In this video, I'm going to give you a timeline overview of the Indian history, covering the ancient, medieval and modern era. I'll show you all the important events that took place in the history of the Indian subcontinent, which includes ruling, conquest, regional unification, disintegration, spread of different religion and in the end we will also see how Hinduism evolved and transformed from Vedasic period to modern Hinduism. Let's begin with the Indus Valley Civilization. The time period of this civilization is supposed to be from 2900 BCE to 1700 BCE. It was a Bronze Age society that extended from present-day northeast Afghanistan to Pakistan and northwest India.
Through excavation, we found out that this society knew about the scientific and mechanical technique of working with bronze, copper and tin. And the decline of the Indus Valley civilization is still debated among the historians. It might have been due to climate change, drying up of Indus river, natural disaster or it might have been due to the invasion of other people. So we don't know exactly how and why it declined. After the Indus valley civilization, the Vedasic period started.
We also call it Vedasic age. The time period of this age starts from 1500 BCE. to 500 BCE.
Vedasic period is supposed to be the significant period of the Indian history. It is called the formative period where the basic foundations of Indian civilization were laid down through Vedasas, Upanishads, Purans and Nithyas. Today, these scriptures are known to be the oldest scriptures as well as the foundation of the Hindu religion and they were composed in Sanskrit language. In Sanskrit, the word Vedas means knowledge. That is how Vedasas became the foundation of the Vedasic period.
and it also became the foundation of the modern Hindu religion. Now during the Vedasic period, four Vedasas were composed and written. They are Rigveda, Samveda, Yajurveda and Atharveda.
Now these four Vedasas were composed and written between 1500 to 500 BCE. However, these Vedasas existed in oral form which were passed down from master to student for generations. The students would memorize them forward and backward with exact pronunciation and context so that nothing is altered. So from historian's point of view, the writing part of the Vedasas took place between this period.
However, you have to understand this. If the writing part took place in this period, and if you read the Vedasas, every word is sacred and eternal, eternal as the soul, without beginning and without end. You see, truth is of two kinds.
One is which is perceived by the five ordinary senses we have, and then the further reasoning we do on the data collected by these five senses. The knowledge acquired by this method, today we call it science. In Hindi we call it Samanya Gyan. And the second kind of truth is that which is perceived by the subtle, super-sensuous power of Yoga, which is mind, body and spirit. The knowledge acquired this way is deep, meaningful and spiritual.
In Hindi we call it Adhyatmik Gyan. In Vedasas you will find this knowledge. On the basis of the four Vedasas, Dharamshastra, Mokshastra, Kumarashastra and Arthashastra were written. Everything related to human life is written in these four Vedasas. Vedasas do have somewhat rituals and sacrifices, but they are not the only things.
Vedasas have everything you need in order to build up your life and invoke your subtle psychological and spiritual state of mind that is born within you to lead your life properly. That means the idea and the content of the Vedasas are so deep, spiritual and eternal, that it had to be passed on orally. Otherwise a man would have remained completely ignorant.
If such a knowledge had not been revealed orally. Now the question is how old are the Vedasas? The most popular answer that you will hear is that the Vedasas were revealed to a man at the time of creation.
That means the answer is as old as the human creation. That is why you must have heard this term Sanatana Dharma. So the traditional belief is quite logical and there is nothing superstitious about it.
If you remember something, then only you can write about it. If the scholars and historians say that the writing part of these Vedasas took place between 1500 to 500 BCE, then the knowledge had to be passed on orally from generation to generation. Otherwise, a person would have been completely ignorant of such deep eternal and spiritual knowledge.
By the way, Upanishads are basically the texts that contain the narratives in the form of a dialogue between the Guru and the Shishya, consisting of many questions and answers for the better understanding of Vedasas. If I have to put it in a very simple way, you see there are four Vedasas. There is one more Vedasa which is called Upaveda that contains Ayurveda, Dhanurveda and all. But overall there are four Vedasas. Vedasas are basically all about rituals and sacrifices at the most basic level.
