Imagined Religious Communities?

Ancient History and the Modern Search for a Hindu

Identity
Author(s): Romila Thapar
Source: Modern Asian Studies , 1989, Vol. 23, No. 2 (1989), pp. 209-231
Published by: Cambridge University Press

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Modern Asian Studies 23, 2 (I989), pp. 209-231. Printed in Great Britain.

Imagined
ImaginedReligious
Religious
Communities?
Communities?
Ancient
Ancient
History
Historyand
andthe
the
Modern
Modern
Search
Search
for afor
Hindu
a Hindu
Identity
ROMILA THAPAR

Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi

My choice of subject for this lecture arose from what I t

been a matter of some interest to Kingsley Martin; as al
concern that the interplay between the past and contem
requires a continuing dialogue between historians w
periods. Such a dialogue is perhaps more pertinent
societies where the colonial experience changed the fram
comprehension of the past from what had existed earli
which is of more than mere historiographical inte
political ideologies appropriate this comprehension an
tion from the pre-colonial past, there, the historian's c
process is called for.
Among the more visible strands in the political id
temporary India is the growth and acceptance of w
communal ideologies. 'Communal', as many in th
aware, in the Indian context has a specific meaning
perceives Indian society as constituted of a number o
munities. Communalism in the Indian sense therefore is a conscious-
ness which draws on a supposed religious identity and uses this as the
basis for an ideology. It then demands political allegiance to a religious
community and supports a programme of political action designed to
further the interests of that religious community. Such an ideology is of
recent origin but uses history to justify the notion that the community
(as defined in recent history) and therefore the communal identity have
existed since the early past. Because the identity is linked to religion, it
This is the text of the Kingsley Martin Memorial Lecture given in Cambridge on i June
1988.
I would like to thank K. N. Panikkar, N. Bhattacharya and B. K. Matilal for their
helpful criticism of an earlier draft of this lecture.

oo26-749X/89/$500oo + .oo ? 1989 Cambridge University Press

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210 ROMILA THAPAR

can lead to the redefinition of the particular religio

of one as amorphous as Hinduism.
Such identity tends to iron out diversity and insist
it is only through a uniform acceptance of the relig
used for political ends. The attempt is always to-dr
as possible since numbers enhance the power of
and are crucial in a mechanical view of democracy.
requires a domination over other groups and wh
substantially larger, there is a deliberate emphasis
and the notion of majority, a notion which presup
various 'minority communities'. In the constructio
called 'imagined communities',1 in this case ide
there is an implied rejection of the applicabilit
divisions in society, such as status or class.
In the multiplicity of communalisms prevalent
major one obviously is Hindu communalism sin
largest numbers and asserts itself as the domin
therefore discuss only the notion of the Hindu com
of other religions. Nevertheless my comments on
and its use of history would apply to other groups
ideology. I would like to look at those constituents
ideology which claim legitimacy from the past, na
always been a well-defined and historically evolved
now call Hinduism and an equally clearly define
Implicit in this are the historical implications of H
and I shall argue that it is in part a modern sea
Hindu identity from the past, a search whic
historiography of the last two centuries. The histo
far from being the sole reason for the growth o
recourse to this justification fosters the communa
The modern description of Hinduism has bee
brdhmana-dominated religion which gathered to it
paternalistic pattern a variety of sects drawing on
Jainas, Vaisnavas, Saivas and Saktas. The texts an
viewed as inspirational, initially orally prese
manifestations of deities, priests but no church, a p
with a seeming absence of controversies and
integrated into a single religious fabric. Differenc
religions were recognized and were seen as the abs

1 B. Andersen, Imagined Communities (Vaso, I983)

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 IMAGINED RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES? 21 I

a revealed book regarded as sacred, of a monotheistic G

ecclesiastical organization, of theological debates on orthodo
heresy and, even more important, the absence of conversio
somehow the logic of these differences was not built into the co
tion of the history of the religion. Hinduism was projected larg
terms of its philosophical ideas, iconology and rituals. It is ir
some ways that these multiple religious sects were seldom vi
their social and historical context even though this was crucial t
understanding. Histories of the 'Hindu' religion have been l
limited to placing texts and ideas in a chronological perspecti
few attempts at relating these to the social history of the
Scholarship also tended to ignore the significance of the po
manifestation of religion in contrast to the textual, a neglect wh
remedied by some anthropological research, although frequen
textual imprint is more visible even in such studies.
The picture which emerges of the indigenous view of religion
historical sources of the early period is rather different. The pr
religious groups referred to are two, Brahmanism and Sramanism
a clear distinction between them. They are organizationally s
had different sets of beliefs and rituals and often disagreed on
norms. That this distinction was recognized is evident from the e
the Mauryan king Asoka2 as well as by those who visited India a
accounts of what they had observed, as, for example, Megast
the Chinese Buddhist pilgrims Fa Hsien and Hsiian Tsan
Alberuni.5 The Buddhist visitors write mainly of matters pertai
Buddhism and refer to the brdhmanas as heretics. Patanjali the
marian refers to the hostility between Brahmanism and Sraman
innate as is that between the snake and the mongoose.6 Sometim
brdhmanas and the sramanas are addressed jointly as in Buddhist
and the Asokan edicts. Here they are being projected as a c
distinct from the common people. Such a bunching together rel
similarity of concerns suggestive of a common framework of di
but does not detract from the fundamental differences between t
systems. It might in fact be a worth-while exercise to recon

2 J. Bloch, Les Inscriptions d'Asoka (Paris, 1950), pp. 97, 99, 112.
3 J. W. McCrindle, Ancient India as Described by Megasthenes and Arrian (L
1877). Arrian, Indica, XI.i to XII.9; Strabo XV I.39-41, 46-9.
J. Legge, Fa-hien's Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms (Oxford, I886); S. Beal, S
Buddhist Records of the Western World (London, 1884).
5 E. C. Sachau (trans. and ed.), Alberuni's India (Delhi, I964 reprint), p. 2
6 S. D.Joshi (ed.), Patanjali Vydkarana Mahdbhdsya (Poona, 1968), 11.4.9; 1.4

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212 ROMILA THAPAR

Brahmanism from the references to it in Sramanic and other non-

Brahmanical sources.
A historical view of early Indian religion would endorse this
dichotomy and its continuity even in changed forms. Early Brahman-
ism demarcates the twice-born upper castes from the rest. The twice-
born has to observe the precepts of sruti-the Vedas and of smrti-the
auxiliary texts to the Vedas and particularly the Dharmasdstras. Dharma
lay in conforming to the separate social observances and ritual func-
tions of each caste. The actual nature of belief in deity was left
ambiguous and theism was not a requirement. The focus of worship
was the sacrificial ritual. Brahmanism came closest to having a
subcontinental identity largely through its ritual functions and the use
of a common language, Sanskrit, even though it was prevalent among
only a smaller section of people.
Sramanism, a term covering a variety of Buddhist, Jaina, Ajivika
and other sects, denied the fundamentals of Brahmanism such as Vedic
sruti and smrti. It was also opposed to the sacrificial ritual both on
account of the beliefs incorporated in the ritual as well as the violence
involved in the killing of animals. It was characterized by a doctrine
open to all castes and although social hierarchy was accepted it did not
emphasize separate social observances but, rather, cut across caste.
The idea of conversion was therefore notionally present. The attitude to
social hierarchy in most Sramanic sects was not one of radical opposi-
tion. In Buddhism, for example, recruitment to the sangha and support
from lay followers was initially in large numbers from the upper castes
and the appeal was frequently also made to such groups.7 Nevertheless
there were no restrictions on a lower caste recruitment and in later
periods support from such groups was substantial. The founders of the
Sramanic sects were not incarnations of deity. Buddhism and Jainism
had an ecclesiastical organization, the sahgha, and in most cases ther
was an overall concern with historicity.
In terms of numbers there appears to have developed even greater
support for the Sakta sects which were in many ways antithetical t
early Brahmanism. The essentials of Saktism are sometimes traced
back to Harappan times and some of these elements probably went into
the making of popular religion from the earliest historical period.
Recognized sects gradually crystalized from the first millennium A.D.
when they come to be referred to in the literature of the period. The
centrality of worshipping the goddess was initially new to upper caste

