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India has a fascinating religious history. Two of the world's great religions rose in India. The principal religion of India is Hinduism. Hinduism is a religion almost uniquely associated with India and neigboring Nepal as well as the East Indies (especially Java) where it was carried by Indian traders. For a range of historical reasons it has not spread to other countries. There are Hindus in other countries, but almost always restricted to Indian emmigrants. A more recent religion rising out of India is Budhism, but it was so effectively destroyed by Hindus, even before the Islamic invasions. that its origins were almost unkown even in the early 19th century. Islam entered India with the Mongol warriors in the 16th century. As in so many counties it was introduced by conquest. There are large numbers of Muslims in India, even after the partition that createrd Pakistan. While Muslims are a minority, India is in fact the world's most populace Muslim nation. The primitive people of India were animists, but much of this was incorporated into Hinduism and survives as a range of local traditions. There are small numbers of other religions. Europeans introduced Christianity to India.
India has a fascinating religious history. Two of the world's great religions rose in India (Hinduism and Budhism). I am not sure why that was. There were countless religious sects in the ancient world. Just why these two religions triumphed over other competing sects is an interesting question. And why two great religious traditions would arise in a single country is another interesting question. Two other important religions (Jainsin and Sikhism) were also born in India. And an imported religion (Islam) has made great inroads.
India has often been seen as a highly spiritual country. I am not sure just how to assess this. It is notable that the world's five great religions were born in such confined areas. Three came out of the Middle East (Judiaism, Christiamity, and Islam). The other two came out of India (Hindism and Budhism). And India has given birth to several smaller, but important religions. Budhism has almost disappeared from India, but Islam has made strong inroads. In fact India is the wotld's largest Muslim nation, although they are still in a minority. There are many other religious traditions in India. One of the most important is the Sikihs as well as the Jains. And there are also Christians as a ressult of the European colonial era, especially the British Raj. And there is also the contunuing influence of primitive Animism.
The rich religious tradition of India is indeed a fact of considerable interest. Is India a more spiritual society thn other civilizations? And just what dies that mean? It is unclear why so many great religion traditions emerged from a relatively small area--the Middle East and India, The Middle East was one of the important cradles of civilization and a commercial crossroads. India while one of the cradles of civilization appears because of the Himalays as a more isolated environment which for some reason seems to have been a relgious hothouse. .
India is a highly religious country where religion plays an important role in the lives of many people. There are several important religions in India. Two of the world's great religions (Buddhism and Hinduism) originated in India as well as several other smaller religions. India also has the largest Muslim community in the world. While there was a horrifying explosion of religious hatred at the independence of the country (1948-49) and there have been scattered terrorist attacks, the various religious communities have for the most part managed to live in exceptionl harmony. The country's Muslim minority has for the most part found the country's democratic institutions offered adequate protections. It is unclear how rising Islamic fundamentalism and resort to violence will affect India. I am not sure about the country's laws concerning religion and education. The country has a Hindu majority, but the state schools are secular. We do note meditations in schools. I'm not sure how common this was. I'm also not sure about Indian laws concerning schools operated by religious groups.
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