Now to explain and understand the essence of these Vedasas, there are Upanishads. To further simplify in understanding the essence of Vedasas and Upanishads, there are Puranas. If we go further, Puranas come from Itihas. Itihas comes from Yamayan and Mahabharat.
In Mahabharat, the highest essence or you can call the highest summary is given by Bhagavad Gita. That is why when you ask the question, how old are the Vedasas, you will hear this popular answer, as old as the human creation. Another angle of looking at it is this way. On the timeline, we saw the Indus Valley civilization before the Vedasic period.
Now the historians and scholars have no proof of finding any reference of the Indus Valley civilization in the Vedasas. Similarly, in the Indus Valley civilization scripts, which has not been fully deciphered so far. However, till now there is no proof about having any references of the Vedasas in the Indus Valley civilization scripts.
The Harappan civilization was urban in nature. It had places of trade and commerce. On the other hand, Vedasic culture was a rural and pastoral.
And we also know that the Indo-Aryan theory has been debunked. Now it seems as if both the civilization had no clue about each other's existence while living in the same subcontinent. From here the belief generates that the Vedasic period is supposed to be the significant period of the Indian history. It is called the formative period where the basic foundations of the Indian civilization were laid.
By the way, Vedasic people worshipped Vedasic gods and goddesses. Some major deities of the Vedasic period include Indra, Surya, Agni, Usha, Vayu, Varun, Mitra, Aditi, Yam, Som, Saraswati, Prithvi and Rudra. And by the way, Iron Age emerged during the Vedasic period. As I have told you, the Indus Valley civilization was a Bronze Age society.
That means the Vedasic period covers both the end of the Bronze Age following the collapse of Harappan civilization. and the beginning of the Iron Age. After the Vedasic period, from 599 to 527 BCE, as per many historians and scholars, this period witnesses the origin of Jainism.
Now, I'm going to be completely honest. I'm not sure about how old Jainism is. Similar to Hindus, even the Jain people say that their religion is the oldest and eternal.
In Jainism, there are 24 Tirthankars. Rishabhnath is the first Tirthankar. But as per the historians and scholars in the history of the Indian subcontinent, the last two Tirthankars, that is Rishabhnath and Mahavir, they are considered as the main figures who started Jainism.
I don't support this theory fully. I'm just telling the interpretation of historians and scholars. Since this video is for both general learners and for those who will be appearing for exams.
So please understand my dilemma and absorb the knowledge accordingly. You see, even the Jains, just like Hindus, believe that their religion is the oldest and eternal. And I do not have any problem accepting that.
I totally agree with it. You see, Jains, Buddhists and Hindus all refer to their religion as Dharma or Sanatan Dharma, which means the eternal path. And back then, there were no such term as Hinduism or Jainism.
The concept of people belonging to specific religion by birth is actually new. As we all know that Hinduism is actually not a religion. It is a culture of seekers, group of people with extreme diversity in ideology. It's the faith which has numerous point of views. But Jainism on the other hand is pretty different.
Jain people believe in some wise, enlightened, blessed real-life humans who are called Tethankaras. So somewhere in time there must have been a disintegration of thoughts and beliefs. beliefs and faith that branched off. However, we do know Jains don't follow Vedasic rituals. Although there are few Jains who do follow Vedasas, but largely Jains don't follow Vedasic rituals and they do not worship the Vedasic gods and goddesses.
Hence, if you go by logic, if Jain people don't follow the rituals of Vedasas, then Jainism must be a post-Vedasic religious practice of Sanatan. So, there are many such questions and theories. However, what I find as the best interpretation is that Jainism stayed with Vedasic thoughts since the beginning. They peacefully coexisted. Somewhere in time there must have been a disintegration of thoughts, beliefs and faith that branched off and we don't know exactly when that happened.
So please take all these beliefs and understanding with a pinch of salt. Anyhow, from examination point of view, Jainism originated in this time period. And Mahavir is considered as the founder of Jainism. However, also keep in mind that Mahavir was not the founder of Jainism, but he reinstated it. Every Tirthankar, Mahavir, and Mahavir were the founders of Jainism.
