated by thousands of kilometers, as well as lists of medieval era pilgrimage sites, is evidence of a shared sacred geography and existence of a community that was self-aware of shared religious premises and landscape. Further, it is a norm in evolving cultures that there is a gap between
1430-430: A result of Western influence during its colonial history. Scholars such as Fleming and Eck state that the post-Epic era literature from the 1st millennium CE amply demonstrate that there was a historic concept of the Indian subcontinent as a sacred geography, where the sacredness was a shared set of religious ideas. For example, the twelve Jyotirlingas of Shaivism and fifty-one Shaktipithas of Shaktism are described in
1540-646: A sacred pilgrimage site is documented in the Varanasimahatmya text embedded inside the Skanda Purana , and the oldest versions of this text are dated to 6th to 8th-century CE. The idea of twelve sacred sites in Shiva Hindu tradition spread across the Indian subcontinent appears not only in the medieval era temples but also in copper plate inscriptions and temple seals discovered in different sites. According to Bhardwaj, non-Hindu texts such as
1650-756: A saint. [...] When Khusraw stopped at his residence, [Arjan] came out and had an interview with [Khusraw]. Giving him some elementary spiritual precepts picked up here and there, he made a mark with saffron on his forehead, which is called qashqa in the idiom of the Hindus and which they consider lucky. When this was reported to me, I realized how perfectly false he was and ordered him brought to me. I awarded his houses and dwellings and those of his children to Murtaza Khan, and I ordered his possessions and goods confiscated and him executed. Sikh scholar Pashaura Singh states, "in Persian writings, Sikhs were regarded as Hindu in
1760-408: A sample of households in India concludes that "Notwithstanding the likelihood of under-reporting of the practice of untouchability, 70 percent of the population reported not indulging in this practice. This is an encouraging sign." B. R. Ambedkar , an Indian social reformer and politician who came from a social group that was considered untouchable, theorized that untouchability originated because of
1870-607: A shawl. Bharwads are rarely educated beyond primary level and literacy rates are poor. Many of them live in and around the Gir Forest National Park , where they tend to keep away from the forest itself when grazing their livestock due to the danger of attacks by Asiatic lions . Aside from their involvement with livestock, the main source of income is agricultural labouring; few of them own land. Bharwads are classified in Gujarat as Other Backward Class , except in
1980-458: A temple, where he set two of them back-to-back and ordered them to circumambulate the temple in opposite directions. When they met on the other side, one of them had turned into a woman. Krishna order the two to be married, but the third Gowal complained that he was yet to have a wife. Krishna told him the creation of the world was already complete, and that he should share his older brothers wife. Westphal-Hellbusch and Westphal state that historically
2090-533: A uniform civil code, where all citizens are subject to the same laws, everyone has equal civil rights, and individual rights do not depend on the individual's religion. In contrast, opponents of Hindu nationalists remark that eliminating religious law from India poses a threat to the cultural identity and religious rights of Muslims, and people of Islamic faith have a constitutional right to Islamic shariah -based personal laws. A specific law, contentious between Hindu nationalists and their opponents in India, relates to
2200-604: A wedding or when a baby is born or cremation rituals. Some Hindus go on pilgrimage to shared sites they consider spiritually significant, practice one or more forms of bhakti or puja , celebrate mythology and epics, major festivals, love and respect for guru and family, and other cultural traditions. A Hindu could: In the Constitution of India , the word "Hindu" has been used in some places to denote persons professing any of these religions: Hinduism , Jainism , Buddhism or Sikhism . This however has been challenged by
2310-473: Is a controversial political subject, with no consensus about what it means or implies in terms of the form of government and religious rights of the minorities. There are 1.2 billion Hindus worldwide (15% of world's population), with about 95% of them being concentrated in India alone. Along with Christians (31.5%), Muslims (23.2%) and Buddhists (7.1%), Hindus are one of the four major religious groups of
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#17327830718482420-435: Is a necessity if a person is not to be considered a deserter from the community. The details of clothing — in terms of style, colour and material — have changed over time while retaining a distinct Bharwad character. Despite it being a relatively recent practice, the wearing of pink and red shawls by both women and men is one of the most obvious identifiers of the modern community and they are worn even by those who shun
2530-471: Is a term used to describe the culture and identity of Hindus and Hinduism , including the historic Vedic people . Hindu culture can be intensively seen in the form of art , architecture , history , diet , clothing , astrology and other forms. The culture of India and Hinduism is deeply influenced and assimilated with each other. With the Indianisation of southeast Asia and Greater India ,
2640-676: Is ambivalent and could mean geographical region or religion. The term Hindu appears in the texts from the Mughal Empire era. Jahangir , for example, called the Sikh Guru Arjan a Hindu: There was a Hindu named Arjan in Gobindwal on the banks of the Beas River. Pretending to be a spiritual guide, he had won over as devotees many simple-minded Indians and even some ignorant, stupid Muslims by broadcasting his claims to be
