The Hindus of Hindustan: A Civilizational Journey

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Notwithstanding the views of a section of historians and literati, spiritual, religious, and cultural continuity in India goes back many millennia. Identification with, and adoration of, the land was expressed in the sixty-three verses long Prithvi Sukta of the Atharva Veda, described as the first "national song" in the world. Veneration of the land remained a recurrent theme in sacred literature. .

Kautilya, in the Arthasastra, articulated the ideal of political unification, when he said that from the Himalayas to the seas, the land should have one ruler. That ideal was accompanied by a consciousness of cultural union. Paithinasi, reputed author of a work on dharma sastra belonging to the Atharva Veda, stated that dharma stood on four legs (i.e. it was fully developed) from the Himalayas to Kanya Kumari. .

Evidence of continuity of religious beliefs and motifs could be traced to the late Upper Palaeolithic (c. 9000-8000) site of Baghor I (Sidhi district, Madhya Pradesh), to the celebrated Indus Valley Civilization, and well thereafter. .

Rulers of foreign origin, who ruled over parts of the north-western regions for significant periods, wholly immersed themselves in the spiritual traditions of the land. Ancient lawgivers facilitated the assimilation of foreign groups within the capacious embrace of Indian civilization. Things took a dramatically new turn with the advent of a new group of invaders in the eighth century CE. .

The book highlights the underlying features of Indian civilization, that were manifest from its founding moments, and that remained unchanged over the millennia.

Meenakshi Jain is a historian interested in cultural and religious developments in ancient and medieval India. Her recent publications include Vasudeva Krishna and Mathura (2021); Flight of Deities and Rebirth of Temples (2019); The Battle for Rama: Case of the Temple at Ayodhya (2017); Sati: Evangelicals, Baptist Missionaries, and the Changing Colonial Discourse (2016); Rama and Ayodhya (2013); The India They Saw: Foreign Accounts of India from the 8 to mid-19" Century, 3 vols., (2011); and Parallel Pathways (2010).

In 2020, she was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India for her contribution in the field of literature and education.

recent times, there has been a noticeable lack of clarity on Ithe underlying basis of Indian civilization. During British rule, colonial administrator-scholars, confronted with the vastness and diversity of the country, declared "there is not, and never was an India, or even any country of India possessing, according to European ideas, any sort of unity, physical, political, social, or religious; no Indian nation, no 'people of India,' of which we hear so much" (Strachey 1911: 5).

It was surprising that the colonial view found adherents in post-independence India among a section of historians and literati. Surprising, because "national consciousness," and cultural continuity in India go back many millennia, as has been gradually brought to light by the painstaking efforts of Indologists, Sanskrit scholars, and archaeologists. Identification with, and adoration of, the land was expressed in the sixty-three verses long Prithvi Sukta of the Atharva Veda, described as the first "national song" in the world. Veneration of the land remained a recurrent theme in sacred literature.

This work begins with a brief survey of the mapping of the subcontinental landmass, a process that was more or less completed by 500 BCE. Kautilya, in the Arthasastra, articulated the ideal of political unification, when he said that from the Himalayas to the seas, the land should have one ruler (The Arthashastra 1992: 743-44). That ideal was accompanied by a consciousness of cultural union. Paithinasi, reputed author of a work on dharma sastra belonging to the Atharva Veda, stated that dharma stood on four legs (i.e. it was fully developed) from the Himalayas to Kanya Kumari (Kane Vol. II Part I 1941: 17).

Evidence of continuity of religious beliefs and motifs could be traced to the late Upper Palaeolithic (c. 9000-8000) site of Baghor I (Sidhi district, Madhya Pradesh), to the celebrated Indus Valley Civilization, and well thereafter (Kenoyer, Clarke, et al. 1983; Lal 2002). The Epics embraced within their warp and weft, the remotest places and peoples (Mahadevan 2011). And sacred structures blossomed all over the country due to the munificence of ordinary devotees, rather than royal patronage (Marshall 1902; Dehejia 1992).

Ancient lawgivers facilitated the assimilation of foreign groups and communities within the capacious embrace of Indian civilization (Mitra 1962). Rulers of foreign origin wholly immersed themselves in the spiritual and cultural traditions of the land. There seemed no recorded instance of forcible attempts to enforce alien beliefs and practices on the populace.

Things took a dramatically new turn with the advent of Islam in the eighth century CE. A few chapters discuss that phase of Indian history, and the momentous changes that ensued. The frontiers of Indian civilization that once extended till the Kabul valley and beyond, began to retreat.

Book's Contents and Sample Pages