And Mahavir was the founder of has to reinstate Jainism philosophy. After that Jainism flourishes for numerous years and once again when it declines then again a new Tirthankar is born who preaches Jain philosophy. Like this there were 23 more Tirthankars before Mahavir and And Rishabhnath is the first Tirthankar and he is considered as the founder of Jainism. From 563 to 483 BCE, Buddhism originated.
It was founded by the sage Siddharth Gupta. As we all know the story, Siddharth Gupta was born in a wealthy family. He then rejected his rich lifestyle for extreme self-discipline. After 49 consecutive days of meditation, Siddharth Gupta became the Buddha or enlightened one.
He attained enlightenment under a Bodhi tree at the Mahabodhi temple. Bodhi temple in Bodhgaya, Bihar. He was born in 563 BCE and made his announcement in public at about 528 BCE and gained a group of disciples who became Buddhist monks and travelled throughout northern India, spreading his teachings.
Buddhism as a school of thought remained a relatively minor school until the rule of Ashoka the Great of the Mauryan Empire, who embraced Buddhism and spread not only throughout India but through southern, eastern and central Asia. Now during the Vedasic Age and before the rise of Buddhism, there were several kingdoms along the Indo-Gangetic Plane. There were approximately 22 different kingdoms or as they were called Janapadas.
With time some of the smaller kingdoms got annexed by bigger kingdoms. By 600 BCE there were 16 Mahajanapadas. Here are the names of 16 Mahajanapadas.
In the course of time smaller or weaker kingdoms were eliminated by the stronger rulers. By 600 BCE only 4 powerful kingdoms remained. Magadh, Avanti, Kausala and Vatsa.
By the mid of 16th century BCE, all of them were annexed and became part of Magadh. If you look at the pattern of these Mahajanabadas, most of them were at the banks of river Ganga, river Yamuna and north-west river of Punjab including river Sindh. When you look at the rise and growth of Magadh empire, it is located in the eastern part of Gangetic plain that is present in the middle of the river Ganga. Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh. By 6th century BCE, the focus of chief political activity of the northern part of the Indian subcontinent moved from the western part of Gangetic plain to the eastern part.
Both Prakrit and Sanskrit were widely spoken languages of these times. 16 Mahajanapadas. If you look at the history of languages in the Indian subcontinent, first and the oldest one is Sanskrit, after that Prakrit, then came Pali, after that Appa-Bhramsha and then came Hindi. And then within the Hindi language family there are many more like Brajbhasha, Khariboli, Avadi etc.
So all of this was happening in the northern part of India. When it comes to South India, the period roughly between 5th century BCE to 3rd century AD. In South India is referred to as Sangam period.
In ancient times, the Vindhya mountain range was considered as the traditional boundary between North and South India. Three dynasties ruled during the Sangam age, the Cheras, Cholas and Pandyas. They ruled over the territories of the present day Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, parts of Karnataka and Northern Sri Lanka also known as Elam.
There is always a debate as to which is the oldest language, Tamil or Sanskrit. Both languages have been spoken in India for thousands of years. I personally don't have any clear answer about this. Tamilians feel that their language is the oldest. I have visited many South Indian temples.
As per the Archaeological Survey of India, the temples are as old as 2000 to 3000 years old. But the locals and the temple priest believe that it is much older than what they think. the ASI claims. So even I am convinced that the South Indian literature and culture is quite old. However I do not have the answer as to which is the oldest language, Tamil or Sanskrit.
Anyhow both South India and North India had kings and kingdoms. The North India had the Mahajanapadas and the ancient history of South India is regarded as the Sangam period. As we know Buddhism originated in the middle of 6th century BCE.
That means the kingdoms of both North India and South India had the influence of many religious beliefs like Vedasic Gods and Goddesses, Buddhism and Jainism. As I have told you, Magad emerged as the powerful kingdom or state among the 16 Mahajanapadas of North India. Bimbisara became the founder of the first Magad Empire.