2750-478: Is an organic relation of Sikhs to Hindus, states Zaehner, both in religious thought and their communities, and virtually all Sikhs' ancestors were Hindus. Marriages between Sikhs and Hindus, particularly among Khatris , were frequent. Some Hindu families brought up a son as a Sikh, and some Hindus view Sikhism as a tradition within Hinduism, even though the Sikh faith is a distinct religion. Julius Lipner states that
2860-643: Is documented in Islamic literature such as those relating to 8th century Muhammad bin-Qasim , 11th century Mahmud of Ghazni , the Persian traveler Al Biruni, the 14th century Islamic army invasion led by Timur, and various Sunni Islamic rulers of the Delhi Sultanate and Mughal Empire. There were occasional exceptions such as Akbar who stopped the persecution of Hindus, and occasional severe persecution such as under Aurangzeb , who destroyed temples, forcibly converted non-Muslims to Islam and banned
2970-471: Is in store for Hinduism if there are two divisions set forth in the villages. Those who speak of the political rights of the untouchables don't know their India, don't know how Indian society is today constituted and therefore I want to say with all the emphasis that I can command that if I was the only person to resist this thing that I would resist it with my life. Gandhi achieved some success through his hunger strike however Dalit activists faced pressure from
3080-567: Is this Rama to be described.. who freed Varanasi from the mleccha (barbarian, Turk Muslim) horde, and built there a golden temple of Sarngadhara". Pollock notes that the Yadava king Ramacandra is described as a devotee of deity Shiva (Shaivism), yet his political achievements and temple construction sponsorship in Varanasi, far from his kingdom's location in the Deccan region, is described in
3190-879: The Burakumin of Japan, the Baekjeong of Korea, and the Ragyabpa of Tibet, as well as the Romani people and Cagot in Europe, and the Al-Akhdam in Yemen . Traditionally, the groups characterized as untouchable were those whose occupations and habits of life involved ritually "polluting" activities, such as pursuing a career based on killing (e.g. fishermen) or engaging in common contact with others' feces or sweat (e.g. manual scavengers , sweepers and washermen). According to
3300-533: The Dharmashastras which are ancient legal codes from various kingdoms in ancient India, certain peoples grouped either by ethnicity or profession were not considered a part of the varna based society. Therefore, they were not treated like the savarnas ( Brahmins , Kshatriyas , Vaishyas and Shudras ). According to Sarah Pinto , an anthropologist, modern untouchability in India applies to people whose work relates to "meat, and bodily fluids". Based on
3410-493: The Hindu Sabhas (Hindu associations), and ultimately a Hindu-identity driven nationalism in the 1920s. The colonial era Hindu revivalism and mobilisation, along with Hindu nationalism, states Peter van der Veer, was primarily a reaction to and competition with Muslim separatism and Muslim nationalism. The successes of each side fed the fears of the other, leading to the growth of Hindu nationalism and Muslim nationalism in
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3520-513: The Paraiyars , who played the drums during battles and solemn events such as births and deaths. People from these occupational groups came to be avoided by others, who believed that they were "dangerous and had the power to pollute the others". Jaiswal dismisses the evidence produced by Hart as "extremely weak" and contradictory. Jaiswal points out that the authors of the ancient Tamil texts included several Brahmanas (a fact accepted by Hart); thus,
3630-600: The United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom . These together accounted for 99% of the world's Hindu population, and the remaining nations of the world combined had about 6 million Hindus as of 2010 . The word Hindu is an exonym . This word Hindu is derived from the Indo-Aryan and Sanskrit word Sindhu , which means "a large body of water", covering "river, ocean". It was used as
3740-830: The Upanishads . The Puranas and the Itihasa (mainly Ramayana and the Mahabharata ) are enduring traditions among Indonesian Hindus, expressed in community dances and shadow puppet ( wayang ) performances. As in India, Indonesian Hindus recognise four paths of spirituality, calling it Catur Marga . Similarly, like Hindus in India, Balinese Hindus believe that there are four proper goals of human life, calling it Catur Purusartha – dharma (pursuit of moral and ethical living), artha (pursuit of wealth and creative activity), kama (pursuit of joy and love) and moksha (pursuit of self-knowledge and liberation). Hindu culture
3850-399: The "lived and historical realities" of a religious tradition and the emergence of related "textual authorities". The tradition and temples likely existed well before the medieval era Hindu manuscripts appeared that describe them and the sacred geography. This, states Fleming, is apparent given the sophistication of the architecture and the sacred sites along with the variance in the versions of
3960-587: The 17th-century Bhakta Mala text using the phrase "Hindu dharma ". Scholar Arvind Sharma notes that the term "Hindus" was used in the 'Brahmanabad settlement' which Muhammad ibn Qasim made with non-Muslims after the Arab invasion of northwestern Sindh region of India, in 712 CE. The term 'Hindu' meant people who were non-Muslims, and it included Buddhists of the region. In the 11th-century text of Al Biruni, Hindus are referred to as "religious antagonists" to Islam, as those who believe in rebirth, presents them to hold