7 N. Wagle, Society at the Time of the Buddha (Bombay, I966), p. 74.

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 IMAGINED RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES? 213

religion.
religion.Some
Someofof
these
these
sects
sects
deliberately
deliberately
brokebroke
the essential
the essential
taboos of
taboos
Brahmanism
Brahmanismrelating
relating
to separate
to separate
castecaste
functions,
functions,
commensality,
commensality,
rules ru
of food and drink and sexual taboos.8 That some of the beliefs of the
Sakta sects were later accepted by some Brdhmana sects is an indication
of a break with Vedic religion by these Brdhmana sects although the
legitimacy of the Vedic religion was sometimes sought to be bestowed
on the new sects by them. Such religious compromises were not
unconnected with the brahmanical need to retain social ascendency.
However, some brahmanical sects remained orthodox.
As legitimizers of political authority, the brdhmanas in the first
millennium A.D. were given grants of land which enabled them to
become major landowners. The institutions which emerged out of these
grants such as the agraharas became centres of control over rural
resources as well as of Brahmanical learning and practice. It was
probably this high social and economic status of the brdhmana castes
which encouraged the modern idea that Brahmanism and Hinduism
were synonymous. But that Brahmanism had also to compromise with
local cults is evident from the religious articulation of text and temple
and from the frequency with which attempts were introduced into
Brahmanism to purify the religion in terms of going back to sruti and
smrti. In the process ofacculturation between brahmanic 'high culture'
and the 'low culture' of local cults, the perspective is generally limited
to that of the Sanskritization of the latter. It might be historically more
accurate on occasion to view it as the reverse, as, for example, in the cult
of Viththala at Pandharpur or that of Jagannatha at Puri.9 In such
cases the deities of tribals and low caste groups become, for reasons
other than the purely religious, centrally significant and Brahmanism
has to adapt itself to the concept of such deities. The domain of such
deities evolves out of a span spreading horizontally, moving from a
village to its networks of exchange and finally encompassing a region.
The focal centre of such a cult takes on a political dimension as well in
the nature of the control which it exercises, quite apart from ritual and

8 Curiously, the eating of meat and the drinking of intoxicants was part of the
rejection of Brahmanism for these were now abhorent to Brahmanism, a rather
different situation from that described in the Vedic texts where brahmanas consumed
beef and took soma.
9 G. D. Sontheimer, 'Some Memorial Monuments of Western India', in German
Scholars in India, II (New Delhi, 1976); S. G. Tulpule, 'The Origin ofViththala: A new
Interpretation', ABORI, 1977-78, vols 58-59, pp. 1009-I5: A. Dandekar, 'Pastoralism
and the Cult of Viththala', M. Phil. Dissertation, JNU; H. Kulke,Jaganndtha kult und
Gajapati-Kinigtum (Wiesbaden, I979), p. 227; H. Kulke and D. Rothermund, A History
ofIndia (London, I986), pp. i45ff.

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214 ROMILA THAPAR

belief.
belief. Pilgrimage
Pilgrimage
then becomes
thena link
becomes
across various
a link
circumferences.
across vari
The
The increasing
increasing
success of
success
Brahmanism
of by Brahmanism
the end of the first
by th
millennium
millennium A.D. resulted
A.D. in resulted
the gradual in
displacement
the gradual
of Sramanism-
displac
but
but notnot
entirely.
entirely.
Local cultsLocal
associated
cults
with new
associated
social groups
with
led to new
the s
emergence
emergence of the of
morethe
popular
morePuranic
popular
religion. Vedic
Puranic
deities religio
were
subordinated
subordinated or ousted.
orVisnu
ousted.
and Siva
Visnu
came to and
be worshipped
Siva came as the to
pre-eminent
pre-eminent deities. deities.
The thrust The
of Puranic
thrust
religion
ofwasPuranic
in its assimila-
religio
tive
tive andand
accommodating
accommodating
processes. A multitude
processes.of newAcults,
multitude
sects and of
castes
castes werewere
workedworked
into the social
into and the
religious
social
hierarchy.
and Religious
religious
observance often coincided with caste identities.
By the early second millennium A.D. a variety of devotional cults-
referred to by the generic label bhakti-had come to form a major new
religious expression. They drew on the Puranic tradition of Saivism
and Vaisnavism but were also in varying degrees the inheritors of the
Sramanic religions. Their emphasis on complete loyalty to the deity has
been seen as a parallel to feudal loyalties. But what was more signifi-
cant was that bhakti cults and the sects which grew around them sought
to underline dependence on and salvation through the deity. To this
extent they indicate a departure from earlier indigenous religion. These
cults were god-centred rather than man-centred. The ritual of sacrifice
had been substituted by the worship of an icon. Some sects accepted, up
to a point, brahmanical sruti and smrti whereas others vehemently
denied it, a debate which continues to this day. Those sects in
opposition to Brahmanism which sought to transcend caste and
differentiated social observances, insisting that every worshipper was
equal in the eyes of the deity, often ended up as castes, thus once again
coinciding sect with caste. With the arrival of Islam in India some drew
from the ideas of Islam. Most of these sects were geographically limited
and bound by the barriers of language. Possibly the beginnings of
larger religious communities within what is now called the Hindu
tradition, date to the middle of the second millennium, such as perhaps
some Vaisnava sects, where, for example, the worship of Krsna at
Mathura drew audiences from a larger geographical region than
before. This also heralds a change in the nature of Puranic religion, for
Mathura attracts Vaisnavas from eastern and southern India and
becomes like Ayodhya (for the worship of Rama)10 the focus of a search
for sacred topography. It might perhaps be seen as an attempt to go
beyond local caste and sect and build a broader community. The
historical reasons for its happening at this juncture need to be explored.

10 A. Bakker, Ayodhya (Groningen, i984).

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 IMAGINED RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES?
215

Initial
Initialopposition
opposition
from those from
of high caste
thosestatusof
alsohigh
encouraged
caste
bhakti
bhakti sects sects
to inculcate
to ainculcate
sense of community
a sensewithinofthemselves,
commun
particularly
particularly if they were
if they
economically
were successful,
economically
such as the Vira-
succe
saivas.
saivas.Even Even
when such
when
religious
such
sects attempted
religious to constitute
sects attempte
a larger
community,
community, the limitations
the limitations
of location, caste and
oflanguage,
location,acted ascaste
a a
deterrent
deterrent to a single,
to a homogeneous
single, Hindu homogeneous
community. In the Hindu
continu-comm
ing
ingprocesses
processes
of either of
appropriation
either or appropriation
rejection of belief andor practice,
rejecti
the
thekaleidoscopic
kaleidoscopic
change in the
change
constitution
in of
thereligious
constitution
sects was one of
which
which precluded
precluded
the emergence
the of emergence
a uniform, monolithic
of areligion.
uniform,
The
The multiplicity
multiplicity
of cults andof
sects
cults
also reflects
and asects
multiplicity
also of ref
beliefs. Even in Brahmanism we are told that if two sruti traditions are
in conflict then both are to be held as law." This is a fundamentally
different approach from that of religions which would like to insist on a
single interpretation arising out of a given theological framework. This
flexibility together with the emphasis on social observance rather than
theology allowed of a greater privatization of religion than was possible
in most other religions. Renunciatory tendencies were common, were
respected and often gave sanction to private forms of worship. The
renouncer opted out of society, yet was highly respected.12 The private
domain of belief was always a permissible area of early Indian religion:
a religion which is perhaps better seen as primarily the religious belief
of social segments, sometimes having to agglomerate and sometimes
remaining sharply differentiated. The coexistence of religious sects
should not be mistaken for the absorption of all sects into an ultimately
unified entity. But the demarcation was often more significant since it
related both to differences in religious belief and practice as well as
social status and political needs. The status of a sect could change as it
was hinged to that of its patrons. Political legitimation through the use
of religious groups was recognized, but the appeal was to a particular
sect or cult or a range of these and not to a monolithic religion. Royal
patronage within the same ruling family, extended to a multiplicity of
sects, was probably conditioned as much by the exigencies of political
and social requirements as by a religious catholicity. This social
dimension as well as the degree to which a religious sect had its identity
in caste or alternatively was inclusive of caste, has been largely ignored
in the modern interpretation of early Hinduism. With the erosion of
social observances and caste identity, there is now a search for a new
identity and here the creation of a new Hinduism becomes relevant.

