Hinduism

History of Hinduism denotes a wide variety of related native to the. Its history overlaps or coincides with the development of religion in Indian subcontinent since the, with some of its traditions tracing back to s such as those of the Bronze Age. It has thus been called the "" in the world. Scholars regard Hinduism as a synthesis of various Indian cultures and traditions, with diverse roots and no single founder.

The history of Hinduism is often divided into periods of development. The first period is the pre-Vedic period, which includes the Indus Valley Civilisation and local pre-historic religions, ending at about 1750 BCE. This period was followed in northern India by the Vedic period, which saw the introduction of the with the, starting somewhere between 1900 BCE to 1400 BCE. The subsequent period, between 800 BCE and 200 BCE, is "a turning point between the Vedic religion and Hindu religions", and a formative period for Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism. The Epic and Early Puranic period, from c. 200 BCE to 500 CE, saw the classical "Golden Age" of Hinduism (c. 320-650 CE), which coincides with the. In this period the six branches of evolved, namely, , , , , and. Monotheistic sects like and  developed during this same period through the. The period from roughly 650 to 1100 CE forms the late Classical period or early Middle Ages, in which classical Puranic Hinduism is established, and 's, which incorporated Buddhist thought into Vedanta, marking a shift from realistic to idealistic thought.

Hinduism under both Hindu and rulers from c. 1200 to 1750 CE, saw the increasing prominence of the Bhakti movement, which remains influential today. The saw the emergence of various  partly inspired by western movements, such as  and. The in 1947 was along religious lines, with the  emerging with a Hindu majority. During the 20th century, due to the, Hindu minorities have formed in all continents, with the largest communities in absolute numbers in the and the.

Roots of Hinduism
Western scholars regard Hinduism as a fusion or synthesis of various Indian cultures and traditions. Among its roots are the historical Vedic religion of Iron Age northern India itself already the product of "a composite of the Indo-Aryan and Harappan cultures and civilizations", but also the  or renouncer traditions of, and mesolithic and neolithic cultures of India, such as the religions of the ,  traditions, and the  and.

After the Vedic period, between 500-200 BCE and c. 300 CE, at the beginning of the "Epic and Puranic" c.q. "Preclassical" period, the "Hindu synthesis" emerged, which incorporated śramaṇic and Buddhist influences and the emerging bhakti tradition into the Brahmanical fold via the smriti literature. This synthesis emerged under the pressure of the success of Buddhism and Jainism. During the Gupta reign the first Puranas were written, which were used to disseminate "mainstream religious ideology amongst pre-literate and tribal groups undergoing acculturation." The resulting Puranic Hinduism differed markedly from the earlier Brahmanism of the s and the smritis. Hinduism co-existed for several centuries with Buddhism, to finally gain the upper hand at all levels in the 8th century.

From northern India this "Hindu synthesis", and its societal divisions, spread to southern India and parts of. It was aided by the settlement of Brahmins on land granted by local rulers, the incorporation and assimilation of popular non-Vedic gods, and the process of, in which "people from many strata of society throughout the subcontinent tended to adapt their religious and social life to Brahmanic norms". This process of assimilation explains the wide diversity of local cultures in India "half shrouded in a tattered cloak of conceptual unity."

Periodisation
(1773–1836), in his  (1817), distinguished three phases in the history of India, namely Hindu, Muslim and British civilisations. This periodisation has been criticised, for the misconceptions it has given rise to. Another periodisation is the division into "ancient, classical, medieval and modern periods", although this periodization has also received criticism.

Romila Thapar notes that the division of Hindu-Muslim-British periods of Indian history gives too much weight to "ruling dynasties and foreign invasions," neglecting the social-economic history which often showed a strong continuity. The division in Ancient-Medieval-Modern overlooks the fact that the Muslim-conquests took place between the eight and the fourteenth century, while the south was never completely conquered. According to Thapar, a periodisation could also be based on "significant social and economic changes," which are not strictly related to a change of ruling powers.

Smart and Michaels seem to follow Mill's periodisation, while Flood and Muesse follow the "ancient, classical, medieval and modern periods" periodisation. An elaborate periodisation may be as follows:
 * Pre-history and Indus Valley Civilisation (until c. 1750 BCE);
 * Vedic period (c. 1750-500 BCE);
 * "Second Urbanisation" (c. 600-200 BCE);
 * Classical Period (c. 200 BCE-1200 CE);
 * Pre-classical period (c. 200 BCE-300 CE);
 * "Golden Age" (Gupta Empire) (c. 320-650 CE);
 * Late-Classical period (c. 650-1200 CE);


 * Medieval Period (c. 1200-1500 CE);
 * Early Modern Period (c. 1500-1850);
 * Modern period (British Raj and independence) (from c. 1850).

Prehistory
The earliest in India that may have left its traces in Hinduism comes from Mesolithic as observed in the sites such as the rock paintings of  dating to a period of 30,000 BCE or older, as well as Neolithic times. Some of the religious practices can be considered to have originated in 4,000 BCE. Several still exist, though "[w]e must not assume that there are many similarities between prehistoric and contemporary tribal communities".

Indus Valley Civilization (c. 3300–1700 BCE)
Some Indus valley seals show s, which are found in other religions worldwide. Phallic symbols interpreted as the much later Hindu have been found in the Harappan remains. Many Indus valley seals show animals. One seal shows a horned figure seated in a posture reminiscent of the and surrounded by animals was named by early excavators "", an epithet of the later Hindu gods  and. Writing in 1997, said, "Not too many recent studies continue to call the seal's figure a "Proto-Siva," rejecting thereby Marshall's package of proto-Shiva features, including that of three heads. She interprets what  interpreted as facial as not human but more bovine, possibly a divine buffalo-man. According to, symbols 47 and 48 of his Indus script glossary The Indus Script: Texts, Concordance and Tables (1977), representing seated human-like figures, could describe the South Indian deity.

In view of the large number of figurines found in the Indus valley, some scholars believe that the Harappan people worshipped a symbolizing fertility, a common practice among rural Hindus even today. However, this view has been disputed by S. Clark who sees it as an inadequate explanation of the function and construction of many of the figurines.