And Bimbisara belonged to the Har dynasty. So within the Magadha empire, there were many dynasties that ruled one after another. In this video, I will just point out the important ones. Otherwise, if I start talking about every individual empire and its ruler, then this video will be a never-ending video. Bimbisara was a follower and admirer of both Gupta Buddha and Mahavir.
Although there are many contradictory accounts in history about King Bimbisara's religion. Somewhere it is even written that he was born Hindu. Actually, these Mahajanapadas evolved during the Vedasic age. So definitely the parents of these rulers were Hindus or believers of Vedasic gods.
So naturally the rulers of these kingdoms would have Vedasic influence. And then it was also the time of the rise of Shramana movements, including Buddhism and Jainism, which challenged the religious orthodoxy of the Vedasic period. So if at all any king or a ruler later converted to Jainism or Buddhism, it is due to self-enlightenment or realization.
religion. That is how if you look at the early Buddhist and Jain sources, in that King Bimbisara endorsed both Buddhism and Jainism religions equally. When he started ruling the Magadha Empire, he ruled at a time when Gupta Buddha and Mahavir both started their teachings.
He then started a policy of religious tolerance by enabling any religion which came to his kingdom to flourish and also encouraged arts and crafts in his kingdom. In other words, people in the Magad state had the liberty to believe in Vedasic gods, Buddhism as well as Jainism. That means the history of religious culture of India during the time of Mahajanapadas was composite in nature. Bimbisara was succeeded by his son Ajatashatru.
Actually, these two father and son were regarded as the important rulers during the initial phase of the Magad Empire. After them, Shishunaga dynasty started. ruling the Magad Empire.
Like this, when Nanda dynasty started ruling the Magad Empire, their last ruler Dhananand, who was known to be a powerful king, he was defeated by Chandragop Maurya. And we all know the famous story where Acharya Chanakya helped Chandragop Maurya in taking over the Magad Empire, and that marked the beginning of the Maurya dynasty or Maurya Empire. The Maurya Empire under Chandragop Maurya expanded till the borders of Persia. In other words, Chandragop Maurya expanded his empire to Baluchesk. Gandhar, Gandhar, Afghanistan and uptil Turkmenistan.
Chandragupta Maurya successfully unified the Indian subcontinent under one empire. In 326 BCE, Alexander invaded India. After crossing the river Indus, he advanced towards Takshila. He then challenged King Porus, ruler of the kingdom between the river Jhelum and Chenab.
Porus was defeated. Alexander captured Porus and like the other local rulers he had defeated, along with the allowed Porus to continue to govern his territory. At that time, Dhananand of the Nanda dynasty was the ruler of Magadha.
Nanda dynasty extended from Bengal in the east to the Punjab region in the west, and in south till the Vindhya range. King Porus fought against Alexander the Great in the battle of Hydaspes. Hydaspes is the name given to river Chelem by the Greeks. After the battle of Hydaspes, as we know, King Porus was defeated.
But this battle was a massive bloody conflict. The morale of Alexander's army was at an all-time low. That is why Alexander decided to turn back. After three years, in 323 BCE, Alexander died in Babylon due to bad health. Seleucus Nicator succeeded Alexander after his death.
As we know, in 321 BCE,... Jangop Maurya became the ruler of Magadh. Under his rule, the Maurya Empire expanded till the borders of Persia. In 306 BCE, Seleucus Nicator decided to conquer the Indian subcontinent, which his predecessor couldn't do 20 years ago.
But one thing Seleucus was not aware of, the Indian subcontinent was not like how it was 20 years ago. Now the Indian subcontinent was unified to a great extent under the Maurya Empire. If you look at the history, India was invaded mostly from the north-western direction.
North-eastern side there is Himalayas and in the south there is water. That is why Chandraguptat Maurya decided to expand his empire till the Persian borders. Anyhow as we know Chandraguptat Maurya defeated Seleucus and married his daughter. daughter so that the Greeks would never think about invading India.
After Chandragup Maurya, his son Bimbisara became the king. After Bimbisara, Ashoka became the king. He is also regarded as Ashoka the Great. He is considered as one of India's greatest emperor.
