The origins of Hinduism are seen somewhere in the Indus Valley, near modern-day Pakistan, between 2300 B.C and 1500 B.C, according to most scholars. However, the argument by many of Hindus is that Hinduism existed always and is timeless. Hinduism is a fusion of a number of beliefs and does not have any one particular founder.
The Indo-Aryan people began migrating around 1500 B.C. to the Indus Valley. On settling there, both their culture and language merged with the indigenous people located there. However, who influenced whom more during this period is debatable.
The ‘Vedic Period’ lasted from around 1500 B.C to 500 B.C and it was during this period when the Vedas were composed. During the Vedic period rituals like chanting and sacrifices were common practice.
Between 500 B.C. and 500 A.D., the Classic and Puranic Periods and the Epic took place. More emphasis was laid by Hindus on worshipping deities like Devi, Shiva, Vishnu and other gods. New texts and faiths like Jainism and Buddhism were also introduced with the concept of Dharma. Jainism and Buddhism began spreading rapidly.
This major religion originated in India and comprises many varied systems of ritual, belief and philosophy. During the first decades of the nineteenth century, it was the British writers who coined the relatively new term, ‘Hinduism’. They referred to Hinduism a cumulative tradition of rich practices and texts a few of which dated back to the 2nd millennium BC or even earlier.