There are no religious buildings or evidence of elaborate burials... If there were temples, they have not been identified. However, House - 1 in HR-A area in Mohenjadaro's Lower Town has been identified as a possible temple.

Vedic period (c. 1750–500 BCE)
The commonly proposed period of earlier Vedic age is dated back to 2nd millennium BCE. was the sacrificial religion of the early, speakers of early dialects, ultimately deriving from the  peoples of the Bronze Age who lived on the Central Asian steppes.

Origins
The Vedic period, named after the Vedic religion of the, lasted from c. 1750 to 500 BCE. The Indo-Aryans were a branch of the family, which many scholars believe originated in  culture of the n. Indeed, the Vedic religion, including the names of certain deities, was in essence a branch of the same religious tradition as the ancient Greeks, Romans, Persians, and Germanic peoples. For example, the Vedic god is a variant of the  god  (or simply *Dyēus), from which also derive the Greek  and the Roman. Similarly the Vedic and  derive from the PIE *Manu and *Yemo, from which also derive the Germanic  and.

According to the theory, the  were the common ancestor of the Indo-Aryans and the. The Indo-Iranians split into the Indo-Aryans and Iranians around 1800-1600 BC.

The Indo-Aryans were pastoralists who migrated into north-western India after the collapse of the Indus Valley Civilization, The Indo-Aryans were a branch of the, which originated in the in the - era, in present northern Afghanistan. The roots of this culture go back further to the, with funeral sacrifices which show close parallels to the sacrificial funeral rites of the .

During the Early Vedic period (c. 1500 - 1100 BCE) Vedic tribes were pastoralists in north-west India. After 1100 BCE, with the introduction of iron, the Vedic tribes moved into the western Ganges Plain, adapting an agrarian lifestyle. Rudimentary state-forms appeared, of which the -tribe and realm was the most influential. It was a tribal union, which developed into the first recorded in  around 1000 BCE. It decisively changed the Vedic heritage of the early Vedic period, collecting the Vedic hymns into collections, and developing new rituals which gained their position in as the orthodox  rituals, which contributed to the so-called "classical synthesis" or.

Rigvedic religion
The Indo-Aryans brought with them their language and religion. The Vedic beliefs and practices of the pre-classical era were closely related to the hypothesised, and the Indo-Iranian religion. According to Anthony, the Old Indic religion probably emerged among Indo-European immigrants in the contact zone between the (present-day ) and (present-day) Iran. It was "a syncretic mixture of old Central Asian and new Indo-European elements", which borrowed "distinctive religious beliefs and practices" from the. At least 383 non-Indo-European words were borrowed from this culture, including the god and the ritual drink. According to Anthony, "Many of the qualities of Indo-Iranian god of might/victory,, were transferred to the adopted god Indra, who became the central deity of the developing Old Indic culture. Indra was the subject of 250 hymns, a quarter of the Rig Veda. He was associated more than any other deity with Soma, a stimulant drug (perhaps derived from Ephedra) probably borrowed from the BMAC religion. His rise to prominence was a peculiar trait of the Old Indic speakers."

The oldest inscriptions in Old Indic, the language of the Rig Veda, are found not in northwestern India and Pakistan, but in northern Syria, the location of the Mitanni kingdom. The Mitanni kings took Old Indic throne names, and Old Indic technical terms were used for horse-riding and chariot-driving. The Old Indic term, meaning "cosmic order and truth", the central concept of the Rig Veda, was also employed in the mitanni kingdom. And Old Indic gods, including, were also known in the Mitanni kingdom.

Their religion was further developed when they migrated into the after c. 1100 BCE and became settled farmers, further syncretising with the native cultures of northern India. The Vedic religion of the later Vedic period co-existed with local religions, such as the cults, and was itself the product of "a composite of the indo-Aryan and Harappan cultures and civilizations". David Gordon White cites three other mainstream scholars who "have emphatically demonstrated" that Vedic religion is partially derived from the s.

Vedas
Its liturgy is preserved in the three : the, and the. The Vedic texts were the texts of the elite, and do not necessarily represent popular ideas or practices. Of these, the Rig-Veda is the oldest, a collection of hymns composed between ca. 1500-1200 BCE. The other two add ceremonial detail for the performance of the actual sacrifice. The may also contain compositions dating to before 1000 BCE. It contains material pertinent to domestic ritual and of the period.

These texts, as well as the voluminous commentary on orthopraxy collected in the compiled during the early 1st millennium BCE,  were transmitted by  alone until the advent, in the 4th century AD, of the  and  period and by a combination of written and oral tradition since then.

The Hindu samskaras "...go back to a hoary antiquity. The Vedas, the Brahmanas, the Grhyasutras, the Dharmasutras, the Smritis and other treatises describe the rites, ceremonies and customs."

The earliest text of the is the, a collection of poetic hymns used in the sacrificial rites of. Many Rigvedic hymns concern the  and especially the offering of  to the gods. Soma is both an intoxicant and a god itself, as is the sacrificial fire,. The royal  is a central rite in the.

The are mostly personified concepts, who fall into two categories: the s – who were gods of nature – such as the weather deity  (who is also the King of the gods),  ("fire"),  ("dawn"),   ("sun") and Apas ("waters") on the one hand, and on the other hand the s – gods of moral concepts – such as  ("contract"),   (guardian of guest, friendship and marriage),  ("share") or, the supreme Asura (or Aditya). While Rigvedic deva is variously applied to most gods, including many of the Asuras, the Devas are characterised as Younger Gods while Asuras are the Older Gods (pūrve devāḥ). In later Vedic texts, the Asuras become demons.

The Rigveda has 10 Mandalas ('books'). There is significant variation in the language and style between the family books (RV books 2–7),, the "Soma Mandala" , and the more recent books and. The older books share many aspects of common religion, and is an important source for the reconstruction of earlier. Especially has striking similarity to the, containing allusions to  Flora and Fauna, e.g. to camels ( =  uštra). Many of the central religious terms in Vedic Sanskrit have cognates in the religious vocabulary of other Indo-European languages (deva: Latin deus; ': Germanic '; asura: Germanic '; ': Greek hagios; ': Norse ' or perhaps Latin  etc.). In the, Asura (Ahura) is considered good and Devas (Daevas) are considered evil entities, quite the opposite of the Rig Veda.

