Ebook: Understanding Hinduism

Cover; Title; Contents; Preface; Timeline of Important Events; Map of principal Hindu holy sites of India; The Meaning of Hinduism; What is a Hindu?; A Model of the Hindu Tradition; Hindu History; Phenomenology; Personal Stories; 1 Introduction; Early Hindu History: Prehistory to 1500 BCE; The Veda Tradition; A New World-view: the Upanishads; Social Developments and Archaeology; The Wider Religious Context; A Period of Definition: 500-200 BCE; The Clasical Hindu Tradition: 200 BCE -- 1100 CE; The Gupta Empire (320-650 CE); The Caste System; Further Development and Expansion; Shankara.;Frank Whaling provides an overview of the history and development of the Hindu tradition. He takes account of recent scholarship and regards Hinduism as a world-view as well as a religious tradition.