Introduction

Between 1500 and 500 BCE, a people called the Aryans became the major political and cultural force in northern India. The Aryans produced sacred writings known as the Vedas. They believed in a number of different gods and goddesses. These beings could be addressed through the ceremonies of priests called Brahmins. Through these ceremonies, a person might be able to achieve union with the ultimate unchanging reality that is the source of the universe. This reality is called brahman.

Originally union with brahman was only considered possible for male Brahmins. However, in the third century BCE this began to change. In time, the brahmanic religion, which was later named Hinduism, became available to all people.

Hinduism allowed individual worshippers to show their devotion to the gods directly, without using priests. Personal gods could be honored in a number of ways. Worshippers could say prayers or sing hymns. Or, they could honor the gods by dancing, presenting offerings, or visiting holy sites.

Religious ideas and practices

For Hindus, life was an endlessly repeating cycle. Souls were reincarnated, or reborn, through a continual process of rebirth known as samsara. Actions performed in one’s life were known as karma. They determined one’s status, or social position, in the next life. Good deeds led to higher status and bad deeds to lower. The ultimate goal of life was to escape this endless cycle of birth and rebirth and achieve moksha, a state of liberation and awareness. A person who reached moksha achieved union with brahman.

Individual Hindus worshipped one or more of the many gods and goddesses who are manifestations of brahman. These gods and goddesses were represented by images in homes and temples. Over the centuries, new gods were added.

Reaching brahman also involved living a moral life. This “right way of living” was known as dharma.

Society and family life

Like every ancient society, early Aryan society distinguished among various social groups. People were divided into separate strata, or social levels. Priests and warriors were the two highest social strata, the Brahmin and the Kshatriya. Merchants formed the third stratum, the Vaishya. Peasants, laborers, and conquered peoples made up the fourth and largest stratum, the Shudra. The Vedas claim this system was created by the gods.

The division of society into different strata was based on attitudes toward certain types of work. Studying religious texts was considered honored work. By contrast, farming or making things with one’s hands was considered lowly. Over time, the division of people into separate occupations grew into an increasingly complex system of thousands of groups. These groups were known as jatis, which literally means “births.” People were born into a jati and often married within their own group. Each jati had its own roles, religious rituals, and status.

In the late 1400s, Portuguese traders came to India. They called the jati groups “casta,” from their own word for inherited social divisions. This became the English word “caste.” Thus, India’s division of its population into fixed, ranked social groups is known as the caste system.

Certain tasks were regarded as beneath the dignity of even the lowest Shudras. Thus, those who did them were viewed as outside of the caste system. This developed into the notion that certain groups were “untouchable” because they were impure, due to their occupations.

Only male Brahmins could go through the most important religious ceremonies and study sacred texts. A Brahmin girl learned those religious rituals that were practiced at home. After her husband’s death, a widow was regarded as unlucky, and was no longer welcome at family festivities. But like the male members of her family, she could hope for a favorable rebirth after death. This might include being reborn as a man.

Political developments and the spread of Hinduism

The Aryans established small kingdoms in northern India. At times, some Indian rulers also created larger empires. At different points, however, these empires were broken up as parts of northwest India fell under the control of first the Persians, and then the Greeks under Alexander the Great.

Over time, Hinduism spread into Nepal and Sri Lanka, where it blended with local religious and social systems. It also spread into Southeast Asia. There too, imported Indian traditions mixed with local ones. Huge stone temples were built to Hindu gods, but native gods and spirits remained important.

In more recent times, South Asian migrants have taken Hinduism around the world, though it has not spread widely among non–South Asians. Today there are about a billion Hindus, about 95 percent of whom live in India.