British colonization of india and its impact on hinduism

Some of these effects ranged from how the caste system was used and practiced and on a larger spectrum the conversion of many Hindus as a result of numerous circumstances surrounding the process of conversation. The colonization by the British lasted from 1648 to 1947 and despite the near 100 years of British presence in the country, the impact of colonization and the colonizers were immense on Hinduism and are still present today. The Origin of Hinduism Hinduism is regarded as the oldest form religion by many scholars. Hinduism comprises the philosophy, beliefs and cultural practices of the people of India. At the core of the religion is a belief in reincarnation as well as a supreme being identified as Brahman who has numerous manifestations either as a god or a goddess which can be take many forms such as trees, spirits, planets and animals.

This violated the traditional arrangements for marriage which required marriage within a similar class. The Britons married women without regard to class which further disrupted the traditional caste. This was contrary to the traditional Hindu way of life provided that an individual is to be guided by varnasrama-dharma. That is, “a person’s obligation (dharma) with regard to the position they hold in society (class or varna) and the obligation to their stage of life (asrama). This was the recommended model of living India as was considered essential7. The British enforced many laws that included prohibiting of infanticide, human sacrifice and Sati. These laws resulted in the reformulation of the Hindu tradition. Outlawing Sati was received with major protest as the Hindus argued that Sati was provided for in their scriptures and as such it was their religious right to follow such practices.

On the contrary, the British considered such traditions as barbaric and a violation of the rights of women. The missionaries also experienced increasing influence through mass-conversations where over 300,000 Hindus became Christians12. Based on the traditional Hindu religious belief, it was a taboo to touch a pig or product of it since it was considered impure and dirty. This relates to the colors associated with the classes in Hinduism where the highest class or the Brahmin has the color white which symbolizes pureness while the lowest class or Sudra class has the color black which symbolizes impurity15. On the other hand, the cow is regarded as sacred and is associated with providence and peace and the lord of Krishna. Due to this Indians ought to show respect to the cow and using it as grease for cartridge is considered as a sign of disrepsect.

This led to the Sepoy Rebellion that was later contained by the government of the British. However, it is important to appreciate that some of the sepoys who traveled to go and fight, beyond the borders, something that was contrary to cast rule, reconverted back to Hinduism through bribing the priests silver they got from the war. Through this they bribed their way back to Hindiusm. Besides, the British also made efforts to reinforce social structure by taking census throughout the provinces in the colony and this included the caste of every person. In case a person was not happy with the caste they were in, they were allowed to contest it with any of their local leaders. The fact that a Hindu would have the ability to contest their caste and transcend to a new caste without being reincarnated was a demonstration that Hinduism had been significantly impacted by the presence of the British colonizers.

Matter-of-factly, the influence of colonizers changed some of the key beliefs in the Indian culture and societies that directly informed the Hindu religious practices. The caste system was the most affected as Indians were now able to bribed their way into a higher caste without undergoing reincarnation. The patriarchal societal traditions were also shaken by the rising up of women to defend certain laws imposed by the colonizers such as banning of Sati and the general fight for equilibrium. Even more, Hinduism borrowed a lot of Christian principles that including communal living as they came together to create “Hindu” missionaries and increased their efforts to neutralize the conversation of many Indians to Christianity. References Forrester, Duncan B. Oxford University Press, 2005. Smith, David.  Hinduism and modernity. John Wiley & Sons, 2008. Soherwordi, Syed Hussain Shaheed.