India: Difference between revisions

* {{citation|title=Merriam-Webster's Geographical Dictionary |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Co_VIPIJerIC&pg=PA515|year=1997|isbn=978-0-87779-546-9 |edition=3rd |publisher=[[Merriam-Webster]]|pages=515–516}} "Officially, Republic of India";

* {{citation|title=Complete Atlas of the World: The Definitive View of the Earth |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O5moCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA54-IA10 |edition=3rd|year=2016|publisher=[[DK Publishing]] |isbn=978-1-4654-5528-4|page=54}} "Official name: Republic of India";

[[Modern humans]] arrived on the [[Indian subcontinent]] from Africa no later than 55,000 years ago.<ref name="PetragliaAllchin">{{harvnb|Petraglia|Allchin|2007|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Qm9GfjNlnRwC&pg=PA10 10]}}, "Y-Chromosome and Mt-DNA data support the colonisation of the Indian subcontinent by modern humans originating in Africa. ... Coalescence dates for most non-European populations average to between 73 and 55 ka."</ref><ref name="Dyson2018p1">{{harvnb|Dyson|2018|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=3TRtDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA1 1]}}, "Modern human beings—''Homo sapiens''—originated in Africa. Then, intermittently, sometime between 60,000 and 80,000 years ago, tiny groups of them began to enter the north-west of the Indian subcontinent. It seems likely that initially they came by way of the coast. ... it is virtually certain that there were ''Homo sapiens'' in the subcontinent 55,000 years ago, even though the earliest fossils that have been found of them date to only about 30,000 years before the present."</ref><ref name="Fisher2018p23">{{harvnb|Fisher|2018|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=kZVuDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA23 23]}}, "Scholars estimate that the first successful expansion of the ''Homo sapiens'' range beyond Africa and across the Arabian Peninsula occurred from as early as 80,000 years ago to as late as 40,000 years ago, although there may have been prior unsuccessful emigrations. Some of their descendants extended the human range ever further in each generation, spreading into each habitable land they encountered. One human channel was along the warm and productive coastal lands of the Persian Gulf and northern Indian Ocean. Eventually, various bands entered India between 75,000 years ago and 35,000 years ago."</ref> Their long occupation, initially in varying forms of isolation as hunter-gatherers, has made the region highly diverse, second only to Africa in human [[genetic diversity]].<ref name="Dyson2018-28a">{{harvnb|Dyson|2018|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=3TRtDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA28 28]}}</ref> [[Neolithic|Settled life]] emerged on the subcontinent in the western margins of the [[Indus River|Indus]] [[river basin]] 9,000 years ago, evolving gradually into the [[Indus Valley Civilisation]] of the third millennium BCE.<ref name="Combined-2">(a) {{harvnb|Dyson|2018|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=3TRtDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA4 4–5]}};<br />(b) {{harvnb|Fisher|2018|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=kZVuDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA23 33]}}</ref> By at least {{BCE|1200}}, an [[Proto-language|archaic form]] of [[Sanskrit]], an [[Indo-European language]], had [[Trans-cultural diffusion|diffused]] into India from the northwest.<ref>{{Harvnb|Lowe|2015|p=|pp=1–2}}, "[[Rigveda|It]] consists of 1,028 hymns (''sūktas''), highly crafted poetic compositions originally intended for recital during rituals and for the invocation of and communication with the Indo-Aryan gods. Modern scholarly opinion largely agrees that these hymns were composed between around 1500 BCE and 1200 BCE, during the eastward migration of the Indo-Aryan tribes from the mountains of what is today northern Afghanistan across the Punjab into north India."</ref><ref name="Combined-4-Rigveda">(a) {{harvnb|Witzel|2003|p=|pp=68–70}}, "It is known from internal evidence that the Vedic texts were orally composed in northern India, at first in the Greater Punjab and later on also in more eastern areas, including northern Bihar, between ca. 1500 BCE and ca. 500–400 BCE. The oldest text, the Rgveda, must have been more or less contemporary with the Mitanni texts of northern Syria/Iraq (1450–1350 BCE); [...] The Vedic texts were orally composed and transmitted, without the use of script, in an unbroken line of transmission from teacher to student that was formalised early on. This ensured an impeccable textual transmission superior to the classical texts of other cultures; it is in fact something of a ''tape-recording'' of ca. 1500–500 BCE. Not just the actual words, but even the long-lost musical (tonal) accent (as in old Greek or in Japanese) has been preserved up to the present. [...] The RV text was composed before the introduction and massive use of iron, that is before ca. 1200–1000 BCE.";<br />(b) {{Harvnb|Doniger|2014|pp=xviii, 10}}, "A Chronology of Hinduism: ca. 1500–1000 BCE Rig Veda; ca. 1200–900 BCE Yajur Veda, Sama Veda and Atharva Veda [...] Hindu texts began with the ''Rig Veda'' ('Knowledge of Verses'), composed in northwest India around 1500 BCE; the first of the three Vedas, it is the earliest extant text composed in Sanskrit, the language of ancient India.";<br />(c) {{harvnb|Ludden|2014|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=pBq9DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA19 19]}}, "In Punjab, a dry region with grasslands watered by five rivers (hence 'panch' and 'ab') draining the western Himalayas, one prehistoric culture left no material remains, but some of its ritual texts were preserved orally over the millennia. The culture is called Aryan, and evidence in its texts indicates that it spread slowly south-east, following the course of the Yamuna and Ganga Rivers. Its elite called itself Arya (pure) and distinguished themselves sharply from others. Aryans led kin groups organized as nomadic horse-herding tribes. Their ritual texts are called Vedas, composed in Sanskrit. [[Vedic Sanskrit]] is recorded only in hymns that were part of Vedic rituals to Aryan gods. To be Aryan apparently meant to belong to the elite among pastoral tribes. Texts that record Aryan culture are not precisely datable, but they seem to begin around 1200 BCE with four collections of Vedic hymns (Rg, Sama, Yajur, and Artharva).";<br />(d) {{harvnb|Dyson|2018|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=3TRtDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA14 14–15]}}, "Although the collapse of the Indus valley civilization is no longer believed to have been due to an 'Aryan invasion' it is widely thought that, at roughly the same time, or perhaps a few centuries later, new Indo-Aryan-speaking people and influences began to enter the subcontinent from the north-west. Detailed evidence is lacking. Nevertheless, a predecessor of the language that would eventually be called Sanskrit was probably introduced into the north-west sometime between 3,900 and 3,000 years ago. This language was related to one then spoken in eastern Iran; and both of these languages belonged to the Indo-European language family. [...] It seems likely that various small-scale migrations were involved in the gradual introduction of the predecessor language and associated cultural characteristics. However, there may not have been a tight relationship between movements of people on the one hand, and changes in language and culture on the other. Moreover, the process whereby a dynamic new force gradually arose—a people with a distinct ideology who eventually seem to have referred to themselves as 'Arya'—was certainly two-way. That is, it involved a blending of new features which came from outside with other features—probably including some surviving Harappan influences—that were already present. Anyhow, it would be quite a few centuries before Sanskrit was written down. And the hymns and stories of the Arya people—especially the Vedas and the later Mahabharata and Ramayana epics—are poor guides as to historical events. Of course, the emerging Arya were to have a huge impact on the history of the subcontinent. Nevertheless, little is known about their early presence."; <br /> (e) {{harvnb|Robb|2011|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=GQ-2VH1LO_EC&pg=PA46 46–]}}, "The expansion of Aryan culture is supposed to have begun around 1500 BCE. It should not be thought that this Aryan emergence (though it implies some migration) necessarily meant either a sudden invasion of new peoples, or a complete break with earlier traditions. It comprises a set of cultural ideas and practices, upheld by a Sanskrit-speaking elite, or Aryans. The features of this society are recorded in the Vedas."</ref> Its evidence today is found in the hymns of the ''[[Rigveda]]''. Preserved by an [[oral tradition]] that was [[Indian mathematics#Styles of memorisation|resolutely vigilant]], the ''Rigveda'' records the dawning of [[Hinduism]] in India.