Ashoka expanded Chandragup's empire from present-day Afghanistan in the west to Bangladesh in the east. It covered the entire Indian subcontinent except for parts of present-day Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala. The empire's capital is Karnataka.
was Patliputra, which is in Magad, present-day Patna, with provincial capitals at Takshila and Ujjain. He is popularly remembered for his destructive war against state of Kalinga, which is in modern-day Odisha. This war is known for its massive bloodshed, which he conquered in 260 BCE.
After the war, he converted to Buddhism. He is remembered for the Ashoka pillar and the writings on it. He also builds stupas, monasteries and other religious structures at many Buddhist sites, such as Sarna. He also sent Buddhist monks to Sri Lanka and Central Asia. After Ashoka, there were few more rulers who continued the Maurya dynasty's rule till 185 BCE.
Like this, as we enter the Common Era, Gupta dynasty or the Gupta Empire begins. Sri Gupta was the founder of the Gupta dynasty. The most notable rulers of the Gupta dynasty were Chandraguptata I, Chandragupta and Chandraguptata I, who is also known as Vikramaditya.
As we know, the Maurya Empire started from the time of the Surya dynasty. united large areas of the Indian subcontinent. Similarly, even the Gupta Empire continued the legacy of unifying India. The Mauryan and the Gupta Empires of India united large areas of the subcontinent.
Ashoka's rule spread Buddhism far and wide. And under the Gupta's rule, India's arts and sciences flourished. The Gupta Empire is also considered a golden age in the Indian history because it witnessed massive inventions and discoveries in science, technology, engineering, art, dialogue, and culture. dialectic, literature, logic, mathematics, astronomy, religion and philosophy. Chandraguptata I, who is also known as Vikramaditya, was known for his deep interest in art and culture and had nine famous scholars in his court.
They were known as Ratnas or nine gems. Here are the names of the nine Ratnas. It was during his rule, Fajian came to India.
He was a Chinese Buddhist monk and translator who travelled by foot from China to India. As the Gupta Empire starts to decline, India starts to fragment. And this is where the medieval period of India begins. When I say after the fall of Gupta Empire, India starts to fragment, what I mean is that you will see numerous small Hindu kingdoms started emerging after 600 AD.
During the Maurya Empire, Chandraguptata Maurya successfully unified the divided communities of the northern and central Indian subcontinent under one empire. After that the Gupta Empire continued the consolidation and unified more and more area under one empire. But after the fall of Gupta Empire, India started fragmenting in numerous small Hindu kingdoms.
As I have mentioned, the Gupta Empire flourished under Chandraguptata I. But the empire started declining under his son Kumara Gupta and his grandson Skanda Gupta. The Huna people who were a group of Central Asian tribes from the Khyber Pass, they entered the Indian subcontinent at the end of the 5th to 6th century AD. They invaded Gupta territories and caused significant damage to the Gupta empire.
The Gupta Empire almost ended in 550 AD, although it continued for another 50 years without any influence. As you know that whenever there is an empire, the emperor appoints various governors to control and rule its territories on behalf of the emperor. These governors that were appointed by the Gupta kings broke away from the Gupta control, greatly weakening the Gupta empire. And they all started establishing their own authorities and that is how the massive Gupta empire disintegrated into regional kingdoms.
Have a look at this picture. This is what India looked in the year 1000 AD. The Gupta empire disintegrated into multiple Hindu kingdoms. Now as we head into the second millennium of the common era, you will start to see Muslim influence in north western side of the Indian subcontinent, especially in the regions of modern day Afghanistan and Pakistan. In the first half of the 8th century AD, a A series of battles took place between the Umayyad Caliphate and the Indian Hindu kingdoms to the east of the Indus river.
Between 724 and 810 AD, a series of battles took place between the Arabs and the North Indian King Nagabhatta I of the Ganges. the Gurjara-Pratihara dynasty and the South Indian king Vikramaditya I of the Chalukya dynasty. The Arabs were badly defeated and that is what led to the establishment of the Sumra and Solanki dynasty in Gujarat and the adjoining Sindh area.
