Table of Contents Title Page Copyright Page PREFACE: CHAPTER 1 - INTRODUCTION: WORKINGWITH AVAILABLE LIGHT CHAPTER 2 - TIME AND SPACE IN INDIA 50 Million to 50,000 BCE CHAPTER 3 - CIVILIZATION IN THE INDUS VALLEY 50,000 to 1500 BCE CHAPTER 4 - BETWEEN THE RUINSAND THE TEXT 2000 to 1500 BCE CHAPTER 5 - HUMANS, ANIMALS, AND GODS IN THE RIG VEDA 1500 to 1000 BCE CHAPTER 6 - SACRIFICE IN THE BRAHMANAS 800 to 500 BCE CHAPTER 7 - RENUNCIATION IN THE UPANISHADS 600 to 200 BCE CHAPTER 8 - THE THREE (OR IS IT FOUR?) AIMS OF LIFE IN THE HINDU IMAGINARY CHAPTER 9 - WOMEN AND OGRESSES IN THE RAMAYANA 400 BCE to 200 CE CHAPTER 10 - VIOLENCE IN THE MAHABHARATA 300 BCE to 300 CE CHAPTER 11 - DHARMA IN THE MAHABHARATA 300 BCE to 300 CE CHAPTER 12 - ESCAPE CLAUSES IN THE SHASTRAS 100 BCE to 400 CE CHAPTER 13 - BHAKTI IN SOUTH INDIA 100 BCE to 900 CE CHAPTER 14 - GODDESSES AND GODS IN THE EARLY PURANAS 300 to 600 CE CHAPTER 15 - SECTS AND SEX IN THE TANTRIC PURANAS AND THE TANTRAS 600 to 900 CE CHAPTER 16 - FUSION AND RIVALRY UNDER THE DELHI SULTANATE 650 to 1500 CE CHAPTER 17 - AVATAR AND ACCIDENTAL GRACE IN THE LATER PURANAS 800 to 1500 CE CHAPTER 18 - PHILOSOPHICAL FEUDS IN SOUTH INDIA AND KASHMIR 800 to 1300 CE CHAPTER 19 - DIALOGUE AND TOLERANCE UNDER THE MUGHALS 1500 to 1700 CE CHAPTER 20 - HINDUISM UNDER THE MUGHALS 1500 to 1700 CE CHAPTER 21 - CASTE, CLASS, AND CONVERSION UNDER THE BRITISH RAJ 1600 to 1900 CE CHAPTER 22 - SUTTEE AND REFORM IN THE TWILIGHT OF THE RAJ 1800 to 1947 CE CHAPTER 23 - HINDUS IN AMERICA 1900 - CHAPTER 24 - THE PAST IN THE PRESENT 1950 - CHAPTER 25 - INCONCLUSION, OR, THE ABUSE OF HISTORY Acknowledgements CHRONOLOGY GUIDE TO PRONUNCIATION AND SPELLINGOF WORDS IN SANSKRIT AND OTHERINDIAN LANGUAGES ABBREVIATIONS GLOSSARY OF TERMS IN INDIAN LANGUAGES AND NAMES OF KEY FIGURES NOTES BIBLIOGRAPHY: WORKS CITED AND CONSULTED PHOTO CREDITS INDEX ABOUT THE AUTHOR ALSO BY WENDY DONIGER Siva, the Erotic Ascetic The Origins of Evil in Hindu Mythology Dreams, Illusion, and Other Realities Splitting the Difference: Gender and Myth in Ancient Greece and India TRANSLATIONS: The Rig Veda The Laws of Manu and Kamasutra THE PENGUIN PRESS Published by the Penguin Group Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, U.S.A. • Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4P 2Y3 (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.) • Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England • Penguin Ireland, 25 St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd) • Penguin Books Australia Ltd, 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd) • Penguin Books India Pvt Ltd, 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi - 110 017, India • Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, North Shore 0632, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd) • Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd, 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England First published in 2009 by The Penguin Press, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. Copyright © Wendy Doniger, 2009 All rights reserved Acknowledgments for permission to reprint copyrighted works appear on page 754. Illustration credits appear on page 754. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Doniger, Wendy. The Hindus : an alternative history / Wendy Doniger. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. eISBN : 978-1-10102870-4 1. Hinduism—Social aspects—History. 2. Women in Hinduism—History. 3. Pariahs in Hinduism—History. 4. Hinduism—Relations. I. Title. BL1151.3.D66 2009 294.509—dc22 2008041030 Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book. The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrightable materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated. http://us.penguingroup.com KATHERINE ULRICH—student, friend, editor supreme— and WILL DALRYMPLE—inspiration and comrade in the good fight INDIA’S MAJOR GEOGRAPHICAL FEATURES INDIA FROM 2500 BCE TO 600 CE INDIA FROM 600 CE TO 1600 CE