istoryworld
Events relating to hinduism
The Aryans bring into India the roots of Hinduism, with the Brahmans as a priestly caste
Hindu hermits live in groups described as ashramas
The Upanishads, written over a long period from oral tradition, are the mystical texts of early Hinduism
The Mahabharata, India's great national epic, begins to take shape
Vishnu, Shiva and Brahma emerge as India's trio of main gods, with the Vedic religion of the Aryans evolving into Hinduism
Buddhist, Hindu and Jain shrines are carved from the rock in the cave temples of Ellora, in India
Mahmud of Ghazni marches an army across an Indian desert to destroy a great temple at Somnath, killing - it is said - some 50,000 Hindus
After centuries of raiding the northern part of Sri Lanka, the Tamils establish a settled Hindu presence in the island
Shah Jahan orders that all recently built Hindu temples shall be destroyed, ending the Mughal tradition of religious tolerance
Hindu princes and brahmin priests withdraw from Java to Bali, turning the island into the last outpost of Hinduism in southeast Asia
Mahatma Gandhi, confronted by racial discrimination in South Africa, launches a programme of passive resistance (satyagraha)
The RSS party, from which the present Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) derives, is established in India by Keshava Baliram Hedgewar
Mahatma Gandhi leads a 240-mile march from Ahmedabad to the sea to defy the British salt tax, thus launching a campaign of civil disobedience
Sectarian hostilities increase in Kashmir, with the Muslim majority resenting the favours shown by the British to the Sikh and Hindu elite
In granting independence to India, Britain partitions the subcontinent along sectarian lines into Pakistan and the republic of India
The Beatles study Transcendental Meditation at the ashram in India of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, prompting an increased interest in Hinduism in the West