1 Manu II. I4-15.

12 Romila Thapar, 'Renunciation: The making of a Counter-Culture?', in Ancient
Indian Social History: Some Interpretations (Delhi, 1978), pp. 63-104.

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2I6 ROMILA THAPAR

The
The evolution
evolution
of Hinduism
of Hinduism
is not a linear progression
is not a fromlineara founder
progre
through
through an organizational
an organizational
system, with sects
system,
branchingwith
off. Itsects
is rather
bran
the
the mosaic
mosaic
of distinct
of distinct
cults, deities,cults,
sects anddeities,
ideas and the
sects
adjusting,
and ide
juxtaposing
juxtaposingor distancing
or distancing
of these to existing
of these
ones, the
toplacement
existing
drawing
drawing not only
not ononly
belief and
onideas
belief
but also
andon the
ideas
socio-economic
but also o
reality.
reality.New New
deities could
deitiesbe created
could linked
be genealogically
created linkedto the ge
established ones, as in the recent case of Santoshi Ma, new rituals
worked out and the new sect could become the legitimizer of a new
caste. Religious practice and belief are often self-sufficient within the
boundaries of a caste and are frequently determined by the needs of a
caste. The worship of icons was unthought of in the Vedic religion, but
the idol becomes a significant feature of Puranic religion and therefore
also in the eyes of contemporary Muslim observers. The consciousness
of a similarity in ritual and belief in different geographical regions was
not always evident. Thus bhakti cults were confined to particular
regions and were frequently unaware of their precursors or con-
temporaries elsewhere. Recourse to historicity of founder and practice
was confined within the sect and was not required of a conglomeration
of sects which later came to be called Hinduism. This is in part reflected
in the use of the term sampradaya for a sect where the emphasis is on
transmission of traditional belief and usage through a line of teachers.
The insistence on proving the historicity of human incarnations of
deity, such as Rama and Krsna, is a more recent phenomenon and it
may be suggested that there is a subconscious parallel with the prophet
and the messiah. The identification of thejanma-bhumis, the location of
the exact place where Krsna and Rama were born, becomes important
only by the mid-second millennium A.D.
Religions such as Buddhism, Jainism, Islam and Christianity, see
themselves as part of the historical process of the unfolding and
interpreting of the single religion and sects are based on variant
interpretations of the original teaching. They build their strength on a
structure of ecclesiastical organization. In contrast to this, Hindu sects
often had a distinct and independent origin. Assimilation was possible
and was sometimes expressed in the appropriation of existing civiliza-
tional symbols. What needs to be investigated is the degree to which
such civilizational symbols were originally religious in connotation.
Civilizational symbols are manifested in many ways: from the
symbol of the svdstika to the symbol of the renouncer as the noblest and
most respected expression of human aspirations. The history of the
svdstika goes back to the fourth millennium B.C. where it occurs on seals
and impressions from northwest India and central Asia. In the Indian

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 IMAGINED RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES? 21 7

subcontinent
subcontinent it is not
it is
a specifically
not a specifically
Hindu symbolHindu
for it issymbol
used by a for it is used
variety
variety of religious
of religious
groups in
groups
various in
ways,
various
but in every
ways,casebut
it in every c
embodies
embodies the the
auspicious.
auspicious.
The Bon-po
Theof the
Bon-po
Himalayan
of the
borderlands
Himalayan border
reverse
reverse thethe
symbol
symbol
to distance
to distance
themselves themselves
from the Buddhists.
from Thethe
two Buddhists. Th
epics,
epics, thethe
Mahdbhdrata
Mahdbhdrata
and the Rdmayana,
and the frequently
Rdmayana,treated
frequently
as treated
primarily
primarily the the
religious
religious
literatureliterature
of the Vaisnavas,
of theare in
Vaisnavas,
origin as epics,
are in origin as e
civilizational
civilizational symbols.
symbols.
They were,
Theyat one
were,
level, at
the one
carriers
level,
of ethical
the carriers of e
traditions
traditions and and
were used
were again
usedby aagain
varietyby
of a
religious
variety sectsof
to religious sec
propagate
propagate theirtheir
own particular
own particular
ethic, a situation
ethic,which
a situation
is evident from
which is evident f
the
thediverse
diverse
treatment
treatment
of the theme
of theof the
theme
Rdmdyana
of the
in Valmiki,
Rdmdyana
in the in Valmiki, in
Buddhist
Buddhist Vessantara
Vessantara
and DasarathaJdtakas
and DasarathaJdtakas
and in thejaina version-the
and in thejaina versio
Paumacaryam
Paumacaryam of Vimalasuri.13
of Vimalasuri.13
The epic versions
The epic
were also
versions
used forwere also used
purposes
purposes of political
of political
legitimation.
legitimation.
The primarilyThe
Vaisnava
primarily
religious Vaisnava relig
function
function of the
of epics
the develops
epics develops
gradually and
gradually
comes to fruition
and comes
in the to fruition in t
second
second millennium
millennium A.D. with
A.D.
clearly
withdefined
clearly
sects defined
worshipping sects
Rama worshipping
or
orKrsna
Krsnacoinciding
coinciding
with the
with
development
the development
of what has beenofcalled
what the has been called
Puranic
Puranic religion.
religion.
Subsequent
Subsequent
to this were
tovarious
this were
tribal adaptations
various tribal
of adaptations
the
theRdmayana,
Rdmayana,and these
andwere
these
less were
concerned
less
with
concerned
the Vaisnavawith the Vais
message
message andand
moremore
with articulating
with articulating
their own social
their
fearsown
and social fears
aspirations.
Even on the question of beliefs about the after-life, although the
concept of karma and rebirth was commonly referred to, there were
distinct and important groups who believed in a different concept. The
life after death of the hero in the heaven of Indra or Siva, waited upon
by apsaras, goes back to the Vedic belief in the pitrloka or House of the
Fathers. This belief is a major motivation in the widespread hero cults
from the mid-first millennium A.D. onwards.14 Here even the concept of
after-life was conditioned by social birth and function. A different idea
influences the way in which the ritual of sati changes its meaning over
time. Initially a ritual which ensured that the faithful wife accompanied
her hero-husband to heaven, and therefore associated largely with
ksatriya castes and those dying heroic deaths, its practice by other castes
in the second millennium A.D. involved a change in eschatology.
Ultimately the sati was defied, which meant that she neither went to
heaven nor was subjected to the rules of karma.'5

13 Romila Thapar, 'The Ramayana: Theme and Variations', in S. N. Mukhejee

(ed.), India: History and Thought (Calcutta, 1982), pp. 221-53.
14 Romila Thapar, 'Death and the Hero', in S. C. Humphreys and H. King,
Mortality and Immortality: The Anthropology and Archaeology of Death (London, I981), pp.
29 i3-316.
5 Romila Thapar, 'Sati in History', Seminar, no. 342 (February I988).

