 Hindu Religion, From yesterday to today RIGVED: 6000 BC: Rigvedic mantras were composed. KALIYUG: -3102: Kaliyuga begins. Kali era, Hindu calendar also known as Yugabd starts. SINDH (HINDU): -3000: Hindu religion weaving in Sindh near East and Indus- (Sarasvati) Valley. DHRITRASTRA: -1472: Reign of Dhritarashtra, father of the Kauravas. Reign of Yudhisthira, king of the Pandavas. MAHABHARAT: -1316: Mahabharata epic poem is composed by Sage Vyasa. PANINI: -1300: Panini composes Ashtadhyayi, systematizing Sanskrit grammar in 4,000 terse rules. (Date according to Roy.) JEWIS - INDIA: -950: Jewish people arrive in India in King Solomon's merchant fleet. Later Jewish colonies find India a tolerant home. IRON AGE: -900: Iron Age in India. Early use dates to at least -1500. BRONZE AGE: -900: Use of iron supplements bronze in Greece. JYOTISH: -850: The Chinese were using the 28-nakshatra zodiac called Shiu, adapted from the Hindu Jyotisha Shastra. ZOROSTER: -700: Life of Zoroaster of Persia, founder of Zoroastrianism. His holy book, Zend Avesta, contains many verses from the Rig and Atharva Veda. GAUTAM BUDHA: -550-480: Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha, born in Uttar Pradesh in a princely Shakya Saivite family. Date by Sri Lankan Buddhists. JAIN: -599-527: Mahavira Vardhamana, 24th Tirthankara and revered renaissance Jain master. KAPIL: -500: Kapila, founder of Sankhya Darshana, one of six classical systems of Hindu philosophy. SMRITI: -500: Over the next 300 years numerous secondary Hindu scriptures (smriti) were composed: Shrauta Sutras, Grihya Sutras, Dharma Sutras, Mahabharata, Ramayana and Puranas, etc. SOCRAT: -450: Athenian philosopher Socrates flourished (-470-400). ALEXENDER: -326: Alexander the Great of Greece invades, but fails to conquer, Northern India. CHANAKYA: -302: Kautilya (Chanakya), minister to Chandragupta Maurya, writes Arthashastra, a compendium of laws, administrative procedures and political advice for running a kingdom. MINAKSHI MANDIR: -300: Pandya kingdom (-300-1700) of S. India is founded and constructed magnificent Minakshi temple at its capital, Madurai. Builds temples of Shrirangam and Rameshvaram, with its thousand-pillared hall (ca 1600 ce). GUPTA EMPIRE: -320-520: Emperor Chandragupta abdicates to become a Jain Monk. ASHOK: -273: Ashoka (-273-232 reign), greatest Mauryan Emperor, grandson of Chandragupta, is coronated. Repudiating conquest through violence after his brutal invasion of Kalinga, -260, he converts to Buddhism. Then he spread the Budhism all around. GREAT WALL: -221: Great Wall of China is built, ultimately 2,600 miles long, the only man-made object visible from the moon. VEDANTA: -200: Jaimini writes the Mimamsa Sutras. EARTH GODDESS: -140: Emperor Wu begins three-year reign of China; worship of the Mother Goddess, Earth, attains importance. HINDU YEAR: -58: Vikrama Samvat Era Hindu calendar begins. JESUS: -00: Western Calendar Begins also understood as Common Era JESUS: -4: Jesus of Nazareth (-4-30), founder of Christian philosophy, was born in Bethlehem (current Biblical scholarship). SAINT THOMAS: 53: Legend records Saint Thomas' death in Madras, one of the twelve Apostles of Christ and founder of the Church of the Syrian Malabar Christians (Syrian Rite) in Goa. HINDU SAKA YEAR: 78: Shaka Hindu calendar begins, known as shalivahan year. JAIN DIVIDED: 80: Jains divided, on points of rules for monks, into the Shvetambara, "white-clad," and the Digambara, "sky-clad." CHARAK: 80-180: Charaka, the Court physician of the Kushan king, formulated a code of conduct for doctors of ayurveda and he wrote Charaka Samhita, a manual of medicine. PANCHRATNA: 100: Shandilya, first systematic promulgator of the ancient Pancharatra doctrines, whose Bhakti Sutras, devotional aphorisms on Vishnu, inspire a Vaishnava renaissance. HINDU KINGDOM: 200: Hindu kingdoms established in Cambodia and Malaysia. MANU: 400: Laws of Manu (Manu Dharma