Cosmic order
Ethics in the Vedas are based on the concepts of and. Satya is the principle of integration rooted in the Absolute. Ṛta is the expression of Satya, which regulates and coordinates the operation of the universe and everything within it. Conformity with Ṛta would enable progress whereas its violation would lead to punishment. Panikkar remarks: "Ṛta is the ultimate foundation of everything; it is "the supreme", although this is not to be understood in a static sense. [...] It is the expression of the primordial dynamism that is inherent in everything....""

The term "dharma" was already used in Brahmanical thought, where it was conceived as an aspect of. The term rta is also known from the, the religion of the prior to the earliest  (Indo-Aryan) and  (Iranian) scriptures.  (aša) is the term corresponding to.

Upanishads
The 9th and 8th centuries BCE witnessed the composition of the earliest Upanishads. Upanishads form the theoretical basis of classical Hinduism and are known as (conclusion of the ). The older Upanishads launched attacks of increasing intensity on the rituals, however, a philosophical and allegorical meaning is also given to these rituals. In some later Upanishads there is a spirit of accommodation towards rituals. The tendency which appears in the philosophical hymns of the Vedas to reduce the number of gods to one principle becomes prominent in the Upanishads. The diverse speculations of the Upanishads were synthesised into a theistic framework by the sacred Hindu scripture .

Brahmanism
In, during a period roughly spanning the 10th to 6th centuries BCE, the arise from the earlier petty kingdoms of the various , and the failing remnants of the  culture. In this period the mantra portions of the Vedas are largely completed, and a flowering industry of organised in numerous schools  develops exegetical literature, viz. the. These schools also edited the Vedic mantra portions into fixed recensions, that were to be preserved purely by over the following two millennia.

Upanishads and Śramaṇa movements
Increasing urbanisation of India in the 7th and 6th centuries BCE led to the rise of new ascetic or sramana movements which challenged the orthodoxy of rituals. Mahavira (c. 549–477 BCE), proponent of, and (c. 563-483 BCE), founder of , were the most prominent icons of this movement. According to, Jainism and Buddhism are part of the pre-Vedic heritage, which also includes Samkhya and Yoga: "[Jainism] does not derive from Brahman-Aryan sources, but reflects the cosmology and anthropology of a much older pre-Aryan upper class of northeastern India - being rooted in the same subsoil of archaic metaphysical speculation as Yoga, Sankhya, and Buddhism, the other non-Vedic Indian systems."

The Sramana tradition in part created the concept of the cycle of birth and death, the concept of, and the concept of liberation, which became characteristic for Hinduism.

Pratt notes that (1854-1920),  (1865-1915) and  (1888-1975) believed that the Buddhist canon had been influenced by Upanishads, while  thinks the influence was nihil, and "Eliot and several others insist that on some points the Buddha was directly antithetical to the Upanishads".

Survival of Vedic ritual
Vedism as the religious tradition of Hinduism of a priestly elite was marginalised by other traditions such as and  in the later Iron Age, but in the Middle Ages would rise to renewed prestige with the  school, which as well as all other ' traditions of Hinduism, considered them authorless (') and eternal. A last surviving elements of the or Vedism is  tradition, following many major elements of Vedic religion and is prominent in, with communities in , , , , but also in some pockets of ,  and other states; the best known of these groups are the  of Kerala, whose traditions were notably documented by.

Mauryan Empire
The Mauryan period saw an early flowering of  and  literature and the scholarly exposition of the "circum-Vedic" fields of the. However, during this time Buddhism was patronised by, who ruled large parts of India, and Buddhism was also the mainstream religion until the Gupta empire period.

Sanskritization
Since Vedic times, "people from many strata of society throughout the subcontinent tended to adapt their religious and social life to Brahmanic norms", a process sometimes called. It is reflected in the tendency to identify local deities with the gods of the Sanskrit texts.

Hindu synthesis
Between 500-200 BCE and c. 300 CE developed the "Hindu synthesis", which incorporated and Buddhist influences and the emerging bhakti tradition into the Brahmanical fold via the smriti literature. This synthesis emerged under the pressure of the success of Buddhism and Jainism.

According to Embree, several other religious traditions had existed side by side with the Vedic religion. These indigenous religions "eventually found a place under the broad mantle of the Vedic religion". When Brahmanism was declining and had to compete with Buddhism and Jainism, the popular religions had the opportunity to assert themselves. According to Embree, "[T]he Brahmanists themselves seem to have encouraged this development to some extent as a means of meeting the challenge of the heterodox movements. At the same time, among the indigenous religions, a common allegiance to the authority of the Veda provided a thin, but nonetheless significant, the thread of unity amid their variety of gods and religious practices."

Smriti
According to Larson, the Brahmins responded with assimilation and consolidation. This is reflected in the smriti literature which took shape in this period. The  texts of the period between 200 BCE-100 CE proclaim the authority of the, and acceptance of the Vedas became a central criterium for defining Hinduism over and against the heterodoxies, which rejected the Vedas. Most of the basic ideas and practices of classical Hinduism derive from the new smriti literature.

Of the six Hindu darsanas, the Mimamsa and the Vedanta "are rooted primarily in the Vedic sruti tradition and are sometimes called smarta schools in the sense that they develop smarta orthodox current of thoughts that are based, like smriti, directly on sruti. According to Hiltebeitel, "the consolidation of Hinduism takes place under the sign of bhakti". It is the Bhagavadgita that seals this achievement. The result is an "universal achievement" that may be called . It views Shiva and Vishnu as "complementary in their functions but ontologically identical".

The major Sanskrit epics, ' and ', which belong to the smriti, were compiled over a protracted period during the late centuries BCE and the early centuries CE. They contain mythological stories about the rulers and wars of ancient India, and are interspersed with religious and philosophical treatises. The later Puranas recount tales about, their interactions with humans and their battles against. The "seals the achievement" of the "consolidation of Hinduism", integrating Brahmanic and sramanic ideas with theistic devotion.

Schools of Hindu philosophy
In early centuries CE several schools of were formally codified, including, , , ,  and.