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218 ROMILA THAPAR

It
Ithas
hasbeen
been
suggested
suggested
that there was
thata structural
there similarity
was a structural
in various
rituals
rituals practised
practised
by peoplebyin different
people regions
in different
and therefore
regions
shared
myths
myths and and
sharedshared
ritual patterns
ritual
can patterns
account for some
canunity
account
in the f
varieties
varieties of the
ofreligious
the religious
beliefs that we
beliefs
find in India
that over
we a long
findtime.16
in In
This
This is certainly
is certainly
true. Buttrue.
nevertheless
But itnevertheless
is different fromit a shared
is dif
creed,
creed, catechism,
catechism,
theology theology
and ecclesiastical
and organization.
ecclesiastical org
The
The definition
definition
of Hinduism
of Hinduism
as it has emerged
as in
itrecent
has emerged
times appears in
not
not to to
havehave
etnphasized
etnphasized
the variant premises
the variant
of Indianpremises
religion and o
therefore
therefore the difference
the difference
in essence from
in the
essence
model offrom
Semitic the
religions.
mod
This definition was the result of various factors: of Christian mission-
aries who saw this as the lacunae of religions in India and which they
regarded as primitive; of some Orientalist scholarship anxious to fit the
'Hindu' process into a comprehensible whole based on a known model;
the efforts also of Indian reform movements attempting to cleanse
Indian religion of what they regarded as negative encrustations and
trying to find parallels with the Semitic model. Even in the translation
of texts from Sanskrit into English, where religious concepts were
frequently used the translation often reflected a Christian undertone.
The selection of texts to be studied had its own purpose. The East India
Company's interest in locating and codifying Hindu law gave a legal
form to what was essentially social observance and customary law. The
concept of law required that it be defined as a cohesive ideological
code. The Manu Dharmasastra, for example, which was basically part of
Brahmanical smrti was taken as the laws of the Hindus and presumed to
apply universally. In the process of upward social mobility during the
late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, traders and artisanal
groups emerged as patrons of temple building activities and the trend
to conform to the brahmanical model was reinforced by this compre-
hension of Hinduism.17 The growth of the political concepts of majority
and minority communities further galvanized the process.
The degree to which castes and sects functioned independently even
in situations which would elsewhere have been regarded as fundamen-
tally of theological importance, can perhaps be seen in attitudes to
religious persecution and the manifestation of intolerance. Among the
normative values which were highlighted in the discussion of Hinduism
in recent times, has been the concept of ahimsa or non-violence. It has
been argued that non-violence and tolerance were special features of
Hinduism which particularly demarcated its ethics from those of Islam
and to a lesser extent Christianity. Yet ahimsd as an absolute value is
16 Personal Communication from a friend.
17 H. Sanyal, Social Mobility in Bengal (Calcutta, I98I).

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 IMAGINED RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES? 219

characteristic of certain Sramanic sects and less so ofBrahmanism. The

notion appears in the Upanisads, but it was the Buddhists and theJainas
who first made it foundational to their teaching, and their message was
very different from that of the Bhagvad-Gitd on this matter. That
Brahmanism and Sramanism were recognized as distinct after the
period of the Upanisads further underlines the significance of ahimsd to
Sramanic thinking. This is also borne out by the evidence of religious
persecution.
In spite of what historians, ancient and modern, have written, there
is a persistent, popular belief that the 'Hindus' never indulged in
religious persecution. However, the Saivite persecution of Sramanic
sects is attested to and on occasion, retaliation by the latter. Hsiian
Tsang writing in the seventh century refers to this when he describes his
visit to Kashmir.18 That this was not the prejudiced view of the
Buddhist pilgrim is made clear by the historian Kalhana in the
Rdjatarangint, who even in the twelfth century refers to the earlier
destruction of Buddhist monasteries and the killing of Buddhist monks
by the Huna king Mihirakula and other ardent Saivites.19 That
Mihirakula was a Huna is used by modern historians to excuse these
actions, but it should be remembered that he gave large grants of land,
agrahdras, to the brdhmanas of Gandhara, which Kalhana in disgust
informs us they gratefully received. Clearly there was competition for
royal patronage and the Saiva brdhmanas triumphed over the Buddhists.
The Buddhist association with the commerce between India and
central Asia was one of the reasons for the material prosperity of the
Buddhist sangha.20 The Huna disruption of the Indian trade with
central Asia may well have resulted in an antagonism between the
northern Buddhists and the Hunas.
Elsewhere there is a variation on this story. In Tamil Nadu, for
example, from the seventh century onwards, Saiva sects attackedJaina
establishments and eventually succeeded in driving out the Sra-
manas.21 In neighbouring Karnataka, at a somewhat later date, the
Virasaiva or Lingayatas acquiring wealth and status in commerce,
persecutedJaina monks and destroyedJaina images.22 In some inscrip-
tions the Virasaivas claim that the Jainas began the trouble. In this
18 S. Beal, Si-yu-ki, I. xcix.
19 I. 307.
20 Xinru Liu, Ancient India and Ancient China (Delhi, I988).
21 Romila Thapar, Cultural Transaction and Early India (Delhi, 1987), pp. 7ff.
22 P. B. Desai,Jainism in South India (Sholapur, 1957), pp. 23, 63, 82-3, 124, 397-402;
Epigraphia Indica V., pp. I42ff, 255; Ep. Ind. XXIX, pp. 139-44; Annual Report of South
Indian Epigraphy, 1923, pp. 4ff.

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220 ROMILA THAPAR

case
case thethe
hostility
hostility
can be traced
can
not be
to competition
traced for not royal
topatronage
competitio
but
but rather
rather
to control
to of
control
the commercial
of the
economy
commercial
over which theJainas
economy
had
had a substantial
a substantial
hold. A further
hold.
reason
A may
further
also have reason
been linkedmay
to al
the
the fact
fact
that the
that
Jainas,
themaintaining
Jainas, highmaintaining
standards of literacy,
highmay standa
have
have beenbeen
seen byseen
the Virasaivas
by the as rivals
Virasaivas
in the role of
asadvisers
rivals andin th
administrators
administrators at the royal
atcourt.
the royal court.
What
What is significant
is significant
about this persecution
about thisis that persecution
it involved not all is tha
the
theSaivas
Saivas
but particular
but particular
segments of sectssegments
among them. of The sects
persecu- among
tion
tion waswas
not ajehad
notorajehad
a holy war
or or a
a crusade
holyinwar whichor all Hindu
a crusade
sects in
saw
saw it as
ittheir
as duty
theirto support
dutythe to attack
support
or to wagethewar attack
against theor to w
Buddhists
Buddhists or the or
Jainas.
theNorJainas.
was there room
Norfor wasan inquisition
there in room
the for
Indian
Indian situation,
situation,
for there dissidents
for there could found
dissidents
a new sect could
and take on
found
aasplinter
splinter
caste status.
caste Thestatus.
notion of The
heresy notion
evolved gradually.
of heresy
The ev
term
term pasamda
pasamda
in the Asokan
in the
edictsAsokan
refers merely
edicts
to any religious
referssectmerely
or
philosophical
philosophical school. By
school.
the time of
By thethe
Puranic
time
literature,
of thepasanda
Puran
quite
quite clearly
clearly
referredreferred
to sects in opposition
to sectsto Brahmanism
in opposition
and carried to Br
with
with it the
it clear
the connotation
clear connotation
of contempt.23 Untouchability
of contempt.23
was also a Unt
form
form of religious
of religious
persecution,persecution,
for this exclusion was
forcommon
thistoexclus
Brahmanism
Brahmanism as well asas
to well
some Sramanic
as to sects,
some the Sramanic
candala being a sects
category
category apart. apart.
Vaisnavism,
Vaisnavism,
although it had its
although
episodes of enemity
it had its
with
with Saivism
Saivism
and others,andseems
others,
to have beenseems
less prone
to to
havepersecuting
been less
competitors.
competitors. Instead itInstead
resorted toit
assimilating
resorted othertocults
assimilating
and used the ot
notion
notion of the
of avatdra
the or avatdra
incarnationorof Visnu
incarnation
to great effect of in doing
Visnu so. to g
But
But even
even
Vaisnavism
Vaisnavism
was less givenwas
to assimilating
less given the Sramanic
to assimilating
sects,
preferring
preferring to absorb
totribal
absorb
and folktribal
cults andand
epic heroes.
folk Thus cultsin spite
and epi
of
of the
the
reference
reference
to Buddha as
toamong
Buddha
the ten as
incarnations,
amongthis,the ten
interestingly,
interestingly,does not become
does thenotfocus
become
of a largethe
body of
focus
myths of
or a larg
Puranic texts as do the other incarnations. If acts of intolerance and
violence against other religious sects reflecting the consciousness of
belonging to a religious community did not form part of a Hindu stand
against such sects, then it also raises the question of how viable is the
notion of a Hindu community for this early period.
The notion of a Hindu community does not have as long an ancestry
as is often presumed. Even in the normative texts of Brahmanism, the
Dharmasastras, it is conceded that there were a variety of communities,
determined by location, occupation and caste, none of which were
necessarily bound together by a common religious identity. The term
for village, grama, referred to the collective inhabitants of a place and
included cultivators and craftsmen. The control of this community lay

