World History: Hinduism - The Mughals and the Arrival of the West

  1. Hinduism
  1. The Hindu faith is polytheistic. It recognizes thousands of gods and goddesses. Three major deities are the Creator (Brahma), the Preserver (Vishnu) and the Destroyer (Siva).
  2. Hindu society is divided into classes that are called castes. An individual is born into a caste and there is no mobility between castes during a lifetime. Every caste has its own duties called “dharma”.
  3. Dharma will decide the types of jobs a person may hold. It restricts an individual from entering employment in a job denied to their caste. Members of the same caste live in close proximity to one another. Marriage outside of castes is rare.
  4. The caste a person is born into is revealing. Every lifetime is filled with decisions which lead to interaction with the world and the people in it. These actions are karma. Karma becomes a ledger, an accumulation of good and bad actions that decide the fate of your soul (atman).
  5. Living a good life and collecting good karma, honoring your caste’s duties are important because Hindus believe in a cycle of rebirth where one lifetime is followed by another and individual live again and again.
  6. An individual’s spiritual progress is reflected by their position on the caste hierarchy. The caste hierarchy consists of hundreds of castes and thousands if the sub-castes are considered as well.
  7. A person who dies with more good karma than bad will move up the ladder of the castes. A person who dies with more bad karma than good will move down the ladder of the castes and be re-born into a lower-caste family.
  8. The highest caste is the Brahmin caste; the lowest are the Untouchables who are considered spiritually polluted and unclean.
  9. There are two ways to escape the cycle of reincarnation. The first is to achieve spiritual perfection or “moksha”. This results in the joining of the individual atman with the universal soul and unending joy.
  10. The second way (according to many Hindus) is to die within the walls of the city of Varnasi. The body of the deceased is burned to ash and the ashes are then merged with the Ganges river which is considered sacred by Hindus. Many Hindus believe if you die in Varnasi you instantly achieve moksha and are freed from the cycle of rebirth.
  1. Babur and Akbar 1526-1605
  1. Babur was a Muslim conqueror. His base was present-day Afghanistan. He invaded India repeatedly before conquering Delhi in 1526. His use of gunpowder and artillery led to victory over the Hindus and the establishment of the Mughal (Mongol) empire.
  2. Babur died in 1530. His son was a poor leader and an opium addict who ruled until 1556. The third ruler, Akbar, greatly expanded Mughal territories over the period of his 49 year rule.
  3. Akbar took both Muslim and Hindu wives. His tolerance for Hindus brought social peace. He appointed Hindus to ruling councils and gave them powerful positions in the bureaucracy (government).
  4. Akbar was not a gentle man. An argument with the leader of the army led him to throw the man from a window. Akbar then ran down the stairs, picked his severely injured antagonist up, carried him back upstairs and threw him out the window again to ensure he was dead.
  5. Akbar’s policy of tolerance was undone under the rule of Aurangzeb (1658-1707). This ruler banned Hindu religious festivals, prohibited the construction of new Hindu temples or the repair of existing ones.
  6. He imposed Sharia on all his subjects and provided incentives to Hindus to convert to Islam.
  7. The destruction of Hindu temples, the killing of Hindu priests, the slaughter of sacred cows, the requirement for Hindus to pay heavy taxes and their exclusion from positions of power in government and the military led to discord and open revolt.
  1. The West and Great Britain
  1. Spices were enormously lucrative and propelled the Spanish and the Portuguese to explore the world searching for an ocean route to the rich markets of India.
  2. In 1498 the Portuguese soldier Vasco da Gama rounded the Cape of Good Hope at the tip of Africa and sailed across the Indian Ocean to land. His arrival led to growing trade volume and the development of nautical maps allowing ships of other nations to ply these waters.
  3. Portuguese and Dutch merchants grew rich, but it was the British and French who competed for dominance in the 18th century (1700s).
  4. The Seven Years War of 1756-1763 pitted the two powers against each other. The war ended with the French defeat. Victorious Great Britain expelled France from North America. Britain also took a position of preeminence in India.
  5. The British recruited Indians to serve in their bureaucracy aiding in the establishment of courts, schools, roads, tax collection and public safety. To deter crime, to pacify rebellious regions, safeguard trade routes and rout resistance the British needed soldiers.
  6. Indian men were again recruited – this time as soldiers. They received housing, uniforms, meals, pay and training. These recruits were called Sepoys and British goals were achieved through their force of arms.
  7. The Sepoys were subjected to harsh British military discipline. Tension between the British imperialists and their native subjects was a growing problem.
  8. In 1857 rumors spread that the cartridges for newly issued rifles were lubricated with pig and cow fat. Soldiers had to bite off the ends of the lubricated cartridges thus making oral contact with a substance that was offensive and insulting to both Muslims and Hindus.
  9. Soldiers who refused were charged with mutiny and lashed. The British also tried to stamp out the practice of suttee in which a widowed woman burns herself to death in her husband’s funeral pyre.
  10. These tensions led to the Sepoy Rebellion of 1857. Following the defeat of the rebellion the British officially abolished the Mughal Empire and the indirect rule they had practiced through the British East India Company.
  11. Now Britain would administer Indian affairs directly through the office of a viceroy appointed by the British government. Indians still served in the bureaucracy but only at very low levels. Power rested in the hands of the British and would remain there until 1947.