Religion in the Punjab

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Religion in the Punjab in ancient history was characterized by Hinduism and later conversions to Jainism, Buddhism, Islam, Sikhism and Christianity; it also includes folk practices common to all Punjabis regardless of the religion they adhere to. Such practices incorporate local mysticism and include ancestral worship, worship of local saints.[1]

Background[]

Rig Veda is the oldest Hindu text that originated in the Punjab region of ancient India

The Punjabi people first practiced Hinduism, the oldest recorded religion in the Punjab region.[2] On the banks of the Saraswati and Drishadwati rivers, the scholarly class of Aryans, the Brahmins, composed Vedic hymns and performed yajnas (rituals performed in front of a fire, often accompanied with the recitation of mantras and symbolic offerings). Numerous ashrams were established on the banks of the two rivers, which were considered sacred and patronised within Vedic traditions. The ancient university of Taxila, located in modern day Punjab, Pakistan, on the eastern bank of the Indus river, taught the three Vedic scriptures and its ancillary rituals and sciences.[3] The bulk of the Rigveda was composed in the Punjab region between circa 1500 and 1200 BC,[4] while later Vedic scriptures were composed more eastwards, between the Yamuna and Ganges rivers. An ancient Indian law book called the Manusmriti, developed by Brahmin Hindu priests, shaped Punjabi religious life from 200 BC onward.[5] The spread of Buddhsim and Jainism in India saw many Hindu Punjabis adopting the Buddhist and Jain faith though the decline of Buddhism in the Indian subcontinent resulted in Punjab becoming a Hindu society again, though Jainism continued as a minority religion.[6][7] The arrival of Islam in medieval India resulted in the conversion of some Hindu Punjabis to Islam,[8][5] and the rise of Sikhism in the saw some Punjabis, both Hindu and Muslim, accepting the new Sikh faith.[5][9] A number of Punjabis during the colonial period of India became Christians, with all of these religions characterizing the religious diversity now found in the Punjab region.[5]

Historical religion[]

The Persians were the first to use the term Hindu, referring to a vast territory containing much regional variety in belief and practice. Nevertheless, the common concept was the belief in cycles of reincarnation, or sansār, and was the oldest recorded religion in the region.[5] While law books like the Manusmriti codified socio-religious customs and were sanctified by the Hindu religion, such books more generally influenced the formation of broader traditional societal beliefs.[5]

The presence of Islam was established through waves or Muslim conquest and rule, and conversions under various empires.[5] Islam was introduced via southern Punjab in the 8th century, becoming the majority population by the 16th century, via conversion.[10][11] There was also a small Jain community in Punjab by the 16th century, while the Buddhist community was mostly extinct by the 10th century.[10]

Sikhism appeared in the 16th century, in reaction to both Punjabi and subcontinent-wide cultural practices of the time,[5] including asceticism, the caste system, and female subordination, as well as in congruence with it, sharing precepts with Hinduism, including karma, sansār, and liberation, and that with Islam, including a formless God, rejection of idolatry, and social equality.[5] It also developed its own distinct doctrines, including the belief that both intrinsic factors (egocentrism, to be ameliorated through devotion and prayer), and external forces (social and political oppression, to be addressed by community service and armed self-defense as needed, and balancing spiritual and temporal power in the world as opposed to renunciation), produced suffering.[5]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Singh, Nagendra Kr; Khan, Abdul Mabud (2001). Encyclopaedia of the World Muslims: Tribes, Castes and Communities. Global Vision. ISBN 978-81-87746-09-6.
  2. ^ Nayar, Kamala Elizabeth (2012). The Punjabis in British Columbia: Location, Labour, First Nations, and Multiculturalism. McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP. ISBN 978-0-7735-4070-5.
  3. ^ Singh, Mohinder. History and Culture of Panjab. Atlantic Publishers and Distributors. pp. 3–4.
  4. ^ Flood, Gavin (13 July 1996). An Introduction to Hinduism. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-43878-0.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Nayar, Kamala Elizabeth (2012). The Punjabis in British Columbia: Location, Labour, First Nations, and Multiculturalism. McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP. pp. 7–8. ISBN 978-0-7735-4070-5.
  6. ^ Rambo, Lewis R.; Farhadian, Charles E. (2014-03-06). The Oxford Handbook of Religious Conversion. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-971354-7.
  7. ^ Chhabra, G. S. (1968). Advanced History of the Punjab: Guru and post-Guru period upto Ranjit Singh. New Academic Publishing Company. p. 37.
  8. ^ Lord, John (1972). The Maharajahs. Hutchinson. pp. 7–8. ISBN 978-0-09-111050-5.
  9. ^ Singh, Pritam (2008-02-19). Federalism, Nationalism and Development: India and the Punjab Economy. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-04946-2.
  10. ^ a b Rambo, Lewis R.; Farhadian, Charles E. (2014-03-06). The Oxford Handbook of Religious Conversion. Oxford University Press. pp. 489–491. ISBN 978-0-19-971354-7.
  11. ^ Chhabra, G. S. (1968). Advanced History of the Punjab: Guru and post-Guru period upto Ranjit Singh. New Academic Publishing Company. p. 37.

Notes[]

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