23 Romila Thapar, 'Renunciation'.

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 IMAGINED RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES? 221

in the hands of the grama-sahgha24 and the mahdjana and, in som

the paicakula. Customary law of the village is referred to as g
dharma.25 The sense of the village as the community was f
impressed by the grants of land to brdhmanas and officers in the late
millennium A.D. when they began to be given administrativ
judicial rights over the villages granted to them. Community the
had one of its roots in location and the law of thejanapada/territ
listed among those which a king should observe.
In urban centres, craftsmen of the same profession or of r
professions formed organizations and guilds, such as the puga, go
and srenL. They were responsible for production and sale and gra
took on a community character. Thus donations were made at Bu
ist stipas, as the one at Sanchi, by gosthis and srenis which ident
themselves as such.26 These communities were part of the l
Buddhist community and the same stipa was embellished from
tions by a number of other such communities and by individuals
can therefore speak of a Buddhist community which cuts acr
boundaries of caste and locality. In contrast is the silk-weavers g
Mandasor which built a temple to Surya, the Sun-god, and renno
it in the late fifth century A.D.27 Even though the members of th
had taken to a variety of alternative professions they retaine
identity as a guild for the purpose of building a temple. This rel
edifice was built through the effort of a single group, identified
guild and worshipping Surya, for no other Sun-worshippers
involved nor any other religious group which today would be
Hindu. It is unlikely that such a group saw itself as part of a
Hindu community as its identity seems to have been deliber
limited. The Hunas established themselves in the region soon afte
were known to be Sun-worshippers. A temple to the Sun was
Gwalior in the early sixth century A.D. by a high-ranking indivi
Curiously there is neither contribution from nor reference to oth

24 Manu VIII. 41.

25 Asvalayana Grhasutra I. 7.I .; Asvalayana Srauta-sutraXTI.8; Paninini 6.2.62; A
2.3. 9; Buddhist texts speak more specifically of village boundaries (Vinaya
I09. Io; III.46.200). This was necessary in a system where the limits of a
collecting alms had to be defined for each monastery.
26 See inscriptions from Sanchi as given inJ. Marshall and A. Foucher, Monum
Sanchi (Calcutta, 1940); also H. Liiders, Ep. Ind. X. nos. I62-907; See a
Bhattiprolu inscription, Luders no. I332.
27 J. F. Fleet (ed.), Inscriptions of the Early Gupta Kings and their Successors,
Inscriptionum Indicarum, III (Varanasi, I970 reprint), pp. 79ff.
28 Ibid., pp. I62ff.

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222 ROMILA THAPAR

worshipping
worshipping communities
communities
in the areain
in the
the later
areainscription,
in the later
barrin
the
thereference
reference
to theto
Huna
the kings.
Huna kings.
In
Inurban
urbanlife life
the guild
thewas
guild
a commanding
was a commanding
institution acting
ins
as
nucleus
nucleus of the
of urban
the urban
community.
community.
The coins andThe
seals coins
of such an
gu
point
point to to
economic
economicpower and
power
social and
status.29
social
The Ndrada-smrti30
status.29 The cle
states
states that
that
a guild
a guild
could frame
couldits frame
own lawsitsand own
these laws
laws related
and b t
to
toadministration
administration and social
andusage.
social
The customary
usage. The law customary
of the guild,
sreni-dharma,
sreni-dharma, is particularly
is particularly
mentioned in mentioned
the Dharmasdstras
in the an
which
which kings
kings
are required
are required
to conform. toThe
conform.
importanceTheof the
import
guild a
lies
liesininthethe
fact fact
that some
that evolved
some intojdtis
evolved or castes,
intojdtis
becoming
or unit
cas
endogamous
endogamous marriage
marriage
uniting kinship
uniting and kinship
profession.and
Thosep
following
following a Sramanic
a Sramanic
religion maintained
religion their
maintained
own separate
their
religiou
ow
identity.
identity. We are
Wealsoaretold
also
thattold
the king
that must
therespect
king jdti-dharma.
must res T
emphasis
emphasis on the
ondharma
the dharma
ofthejanapada
ofthejanapada
(locality or territory)
(locality
srenaor
(g
and
andjdti
jdti
(caste)
(caste)
and the
and
absence
theofabsence
referenceof to the
reference
dharma ofto vario
th
religious
religious sectssects
or of or
a conglomeration
of a conglomeration
of religious sects
ofarereligi
a poi
perhaps
perhaps to what
to what
actually
actually
constituted
constituted
the sense of community
the sense
in
early
early past.
past.
Identities
Identities were,
were,
in contrast
in contrast
to the modern
to the
nation
modern
state, segmente
natio
identities.
identities. The The
notionnotion
of community
of community
was not absentwas
but there
not w a
multiple
multiple communities
communities
identified
identified
by locality, language,
by locality,
caste, occu
la
tion
tion and
andsect.sect.
What What
appears appears
to have been toabsent
havewas been
the notion
absen
uniform,
uniform, religious
religious
community
community
readily identified
readily
as Hindu.
identifi
The f
occurrence
occurrence of theofterm
the'Hindu'
term is 'Hindu'
as a geographical
is as anomenclature
geograph
this
this has
has
its own
its own
significance.
significance.
This is not aThis
quibble
is since
not ita involves
quibble t
question
question of the
of historical
the historical
concept ofconcept
'Hindu'. Inscriptions
of 'Hindu'.of th
Achaemenid
Achaemenid empireempire
refer torefer
the frontier
to the region
frontier
of the Indus
region
or Sin
as
asHi(n)dush.31
Hi(n)dush.31 Its more
Itscommon
more occurrence
commonmany occurrence
centuries later
man is
Arabic
Arabic texts
texts
wherewhere
the termthe
is initially
term used is initially
neither forused
a religion
neithe
nor
aa culture.
culture.It refers
It refers
to the inhabitants
to the inhabitants
of the Indian subcontinent,
of the Indi th
land across the Sindhu or Indus river. Al-Hind was therefore a
geographical identity and the Hindus were all the people who lived o
this land. Hindu thus essentially came to mean 'the other' in the eye
the new arrivals. It was only gradually and over time that it was us
not only for those who were inhabitants of India but also for those w
professed a religion other than Islam or Christianity. In this sen

29 Brhaspati I. 28-30; Kdtyayana 2.82; 17. I8; I. 126; Archaeological Survey of In

Annual Report, 1903-04; 1911-12.
30 Ndrada-smrti, X. I-2; Ep. Ind. XXX, p. I69.
31 The Persepolis and Naqsh-i-Rustam inscriptions of Darius, in D. C. Sircar, Se
Inscriptions, vol. I (Calcutta, 1965), p. 7.

