Surviving a Time of Trial
What You Will Learn...
Main Ideas
1. Most Muslim rulers were intolerant of other religions, with a few exceptions, such as Akbar.
2. Muslims and Catholics alike worked to convert India’s Hindus.
3. During this difficult era, Hinduism remained strong due to the influence of culture and saints.
The Big Idea
Most Hindus remained passionately devoted to Hinduism despite centuries of persecution
Key Terms
HINDUISM TODAY’S TEACHING STANDARDS
5. Describe how the saints of the Bhakti Movement were able to inspire Hindus to new levels of religious devotion.
6. Give examples of how religious loyalty and devotion inspired Hindus to resist conversion and alien rule.
7. Analyze the rationale and strategies behind attempts to forcibly convert Hindus to Islam and Christianity.
If YOU lived then...
An army of the Muslim emperor Aurangzeb has just destroyed the temple in your Hindu village. The emperor has also reimposed a heavy tax on Hindus. Your father must always carry a receipt showing he paid the tax or else he could be punished. If your family converts to Islam, he won’t be forced to pay the tax.
Do you think your family should convert?
BUILDING BACKGROUND: The Roman Catholic Inquisition took place in the Portuguese trading colony of Goa from 1560 to 1812. Church officials arrested, tortured, tried and executed Hindus, Jews, Muslims and Catholics for breaking Church laws, including restrictions against practicing any religion other than Roman Catholicism.
Hinduism Under Non-Hindu Rule
In about 1030, the Muslim scholar Al-Biruni wrote, “The Hindus believe with regard to God that He is eternal, without beginning and end, acting by free will, almighty, all-wise, giving life, ruling, preserving.” He explained, “According to Hindu philosophers, liberation is common to all castes and to the whole human race, if their intention of obtaining it is perfect.” He described Hindu beliefs, scripture and practices that were little different than those of today. He observed that Hindus were not inclined to war with others for religious reasons and praised India’s religious tolerance.
Al-Biruni noted, with approval, that the Muslim raids had “utterly ruined the prosperity of the country.” Historians today estimate that between 1000 and 1100 ce, 20 million Indians—ten percent of the population—perished. By the 16th century, tens of millions more died through war and famine, while tens of thousands of temples had been destroyed. Hindus survived this long period of adversity through devotion to God and continued loyalty to community and tradition.
Responding with Devotion
The Bhakti Movement, explained in Chapter Two, was a powerful force throughout our period all over India. It stressed one’s personal relationship with God and offered many spiritual practices individuals could perform on their own. By sitting alone under a tree and chanting the name of Rama, singing bhajana or meditating on God, the common Hindu could find the spiritual strength to endure hardship and persecution.
The great philosophers Madhva (1017-1137) and Ramanuja (1238-1317) were forerunners of popular saints during our period who strengthened Hindus and discouraged conversion. An early Vaishnava saint, Jayadeva (c. 1200), wrote the famous Gita Govinda, popular in Orissa and Bengal. Among the Vaishnava saints from Maharashtra were Jnaneshvara (1275-1296), Namdeva (1270-1350), Eknatha (1548-1600), Tukarama (1598-1649) and Samartha Ramdasa (1606-1682).
In North India, Swami Ramananda (ca 1400-1470) promoted the worship of Lord Rama, praising him as “Hari,” a name of Vishnu. Ramananda discouraged caste, saying, “Let no one ask about another’s caste or with whom he eats; he who worships Hari is Hari’s own.”
Two traditions arose from Ramananda’s popular teachings. One group, including Nimbarka (13th century), Chaitanya (1486-1534), Surdasa (1483-1563), Mirabai (1503-1573) and Tulsidasa (1532-1623), emphasized worship of the personal God. They were enlightened persons filled with a sense of divine ecstasy. Vaishnavas especially revere Chaitanya and Mirabai as divine beings.
A second tradition began with Ramananda’s disciple Kabir (1398-1518). He was adopted as a child and raised by a low-caste Muslim, a weaver. He wrote hundreds of spiritual poems in Hindi, the language of the people (rather than Sanskrit). His poems are easy to understand, even today, and millions still follow his teachings. Kabir’s philosophy, mostly drawn from Hinduism, was simple and direct. It appealed both to Hindus and Muslims. He rejected the caste system and ridiculed many Hindu and Muslim religious practices. Seeking to promote religious harmony, Kabir taught that there is only one God for all religions.
The Sikh religion was also a powerful force. Its founder, Guru Nanak (1469-1539), taught, “Realization of Truth is higher than all else. Higher still is truthful living.” He emphasized the continuous recitation of God’s name and declared that meditation is the means to see God, who is omnipresent. Like Kabir and Ramananda, Guru Nanak discouraged ritual worship and caste discrimination.