4070-801: The 1920s, as a reaction to the Islamic Khilafat Movement wherein Indian Muslims championed and took the cause of the Turkish Ottoman sultan as the Caliph of all Muslims, at the end of the World War I . Hindus viewed this development as one of divided loyalties of Indian Muslim population, of pan-Islamic hegemony, and questioned whether Indian Muslims were a part of an inclusive anti-colonial Indian nationalism. The Hindu nationalism ideology that emerged, states Jeffrelot,
4180-579: The 19th century as a response to British colonialism by Indian nationalists and neo-Hinduism gurus. Jaffrelot states that the efforts of Christian missionaries and Islamic proselytizers, during the British colonial era, each of whom tried to gain new converts to their own religion, by stereotyping and stigmatising Hindus to an identity of being inferior and superstitious, contributed to Hindus re-asserting their spiritual heritage and counter cross examining Islam and Christianity, forming organisations such as
4290-521: The 7th-century CE Chinese text Records on the Western Regions by the Buddhist scholar Xuanzang . Xuanzang uses the transliterated term In-tu whose "connotation overflows in the religious" according to Arvind Sharma . While Xuanzang suggested that the term refers to the country named after the moon, another Buddhist scholar I-tsing contradicted the conclusion saying that In-tu was not
4400-571: The Bharvad shepherds. Krishna then created another set of Bharvads and animals, which became known as Motabhai (big brother), while the Bharvads who had been released by Kans became known as Nanabhai. The mother of the Motabhais did not want to recognize the Nanbhais as Bharvads, and it was only at Krishna's request that they were reaccepted into the community. In another version, the Bharvads enter
4510-515: The Bharvads practiced polyandry , and in modern times the younger brother marries his older brother's widow. The Bharwads consider themselves as the descendants of Nanda , the foster father of Krishna . The Bharvads claim they used to live in Gokul with Krishna. Once, Kans ordered the weather deities to destroy Gokul. To protect the inhabitants and animals, Krishna created another Gokul on his pinky finger to shelter them. However, Kans captured all
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4620-476: The European merchants and colonists began to refer to the followers of Indian religions collectively as Hindus. Other prominent mentions of 'Hindu' include the epigraphical inscriptions from Andhra Pradesh kingdoms who battled military expansion of Muslim dynasties in the 14th century, where the word 'Hindu' partly implies a religious identity in contrast to 'Turks' or Islamic religious identity. The term Hindu
4730-737: The Hindu identities, states Leslie Orr, lacked "firm definitions and clear boundaries". Overlaps in Jain-Hindu identities have included Jains worshipping Hindu deities, intermarriages between Jains and Hindus, and medieval era Jain temples featuring Hindu religious icons and sculpture. Beyond India, on Java island of Indonesia , historical records attest to marriages between Hindus and Buddhists, medieval era temple architecture and sculptures that simultaneously incorporate Hindu and Buddhist themes, where Hinduism and Buddhism merged and functioned as "two separate paths within one overall system", according to Ann Kenney and other scholars. Similarly, there
4840-642: The Hindu identity and religious response to Islamic invasion and wars developed in different kingdoms, such as wars between Islamic Sultanates and the Vijayanagara kingdom, and Islamic raids on the kingdoms in Tamil Nadu . These wars were described not just using the mythical story of Rama from Ramayana, states Chattopadhyaya, the medieval records used a wide range of religious symbolism and myths that are now considered as part of Hindu literature. This emergence of religious with political terminology began with
4950-523: The Hindu population at large to end his protest at the risk of his ailing health. The two sides eventually came to a compromise where the number of guaranteed seats for Untouchables would be increased at both central and provincial levels, but there would be a common electorate. The 1950 national constitution of India legally abolished the practice of untouchability and provided measures for affirmative action in both educational institutions and public services for Dalits and other social groups who lie within
5060-477: The Hindu-majority post-British India. After the separation of India and Pakistan in 1947, the Hindu nationalism movement developed the concept of Hindutva in second half of the 20th century. The Hindu nationalism movement has sought to reform Indian laws, that critics say attempts to impose Hindu values on India's Islamic minority. Gerald Larson states, for example, that Hindu nationalists have sought
5170-760: The Hindus and intensely scrutinized them, but did not interrogate and avoided reporting the practices and religion of Mughal and Arabs in South Asia", and often relied on Muslim scholars to characterise Hindus. In contemporary era, the term Hindus are individuals who identify with one or more aspects of Hinduism , whether they are practising or non-practicing or Laissez-faire . The term does not include those who identify with other Indian religions such as Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism or various animist tribal religions found in India such as Sarnaism . The term Hindu, in contemporary parlance, includes people who accept themselves as culturally or ethnically Hindu rather than with