Sangam literature
The Sangam literature (300 BCE – 400 CE) is a mostly secular body of classical literature in the. Nonetheless, there are some works, significantly Pattupathu and Paripaatal, wherein the personal devotion to God was written in the form of devotional poems. , and  were mentioned gods. These works are therefore the earliest evidence of monotheistic traditions, preceding the large, which was given great attention in later times.

"Golden Age" (Gupta and Pallava period) (c. 320-650 CE)
During this period, power was centralised, along with a growth of near distance trade, standardization of legal procedures, and general spread of literacy. Mahayana Buddhism flourished, but orthodox Brahmana culture began to be rejuvenated by the patronage of the Gupta Dynasty, who were Vaishnavas. The position of the Brahmans was reinforced, the first Hindu temples dedicated to the gods of the, emerged during the late Gupta age. During the Gupta reign the first were written, which were used to disseminate "mainstream religious ideology amongst pre-literate and tribal groups undergoing acculturation." The Guptas patronised the newly emerging Puranic religion, seeking legitimacy for their dynasty. The resulting Puranic Hinduism, differed markedly from the earlier Brahmanism of the Dharmasastras and the smritis.

According to P.S. Sharma "the Gupta and Harsha periods form really, from the strictly intellectual standpoint, the most brilliant epocha in the development of Indian philosophy", as Hindu and Buddhist philosophies flourished side by side. , the atheistic materialist school, came to the fore in before the 8th century CE.

Gupta and Pallava Empires
The (4th to 6th centuries) saw a flowering of scholarship, the emergence of the classical schools of, and of classical  in general on topics ranging from medicine, veterinary science, mathematics, to astrology and astronomy and astrophysics. The famous and  belong to this age. The Gupta established a strong central government which also allowed a degree of local control. Gupta society was ordered in accordance with Hindu beliefs. This included a strict caste system, or class system. The peace and prosperity created under Gupta leadership enabled the pursuit of scientific and artistic endeavors.

The s (4th to 9th centuries) were, alongside the s of the, patronisers of Sanskrit in the of the. The Pallava reign saw the first Sanskrit inscriptions in a script called. Early Pallavas had different connexions to n countries. The Pallavas used Dravidian architecture to build some very important Hindu temples and academies in, and other places; their rule saw the rise of great poets, who are as famous as.

The practice of dedicating temples to different deities came into vogue followed by fine artistic and sculpture (see ).

Bhakti
This period saw the emergence of the. The Bhakti movement was a rapid growth of bhakti beginning in in Southern India with the Saiva  (4th to 10th centuries CE) and the Vaisnava  (3rd to 9th centuries CE) who spread bhakti poetry and devotion throughout India by the 12th to 18th centuries CE.

Expansion in South-East Asia
Hindu influences reached the as early as the first century. At this time, India started to strongly influence n countries. Trade routes linked India with southern, central and southern , lower and southern  and numerous urbanised coastal settlements were established there.

For more than a thousand years, Indian Hindu/Buddhist influence was, therefore, the major factor that brought a certain level of cultural unity to the various countries of the region. The and  languages and the Indian script, together with  and ,  and , were transmitted from direct contact as well as through sacred texts and Indian literature, such as the  and the  epics.

From the 5th to the 13th century, South-East Asia had very powerful Indian colonial empires and became extremely active in Hindu and Buddhist architectural and artistic creation. The Empire to the south and the  to the north competed for influence.

(-langkha for "resplendent land" -sukkha of "bliss") was an ancient Hindu kingdom located in the. The kingdom, along with settlement, are probably the earliest territorial footholds founded on the Malay Peninsula. According to tradition, the founding of the kingdom happened in the 2nd century; legends claim that Langkasuka was founded at, and later moved to.

From the 5th-15th centuries, a maritime empire centred on the island of in , had adopted Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism under a line of rulers named the s. The Empire of  declined due to conflicts with the  rulers of India. The succeeded the  empire. It was one of the last and greatest Hindu empires in.

was a pre- n kingdom, located around the delta, probably established by  settlers speaking an  language. According to reports by two Chinese envoys, and, the state was established by an Indian  named , who in the 1st century CE was given instruction in a dream to take a magic bow from a temple and defeat a Khmer queen,. Soma, the daughter of the king of the, married Kaundinya and their lineage became the royal dynasty of Funan. The myth had the advantage of providing the legitimacy of both an Indian Brahmin and the divinity of the cobras, who at that time were held in religious regard by the inhabitants of the region.

The kingdom of (or Lin-yi in Chinese records) controlled what is now south and central  from approximately 192 through 1697. The dominant religion of the was  and the culture was heavily influenced by India.

Later, from the 9th to the 13th century, the Mahayana Buddhist and Hindu dominated much of the South-East Asian peninsula. Under the Khmer, more than 900 temples were built in Cambodia and in neighboring Thailand. was at the centre of this development, with a temple complex and urban organisation able to support around one million urban dwellers. The largest temple complex of the world, Angkor Wat, stands here; built by the king Vishnuvardhan.

Late-Classical Hinduism - Puranic Hinduism (c. 650-1200 CE)

 * See also .

After the end of the Gupta Empire and the collapse of the Harsha Empire, power became decentralised in India. Several larger kingdoms emerged, with "countless vasal states". The kingdoms were ruled via a feudal system. Smaller kingdoms were dependent on the protection of the larger kingdoms. "The great king was remote, was exalted and deified", as reflected in the, which could also depict the king as the centre of the mandala.

The disintegration of central power also lead to regionalisation of religiosity, and religious rivalry. Local cults and languages were enhanced, and the influence of "Brahmanic ritualistic Hinduism" was diminished. Rural and devotional movements arose, along with, , and , though "sectarian groupings were only at the beginning of their development". Religious movements had to compete for recognition by the local lords. Buddhism lost its position after the 8th century, and began to disappear in India. This was reflected in the change of puja-ceremonies at the courts in the 8th century, where Hindu gods replaced the Buddha as the "supreme, imperial deity".