These were mainly Hindu Rajput kings. It was during the 11th century, Mahmud of Ghazni from the Ghaznavid dynasty again invaded vast parts of eastern Indus river. The area west to the Indus river was already under the rule of Ghaznavid dynasty which was a Persian Muslim dynasty.
dynasty of Turkic Mamluk origin. Mahmud of Ghazni also made two attempts to conquer Kashmir, but he did not succeed. The Ghurid Empire succeeded the Ghaznavid dynasty after 1186 AD.
And after the Ghurid Empire, the Mamluk dynasty succeeded the Ghurid Empire. Mamluk dynasty took over in 1206 AD. The Mamluk dynasty under the leadership of Qutb-ud-Din Abaq invaded into the Gangetic heartland of India and established control over some of the new areas.
Hence we can say that Islam started arriving in North India in the early 12-13th century AD via the Turkic invasions. The Mamluk dynasty was also called the Slave dynasty. A Mamluk was a soldier of slave origin who had converted from Buddhism to Sunni Islam. This phenomenon started in the 9th century AD and gradually the Mamluks became a powerful military class in various Muslim societies.
Mamluks held political and military power, most notably in Egypt but also in Levant, Iraq and India. Qutb-Ud-Din Abaq was the founder of the Mamluk dynasty. He invaded Delhi and made himself the Sultan of Delhi. His colleagues Bhakti and Khwaja, he led the Muslim conquest of Bengal, marking the easternmost expansion of Islam at that time.
Nasiruddin Kabacha became the Sultan of Multan. This led to the establishment of the Delhi Sultanate and Islam was spread across most parts of the Indian subcontinent. The period from 1206 AD to 1526 AD came to be known as the Delhi Sultanate period. This period witnessed many dynasties and various rulers. Here are the names of their respective ruling time period.
With the establishment of the Delhi Sultanate, you will notice that Northern India is again unified under the Muslim rule. After the decline of the Delhi Sultanate, the Mughal Empire started. Bahadur is the founder of the Mughal Empire in India.
He belonged to a branch of Turks called Chagatai. The last dynasty to rule India under Delhi Sultanate was the Lodhi dynasty. And Ibrahim Lodi was the last ruler of the Lodhi dynasty as well as the Delhi Sultanate. On 21st April 1526, Bahadur Ibn Al-Baghdadi Bahadur defeated Ibrahim Lodi in the first battle of Panipat and quickly occupied Delhi and thus ended the Delhi Sultanate.
He sent his son Humayun to capture Agra. Like this one Mughal emperor after another started expanding the Mughal rule in almost all over the Indian subcontinent. Meanwhile when Lodi dynasty took over the Delhi Sultanate, it was during 1469, Sikhism was born in the Punjab area of South Asia, which now falls into the present day states of India and Pakistan.
The main religions of the area at the time were Hinduism and Islam. The year 1469 marks the birth of Guru Nanda Ji, who is regarded as the founder of Sikhism, as well as the first guru of Sikh. By the middle of the 16th century, that is during the time of the fifth guru Arjan Ji, he also compiled the Guru Granth Sahib.
Sikhism was well established by this time. The sixth guru, Guru Har Gobind Ji, started to militarize the community so that they would be able to resist any oppression. The Sikh community fought a number of battles to preserve their faith.
The Sikh community then lived in relative peace with the political rulers until the time of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, who used force to make his subjects accept Islam. Aurangzeb had the ninth Guru, Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji arrested and executed in 1675. That is why the tenth Guru, Guru Gobind King Ji, recreated the Sikhs as a military group of men and women called the Khalsa in 1699. with the intention that the Sikh community should forever be able to defend their faith. Anyhow, nine gurus followed Guru Nanda Ji and developed the Sikh faith and community over the next centuries.
By the early 18th century, the Mughal rule started declining. Although the last Mughal ruler was Bahadur Shiva Zafar or Bahadur Shiva I, but after the death of Aurangzeb, the remaining Mughal emperors were not that influential and effective. That is why we say by the early 18th century, the Mughal rule started declining.