5280-501: The Indian subcontinent. In the 20th century, the sense of religious nationalism grew in India, states van der Veer, but only Muslim nationalism succeeded with the formation of the West and East Pakistan (later split into Pakistan and Bangladesh), as "an Islamic state" upon independence. Religious riots and social trauma followed as millions of Hindus, Jains, Buddhists and Sikhs moved out of the newly created Islamic states and resettled into
5390-455: The Indic religious culture and doctrines. Temples dedicated to deity Rama were built from north to south India, and textual records as well as hagiographic inscriptions began comparing the Hindu epic of Ramayana to regional kings and their response to Islamic attacks. The Yadava king of Devagiri named Ramacandra , for example states Pollock, is described in a 13th-century record as, "How
5500-667: The Motabhai. In east and southeast Gujarat, where all pastoralists are Bharvads regardless of animals, a different story is held. Those Bharvads claim they, Gopalaks, were created by Shiva from the sacred fire, and that they lived with Krishna. When Krishna fled Mathura, the Gopalaks set out to find him. Where a river split into four tributaries, the Gopalaks split into four. One stream went to Marwar, one to Saurashtra, another to Gujarat, and another to South India. According to Barot Shamalji of Porbandar , Radha had 9 brothers known as
5610-474: The Nesses of the forests of Alech, Barada and Gir where they are Scheduled Tribes . Notes Citations Bibliography Hindu Traditional Hindus ( Hindustani: [ˈɦɪndu] ; / ˈ h ɪ n d uː z / ; also known as Sanātanīs ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism , also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma . Historically, the term has also been used as
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#17327830718485720-570: The Puranic literature. According to Diana L. Eck and other Indologists such as André Wink, Muslim invaders were aware of Hindu sacred geography such as Mathura, Ujjain, and Varanasi by the 11th century. These sites became a target of their serial attacks in the centuries that followed. The Hindus have been persecuted during the medieval and modern era. The medieval persecution included waves of plunder, killing, destruction of temples and enslavement by Turk-Mongol Muslim armies from central Asia. This
5830-725: The Sikhs and by neo-Buddhists who were formerly Hindus. According to Sheen and Boyle, Jains have not objected to being covered by personal laws termed under 'Hindu', but Indian courts have acknowledged that Jainism is a distinct religion. The Republic of India is in the peculiar situation that the Supreme Court of India has repeatedly been called upon to define "Hinduism" because the Constitution of India , while it prohibits "discrimination of any citizen" on grounds of religion in article 15, article 30 foresees special rights for "All minorities, whether based on religion or language". As
5940-542: The Yavanas [Muslims], The Kali age now deserves deepest congratulations for being at the zenith of its power, gone is the sacred learning, hidden is refinement, hushed is the voice of Dharma . The historiographic writings in Telugu language from the 13th- and 14th-century Kakatiya dynasty period presents a similar "alien other (Turk)" and "self-identity (Hindu)" contrast. Chattopadhyaya, and other scholars, state that
6050-529: The brothers went on to marry a Bharwad woman while the other married a Koli woman . Since the latter was a marriage outside the community, the offspring were deemed to be ritually polluted . Thus the Motabhai (literally, "big brother") descend from the first and the Nanabhai ("little brother") from the latter. The Bharwads are said to have a mixed-varna origins, from a Vaishya father and Shudra mother. Mitra notes that they are generally considered to be among
6160-537: The celebration of Hindu festivals such as Holi and Diwali . Other recorded persecution of Hindus include those under the reign of 18th century Tipu Sultan in south India, and during the colonial era. In the modern era, religious persecution of Hindus have been reported outside India in Pakistan and Bangladesh . Christophe Jaffrelot states that modern Hindu nationalism was born in Maharashtra , in
6270-410: The concept of untouchability is more pronounced in rural areas. American scholar George L. Hart , based on his interpretation of Old Tamil texts such as Purananuru , traced the origin of untouchability to ancient Tamil society. According to him, in this society, certain occupational groups were thought to be involved in controlling the malevolent supernatural forces; as an example, Hart mentions
6380-688: The concept was borrowed by the Indo-Aryans from the Dravidians. Scholars such as R. S. Sharma have rejected this theory, arguing that there is no evidence that Dravidians practised untouchability before coming into contact with the Indo-Aryans. Austrian ethnologist Christoph von Fürer-Haimendorf theorized that untouchability originated as class stratification in urban areas of the Indus Valley civilisation . According to this theory,
6490-494: The culture has also influenced a long region and other religions people of that area. All Indian religions , including Buddhism , Jainism and Sikhism are deeply influenced and soft-powered by Hinduism . Untouchability The term is most commonly associated with treatment of the Dalit communities in the Indian subcontinent who were considered "polluting". The term has also been used to refer to other groups, including
6600-431: The custom of distinguishing between Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, and Sikhs is a modern phenomena, but one that is a convenient abstraction. Distinguishing Indian traditions is a fairly recent practice, states Lipner, and is the result of "not only Western preconceptions about the nature of religion in general and of religion in India in particular, but also with the political awareness that has arisen in India" in its people and