Puranic Hinduism
The Brahmanism of the and the smritis underwent a radical transformation at the hands of the Purana composers, resulting in the rise of Puranic Hinduism, "which like a colossus striding across the religious firmanent soon came to overshadow all existing religions". Puranic Hinduism was a "multiplex belief-system which grew and expanded as it absorbed and synthesised polaristic ideas and cultic traditions" It was distinguished from its Vedic Smarta roots by its popular base, its theological and sectarioan pluralism, its Tantric veneer, and the central place of bhakti.

The early mediaeval s were composed to disseminate religious mainstream ideology among the pre-literate undergoing. With the breakdown of the Gupta empire, gifts of virgin waste-land were heaped on brahmanas, to ensure profitable agrarian exploitation of land owned by the kings, but also to provide status to the new ruling classes. Brahmanas spread further over India, interacting with local clans with different religions and ideologies. The Brahmanas used the Puranas to incorporate those clans into the agrarian society and its accompanying religion and ideology. According to Flood, "[t]he Brahmans who followed the puranic religion became known as ', those whose worship was based on the smriti, or ', those based on the Puranas." Local chiefs and peasants were absorbed into the, which was used to keep "control over the new kshatriyas and shudras." The Brahmanic group was enlarged by incorporating local subgroups, such as local priests. This also lead to stratification within the Brahmins, with some Brahmins having a lower status than other Brahmins. The use of caste worked better with the new Puranic Hinduism than with the Sramanic sects. The Puranic texts provided extensive genealogies which gave status to the new kshatriyas. Buddhist myths pictured government as a contract between an elected ruler and the people. And the Buddhist chakkavatti "was a distinct concept from the models of conquest held up to the kshatriyas and the Rajputs."

Many local religions and traditions were assimilated into puranic Hinduism. Vishnu and Shiva emerged as the main deities, together with Sakti/Deva. Vishnu subsumed the cults of, s, "and many others". Nath: "[S]ome incarnations of Vishnu such as Matsya, Kurma, Varaha and perhaps even Nrsimha helped to incorporate certain popular totem symbols and creation myths, especially those related to wild boar, which commonly permeate preliterate mythology, others such as Krsna and Balarama became instrumental in assimilating local cults and myths centering around two popular pastoral and agricultural gods."

The transformation of Brahmanism into Pauranic Hinduism in post- India was due to a process of. The Puranas helped establish a religious mainstream among the pre-literate tribal societies undergoing acculturation. The tenets of Brahmanism and of the underwent a radical transformation at the hands of the Purana composers, resulting in the rise of a mainstream "Hinduism" that overshadowed all earlier traditions.

Bhakti movement
Rama and Krishna became the focus of a strong bhakti tradition, which found expression particularly in the . The Krishna tradition subsumed numerous Naga, yaksa and hill and tree-based cults. Siva absorbed local cults by the suffixing of Isa or Isvara to the name of the local deity, for example, Bhutesvara, Hatakesvara, Chandesvara. In 8th-century royal circles, the Buddha started to be replaced by Hindu gods in pujas. This also was the same period of time the Buddha was made into an avatar of Vishnu.

The first documented bhakti movement was founded by. She wrote poems in  about her love for  and probably lived around the 6th century CE. The twelve who were Vaishnavite devotees and the sixty-three   who were Shaivite devotees nurtured the incipient bhakti movement in.

During the 12th century CE in Karnataka, the Bhakti movement took the form of the movement. It was inspired by, a Hindu reformer who created the sect of or  bhaktas. During this time, a unique and native form of literature-poetry called  was born.

Advaita Vedanta
Shankara (8th century CE) is regarded as the greatest exponent of Advaita Vedanta. Shankara himself, and his grand-teacher, were influenced by Buddhism. Gaudapda took over the Buddhist doctrines that and "that the nature of the world is the four-cornered negation". Gaudapada "wove [both doctrines] into a philosophy of the , which was further developed by Shankara". Gaudapada also took over the Buddhist concept of from   philosophy. Shankara succeeded in reading Gaudapada's mayavada into Badarayana's Brahma Sutras, "and give it a locus classicus", against the realistic strain of the Brahma Sutras.

Shankara is the founder of the ' of  and ' tradition of worship. Shankara is also regarded as the greatest teacher and reformer of the. According to Hinduism-guide.com: "Not all Brahmins specialized in this Smriti tradition. Some were influenced by Buddhism, Jainism or Charvaka tradition and philosophy. This did not mean that all these people rejected the authority of Vedas, but only that their tradition of worship and philosophy was based not on Smriti texts. In time, Shankaracharya brought all the Vedic communities together. He tried to remove the non-Smriti aspects that had crept into the Hindu communities. He also endeavoured to unite them by arguing that any of the different Hindu gods could be worshipped, according to the prescriptions given in the Smriti texts. He established that worship of various deities are compatible with Vedas and is not contradictory, since all are different manifestations of one . Shankaracharya was instrumental in reviving interest in the Smritis."

In modern times, due to the influence of western and  on Indian  and, Advaita Vedanta has acquired a broad acceptance in Indian culture and beyond as the paradigmatic example of Hindu spirituality.

Contact with Persia and Mesopotamia
Hindu and also religious and secular learning had first reached  in an organised manner in the 6th century, when the  Emperor  (531–579) deputed  as his envoy, to invite Indian and Chinese scholars to the. Burzoe had translated the Sanskrit. His Pahlavi version was translated into Arabic by under the title of   or The Fables of Bidpai.

Under the caliphate,  had replaced  as the most important centre of learning in the then vast, wherein the traditions, as well as scholars of the latter, flourished. Hindu scholars were invited to the conferences on sciences and mathematics held in Baghdad.