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 IMAGINED RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES? 223

Hindu included both the brdhmanas and the lower castes, an incl
which was contrary to the precepts of Brahmanism. This all-incl
term was doubtless a new and bewildering feature for the multipl
and castes who generally saw themselves as separate entities.
The people of India curiously do not seem to have perceived the
arrivals as a unified body of Muslims. The name 'Muslim' do
occur in the records of early contacts. The term used was either
Turuska, referring to the Turks,32 or geographical, Yavana,
cultural, mleccha. Yavana, a back formation from yona had been
since the first millennium B.C. for Greeks and others coming fro
Asia. Mleccha meaning impure, goes back to the Vedic tex
referred to non-Sanskrit speaking peoples often outside the
hierarchy or regarded as foreign and was extended to include low
and tribals. Foreigners, even of high ranks, were regarded as mlec
A late fifteenth-century inscription from Mewar refers to the Su
Malwa and his armies as sakas, a term used many centuries befor
the Scythians, and therefore reflecting a curious undertow of his
memory.35 These varying terms, each seeped in historical meanin
not suggest a monolithic view, but rather a diversity of perc
which need to be enquired into more fully.
For the early Muslim migrants Indian society was also a puzzle,
was the first where large numbers did not convert to Islam. The
further, the unique situation that they were faced with a society
had no place for the concept of conversion, for one's birth into
defines one's religious identity and conversion is outside the e
tion of belief.
Historians have posited two monolithic religions, Hinduism
Islam, coming face to face in the second millennium A.D. This pr
tion requires re-examination since it appears to be based
somewhat simplistic reading of the court chronicles of the S
These spoke of Hindus sometimes in the sense of the indige

32 Similarly Muslim women were often referred to as turuski, as, for exam
Hemadri, Caturvarga-cintamani, Prayascitta-kandla.
3e.g. Chatesvara temple inscriptions, where in the thirteenth century a refer
made to a campaign against theyavanas. Ep. Ind. 1952, XXIX, pp. I21-2.
34 Romila Thapar, 'The Image of the Barbarian in Early India', in Ancien
Social History, pp. I52-92. A fourteenth-century inscription from Delhi r
Shahab-ud-din, as a mleccha, who was the first Turuska to rule Dhillika/Delh
Bhandarkar (ed.), Appendix to Epi. Ind. XIX-XXIII, no. 683.
35 Udaipur inscription of the time of Rajamalla in Bhavnagar Inscriptions, pp.
And see Bhandarkar (ed.), Appendix to Ep. Ind. XIX-XXIII, no. 862. It is iro
it was earlier thought that these Rajput ruling families may in some cases h
their origin in the Sakas!

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224 ROMILA THAPAR

population,
population, sometimes
sometimes
as a geographical
asentity
a geographical
and sometimes as entit
followers
followers of a non-Islamic
of a non-Islamic
religion. Such references
religion. shouldSuch
be read referenc
in
their
their specific
specific
meaning meaning
and not as referring
and uniformly
not as referring
to the religion ofunifo
India.
India.Possibly
Possibly
the germ the
of thegerm
idea of a of
Hindu
the
community
idea of begins
a Hindu
when com
people
people startstart
referring
referring
to themselves as toHindus,
themselves
perhaps initially
as Hindus
as a
concession
concession to beingtoregarded
being as 'the
regarded
other'. Suchasusage
'the
in non-Islamic
other'. Suc
sources
sources is known
is known
from the fifteenth
from century.
the fifteenth
The literature century.
of the bhakti The
sects
sectsregisters
registers
a variationa on
variation
this. Much that
on was
this.
composed
Muchin an that
indigenous
indigenoustradition
tradition
such as the Rdmacaritamanas
such as the of Rdmacaritamana
Tulsidas seems not
to
touseuse
the term
theHindu.
term ThatHindu.
which wasThat
clearly which
influenced was
by Islamic
clearly
ideas
ideassuchsuch
as the verses
as the of Kabir
verses
refersof to Hindus
Kabir andrefers
counterposes
to Hin
Hindus
Hindus and Turuskas
and Turuskas
in a religious in
sense.
a Curiously
religious both sense.
Tulsidas and
Curio
Kabir
Kabir belonged
belonged
to the Ramanandin
to thesect, Ramanandin
yet expressed themselves
sect, yetin ex
very
very different
different
idioms. idioms.
Rana
Rana Kumbha
Kumbha
of Mewarofruling
Mewar
in the fifteenth
ruling century,
in theon defeating
fifteenth c
the
the sultans
sultans
of Dhilliof
andDhilli
Gurjaratra,
andtakes
Gurjaratra,
the title of himdu
takes
suratrdna,36
the title
suratrdna,
suratrdna,being the
being
Sanskritthefor sultan.
Sanskrit
In the context
for sultan.
of the inscription
In the con
in
inwhich
which
it occurs,
it it
occurs,
is less a declaration
it is lessof religious
a declaration
identity and more
of religio
a
claim
claim to being
to being
a sultan of
a al-hind,
sultan superior
of al-hind,
to the other superior
sultans. In to
another
anotherinscription
inscription
the sultan ofthe
Gujarata
sultan
is referred
of to
Gujarata
as the
gurjaresvara
gurjaresvara and the gurjarddhisvara,
and the gurjarddhisvara,
but the virtually hereditary
butenemy,
the virtu
the
the sultan
sultan
of Malwa,
ofmerely
Malwa,
as suratrdna,37
merely a subtle
as suratrdna,37
but significant a
distinction.
It would also be worth while to investigate when the term Muslim
came to be used in what would now be called Hindu sources. One's
suspicion is that Turuska and its variants and certainly mleccha w
more commonly used as they are to this day. Mleccha does not have a
primary religious connotation. It is a signal of social and cultura
difference. Indian Muslims of course did not discontinue caste affili-
ations, particularly as the basis of marriage relations and often even
occupations. Thus the gulf between the high caste Muslims claiming
foreign descent, such as the ashrafs, and the rest was not altogether
dissimilar to the social difference between brdhmanas and non-brah-
manas. But the rank and file were often converted from lower castes,
where an entirejdti would convert. These Muslims retained their local
language in preference to Persian, were recognized by minor dif-
ferences of dress and manner and often incorporated their earlier

36 Sadadi Jaina inscription of the time of Kumbhakarna of Medapata in Bhavnagar

Inscriptions, pp. I I4ff and D. R. Bhandarkar, op. cit., no. 784; D. Sharma, Lectures on
Rajput History and Culture (Delhi, 1970), p. 55.
3Kirtistambha-prasasti, ASIR, XXIII, pp. I I Iff.

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 IMAGINED RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES? 225

rituals
rituals and
andmythology
mythologyinto
into
Islamic
Islamic
tradition.
tradition.
SomeSome
of the
ofmangal-kabyas
the mangal-kab
in
in Bengali,
Bengali,forforinstance,
instance,
areare
an an
example
example
of such
of such
interlinks
interlinks
in thein t
creation
creationof ofwhat
whatmight
mightbe be
seenseen
as aasnew
a new
mythology
mythology
wherewhere
Puranic
Pura
deities
deities intermingled
intermingled with
withthethe
personalities
personalities
of the
of Quran.38
the Quran.38
This Th
becomes
becomeseven
evenmore
moreevident
evident
in in
thethe
folkfolk
literature
literature
of regions
of regions
with awith
largea la
Muslim
Muslimpopulation.
population.Elsewhere
Elsewhere
in Tamil-Nadu,
in Tamil-Nadu,
for instance,
for instance,
the
guardian
guardianfigures
figuresinin the
thecultcult
of of
Draupadi
Draupadiare Muslim.39
are Muslim.39This is
This
not is
anno
anomaly
anomalyififititisisseen
seen
in in
terms
terms of local
of local
castecaste
relations.
relations.
This
This isis not
nottotosuggest
suggest thatthatthethe
relationship
relationship was one
was ofonepeaceful
of peacef
coexistence
coexistenceor ortotal
totalcultural
cultural integration
integrationbut but
rather
rather
that the
thatperception
the percept
which
which groups
groupssubscribing
subscribing to toHindu
Hindu
and and
Islamic
Islamic
symbols
symbols
had of had
eachof e
other
other was
wasnotnotininterms
terms of of
a monolithic
a monolithic religion,
religion,
but more
but more
in terms
in terms
of
distinct
distinctand anddisparate
disparate castes
castesandandsects
sects
alongalong
a social
a social
continuum.
continuum.
Even E
the
the recognition
recognitionofof a religious
a religious identity
identity
doesdoes
not automatically
not automatically
establish
establi
a
religious
religiouscommunity.
community. Tensions,
Tensions, confrontations
confrontations and even
and even
persecutions
persecut
at
at the
the level
levelof
ofpolitical
political
authority
authority werewere
not not
necessarily
necessarily
repeated
repeated
all theall t
way
way down
downthe thesocial
social
scale
scalenor nor
werewere
all caste
all caste
and sectarian
and sectarian
conflicts
confli
reflected
reflectedatatthetheupper
upperlevels.
levels.Clashes
Clashes
whichwhich
on the
on face
the of
face
it would
of it would
now
be
be interpreted
interpretedasas
between
between
Hindus
Hindus
andand
Muslims,
Muslims,
would
would
require
requi
a
deeper
deeper investigation
investigationtotoascertain
ascertain
howhow
far far
theythey
werewere
clashes
clashes
between
betw
specific
specificcastes
castesand
andsects
sectsandand
to what
to what
degree
degree
did they
did they
involve
involve
support
supp
and
and sympathy
sympathyfrom
from other
other
castes
castes
andand
sects
sects
identifying
identifying
with with
the same
the sam
religion
religionor
orseeking
seekingsuch
such
identity.
identity.
The
The nineteenth-century
nineteenth-century definition
definition
of the
of the
Hindu
Hindu
community
community
soughtsough
its
its justification
justificationinin
early
early
history
history
using
using
Mill's
Mill's
periodization
periodization
whichwhic
assumes the existence of Hindu and Muslim communities and takes the
history of the former back to the centuries B.C. Its roots were provided
by yet another nineteenth-century obsession, that of the theory of
Aryan race.40 It was argued that the Indo-Europeans who conquered
India created the Hindu religion and civilization. In the theory of
Aryan race the nineteenth-century concern with European origins was
transferred to India. The theory as applied to India emphasized the
arrival of a superior, conquering race of Aryans who used the mechan-
ism of caste to segregate groups racially.41 It underlined upper caste
superiority by arguing that they were the descendants of the Aryans
and it therefore became an acceptable explanation of the origin of

