History
From the Indus Valley and the Vedic age to Hinduism in the modern world.
- The Indus Valley CivilisationThe Indus Valley (Harappan) Civilisation of c. 2600–1900 BCE: its cities, its undeciphered script, what its artefacts may reveal about religion, and its possible links with later Hinduism.
- The Vedic PeriodThe Vedic period of Indian history (c. 1500–500 BCE): the world of the Rig Veda, the fire sacrifice, the move to the Ganges plain, the rise of kingdoms and varna, and the turn to the Upanishads.
- The Epic and Puranic PeriodHow classical Hinduism took shape between about 500 BCE and 500 CE and beyond: the epics, the rise of Vishnu, Shiva and the Goddess, the Gupta age, the first temples and Hinduism's spread across Southeast Asia.
- Hinduism in the Medieval PeriodHinduism from about 600 to 1800 CE: the great temple kingdoms, the philosophers of Vedanta, the spread of bhakti, encounters with Islam, the Vijayanagara and Maratha kingdoms and life under the Mughals.
- Reform Movements and the Hindu RenaissanceThe 19th- and early 20th-century movements that reshaped Hinduism: Ram Mohan Roy and the Brahmo Samaj, the Arya Samaj, Ramakrishna and Vivekananda, anti-caste reformers and the rise of Hindu nationalism.
- Hinduism TodayHinduism in the 21st century: where the world's Hindus live, how the religion is changing, the role of technology and global gurus, and current debates about caste, gender, the environment and politics.
- Hinduism in the United KingdomThe history of Hindus in Britain, from early visitors to post-war migration and the arrival of East African Asians, with Census figures, communities, temples and organisations.
- The Hindu DiasporaHow Hinduism spread around the world: indentured labourers in the Caribbean, Fiji, Mauritius and South Africa, traders in East Africa, and modern migration to Britain, North America and the Gulf.