Muslim rule
Though Islam came to the Indian subcontinent in the early 7th century with the advent of Arab traders, it started impacting Indian religions after the 10th century, and particularly after the 12th century with the establishment and then expansion of. calls the Muslim conquest of India "probably the bloodiest story in history". During this period, Buddhism declined rapidly while Hinduism faced military-led and Sultanates-sponsored religious violence. There was a widespread practice of raids, seizure and enslavement of families of Hindus, who were then sold in Sultanate cities or exported to Central Asia. Some texts suggest a number of Hindus were forcibly converted to Islam. Starting with 13th century, for a period of some 500 years, very few texts, from the numerous written by Muslim court historians, mention any "voluntary conversions of Hindus to Islam", suggesting its insignificance and perhaps rarity of such conversions. Typically enslaved Hindus converted to Islam to gain their freedom. There were occasional exceptions to religious violence against Hinduism. , for example, recognized Hinduism, banned enslavement of the families of Hindu war captives, protected Hindu temples, and abolished discriminatory (head taxes) against Hindus. However, many Muslim rulers of and, before and after Akbar, from 12th century to 18th century, destroyed Hindu temples and. As noted by :

"From the time Muslims started arriving, around 632 AD, the history of India becomes a long, monotonous series of murders, massacres, spoliations, and destructions. It is, as usual, in the name of 'a holy war' of their faith, of their sole God, that the barbarians have destroyed civilizations, wiped out entire races."

Unifying Hinduism
Hinduism underwent profound changes, aided in part by teachers such as, , and. Followers of the moved away from the abstract concept of, which the philosopher  consolidated a few centuries before, with emotional, passionate devotion towards the more accessible s, especially Krishna and Rama. According to Nicholson, already between the 12th and the 16th century, "certain thinkers began to treat as a single whole the diverse philosophical teachings of the Upanishads, epics, Puranas, and the schools known retrospectively as the "six systems" (saddarsana) of mainstream Hindu philosophy." Michaels notes that a historicization emerged which preceded later nationalism, articulating ideas which glorified Hinduism and the past.

Early Modern period (c. 1500-1850 CE)
The fall of to Muslim rulers had marked the end of Hindu imperial assertions in the. But, taking advantage of an over-stretched (1526–1857), Hinduism once again rose to political prestige, under the, from 1674 to 1818.

Vijayanagar Empire
The Vijayanagar Empire was established in 1336 by and his brother  of, which originated as a political heir of the , , and the. The empire rose to prominence as a culmination of attempts by the south Indian powers to ward off by the end of the 13th century. According to one narrative, the empire's founders and  were two brothers in the service of the. After Kampili fell to the Muslim invasion, they were taken to Delhi and converted to. They were sent back to Kampili as the 's vassals. After gaining power in the region, they approached, who converted them back to the Hindu faith.

The Vijayanagara Emperors were tolerant of all religions and sects, as writings by foreign visitors show. The kings used titles such as Gobrahamana Pratipalanacharya (literally, "protector of cows and Brahmins") and Hindurayasuratrana (lit, "upholder of Hindu faith") that testified to their intention of protecting Hinduism and yet were at the same time staunchly Islamicate in their court ceremonials and dress. The empire's founders, Harihara I and Bukka Raya I, were devout s (worshippers of ), but made grants to the order of  with  as their patron saint, and designated  (the boar, an  of ) as their. Over one-fourth of the archaeological dig found an "Islamic Quarter" not far from the "Royal Quarter". Nobles from Central Asia's Timurid kingdoms also came to Vijayanagara. The later and  kings were Vaishnava by faith, but worshipped at the feet of Lord Virupaksha (Shiva) at Hampi as well as Lord  (Vishnu) at. A Sanskrit work, Jambavati Kalyanam by King Krishnadevaraya, called Lord Virupaksha Karnata Rajya Raksha Mani ("protective jewel of Karnata Empire"). The kings patronised the saints of the order (philosophy of dualism) of  at.

The (devotional) movement was active during this time, and involved well known s (devotee saints) of that time. Like the movement of the 12th century, this movement presented another strong current of devotion, pervading the lives of millions. The haridasas represented two groups, the ' and ', the former being required to be proficient in the, and other , while the Dasakuta merely conveyed the message of Madhvacharya through the Kannada language to the people in the form of devotional songs (Devaranamas and Kirthanas). The philosophy of Madhvacharya was spread by eminent disciples such as, , , , and others. Vyasatirtha, the guru (teacher) of Vadirajatirtha, (Father of Carnatic music) and  earned the devotion of King Krishnadevaraya. The king considered the saint his Kuladevata (family deity) and honoured him in his writings. During this time, another great composer of early carnatic music, composed hundreds of Kirthanas in  at  in present-day.

The Vijayanagara Empire created an epoch in South Indian history that transcended regionalism by promoting Hinduism as a unifying factor. The empire reached its peak during the rule of when Vijayanagara armies were consistently victorious. The empire annexed areas formerly under the Sultanates in the northern Deccan and the territories in the eastern Deccan, including Kalinga, while simultaneously maintaining control over all its subordinates in the south. Many important monuments were either completed or commissioned during the time of Krishna Deva Raya.

Vijayanagara went into decline after the defeat in the (1565). After the death of in the Battle of Talikota,  started the, moved and founded a new capital of Penukonda to replace the destroyed Hampi, and attempted to reconstitute the remains of Vijayanagara Empire. Tirumala abdicated in 1572, dividing the remains of his kingdom to his three sons, and pursued a religious life until his death in 1578. The Aravidu dynasty successors ruled the region but the empire collapsed in 1614, and the final remains ended in 1646, from continued wars with the Bijapur Sultanate and others. During this period, more kingdoms in South India became independent and separate from Vijayanagara. These include the, , , , and  – all of which declared independence and went on to have a significant impact on the history of South India in the coming centuries.

Mughal period
The official state religion of was, with the preference to the  of the   (Mazhab). Hinduism remained under strain during Babur and Humanyun's reigns. , the Afghan ruler of North India was comparatively non-repressive. Hinduism came to fore during the three-year rule of Hindu ruler  during 1553-56 when he had defeated Akbar at Agra and Delhi and had taken up the reign from Delhi as a Hindu 'Vikramaditya' after his 'Rajyabhishake' or at  in Delhi. However, during Mughal history, at times, subjects had the freedom to practise any religion of their choice, though non-Muslim able-bodied adult males with income were obliged to pay the, which signified their status as.

, the Mughal emperor 's son and heir from his queen Hameeda Banu Begum, had a broad vision of Indian and Islamic traditions. One of Emperor 's most unusual ideas regarding religion was (Faith of God), which was an eclectic mix of, , Hinduism,  and. It was proclaimed the state religion until his death. These actions, however, met with stiff opposition from the Muslim clergy, especially the Shaykh Alf Sani. Akbar's abolition of poll-tax on non-Muslims, acceptance of ideas from other religious philosophies, toleration of public worship by all religions and his interest in other faiths showed an attitude of considerable religious tolerance, which, in the minds of his orthodox Muslim opponents, were tantamount to.