SAINT AND KING
At the time of Shivaji’s birth in 1627, the Marathas had been under Muslim domination for hundreds of years. At age 17 this courageous Maratha warrior led his first military campaign, capturing the Torna Fort from the Bijapur Sultanate in 1645. Within ten years, he gained control of enough territory to alarm Muaghal Emperor Aurangzeb, who sent a series of large armies to attack him. But Shivaji’s smaller, fast-moving and well-armed forces proved difficult to overcome. Unlike earlier Hindu kings, Shivaji made use of modern means of warfare and even developed a navy. In 1674, he founded the Maratha Empire. Seventy years after his death in 1680, the Maratha armies pushed Mughal forces out of much of central India, leaving the Mughal Empire permanently weakened. Shivaji’s guru, Samartha Ramdasa, gave him spiritual advice and helped inspire the Maratha people toward freedom. Ramdasa had 1,100 disciples, each an excellent preacher, including 300 women. Ramdasa taught devotion to Lord Rama, especially through chanting the mantra “Shree Ram, Jaya Ram, Jaya Jaya Ram”—“Victory to Lord Rama.” By one account, Shivaji off ered Ramdasa his entire kingdom, which Ramdasa returned to him to rule in the name of Lord Rama. German scholar Max Weber wrote in the 19th century, “Shivaji was no bigot and allowed equal freedom to all faiths. He was served as zealously by the Muslims as by the Hindus. He built a mosque opposite his palace for the use of his Muslim subjects.” While Shivaji was not above sacking an enemy’s city if he needed the money, he did not kill noncombatants, take slaves or damage Muslim holy sites.
Nine Sikh gurus followed Nanak. The eighth, Tegh Bahadur (1621-1675), was executed by Aurangzeb for defending religious freedom. His son and successor, Gobind Singh, transformed the Sikhs into a warrior community called the Khalsa. Gobind Singh decreed that he was the last Sikh guru and after his death the Guru Granth Sahib, their holy scripture, would be the guide. From that time forward, the Sikhs have been an influential political and military force in North India.
As you have studied, South India largely escaped the oppressive Muslim domination of North and Central India. To this day the South retains the most ancient Hindu culture and has many grand temples. Influential saints of the time include Meykandar, Arunagirinathar, Tayumanavar, Vallabhacharya and Kumaraguruparar.
Other religious movements also flourished during this period such as Kashmir Saivism, Natha saints and the Gorakha Panthi yogis. They all were part of India’s ongoing vibrant religious spirit.
The Conqueror’s Religious Goals
The Arab and Turkic Muslim invaders who swept across the Middle East, Africa, Central and South Asia were intent on religious domination, demanding conversion from those they conquered. They made an exception for “People of the Book,” Christians and Jews, because certain parts of the Torah and the Bible are regarded as revealed scripture by the Muslims as well. They did not force Christians and Jews to convert, but humiliated them and imposed the jizya tax.
Centuries of Conversion Attempts
Before the Arabs, all foreign invaders, including the Greeks and Huns, were eventually absorbed into mainstream Hindu society. This was also true of many tribal communities within India. The Muslim rulers—with the exceptions of Akbar and some others—made great effort to convert their Hindu subjects. They used persuasion, heavy taxes, legal discrimination and force, but had only limited success.
Christian conversion efforts in India, though sustained and sometimes vigorous, were not very successful. The East India Company found missionary efforts bad for business and did not encourage them.
At their worst, invaders and later rulers destroyed Hindu temples and killed those who would not convert. According to the Muslim accounts of the time, thousands of temples were looted and torn down, including hundreds at major pilgrimage destinations, such as Somnath, Mathura, Vrindavan and Varanasi. Many mosques were built on the same sites from the temple materials.
Among the Muslims, the Sufi preachers were most responsible for making converts. Sufism is a mystical tradition within Islam, with some elements similar to the Bhakti Movement. Sufism was much stronger during this period than it is today. Sufis worked closely with Muslims rulers and helped secure their rule by converting conquered people to Islam. Many persons captured and enslaved during raids on Hindu towns and villages converted to Islam knowing they would be treated better or even released.
The caste system was a main obstacle to conversion. It guaranteed to Hindus a secure identity and place in their community, which they would lose by converting. Also, other religions did not appeal to them either philosophically or culturally. Some low-caste Hindus were tempted to convert to improve their social status. But, in fact, converts to both Christianity and Islam retained their caste position.
Even today, Indian Muslims who claim foreign ancestry—the descendants of Arabs, Turks, Afghans, etc.—are called Ashrafs and have a higher status than Hindu converts, who are called Ajlafs. The Ajlafs are divided into occupational castes, just as are Hindus. Likewise, Christian converts retained their caste status. The lowest, such as Untouchables, or Dalits, even have separate churches and graveyards.
The Common Man’s Plight
Altogether, the common Hindu did not fare well during this time. He faced military attacks, discrimination as a kafir, oppressive taxes and sustained pressure to convert. Hindu rulers collected from farmers a tax of one-sixth of their crop. Under Muslim and British rule, taxes soared to as much as one-half, plunging the people of the once wealthy country of India into poverty.
REVIEWING IDEAS, TERMS AND PEOPLE
1. Explain: What evidence do we have that Hinduism in 1030 was similar to today’s Hinduism?
2. Analyze: What are some reasons for Kabir’s continued popularity in India?
3. Explain: How did Shivaji’s faith and religious tolerance help him lead the Maratha people against the Mughals?
4. Analyze: Why do Hindus see no contradiction between worshiping the Supreme God and revering many Gods?
5. Even when threatened, many Hindus refused to convert to another religion. Why did they choose to resist?
Tolerance for religious differences has greatly increased around the world in modern times, in part because of the growing influence of Hindu ideals.
Religious tension still surrounds some sites where mosques were built over destroyed temples, such as in Varanasi, where the Gyanvapi Mosque was built atop the demolished Kashi Vishwanath Temple in the 11th century.
ACADEMIC VOCABULARY
persecution
to be treated with hostility because of one’s beliefs
ecstasy
feeling or expressing overwhelming joy in God
omnipresent
existing everywhere at once, said of God
flourish
to grow well and thrive
polytheist
one who believes in or worships more than one God
mystical
concerned with the soul or spirit, rather than material things
pilgrimage
to travel to a special religious place