6710-601: The deliberate policy of the Brahmins . According to him, the Brahmanas despised the people who gave up the Brahmanism in favour of Buddhism . Later scholars such as Vivekanand Jha have refuted this theory. Nripendra Kumar Dutt, a professor of history, theorized that the concept of untouchability originated from the " pariah "-like treatment accorded to the indigenous people of India by the early Dravidians , and that
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#17327830718486820-538: The early 20th century — comprised the bodice, an unstitched black or red waist-cloth, known as a jimi , and a veil. Motabhai clothing was made from thicker wool than that of the Nanabhai, leading to the two groups referring to themselves as "thick cloth" and "thin cloth". The veil was dyed black and bore red dots if the woman was a Motabhai and yellow if she was Nanabhai. While the styles and colours remain similar, modern Bharwad women use man-made fibres , such as polyester , and cotton. This change may be in part because
6930-477: The early medieval era Puranas as pilgrimage sites around a theme. This sacred geography and Shaiva temples with same iconography, shared themes, motifs and embedded legends are found across India, from the Himalayas to hills of South India, from Ellora Caves to Varanasi by about the middle of 1st millennium. Shakti temples, dated to a few centuries later, are verifiable across the subcontinent. Varanasi as
7040-539: The first Muslim invasion of Sindh in the 8th century CE, and intensified 13th century onwards. The 14th-century Sanskrit text, Madhuravijayam , a memoir written by Gangadevi , the wife of Vijayanagara prince, for example describes the consequences of war using religious terms, I very much lament for what happened to the groves in Madhura , The coconut trees have all been cut and in their place are to be seen, rows of iron spikes with human skulls dangling at
7150-486: The highest percentage of Hindus (in decreasing order) are Nepal , India , Mauritius , Fiji , Guyana , Bhutan , Suriname , Trinidad and Tobago , Qatar , Sri Lanka , Kuwait , Bangladesh , Réunion , Malaysia , and Singapore . The fertility rate, that is children per woman, for Hindus is 2.4, which is less than the world average of 2.5. Pew Research projects that there will be 1.4 billion Hindus by 2050. In more ancient times, Hindu kingdoms arose and spread
7260-609: The historical records in Vaishnavism terms of Rama, a deity Vishnu avatar. Pollock presents many such examples and suggests an emerging Hindu political identity that was grounded in the Hindu religious text of Ramayana, one that has continued into the modern times, and suggests that this historic process began with the arrival of Islam in India. Brajadulal Chattopadhyaya has questioned the Pollock theory and presented textual and inscriptional evidence. According to Chattopadhyaya,
7370-476: The influential Asiatick Researches founded in the 18th century, later called The Asiatic Society , initially identified just two religions in India – Islam, and Hinduism. These orientalists included all Indian religions such as Buddhism as a subgroup of Hinduism in the 18th century. These texts called followers of Islam as Mohamedans , and all others as Hindus . The text, by the early 19th century, began dividing Hindus into separate groups, for chronology studies of
7480-538: The later Vedic texts, which revile certain groups such as the Chandalas , do not suggest that untouchability existed in the contemporary society. According to Jha, in the later period, several groups began to be characterized as untouchable, a development which reached its peak during 600–1200 AD. Sharma theorizes that institution of untouchability arose when the aboriginal tribes with "low material culture" and "uncertain means of livelihood" came to be regarded as impure by
7590-486: The legal age of marriage for girls. Hindu nationalists seek that the legal age for marriage be eighteen that is universally applied to all girls regardless of their religion and that marriages be registered with local government to verify the age of marriage. Muslim clerics consider this proposal as unacceptable because under the shariah-derived personal law, a Muslim girl can be married at any age after she reaches puberty. Hindu nationalism in India, states Katharine Adeney,
7700-626: The local Indian population, in a religious or cultural sense, is unclear. Competing theories state that Hindu identity developed in the British colonial era , or that it may have developed post-8th century CE after the Muslim invasions and medieval Hindu–Muslim wars . A sense of Hindu identity and the term Hindu appears in some texts dated between the 13th and 18th century in Sanskrit and Bengali . The 14th- and 18th-century Indian poets such as Vidyapati , Kabir , Tulsidas and Eknath used
7810-474: The lowest of the pastoral castes, being engaged primarily in the herding of goats and sheep. However, although one of the Maldhari nomadic communities, they are also among the most urbanised of the region and, combined with their niche position in the supply of milk, which forms their main source of income, this has enabled them to improve their traditional social position. There is anecdotal evidence that pet chandla (marriage of children while they are still in
7920-509: The memoirs of Chinese Buddhist and Persian Muslim travellers attest to the existence and significance of the pilgrimage to sacred geography among Hindus by later 1st millennium CE. According to Fleming, those who question whether the term Hindu and Hinduism are a modern construction in a religious context present their arguments based on some texts that have survived into the modern era, either of Islamic courts or of literature published by Western missionaries or colonial-era Indologists aiming for