Akbar's son,, half Rajput, was also a religious moderate, his mother being Hindu. The influence of his two Hindu queens (the Maharani Maanbai and Maharani Jagat) kept religious moderation as a centre-piece of state policy which was extended under his son, Emperor, who was by blood 75% and less than 25%.

Religious orthodoxy would only play an important role during the reign of Shah Jahan's son and successor,, a devout Sunni Muslim. Aurangzeb was comparatively less tolerant of other faiths than his predecessors had been; and has been subject to controversy and criticism for his policies that abandoned his predecessors' legacy of pluralism, citing his introduction of the tax, doubling of custom duties on Hindus while abolishing it for Muslims, destruction of s, forbidding construction and repairs of some non-Muslim temples, and the executions of  ruler  and the ninth  guru,, and his reign saw an increase in the number and importance of Islamic institutions and scholars. He led many military campaigns against the remaining non-Muslim powers of the Indian subcontinent – the states of Punjab, the last independent Hindu  and the  rebels – as also against the Shia Muslim kingdoms of the. He also virtually stamped out, from his empire, open proselytisation of Hindus and Muslims by foreign Christian, who remained successfully active, however, in the adjoining regions: the present day , and.

Maratha Empire
The Marathas long had lived in the  region around, in the western portion of the  plateau, where the plateau meets the eastern slopes of the  mountains. They had resisted incursions into the region by the  rulers of northern India. Under their ambitious leader, the Maratha freed themselves from the sultans of  to the southeast and, becoming much more aggressive, began to frequently raid Mughal territory, eventually sacking the wealthy Mughal port of  in 1664. After substantial territorial gains, Shivaji was proclaimed 'Chhatrapati' (Emperor) in 1674; the Marathas had spread and conquered much of central India by Shivaji's death in 1680. Subsequently, under the able leadership of prime ministers, the  reached its zenith; , the seat of Peshwas, flowered as a centre of Hindu learning and traditions. The empire at its peak stretched from in the south, to  (modern-day,  ) in the north, and  and  in the east. In 1761, the Maratha army lost the to  of the Afghan  which halted their imperial expansion into. Ten years after Panipat, the young Peshwa 's reinstated Maratha authority over.

In 1761, the Maratha army lost the to  of the Afghan  which halted their imperial expansion into. Ten years after Panipat, the Peshwa 's reinstated Maratha authority over. In a bid to effectively manage the large empire, he gave semi-autonomy to the strongest of the knights, which created a confederacy of Maratha states. They became known as the s of, the s of and , the s of  and , the s of the  and the  of  &. In 1775, the East India Company intervened in a Peshwa family succession struggle in, which became the. The Marathas remained the preeminent power in India until their defeat in the which left the East India Company in control of most of India.

Kingdom of Nepal
King, the last monarch, self-proclaimed the newly unified  as Asal Hindustan ("Real Land of Hindus") due to North India being ruled by the. The proclamation was done to enforce Hindu social code over his reign and refer to his country as being inhabitable for. He also referred Northern India as Mughlan (Country of ) and called the region infiltrated by Muslim foreigners.

After the Gorkhali conquest of, King expelled the  Capuchin missionaries from  and revisioned Nepal as Asal  (Real land of ). The s, a Nepalese Hindu socio-religious group, were given the privileged status in the Nepalese capital thereafter. Since then Hinduisation became the significant policy of the. Professor speculates that the presence of Islamic  and Christian  had compelled the foundation of  in Nepal for the purpose building haven for Hindus in the.

Early colonialism
Portuguese missionaries had reached the in the late 15th century, made contact with the  in  and sought to introduce the  among them. Since the priests for St Thomas Christians were served by the, they were following Eastern Christian practices at that time. Throughout this period, foreign missionaries also made many new converts to Christianity. This led to the formation of the Latin Catholics in Kerala.

The was the office of the Christian  acting in the Indian city of  and the rest of the  in Asia. , in a 1545 letter to, requested for an to be installed in Goa. It was installed eight years after the death of Francis Xavier in 1552. Established in 1560 and operating until 1774, this highly controversial institution was aimed primarily at and wayward new converts.

The would see the emergence of the  as a political power; which later expanded to cover much of India over the next hundred years, conquering all of the Hindu states on the Indian subcontinent, with the exception of the. While the remained the preeminent power in India, making it the last remaining Hindu empire, until their defeat in the  which left the East India Company in control of most of India; as noted by acting Governor-General Charles Metcalfe, after surveying and analyzing the conditions in India, in 1806 wrote: "India contains no more than two great powers, British and Mahratta." During this period, Northeastern India was divided into many kingdoms, most notable being the, which ruled from their seat of power at and developed a sophisticated Hindu  culture, later the kingdom became a  of the British. The was defeated in the  by the British East India Company, leading to the reinstatement of the Hindu  in Mysore as a princely states. In 1817, the British went to war with the s, raiders who were based in Maratha territory, which quickly became the, and the British government offered its protection to the mainly Hindu Rajput rulers of from the Pindaris and the Marathas. The mainly Hindu states emerged from the fall of the, and were a bastion of Hindu resistance; and managed to weather invasions and survived till the advent of the British. From 1799 to 1849, the, ruled by members of the , emerged as the last major indigenous power in the Northwest of the Indian subcontinent under the leadership of. After the death of Ranjit Singh, the empire weakened, the alienation of Hindu vassals and Wazirs; and leading to the conflict with the British East India Company, marked the downfall of the Sikh Empire; making it among the last areas of the Indian subcontinent to be conquered by the British. The entire subcontinent fell under (partly, via ) following the.