Shastras) written. Its 2,685 verses codify cosmogony, four ashramas, government, domestic affairs, caste and morality (others date at -600). VATSYANA: 400: Vatsyayana wrote Kamasutra, famous text on erotics. ARYABHATTA: 500: Aryabhata I (476-ca 550), Indian astronomer and mathematician, using Hindu (aka Arabic) numerals accurately calculated pi () to 3.1416, and the solar year to 365.3586805 days. MOHMMAD: 570-632: Mohammed, preacher of the Quraysh Bedoin tribe, founder of Islam. Begen preaching in Mecca, calling for an end to the "demons and idols" of Arab religion and conversion to the ways of the one God, Allah. GRAVITY: 598-665: Brahmagupta, preeminent Indian astronomer, who writes on gravity and sets forth the Hindu astronomical system in his Brahma Sphuta Siddhanta. CHINESE MONK: 630-44: Chinese pilgrim Hiuen-Tsang (Huan Zang) traveled in India. More than 60 Chinese monks have traveled to India and her colonies. Four hundred Sanskrit works have been translated into Chinese, 380 survive to the present day. MUSLIM: 712: Muslims conquer original Sindh region (Pakistan), providing base for pillaging expeditions that drain North India's wealth. USE OF ZERO: 750: Hindu astronomer and mathematician travels to Baghdad, with Brahmagupta's Brahma Siddhanta (treatise on astronomy) which he translates into Arabic, bestowing decimal notation and use of zero on Arab world. YOGA VASISHTHA: 750: Valmiki wrote 29,000-verse Yoga Vasishtha. SHANKARACHARYA: 788: Adi Shankara (788-820) is born in Malabar, famous monk philosopher of Smarta tradition regularizes ten monastic orders called Dashanami. Preaches Mayavada Advaita, emphasizing the world as illusion and God as the sole Reality. INDUS VALLEY: 875: Muslim conquests extend from Spain to Indus Valley. NATH: 900: Matsyendranatha, exponent of the Natha sect emphasizing kundalini yoga practices. GORAKH NATH: 1000: Gorakshanatha wrote Siddha Siddhanta Paddhati, "Tracks on the Doctrines of the Adepts." The nature of God and universe, structure of chakras, kundalini force and methods for realization are explained in 353 verses. SINDH-RAJASTHAN: 1000: A few Hindu communities from Rajasthan, Sindh and other areas, the ancestors of present-day Romani, or Gypsies, gradually move to Persia and on to Europe. MATHURA TEMPLE SACKED: 1017: Mahmud of Ghazni sacked Mathura, birthplace of Lord Krishna, and established a mosque on the site during one of his 17 Indian invasions for holy war and plunder. SOMANATH TEMPE DESTROYED: 1024: Mahmud of Ghazni plundered Somanath Siva temple, destroying the Linga and killing 50,000 Hindu defenders. He later builds a mosque on the remaining walls. NIMBARKA: 1130-1200: Nimbarka, Telegu founder of the Vaishnava Nimandi sect holding the philosophy of dvaitadvaita, dual-nondualism. PUNJAB: 1185: Mohammed of Ghur conquers Punjab and Lahore. NALANDA DESTROYED: 1197: Great Buddhist university of Nalanda was destroyed by Muslim Ikhtiyar ud-din. MUSLIMS: 1200: All of North India is under Muslim domination. SURYA TEMPLE: 1230-60: Surya temple at Konarak, Orissa, India, is constructed. 1300: Muslim conquerors reach Cape Comorin at the southernmost tip of India and build a mosque there. MUSLIM IN HARDWAR: 1399: Hardwar, Ganga pilgrimage town, is sacked by Timur. CONVERTION: 1414: By force Hindu prince Parameshvara of Malaysia converted to Islam. MIRABAI: 1450?