Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, "Hinduism" to "Home, Earls of"

Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, "Hinduism" to "Home, Earls of" - Volume 13, Slice 5

HINDUISM, a term generally employed to comprehend the social institutions, past and present, of the Hindus who form the great majority of the people of India; as well as the multitudinous crop of their religious beliefs which has grown up, in the course of many centuries, on the foundation of the Brahmanical scriptures. The actual proportion of the total population of India (294 millions) included under the name of Hindus has been computed in the census report for 1901 at something like 70% (206 millions); the remaining 30% being made up partly of the followers of foreign creeds, such as Mahommedans, Parsees, Christians and Jews, partly of the votaries of indigenous forms of belief which have at various times separated from the main stock, and developed into independent systems, such as Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism; and partly of isolated hill and jungle tribes, such as the Santals, Bhils (Bhilla) and Kols, whose crude animistic tendencies have hitherto kept them, either wholly or for the most part, outside the pale of the Brahmanical community. The name Hindu itself is of foreign origin, being derived from the Persians, by whom the river Sindhu was called Hindhu, a name subsequently applied to the inhabitants of that frontier district, and gradually extended over the upper and middle reaches of the Gangetic valley, whence this whole tract of country between the Himalaya and the Vindhya mountains, west of Bengal, came to be called by the foreign conquerors Hindustan, or the abode of the Hindus; whilst the native writers called it Aryavarta, or the abode of the Aryas. ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 39232
Author: Various
Release Date: Mar 23, 2012
Format: eBook
Language: English