<ref name="Combined-3">(a) {{citation|last1=Jamison|first1=Stephanie|author-link1=Stephanie W. Jamison|last2=Brereton|first2=Joel |title=The Rigveda|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1LTRDwAAQBAJ|year=2020|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-063339-4|pages=2, 4|quote=The RgVeda is one of the four Vedas, which together constitute the oldest texts in Sanskrit and the earliest evidence for what will become Hinduism. (p. 2)  Although Vedic religion is very different in many regards from what is known as Classical Hinduism, the seeds are there. Gods like Visnu and Siva (under the name Rudra), who will become so dominant later, are already present in the Rgveda, though in roles both lesser than and different from those they will later play, and the principal Rgvedic gods like Indra remain in later Hinduism, though in diminished capacity (p. 4).}};<br />(b) {{citation|last=Flood|first=Gavin|author-link=Gavin Flood|editor=Gavin Flood|title=The Oxford History of Hinduism: Hindu Practice: Hindu Practice|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4yT3DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA4|year= 2020|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|isbn=978-0-19-105322-1|pages=4–|chapter=Introduction|quote=I take the term 'Hinduism to meaningfully denote a range and history of practice characterised by a number of features, particularly reference to Vedic textual and sacrificial origins, belonging to endogamous social units (jati/varna), participating in practices that involve making an offering to a deity and receiving a blessing (puja), and a first-level cultural polytheism (although many Hindus adhere to a second-level monotheism in which many gods are regarded as emanations or manifestations of the one, supreme being).}};<br />(c) {{cite book|last=Michaels|first=Axel|author-link=Axel Michaels|editor=Patrick Olivelle, Donald R. Davis|title=The Oxford History of Hinduism: Hindu Law: A New History of Dharmaśāstra|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QAJCDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA86|year=2017|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|location=Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-100709-5|pages=86–97|quote=Almost all traditional Hindu families observe until today at least three ''samskaras'' (initiation, marriage, and death ritual).  Most other rituals have lost their popularity, are combined with other rites of passage, or are drastically shortened.  Although ''samskaras'' vary from region to region, from class (''varna'') to class, and from caste to caste, their core elements remain the same owing to the common source, the Veda, and a common priestly tradition preserved by the ''Brahmin'' priests. (p 86)}}<br />(d) {{cite book|last=Flood|first=Gavin D.|title=An Introduction to Hinduism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KpIWhKnYmF0C&pg=PA35|year=1996|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|isbn=978-0-521-43878-0|page=35|quote=It is this Sansrit, vedic, tradition which has maintained a continuity into modern times and which has provided the most important resource and inspiration for Hindu traditions and individuals.  The Veda is the foundation for most later developments in what is known as Hinduism.}}</ref> The [[Dravidian languages]] of India were supplanted in the northern and western regions.<ref name="Combined-4">{{harvnb|Dyson|2018|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=3TRtDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA16 16], [https://books.google.com/books?id=3TRtDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA25 25]}}</ref> By {{BCE|400}}, [[social stratification|stratification]] and [[social exclusion|exclusion]] by [[caste]] had emerged within Hinduism,<ref name="Dyson2018-16a">{{harvnb|Dyson|2018|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=3TRtDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA16 16]}}</ref> and [[History of Buddhism in India|Buddhism]] and [[History of Jainism|Jainism]] had arisen, proclaiming [[social order]]s unlinked to heredity.<ref name="Fisher2018-59">{{harvnb|Fisher|2018|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=kZVuDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA59 59]}}</ref> Early political consolidations gave rise to the loose-knit [[Maurya Empire|Maurya]] and [[Gupta Empire]]s based in the [[Ganges Basin]].<ref name="Combined-5">(a) {{harvnb|Dyson|2018|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=3TRtDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA16 16–17]}};<br />(b) {{harvnb|Fisher|2018|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=kZVuDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA67 67]}};<br />(c) {{harvnb|Robb|2011|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=GQ-2VH1LO_EC&pg=PA56 56–57]}};<br />(d) {{harvnb|Ludden|2014|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=pBq9DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA29 29–30]}}.</ref> Their collective [[era]] was suffused with wide-ranging creativity,<ref name="Combined-6">(a) {{harvnb|Ludden|2014|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=pBq9DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA28 28–29]}};