38 Ashim Roy, The Islamic Syncretistic Tradition in Bengal (Princeton, I983).

39 A: Heltebeitel, The Cult of Draupadi (Chicago, 1988).
40 Romila Thapar, 'Ideology and the Interpretation of Early Indian History', in K.
S. Krishnaswamy et. al. (eds), Society and Change (Bombay, I977), pp. 1-19.
41 H. Risley, The People of India (London, I908).

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226 ROMILA THAPAR

upper
upper castes,
castes,
who could
who nowcould
also claim
now relationship
also claim
to therelation
European
Aryans.42
Aryans.42 The lower
The castes
lowerwerecastes
seen as were
the non-Aryan,
seen as indigenous
the no
people
people andand
were were
said to be
said
of Dravidian
to be of and Dravidian
Austric origin.and
Aryanism
Austr
was
was seen
seen
thenthen
to define
tothe
define
true and
the
puretrue
Hindu and
community.
pure Other
Hind
groups
groups recruited
recruited
into the into
caste structure
the casteat lower
structure
levels wereat
regarded
lower
as
aspolluting
polluting
the pristine
the pristine
Hindu community.
Hindu community.
Because
Because of its
of centrality
its centrality
to both the to
notion
bothof community
the notion
and
religion,
religion, the theory
the theory
of Aryan of
race Aryan
requires to
race
be looked
requires
at critically
to be by
historians
historians working
working
on nineteenth-century
on nineteenth-century
ideas as well as historians
ideasofa
ancient
ancient India.
India.
The earlier
Theevidence
earlier quoted
evidence
in supportquoted
of the theory
in suppas
applied
applied to India
to India
begins to
begins
fade with
toinformation
fade with frominformation
archaeology and
linguistics.
linguistics. The notion
The of notion
an Aryan of race
anhasAryan
now been race
generally
has
discarded
discarded in scholarship
in scholarship
and what we and
are left
whatwithweis essentially
are left a
linguistic
linguisticcategory:
category:
the Indo-Aryan
the Indo-Aryan
speaking people. The
speaking
archaeologi-
pe
cal
calpicture
picture
takes takes
the foundation
the foundation
of Indian civilization
of Indian
back to proto-
civil
history
history and and
the Harappa
the Harappa
culture. Theculture.
characteristic
Thefeatures
character
of the
latter do not mesh with those of the Vedic texts associated with the
culture of the Indo-Aryan speakers.43 The culture depicted in the Vedic
texts seems increasingly to have drawn on local practices and beliefs,
some going back to the Harappa culture or earlier, others drawing
perhaps from the then contemporary society in India. There is virtually
no evidence of the invasion and conquest of northwestern India by a
dominant culture coming from across the border. Most sites register a
gradual change of archaeological cultures. Where there is evidence of
destruction and burning it could as easily have been a local activity and
is not indicative of a large-scale invasion. The border lands of the
northwest were in communication with Iran and central Asia even
before the Harappa culture with evidence of the passage of goods and
ideas across the region.44 This situation continued into later times and
if seen in this light then the intermittent arrival of groups of Indo-
European speakers in the northwest, perhaps as pastoralists or farmers
or itinerant traders, would pose little problem. It is equally plausible
that in some cases local languages became Indo-Europeanized through
contact. Such situations would require a different kind of investigation.

42 As, for example, in the writings of Keshab Chunder Sen, 'Philosophy and
Madness in Religion', in Keshab Chunder Sen's Lectures in India (London, 90 ).
43 Romila Thapar, 'The Study of Society in India', in Ancient Indian Social History, pp.
211-39; also, 'The Archaeological Background to the Agnicayana Ritual', in F. Staal,
Agni, vol. II (Berkeley, I983), pp. 3-40.
44 J. Jarrige, 'Excavations at Mehrgarh: their Significance for Understanding the
Background of the Harappan Civilisation', in G. Possehl (ed.), Harappan Civilisation
(New Delhi, 1982), pp. 79ff.

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 IMAGINED RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES? 227

If cultural elements from elsewhere are being assessed, then duri

Harappan period excavated evidence for contact with west Asia vi
Gulf was more significant than that with eastern Iran and centr
and this raises another set of possibilities.
The more basic question for the historian is to explain the slow
gradual spread of the Indo-Aryan language across a large part
Indian subcontinent. Here again the evidence from linguistics pro
an interesting pointer. The claim that the earliest of the Vedic tex
R.g Veda dating back to the second millennium B.C. is linguis
purely Indo-Aryan is now under question for it is being argued th
text already registers the presence of non-Aryan speakers. Th
Vedic texts show an even greater admixture of non-Aryan and sp
cally when dealing with certain areas of activity, such as agricult
The emergent picture might suggest that the speakers of Indo-A
may have been in a symbiotic relationship with speakers of non-
languages, with a mutual adopting of not only vocabulary and lin
tic structures in a bi-lingual situation but also technologi
religious practices and beliefs.46 The exclusivity of brdhmana ritu
not have to be explained on the basis of a racial segregation, but
viewed as derived from the will to retain a certain kind of p
power, which, claiming bestowal by the deities would ensure a se
and special status. Possibly the political hold of priestly power ha
roots in the Harappa culture. In charting the spread of Indo-Ary
worth remembering that Sanskrit not only underwent chan
relation to other languages with which it had to co-exist and in r
to social change but that its use was initially restricted to brd
ritual and elite groups.
The focus therefore is shifting to an investigation of the many w
which a language gains acceptability. This would involve det
studies of thejuxtaposition of new technologies particularly in re
to ecological contexts, of demography, of kinship systems and the
in which social groups interact where stratification relates to
rather than to race. So deep has been the modern obsession wi
that Pargiter as late as in the 1920s suggested the identification o
the traditional descent groups from the genealogies of the Puranic
as Aryan, Dravidian and Austric.47 Thus the spread of the Indo-A
languages and the changes they manifest are a far more comp

45 T. Burrow, The Sanskrit Language (London, 1965), p. 379: M. M. Deshpan

P. E. Hook (eds), Aryan and non-Aryan in India (Michigan, 1979).
46 Romila Thapar, From Lineage to State (New Delhi, I984), pp. 2 ff.
47 F. E. Pargiter, Ancient Indian Historical Tradition (London, 1922).

