The Maratha Empire was the first recorded instance in the world to have abolished slavery. As Megasthenes noted, “Indians don’t keep slaves and no Indian is ever a slave”. But the situation changed dramatically with Islamic invasions. The Marathas banned the taking of slaves.
The Portuguese word “caste” referring to racial purity of the invading race in a colony was practiced thoroughly by Turkish imperialists in India. Whether the Delhi Sultanate or the Mughal Empire, the huge majority of officials were not Indians, but born and bred Central Asians.
This essay by @authorAneesh demonstrates that the Mughal nobility consisted of: 1) 12% Hindu Munsebdars 2) 15% converted Indian Muslims or Shaikhzadas 3) The rest 73% born and bred foreigners: Turks, Persians, Afghans .. so called Ashraf caste Muslims. indiafacts.org.in/how-indian-was…
Apart from Turki slave raiders, the Portuguese and other Europeans also snatched and sold Indians as slaves. One famous instance is the founder of Yale university, Elihu Yale who got his wealth from the trading of Indian slaves. The Marathas banned this slavery. That is #Hindutva
The superior caste of the foreigner Ashraf Muslims held the inferior caste of Indian Muslims (even kings, see below) under deep contempt. This is the very definition of caste system. We can understand how it operated from the chronicles of Muhammad Hazin, raider with Nadir Shah.
In order to understand the #Hindutva movement, one must first realize that the word “Hindutva” is a trivial variant of the word “Hindu”: it means “Hinduness”. Looking for who coined this first is as absurd as looking who first said “Britishness” or “Americanness”. It is trivial.
We must ask why the emphasis on “Hinduness” even had to be made. It is a direct consequence of the colonization of India by foreigners who were extremely hostile to Hindu Dharma - whether Turks or Europeans. The “Hinduness” needed to be revived when it was persecuted by Mlecchas.
In the sense of Hindu liberation, the first clear formulation of Hindūtva is by Vidyāraṇya Swāmi who played pivotal role in the creation of the Vijayanagara empire. He reverted Hindūtva (Hinduness) of the founders Harihara Rāya and Bukka Rāya by converting them back from Islam.
It is important to realize that Hindūtva (Hinduness) is a religious movement and thus inseparable from Hinduism as a religion. This is clear in the image of Vidyāraṇyaswāmi, who is a pivotal Hindu scholar who authored Sarvadarśanasaṃgraha (the compendium of all Hindu Darśanas).
Even the Marāṭha Empire, which saw itself as successor to Vijayanagara and Hindu Rajput empires, was inspired and guided by a Hindu saint - Śrī Samartha Rāmadāsa. So the political expression of Hindus for a free sovereign country (Hindavī Svarājya) is inseparable from Hinduism.
How can Vidyāraṇyaswāmi and Samartha Rāmadāsa be separated from Hinduism? They can't be. Hindūtvaṃ cannot be separated from Hindū Dharma (Hinduism), despite what the racist and reactionary academia in the imperial metropolis of USA says. Hinduness is like Native Americanness.
This is a fair comment. Words in language are alive and meanings evolve over time. As Hindus, a word as basic as Hinduness/Hindutvaṃ is within our right to interpret. Not that of outsiders. I see Vidyāraṇya and Samartha Rāmadāsa as key Hindutva figures.
A good comparison is the word "Ārya". Can we leave it to Swāmi Dayānanda Sarasvatī who created Ārya Samāja? I disagree. Ārya Dharma is equivalent to Hinduism. I retain the right to claim the word Ārya. This native right didn't end with Dayānanda, it never even belonged to Hitler.
The Indology and "South Asia" scholarshave been clear who they want to delegitimize in "Dismantling Global Hindutva" and such conferences. It is Vidyāraṇyaswāmi and Sarvadarśanasaṃgraha: the Indic scholarly tradition. The brown faced native informants enable to cover up racism.
As Hindus, we must recognize the threat for what it is. It's a continuation of the colonial assault on our right to live the way we want- our Dharma. Today's Hinduphobia is legacy from times of Elihu Yale. Hence, Hindutvaṃ must be interpreted as the full gamut of Hinduness.(End)
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This is simply a time lag. When intellectual lecture in a language (books) is destroyed, popular culture (movies, newspapers) will also be destroyed in a couple of decades.