And the reason behind the decline of the Mughal Empire is because the British showed up. Among the Europeans, it was the Portuguese who landed first on the Indian subcontinent in the name of trade. Vasco de Gupta was the first European to reach India at Calicut on the Malabar coast of present-day Kerala.
However, it was the British who went on to rule the entire Indian subcontinent after the end of the Mughal rule. The beginning of the British rule in India is referred to as modern history. The British ruled India for over 200 years and eventually in 1947, India becomes an independent country.
Then coming to Christianity, the popular belief is that it arrived in the Indian subcontinent when the Europeans started trading via sea routes. As we know among the Europeans, it was the Portuguese who landed first on the Indian subcontinent in the name of trade. Vasco da Gupta was the first European to reach India at Calicut on the Malabar coast of present-day Kerala.
So Christian conversion is believed to have began during the early 16th century around the western coast of the Indian subcontinent. From the beginning of 18th century, the Lutherans began to arrive in India, mostly from Germany. They translated the Bible to local Indian languages. The conversions were somewhat successful.
successful considering the size of missionaries. East India Company had initially banned missionaries in their territories, but in 19th century, they lifted the ban. Then came Christian missionaries from England to teach Indians their language and religion.
They set up Christian schools and colleges as means to spread the religion in rural areas. Now if you look at all these four maps together, you will notice a transformation in terms of various empires and rulers that rule the Indian subcontinent. You will also notice how different religion entered in the Indian subcontinent.
And now I'll tell you how Hinduism evolved. If you remember in the beginning when I was explaining the Vedasic period, in that I also spoke a little about the Vedasas. Everything related to human life is written in these four Vedasas.
Yes, these Vedasas do have somewhat rituals and sacrifices, but they are not the only thing. Vedasas have everything you need in order to build up your life and invoke your subtle psychological and spiritual state of mind that is born within you. to lead your life properly. Some of the prominent deities that are mentioned in the Vedasas are Indra, Surya, Agni, Usha, Vayu, Varuna, Mitra, Aditi, Yam, Som, Saraswati, Prithvi and Rudra. But today if you notice, in modern Hinduism, most Hindus are devotees of Shiva and Vishnu.
And by the way, Vishnu is a Rig Vedasic deity, but not a prominent one when compared to Indra, Agni and others. So the question comes, how did modern Hinduism found devotion in gods like Shiva? Shiva, Vishnu or their avatars and reincarnations, for example, Yam, Krishna.
When there is no mentioning of these names in the Vedasas directly. I am not saying that these gods don't exist in the Vedasas. I am saying they are not mentioned as it is or in the form that we see today.
Now you have to understand this. Searching for a god in Rig Vedasa using its present name is misleading. The Vedasic god Agni is the same as the Puranic god Brahma. The Vedasic god Surya is the same as Yam and Shani. Therefore these two gods are supposed to be sons of Suryadev.
And Rudra and Shiva are same because both have three eyes. So the question comes, how did modern Hinduism found devotion in gods like Shiva, Vishnu or their avatars and reincarnations, for example Yam and Krishna? And the answer is because of Bhakti movement.
As you know, the word Bhakti means devotion. And it is believed to have come out in South India during the 7th century AD. If you remember, after the fall of Gupta Empire, India starts to fragment.
And this is where the medieval period of India begins. You will see numerous small Hindu kingdoms started emerging after 600 AD in northern part of India. Whereas in South India, the Alwars and Nayanas started a religious movement.
where they started preaching Vaishnava and Shaiva devotionalism in the early medieval period. The Nayanas were devotees of Shiva, while the Alvars were the devotees of Vishnu. Bhakti movement originated in Tamil Nadu and Kerala and reached North India by 15th century onwards.
And the overall Bhakti movement reached its peak between the 15th and 17th century AD. Now some people call this Bhakti movement as a reform of Hinduism, which until this point focused more on Vedasas and Vedasic rituals. In other words, the Bhakti movement provided an alternative path of worshipping the gods.