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228 ROMILA THAPAR

study than that implied in the theory of spread

also a need to see the evolving of early Indian soc
archaeological evidence independent of the att
identities on archaeological cultures. Only
understand the social processes which went into
Indian society. In the texts the term arya gen
indicating one who is to be respected. Whereas th
may be said to contain racial elements, as, for ex
on physical characteristics, such elements are not
references to drya. Thus in the Vedic texts there are
the ddsi-putrdh brdhmanas,48 or, politically powe
gifts to the brdhmanas.49 (It is interesting that on
lineages, that of the Purus is associated with sub
is also said that Puru was an ancient king who
and was overthrown by Bharata,51 which can
the Purus in the category of the pure Aryans! In
the observance of the complex varnasrama-dharma
To trace the emergence of caste would also involv
resources, kinship and clan networks and notions
Early history suggests the existence of multipl
on various identities. The need to create the id
community appears to have been a concern of m
was sought to be justified by recourse to a par
history. The new Hinduism which is now sought
religion of this community is in many ways a dep
religious sects. It seeks historicity for the incarn
encourages the idea of a centrally sacred book,
significant to the worship of deity, acknowledge
ecclesiastical organization of certain sects as prev
supported large-scale missionary work and con
allow it to transcend caste identities and reach ou
Religions indigenous to India which questione
and practice such as Buddhism and Jainism ha
Hinduism and their separateness is either den
Islamic India is therefore presented as a civiliz

48 Brhaddevatd 4.11-15; 21-5; describes the birth of

Kaksivant as the son of a disi. The Aitereya Brdhmana 2. 9
I2. describe the Rg Vedic seer Kavasa Ailusa as a ddsi-pu
Romila Thapar, From Lineage to State, p. 43.
50 Rg Veda. VII. I8.13.
51 Satapatha Brdhmana VI. 8. . 14.

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 IMAGINED RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES? 229

an
an inclusive
inclusiveHinduism,
Hinduism, whereas
whereas
it would
it would
seem seem
that the
that
reality
the reality
perhaps pe
lay
lay in
inlooking
looking atatit it
as as
a cluster
a cluster
of distinctive
of distinctive
sects and
sectscults,
and observing
cults, obs
common
commoncivilizational
civilizational symbols
symbolsbut but
withwith
beliefbelief
and ritual
and ranging
ritual ranging
from
atheism
atheismto toanimism
animism andand
a variety
a variety
of religious
of religious
organizations
organizations
identifying
iden
themselves
themselvesby bylocation,
location,language
language
and caste.
and caste.
Even the
Even sense
theofsense
religious
of rel
identity
identityseems
seems totohave
have
related
related
more more
closely
closely
to secttothan
secttothan
a dominant
to a dom
Hindu
Hinducommunity.
community.
The modern construction of Hinduism is often acclaimed as in the
following defence of Orientalism: 'The work of integrating a vast
collection of myths, beliefs, rituals and laws into a coherent religion and
of shaping an amorphous heritage into a rational faith known now as
"Hinduism" were endeavours initiated by Orientalists.'52 Given that
religious traditions are constantly reformulated, the particular con-
struction of Hinduism in the last two centuries has an obvious historical
causation. Deriving largely from the Orientalist construction of Hindu-
ism, emergent national consciousness appropriated this definition of
Hinduism as well as what it regarded as the heritage of Hindu culture.
Hindu identity was defined by those who were part of this national
consciousness and drew on their own idealized image of themselves
resulting in an upper-caste, brdhmana-dominated identity. Even the
counterposing of Hindu to other religious identities as an essential fact
of social and historical reality grew out of this construction. But this
construction not only deviates from the history of the religious groups
involved but fails to encapsulate the essential differences within what is
called the Hindu tradition whose presuppositions were distinct from
other religions and closely entwined with social articulation. The
search for coherence and rational faith was in terms of a perspective
familiar to those who came from a Christian religious tradition and
hardly reflected any attempt to understand the coherence of a different,
indigenous religious tradition. The shape thus given to the latter has
changed what originally existed and has made it difficult to recognize
the actual earlier form.

The need for postulating a Hindu community became a requirement

for political mobilization in the nineteenth century when represen-
tation by religious community became a key to power and where such
representation gave access to economic resources. The competition for
middle class employment brought with it the argument that in all
fairness the size of the community should be taken into consideration.
Communal representation of the religious kind firmed up the image.
52 D. Knopf, 'Hermeneutics versus History', Journal of Asian Studies 39.3 (1980), pp.
495-505.

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 ROMILA THAPAR
230

Once
Once thisthis
argument
argument
was concededwas
it became
conceded
necessary to
itrecruit
became as
many
many people
people
as possible
asinto
possible
the community.
into Here
thethecommunity
vagueness of
what
what constitutes
constitutes
a Hindu was
a to
Hindu
the advantage
was ofto
those
the propagating
advantage a
Hindu
Hindu community.
community.It encouraged
Itanencouraged
almost new perception
an almost
of the
social
socialand and
political
political
uses of religion.
uses Conversion
of religion.
to Hinduism
Conve
was
invented
invented largelylargely
to bring into
thebring
untouchables
in the
and the
untouchab
tribals. The
notion
notion of purification,
of purification,
suddhi, permitted
suddhi,
those who
permitted
had been converted
those
to
toIslam
Islam
and Christianity
and Christianity
to be reintroduced
to to
bethereintroduce
Hindu fold. A
Hindu
Hindu community
community
with a common
withidentity
a common
would be politically
identity power-wo
ful.
ful. Since
Since
it was it
easywas
to recognize
easy other
to recognize
communities on
other
the basiscom
of
religion,
religion, such as
such
Muslims
asand
Muslims
Christians, and
an effort
Christians,
was made to
consolidate
consolidate a parallel
a Hindu
parallel
community.
Hindu Thiscommunity.
involved a change from
This
the
theearlier
earlier
segmented
segmented
identities to one
identities
which encompassed
to one caste
which
and
region
region and identified
and identified
itself by religion
itself
which
byhad religion
to be refashioned
whichso as h
to
toprovide
provide
the ideology
the which
ideology
would bind
which
the group.
wouldIn Gramsci's
bind t
terms,
terms, the class
thewhich
class
wishes
which
to become
wishes
hegemonic
to has
become
to nationalize
hegem
itself and the new 'nationalist' Hinduism comes from the middle class.
The change implicit in the various levels of what is called moderniza-
tion inevitably results in the refashioning of communities. Given that
the notion of expansive communities may well be imagined, neverthe-
less the premises on which such communities are constructed are open
to analysis and where they claim an historical basis, there the historian
has perforce to be involved. This involvement becomes even more
necessary when the concept of communities is brought into play in
assigning positions to them in history either close to or distant from
what are regarded as national aspirations. Thus the majority com-
munity tends to define national aspirations. The minority communities
in varying degrees are viewed as disrupting society by their refusal to
conform. The projection of such communities historically is that of
their always having been alien to the dominant culture and therefore
refusing to assimilate with the majority.
Minority communities pick up their cue in a similar reconstruction of
history seeking to project a unified community stance in all historical
situations. The fear of being overwhelmed by the majority community
is expressed even in opposition to the making of homogeneous civil
laws. These are treated as threats to a specific culture and practice, and
there is a tendency to preserve even that which is archaic in an effort to
assert a separate identity.
If the history of religions in India is seen as the articulation not only
of ideas and rituals but also the perceptions and motivations of social
groups, the perspectives which would follow might be different from

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 IMAGINED RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES? 23I

those with which we are familiar. The discourse and the play bet
and among religious sects of various kinds, has been a central
Indian religion and would reflect a more realistic portrayal of the
religion in society. A historically analytical enquiry into the def
and role of religion and the concept of religious communities in
modern India could be juxtaposed with the way in which the
been perceived by interpreters of the past in the last couple of cen
Incidentally such an assessment would be valuable not only t
temporary society in India but also to those societies which now
the vast Indian diaspora. Communal ideologies may be rooted
homeland but also find sustenance in the diaspora.
It is possible now to look more analytically at the perspecti
early Indian society as available in the sources, keeping in m
insights which we have, arising from research which, in a sense,
gradually liberated from the polemics of the colonial age. W
institutions and ideologies of modern times seek legitimacy from
early past, at least there, the dialogue between historians workin
these time periods becomes imperative.

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