Hindi movies already use an English creole. This bastardized language is seen as aspirational by people.
Full length English movies, documentaries and serialized soap operas are already available on Netflix and other distributors. All made from India. Even TV programming is using code-switched English (50% English and 50% Hindi). I have seen cookery programs like that.
Essentially, nobody gives a damn about the quality of language in spoken popular culture anymore. This is a direct consequence of the reading habits and intellectual culture destroyed in Indian languages. Such language mutilation was unthinkable 3 decades ago. People just forgot.
Good question. Ecology & sustainability are hard to translate into Sanskrit or other Indic languages, not for lack of words but because of too many choices & very rich Indic understanding compared to cruder English words.
I suggest Svāstika स्वास्तिक for ecological/eco-friendly.
Svasti स्वस्ति means “well-being, prosperity, healthiness”. That which derives from “svasti” is Svāstika स्वास्तिक, a Taddhita word. It is beautiful because it is also related to “Svastikā” स्वस्तिका, that which produces svasti, which is the alignment to Rtam ऋतं, cosmic cycle.
The word “ecology” is from Greek roots : oikos (home, habitat) logos (knowledge). It can be translated into Sanskrit. “Vasus” are the deities related to space where everything is placed. Earth is “vasudhā” वसुधा. Ecology can be translated Vāsajnāna वासज्ञान. Ecological वासज्ञ.
Population is not at all the problem. This is a Malthusian (i.e, racist) trope internalized by Indians. India’s population density is comparable to Europe.
While Europe has the legacy of centuries of protected and native urbanism, India bears the weight of colonial destruction.
By colonial destruction, I mean not only the British but also the Turkish imperialists. We forget that the second largest city in the world 500 years ago was Vijayanagara, which was completely wiped out by a genocidal massacre. Similar destructions happened all over North India.
The impact of the British Raj on India’s urbanism and civic infrastructure was brutal. For anyone interested to learn more, I recommend the book by Mike Davies “Planet of Slums”.
In this thread, I will translate the names of different western religions into Telugu (into Sanskrit, so other Indians can comment) based on their native etymological meanings.
Thanks to @exC_Esther who inspired this with her threads on the meanings behind “Jesus” and “Christ”.
To start off, “Christianity” which comes from “Christ” meaning “anointed person” (via Greek translation of Hebrew “Messiah”). Thanks to @mprafulprabhu who suggested “abhishikta” अभिषिक्त for this.
Christianity can be translated as “Ābhishiktam” आभिषिक्तम् ఆభిషిక్తం ఆభిషిక్తమతము.
“Christian” as follower of Christ can be translated with the same Taddhita derivation “Ābhishikta” आभिषिक्त ఆభిషిక్తుడు/ఆభిషిక్తులు.
Other compound words can be easily created “Follower of Christ” Abhishiktānuyāin अभिषिक्तानुयायिन् అభిషిక్తానుయాయిడు and so on.
Interesting thread. But I think I am more of an optimist than Śrīkānta. There is also a greater study of the various Śāstras and Hindu value systems happening now. Such people might be a minority, but their numbers have increased. Digital tech also increased the means to do this.
I think political Hinduness is just a phase, a kind of an awakening by the global discourse, which is decisively Hinduphobic. People get annoyed and agitate for a bit. In a previous era, they would have suffered quietly. But not in a rising economy and with democratized media.
I think the importance of political Hinduness is overblown. It is the deeper awakening that is necessary for anybody to make a longer term impact. For this, a systematic practice (Sādhana) and dedication are a must. I think the number of people able to do this has increased now.
Varna has a meaning only in the context of Yajña, that is collective consciousness and voluntary sharing at the societal and universal level. It is exactly the opposite of individualism. It cannot exist cannot be defined in isolation. Varna implies harmony and mutual cooperation.
There are 4 Varnas as there are 4 Purushārthas. Each Varna is focused on the attainment of one of the Purushārthas. By cooperating as a society, we achieve all of them. This is why it is impossible to separate Varna from the fundamental tenets and ideals of Indian philosophy.
If the Jātis are defined in isolation, it is a recipe for the breaking up of society, a voiding of the social contract that kept them together at the level of shared consciousness. Hence, it is Adharmic. We must get rid of this system “caste” imposed on us by the colonialists.