- Earliest evidence of Hinduism dates back to the early Harappan Period. (5500 - 2600 BCE)
- Considering the fact that Hinduism is such an old religion, much of its early history is unclear.
- Scholars often have to rely on archaeology and the study of translated texts to make educated assumptions and guesses about the history of Hinduism.
- Hinduism doesn’t have one specific founder/theology or a specific date of origin; it was originated from the practices of Aryan tribes that moved to India from Asia over three thousand years ago and has developed from there on for thousands of years.
- The earliest literature of Hinduism is comprised of four Vedas; Rig-Veda, Sama-Veda, Yajur-Veda, and the Atharva-Veda.
- The Rig-Veda is considered the oldest of the Hindu texts. It involves mostly poetic hymns used in priesthood - Gods in the Rig-Veda fall into two categories: Gods of Nature and Gods of Moral Concepts. (Rig-Veda addresses the offering of Soma to the Gods)
- The Buddhist religion was heavily influenced by Hinduism.
- The Gupta Dynasty was governed under Hindu Beliefs. (Gupta Dynasty ruled northern India sometime between the 4th and 6th centuries of the common era)
- During the 1st century "The Silk Road" helped bring cultural expansion into South-East Asia, including Hinduism.
http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/cultural/religion/hinduism/history.html
2 comments:
I never knew that the Buddism religion was influenced on Hinduism, and I didn't realize how parallel the religions were. I also learned that Hinduism wasn't founded by one founder or on a specific date, which was very suprising to me.
The work archaeologists put into translating and understanding their texts must be incredibly hard since it has such an ancient history. I would think that their would almost be no trace of their tribe or of where the early development of their religion originated.
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