8030-415: The mid-19th century, colonial orientalist texts further distinguished Hindus from Buddhists , Sikhs and Jains , but the colonial laws continued to consider all of them to be within the scope of the term Hindu until about mid-20th century. Scholars state that the custom of distinguishing between Hindus, Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs is a modern phenomenon. At approximately 1.2 billion, Hindus are
8140-399: The military and political campaign during the medieval era wars in Deccan peninsula of India, and in the north India, were no longer a quest for sovereignty, they embodied a political and religious animosity against the "otherness of Islam", and this began the historical process of Hindu identity formation. Andrew Nicholson, in his review of scholarship on Hindu identity history, states that
8250-433: The modern materials are of finer texture but it is more likely than it came about because of their relative cheapness. Cost is an important factor among the generally penurious community and women could sell the woollen fabric that they had used for clothing for a greater price than they paid for the replacement man-made fabric clothes. Tarlo quotes a Bharwad woman saying that "If you wear a sari then you can no longer be called
8360-679: The name of the Indus River and also referred to its tributaries. The actual term 'hindu' first occurs, states Gavin Flood, as "a Persian geographical term for the people who lived beyond the river Indus (Sanskrit: Sindhu )", more specifically in the 5th-century BCE, DNa inscription of Darius I . The Punjab region , called Sapta Sindhu in the Vedas, is called Hapta Hindu in Zend Avesta . The 6th-century BCE inscription of Darius I mentions
8470-563: The newly formed Indian government. The Act was supported by British representatives such as Ramsay MacDonald . According to the textbook Religions in the Modern World , B. R. Ambedkar , who was also a supporter of the Act, was considered to be the "untouchable leader" who made great efforts to eliminate caste system privileges that included participation in public festivals, access to temples, and wedding rituals. In 1932, Ambedkar proposed that
8580-503: The nine Nandas. The Bharvads originated from the fourth brother, Bhuravananda. Out of his two sons, one married a Raja woman, whose descendants are the Motabhais, while the other married an Adivasi woman, who descendants are the Nanabhais. Various reasons are given for the division between Motabhai and Nanabhai, the most popular is that two shepherd brothers were ordered by Krishna to take their flocks to different places. The older of
8690-583: The other aspects of the Bharwadi dress code in favour of Western styles. The desire to identify through clothing and also through tattoos may be a reflection of the community's traditional itinerant lifestyle, whereby a means of recognising their fellows was a significant social factor. The clothing worn by Bharwad women was traditionally made from coarse wool woven by members of local untouchable communities. In addition, they embroidered their own open-backed bodices . The garments at that time — as late as
8800-431: The phrase Hindu dharma (Hinduism) and contrasted it with Turaka dharma ( Islam ). The Christian friar Sebastiao Manrique used the term 'Hindu' in a religious context in 1649. In the 18th century, European merchants and colonists began to refer to the followers of Indian religions collectively as Hindus , in contrast to Mohamedans for groups such as Turks, Mughals and Arabs , who were adherents of Islam. By
8910-511: The points, In the highways which were once charming with anklets sound of beautiful women, are now heard ear-piercing noises of Brahmins being dragged, bound in iron-fetters, The waters of Tambraparni , which were once white with sandal paste, are now flowing red with the blood of cows slaughtered by miscreants, Earth is no longer the producer of wealth, nor does Indra give timely rains, The God of death takes his undue toll of what are left lives if undestroyed by
9020-579: The poorer workers involved in 'unclean' occupations such as sweeping or leather work were historically segregated and banished outside the city limits. Over time, personal cleanliness came to be identified with "purity", and the concept of untouchability eventually spread to rural areas as well. After the decline of the Indus Valley towns, these untouchables probably spread to other parts of India. Scholars such as Suvira Jaiswal reject this theory, arguing that it lacks evidence, and does not explain why
9130-482: The privileged classes who despised manual labour, and regarded associated impurity with "certain material objects". According to Jaiswal, when the members of aboriginal groups were assimilated into the Brahmanical society, the privileged among them may have tried to assert their higher status by disassociating themselves from their lower-status counterparts, who were gradually branded as untouchables. According to
9240-433: The province of Hi[n]dush , referring to northwestern India. The people of India were referred to as Hinduvān and hindavī was used as the adjective for Indian language in the 8th century text Chachnama . According to D. N. Jha , the term 'Hindu' in these ancient records is an ethno-geographical term and did not refer to a religion. Among the earliest known records of 'Hindu' with connotations of religion may be in
9350-688: The punishments prescribed in The Untouchability (Offences) Act, 1955 the following practices could be understood to have been associated with Untouchability in India: India is home to over 200 million Dalits . At the time of Indian independence, Dalit activists began calling for separate electorates for untouchables in India to allow fair representation. Officially labeled the Minorities Act, it would guarantee representation for Sikhs , Muslims , Christians , and Untouchables in