Modern Hinduism (after c. 1850 CE)
With the onset of the, the colonization of India by the British, there also started a in the 19th century, which profoundly changed the understanding of Hinduism in both India and the west. as an academic discipline of studying Indian culture from a European perspective was established in the 19th century, led by scholars such as and. They brought, and  literature and philosophy to Europe and the United States. Western searched for the "essence" of the Indian religions, discerning this in the Vedas, and meanwhile creating the notion of "Hinduism" as a unified body of religious praxis and the popular picture of 'mystical India'. This idea of a Vedic essence was taken over by as the, which was supported for a while by the , together with the ideas of  and , the idea that all religions share a common  ground. This, with proponents like , and , became central in the popular understanding of Hinduism.

Hindu revivalism
During the 19th century, Hinduism developed a large number of s, partly inspired by the European, , and   popular at the time (while conversely and contemporaneously, India had a similar effect on European culture with , "" architecture, reception of  and similar). According to Paul Hacker, "the ethcial values of Neo-Hinduism stem from Western philosophy and Christianity, although they are expressed in Hindu terms."

These reform movements are summarised under and continue into the present.
 * establishes the sect around 1800.
 * is a social and religious movement founded in in 1828 by . He was one of the first Indians to visit Europe and was influenced by western thought. He died in, England. The Brahmo Samaj movement thereafter resulted in the Brahmo religion in 1850 founded by  — better known as the father of.
 * and his pupil led reform in Hinduism in the late 19th century. Their ideals and sayings have inspired numerous Indians as well as non-Indians, Hindus as well as non-Hindus. Among the prominent figures whose ideals were very much influenced by them were, , , , , and.
 * ("Society of ") is a  in India that was founded by  in 1875. He was a  (renouncer) who believed in the   of the . Dayananda advocated the doctrine of  and, and emphasised the ideals of   and  .  claimed to be rejecting all non-Vedic beliefs altogether. Hence the Arya Samaj unequivocally condemned , s, , s, priestcraft, offerings made in s, the  system,  and s, on the grounds that all these lacked Vedic sanction. It aimed to be a universal church based on the authority of the . Dayananda stated that he wanted 'to make the whole world Aryan', i.e. he wanted to develop  Hinduism based on the universality of the Vedas. To this end, the Arya Samaj started  movement in the early 20th century to bring back to  people converted to  and , set up schools and missionary organisations, and extended its activities outside India. It now has branches around the world and has a disproportional number of adherents among people of Indian ancestry in  and the Netherlands, in comparison with India.

Reception in the West
An important development during the British colonial period was the influence Hindu traditions began to form on ern thought and. An early champion of Indian-inspired thought in the West was who in the 1850s advocated ethics based on an  "Aryan-Vedic theme of spiritual self-conquest", as opposed to the ignorant drive toward earthly utopianism of the superficially this-worldly "Jewish" spirit. moved to India in 1879, and her, founded in New York in 1875, evolved into a peculiar mixture of Western occultism and Hindu mysticism over the last years of her life.

The sojourn of to the  in Chicago in 1893 had a lasting effect. Vivekananda founded the, a Hindu missionary organisation still active today.

In the early 20th century, Western occultists influenced by Hinduism include – an advocate of "Aryan Paganism" – who styled herself Savitri Devi and, founder of the. It was in this period, and until the 1920s, that the became a  before its association with the  became dominant in the 1930s.

Hinduism-inspired elements in were also inherited by the spin-off movements of  and  and ultimately contributed to the renewed  boom of the 1960s to 1980s, the term New Age itself deriving from Blavatsky's 1888  .

Influential 20th-century Hindus were, , , (founder of ), ,  and others who translated, reformulated and presented Hinduism's foundational texts for contemporary audiences in new iterations, raising the profiles of Yoga and  in the West and attracting followers and attention in India and abroad.

Contemporary Hinduism
As of 2007, of an estimated 944 million Hindus, 98.5% live in South Asia. Of the remaining 1.5% or 14 million, 6 million live in Southeast Asia (mostly ), 2 million in Europe, 1.8 million in North America, 1.2 million in.

Indian subcontinent
Modern Hinduism is the reflection of continuity and progressive changes that occurred in various traditions and institutions of Hinduism during the 19th and 20th centuries. Its main divisions are into (largely influenced by ),,  and.

Besides these traditional denominations, movements of look to founders such as,  , , , , , , , , , , ,   and others.

The movement advocating  originated in the 1920s and has remained a strong political force in India. The major party of the religious right, (BJP), since its foundation in 1980 has won several elections, and after a  remained the leading force of opposition against the coalition government of the. The last national general election, held in early 2014, saw a dramatic victory of BJP; it gained an absolute majority and formed the government, with as.

Southeast Asia
The resurgence of is occurring in all parts of the country. In the early seventies, the people of  were the first to be identified under the umbrella of 'Hinduism', followed by the  of Sumatra in 1977 and the  of  in 1980.

The growth of Hinduism has been driven also by the famous Javanese prophecies of and. Many recent converts to Hinduism had been members of the families of 's PNI, and now support. This return to the 'religion of ' (Hinduism) is a matter of nationalist pride.

The new tend to be concentrated around recently built temples (pura) or around archaeological temple sites (candi) which are being reclaimed as places of Hindu worship. An important new Hindu temple in eastern Java is, located on the slope of , Java's highest mountain. Mass conversions have also occurred in the region around Pura Agung Blambangan, another new temple, built on a site with minor archaeological remnants attributed to the kingdom of, the last Hindu polity on Java, and (in the village of Menang near Kediri).

Neo-Hindu movements in the west
In modern times Smarta-views have been highly influential in both the Indian and western understanding of Hinduism via. Vivekananda was an advocate of Smarta-views, and Radhakrishnan was himself a Smarta-Brahman. According to iskcon.org,

"Many Hindus may not strictly identify themselves as Smartas but, by adhering to Advaita Vedanta as a foundation for non-sectarianism, are indirect followers."

Influential in spreading Hinduism to a western audience were, , , ,  ,  , , , among others.

Hindutva
In the 20th century, Hinduism also gained prominence as a political force and a source for national identity in India. With origins traced back to the establishment of the in the 1910s, the movement grew with the formulation and development of the  ideology in the following decades; the establishment of  (RSS) in 1925; and the entry, and later success, of RSS offshoots  and  (BJP) in electoral politics in post-independence India. Hindu religiosity plays an important role in the nationalist movement.