It is a path of worshiping the gods. of devotion through a deity, by which one can possibly achieve moksha or liberation through self-realization. Now we are going to look at the causes behind the rise of bhakti movement.
A lot of historians say that Hinduism went through a period of time when the Hinduism through a makeover. They refer Bhakti movement as a reform of Hinduism. During early medieval period, the Hindu society was full of many social anomalies like rigidity of caste system, irrelevant rituals and religious practices, blind faiths and social dogmas. The society also suffered from polytheism, segregation, severe economic disparity due to casteism, untouchability, etc. The religion itself was monopolized by the Brahmins, where many of them lived a degenerated and corrupt moral life.
So common people in general had developed a negative attitude towards these social evils and they were in need of a liberal form of religion where they could identify themselves with simple religious practices. And then there are some historians who even believe that Bhakti movement was a reaction against the challenges from other religion. In the ancient period, Hinduism had to face challenges from religions like Buddhism and Jainism. If you can recollect, we did learn that some of the prominent rulers of India became followers of Jainism and Buddhism. They extended wholehearted support to the spread of these religions.
So, Bhakti movement is seen as a revival plan of Hinduism. And then there are some historians who even argue that Bhakti movement was an Indian response to the challenges that appeared in the form of Islamic religion. As you know the period from 18th century is dedicated to the Bhakti movement.
We also know that Islam arrived in North India in the early 12th to 13th century AD. Due to the rise of Delhi Sultanate, Muslim rule started in India. So Islam became the religion of the ruling community. community. This religion had its own characteristics like universal brotherhood, equality of all in the society, opposition to idol worship and above all practice of monotheism or oneness of God.
Delhi's Sultanate is also known as a period of cultural intermixing. After living together for generations and continuous interaction between the people of two communities, obviously there will be a growing feeling of generosity among the Hindus and Muslims. Both consciously and unconsciously the ideas of Islam will be Islam produced some effect upon the minds of weaker sections of the Hindu community and planted a seed that facilitated the growth of a liberal attitude.
With Islam, Sufism came along. Prominent Sufi saints like Hazrat Khwaja Nasiruddin Christian, Hazrat Khwaja Nasiruddin Aulia and Nasiruddin Chirag, they all fostered a spirit of oneness among the Hindus and Muslims in the medieval society. The Hindu saints of India were influenced by the liberal approach of Sufism.
The high philosophies of the Vedasas and and Upanishads were very complicated for the common people. They wanted a simple way of worship, simple religious practices and simple social customs. So the next alternative was Bhakti Marg, a simple way of devotion to get liberation from worldly life. This way many believe that Bhakti co-developed with Sufism. Here is the list of Bhakti saints belonging to Hindu, Muslim and Sikh religion, who were all collectively involved in spreading Bhakti all over the Indian subcontinent.
Some historians also believe that Bhakti was already there in the Vedasas. It was not something new. If you look at Bhagavad Gita, which is considered as the most central and sacred book by Hindus, it was written by Vedas Vatsa. Even Bhagavad Gita introduces Bhakti Maurya, the path of faith and devotion, as one of the three ways to spiritual freedom and liberation. The other two being Kumara Maurya, the path of works, and Nanda Maurya, the path of knowledge.
So the concept of Bhakti was not a new one in the history of the Indian tradition. It is there in Vedasas too. But the meaning of Bhakti is more descriptive and to the point in Bhagavad Gita.
So it can be said that the Bhakti movement was not an original idea. It already existed in the Vedasas and Bhagavad Gita. But when we talk of Bhakti movement in the context of socio-religious background, it has a different connotation.
As an idea or concept, Bhakti was not a new thing in the Indian tradition. But when we see it in the context of socio-religious background, it has a different meaning. So Bhakti movement constitutes a very important chapter in the socio-cultural history of India.
And last but not the least, Bhajans became a big part of the Bhakti movement. I hope you found this video informative. Let me know your thoughts in the comment section. Thanks for watching it.