9460-522: The religion and traditions across Southeast Asia, particularly Thailand , Nepal , Burma , Malaysia , Indonesia , Cambodia , Laos , Philippines , and what is now central Vietnam . Over 3 million Hindus are found in Bali Indonesia, a culture whose origins trace back to ideas brought by Hindu traders to Indonesian islands in the 1st millennium CE. Their sacred texts are also the Vedas and
9570-453: The religions have drawn their curved swords;" however, the date of this text is unclear and considered by most scholars to be more recent. In Islamic literature, 'Abd al-Malik Isami 's Persian work, Futuhu's-salatin , composed in the Deccan under Bahmani rule in 1350, uses the word ' hindi' to mean Indian in the ethno-geographical sense and the word ' hindu' to mean 'Hindu' in
9680-658: The religious Hindu text, untouchables were not considered a part of the varna system. Therefore, they were not treated like the savarnas ( Brahmins , Kshatriyas , Vaishyas and Shudras ). Due to many caste-based discriminations in Nepal , the government of Nepal legally abolished the caste-system and criminalized any caste-based discrimination, including "untouchability," in 1963. Untouchability has been outlawed in India, Nepal and Pakistan. However, "untouchability" has not been legally defined. The origin of untouchability and its historicity are still debated. A 2020 study of
9790-526: The same terms are " Indus " (for the river) and " India " (for the land of the river). Likewise Hebrew cognate hōd-dū refers to India mentioned in Hebrew Bible ( Esther 1:1 ). The term " Hindu " also implied a geographic, ethnic or cultural identifier for people living in the Indian subcontinent around or beyond the Sindhu (Indus) River . By the 16th century CE, the term began to refer to residents of
9900-477: The sense of a follower of the Hindu religion". The poet Vidyapati 's Kirtilata (1380) uses the term Hindu in the sense of a religion, it contrasts the cultures of Hindus and Turks (Muslims) in a city and concludes "The Hindus and the Turks live close together; Each makes fun of the other's religion ( dhamme )." One of the earliest uses of word 'Hindu' in a religious context, in a European language (Spanish),
10010-443: The sense of non-Muslim Indians". However, scholars like Robert Fraser and Mary Hammond opine that Sikhism began initially as a militant sect of Hinduism and it got formally separated from Hinduism only in the 20th century. During the colonial era, the term Hindu had connotations of native religions of India, that is religions other than Christianity and Islam. In early colonial era Anglo-Hindu laws and British India court system,
10120-414: The society described in these texts was already under Brahmanical influence, and could have borrowed the concept of untouchability from them. British anthropologist John Henry Hutton traced the origin of untouchability to the taboo on accepting food cooked by a person from a different caste. This taboo presumably originated because of cleanliness concerns, and ultimately, led to other prejudices such as
10230-625: The subcontinent who were not Turkic or Muslims . Since ancient times, Hindu has been used to refer to people inhibiting region beyond the Sindhu river, therefore some assumptions that medieval Persian authors considered Hindu as derogatory is not accepted by practicing Hindus themselves as those references are much later to references used in pre-Islamic Persian sources, early Arab and Indian sources, all of them had positive connotation only as they either referred to region or followers of Hinduism. The historical development of Hindu self-identity within
10340-544: The sweat and bodily dirt from Shiva 's meditation, which Shiva then gave life to. Shamal was the rudest of the four, and he became a camel herder and progenitor of the Rabari camel herders. The better mannered Bharvad received sheep and goats. The handsome and best-mannered Charan became guardian of Nandi and ancestor of cattle herders. Finally, Ahir received land. The four men then married four apsara sisters. In another origin myth, Krishna burned three rolls of dirt on
10450-403: The taboo on marrying outside one's caste. Jaiswal argues that this theory cannot explain how various social groups were isolated as untouchable or accorded a social rank. Jaiswal also notes that several passages from the ancient Vedic texts indicate that there was no taboo against accepting food from people belonging to a different varna or tribe . For example, some Shrauta Sutras mandate that
10560-470: The term 'Hindu' retained its geographical reference initially: 'Indian', 'indigenous, local', virtually 'native'. Slowly, the Indian groups themselves started using the term, differentiating themselves and their "traditional ways" from those of the invaders. The text Prithviraj Raso , by Chand Bardai , about the 1192 CE defeat of Prithviraj Chauhan at the hands of Muhammad Ghori , is full of references to "Hindus" and "Turks", and at one stage, says "both
10670-408: The term Hindu referred to people of all Indian religions as well as two non-Indian religions: Judaism and Zoroastrianism. In the 20th century, personal laws were formulated for Hindus, and the term 'Hindu' in these colonial 'Hindu laws' applied to Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs in addition to denominational Hindus. Beyond the stipulations of British colonial law, European orientalists and particularly
10780-471: The traditional three woollen blankets, worn around the head, waist and shoulders, have in many cases been replaced by a cotton kediyu together with a dhoti or chorni . As with the women, Carol Henderson notes that [Bharwads] say that if a man doesn't wear their dress, he ceases to be Bharwad. Being Bharwad means dressing Bharwad. Bharwad men wear a distinctive short gathered smock with long, tight sleeves, massive wound turban, gathered pantaloons, and
