BACKGROUND
Hinduism is
the major religion of India. It is one of the oldest, surviving major world
religions in today’s society. There is no identifiable founder, no strong
organizational structure, and no creed to define and stabilize its beliefs. It
is a mixture of religious practices and sacred text that date back to more than
four thousand years. The name “Hinduism” derives from the Indus River Valley
civilization. Today the river flows through northwest India into Pakistan. It is
said that Hinduism could originated as early as 7000 B. C.
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The Vedic Period
Some of the scriptures from the Indus River Valley
civilization, also known as Harappan civilization, have been discovered, however
not all have not been converted to English language. Therefore a majority of
our knowledge on the religion comes from physical evidence such as books and
sacred texts. The Sanskrit language and Vedic religion can be explained through
two possible hypotheses: the invasion theory and Aryan migration theory. The invasion
theory, Aryans, moved from southern Russia in
200 B.C.E. to two different directions. The first was westward into Europe and the
second was eastward into Iran also including India. These people were believed
to have their own language and religion when entering new areas leaving scholars to
believe they forced their beliefs and practices thus damaging the older
culture. The Aryan migration theory, hypothesizes that there may have been numerous
repeated waves of migrations into Pakistan and northern India. This then combined Aryan and indigenous
cultures into one creating the Vedas.
"History of Hinduism." - ReligionFacts. Web. 18 Feb. 2015.
"Study Suggests Climate Change Led to Collapse of Harappan Civilization." Breaking Science News SciNewscom. Web. 22 Feb. 2015.
"Study Suggests Climate Change Led to Collapse of Harappan Civilization." Breaking Science News SciNewscom. Web. 22 Feb. 2015.