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The history of Hinduism covers a wide variety of related religious traditions native to the Indian subcontinent. [1] It overlaps or coincides with the development of religion in the Indian subcontinent since the Iron Age, with some of its traditions tracing back to prehistoric religions such as those of the Bronze Age Indus Valley Civilisation.
The word Hindu is an exonym, and while Hinduism has been called the oldest religion in the world, it has also been described by the modern term Sanātana Dharma (lit. ' eternal dharma ') emphasizing its eternal nature. Another endonym for Hinduism is Vaidika Dharma (lit. ' Vedic dharma ').
Separating concepts in Hinduism from concepts specific to Indian culture, or from the language itself, can be difficult. Many Sanskrit concepts have an Indian secular meaning as well as a Hindu dharmic meaning. One example is the concept of Dharma. [4] Sanskrit, like all languages, contains words whose meanings differ across various contexts.
The following list enumerates Hindu monarchies in chronological order of establishment dates. These monarchies were widespread in South Asia since about 1500 BC, [1] went into slow decline in the medieval times, with most gone by the end of the 17th century, although the last one, the Kingdom of Nepal, dissolved only in the 2008.
Hindu and Buddhist religious establishments of South and Southeast Asia came to be centres of production and commerce as they accumulated capital donated by patrons. They engaged in estate management, craftsmanship, and trade. Buddhism in particular travelled alongside the maritime trade, promoting literacy, art, and the use of coinage. [138]
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Hinduism: Hinduism – predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent . [ 1 ] Its followers are called Hindus , who refer to it as Sanātana Dharma [ 2 ] ( Sanskrit : सनातनधर्मः , lit.
According to Gavin Flood, "The actual term Hindu first occurs as a Persian geographical term for the people who lived beyond the river Indus (Sanskrit: Sindhu)", [34] more specifically in the 6th-century BCE inscription of Darius I (550–486 BCE). [39] The term Hindu in these ancient records is a geographical term and did not refer to a ...
Hinduism (/ ˈ h ɪ n d u ˌ ɪ z əm /) is an umbrella term for a range of Indian religious and spiritual traditions (sampradayas) [1] that are unified by adherence to the concept of dharma, a cosmic order maintained by its followers through rituals and righteous living, as first expounded in the Vedas.