10890-743: The untouchables create a separate electorate that ultimately led Gandhi to fast until it was rejected. A separation within Hindu society was opposed by national leaders at the time such as Gandhi, although he took no exception to the demands of the other minorities. He began a hunger strike , citing that such a separation would create an unhealthy divide within the religion. At the Round Table Conferences , he provided this explanation for his reasoning: I don't mind untouchables if they so desire, being converted to Islam or Christianity. I should tolerate that, but I cannot possibly tolerate what
11000-505: The various beliefs. Among the earliest terms to emerge were Seeks and their College (later spelled Sikhs by Charles Wilkins), Boudhism (later spelled Buddhism), and in the 9th volume of Asiatick Researches report on religions in India, the term Jainism received notice. According to Pennington, the terms Hindu and Hinduism were thus constructed for colonial studies of India. The various sub-divisions and separation of subgroup terms were assumed to be result of "communal conflict", and Hindu
11110-456: The vernacular literature of Bhakti movement sants from 15th to 17th century, such as Kabir , Anantadas, Eknath, Vidyapati, suggests that distinct religious identities, between Hindus and Turks (Muslims), had formed during these centuries. The poetry of this period contrasts Hindu and Islamic identities, states Nicholson, and the literature vilifies the Muslims coupled with a "distinct sense of
11220-424: The wide range of traditions and ideas covered by the term Hinduism, arriving at a comprehensive definition is difficult. The religion "defies our desire to define and categorize it". A Hindu may, by his or her choice, draw upon ideas of other Indian or non-Indian religious thought as a resource, follow or evolve his or her personal beliefs, and still identify as a Hindu. In 1995, Chief Justice P. B. Gajendragadkar
11330-438: The womb) is practised by some members of the community. In other cases, a sagai (engagement) ceremony takes place when children are aged 2–3, with the marriage age usually being between 18 and 20 for women and 20-22 for men. The Bharwads practice "sartorial conservatism", according to Emma Tarlo, and it is not enough to be born a Bharwad if a person wants to be accepted as one: conforming with standards of dress and other customs
11440-479: The world's third-largest religious group after Christians and Muslims. The vast majority of Hindus, approximately 966 million (94.3% of the global Hindu population), live in India , according to the 2011 Indian census. After India, the next nine countries with the largest Hindu populations are, in decreasing order: Nepal , Bangladesh , Indonesia , Pakistan , Sri Lanka , the United States , Malaysia ,
11550-564: The world. Most Hindus are found in Asian countries. The top twenty-five countries with the most Hindu residents and citizens (in decreasing order) are India , Nepal , Bangladesh , Indonesia , Pakistan , Sri Lanka , United States , Malaysia , Myanmar , United Kingdom , Mauritius , South Africa , United Arab Emirates , Canada , Australia , Saudi Arabia , Trinidad and Tobago , Singapore , Fiji , Qatar , Kuwait , Guyana , Bhutan , Oman and Yemen . The top fifteen countries with
11660-635: Was codified by Savarkar while he was a political prisoner of the British colonial authorities. Chris Bayly traces the roots of Hindu nationalism to the Hindu identity and political independence achieved by the Maratha confederacy , that overthrew the Islamic Mughal empire in large parts of India, allowing Hindus the freedom to pursue any of their diverse religious beliefs and restored Hindu holy places such as Varanasi. A few scholars view Hindu mobilisation and consequent nationalism to have emerged in
11770-664: Was constructed by these orientalists to imply people who adhered to "ancient default oppressive religious substratum of India", states Pennington. Followers of other Indian religions so identified were later referred Buddhists, Sikhs or Jains and distinguished from Hindus, in an antagonistic two-dimensional manner, with Hindus and Hinduism stereotyped as irrational traditional and others as rational reform religions. However, these mid-19th-century reports offered no indication of doctrinal or ritual differences between Hindu and Buddhist, or other newly constructed religious identities. These colonial studies, states Pennigton, "puzzled endlessly about
11880-435: Was later used occasionally in some Sanskrit texts such as the later Rajataranginis of Kashmir (Hinduka, c. 1450 ) and some 16th- to 18th-century Bengali Gaudiya Vaishnava texts, including Chaitanya Charitamrita and Chaitanya Bhagavata . These texts used it to contrast Hindus from Muslims who are called Yavanas (foreigners) or Mlecchas (barbarians), with the 16th-century Chaitanya Charitamrita text and
11990-442: Was quoted in an Indian Supreme Court ruling: Although Hinduism contains a broad range of philosophies, Hindus share philosophical concepts, such as but not limiting to dharma , karma , kama , artha , moksha and samsara , even if each subscribes to a diversity of views. Hindus also have shared texts such as the Vedas with embedded Upanishads , and common ritual grammar ( Sanskara (rite of passage) ) such as rituals during
12100-407: Was the publication in 1649 by Sebastio Manrique . In the Indian historian DN Jha 's essay "Looking for a Hindu identity" , he writes: "No Indians described themselves as Hindus before the fourteenth century" and that "The British borrowed the word 'Hindu' from India, gave it a new meaning and significance, [and] reimported it into India as a reified phenomenon called Hinduism." In the 18th century,
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