-1547: Mirabai and her devoted life to Lord krishna. GURU NANAK: 1469-1538: Guru Nanak Dev taught humanity and Om. SURDAS: 1483-1563: Surdas, sightless Hindi bard of Agra. CHAITANYA: 1486-1543: Chaitanya, Bengali founder of popular Vaishnava sect. COLUMBUS: 1492: Looking for India, Christopher Columbus landed on San Salvador island in the Caribbean, thus "discovering" the Americas and proving that the earth is round, not flat. VASCO DE GAMA: 1498: Portugal's Vasco de Gama sailed around Cape of Good Hope to Calicut, Kerala, first European to find sea route to India. TRAGIDY: ca 1500: Buddhist and Saiva Hindu princes were forced off Java by invading Muslims. Within 100 years they construct what many call a fairytale kingdom. GOA CHRISTIAN: 1510: Portuguese Catholics conquer Goa to serve as capital of their Asian maritime empire, beginning conquest and exploitation of India by Europeans. BABAR: 1526: Mughal conqueror Babur (1483-1530) defeats the Sultan of Delhi and captures the Koh-i-noor diamond. Occupying Delhi, by 1529 he founds the Indian Mughal Empire (1526-1761), consolidated by his grandson Akbar. RAM TEMPLE DESTROYED: 1528: Emperor Babur destroys temple at Lord Rama's birthplace in Ayodhya, erects Muslim masjid, or monument. TULASIDAS: 1532-1623: Life of Monk-poet Tulasidasa. Writes Ramacharitamanasa (1574-77), greatest medieval Hindi literature (based on Ramayana). It advances Rama worship in the North. NATIVE CLERGY: 1542: Portuguese Jesuit priest Francis Xavier employ native clergy in Goa to spread Christianity in India. HINDU-MUSLIM: 1556: Akbar (1542-1605), grandson of Babur, becomes third Mughal Emperor at age 13. Disestablishes Islam as state religion and declared himself impartial ruler of Hindus and Muslims; encourages art, culture, religious tolerance. 1565: Muslim forces defeat and completely destroy the city of Vijayanagara. Empire's final collapse comes in 1646. COPERNICUS: 1565: Polish astronomer Copernicus' (1473-1543) Heliocentric system, in which the Earth orbits the sun, gained popularity in Europe among astronomers and mathematicians. RAJASTHAN: 1569: Akbar captures fortress of Ranthambor, ending Rajput independence. Soon controls nearly all of Rajasthan. SEIZED HINDU RASTRA: 1589: Akbar rules half of India, shows tolerance for all faiths. GURU ARJAN: 1603-4: Guru Arjun Dev compiles Adi Granth, Sikh scripture. HARIMANDIR: 1605: Sikh Golden Temple (Harimandir) at Amritsar, Punjab, is finished, completely covered with gold leaf. GALILEO: 1610: Galileo of Italy (1564-1642) perfects the telescope, with which he confirms the Copernican theory. Condemned a heretic by the Catholic Inquisition for his discoveries. DESTROY HINDU TEMPLES: 1619: Jaffna kingdom is annexed and Sri Lanka's ruling dynasty deposed by Portuguese Catholics who, between 1505 and 1658, destroy most of the island's Hindu temples. SHIVAJI: 1627-80: Sivaji, valiant general and tolerant founder of Hindu Maratha Empire (1674-1818). Emancipated large areas confiscated by Muslims, returning them to Hindu control. First Indian ruler to build a major naval force. 2 MILLIONS DIED: 1630: Over the next two years, millions starve to death as Shah Jahan (1592-1666), fifth Mughal Emperor, empties the royal treasury to buy jewels for his "Peacock Throne." TAJMAHAL: 1647: Shah Jahan completed Taj Mahal in Agra beside Yamuna River. Its construction has taken 20,000 laborers 15 years, at a total cost equivalence of US$25 million. RED FORT: 1649: Red Fort is completed in Delhi by Shah Jahan. PRETEND TO CONVERT HINDUS: 1650: Robert de Nobili (1577-1656), Portuguese Jesuit missionary noted for fervor and intolerance, arrives in Madurai, declares himself a brahmin, dresses like a Hindu monk and composes Veda-like scripture extolling Jesus. AURANGZEB: 1658: Zealous Muslim Aurangzeb (1618-1707) becomes Mughal Emperor. His discriminatory policies toward Hindus, Marathas and the Deccan kingdoms contribute to the dissolution of the Mughal Empire by 1750. GURU TEG BAHADUR: 1675: Aurangzeb executes Sikh Guru Tegh Bahadur, beginning the Sikh-Muslim feud that continues to this day. TAX ON HINDUS: 1679: Aurangzeb levies Jizya tax on non-believers, Hindus. 60,000 HINDU TEMPLES DESTROYED: 1688: Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb demolished all temples in Mathura, said to number 1,000. During their reign, Muslim rulers destroy roughly 60,000 Hindu temples throughout India, constructing mosques on 3,000 sites. GURU GOVIND SINGH: 1708: Govind Singh, tenth and last Sikh Guru, is assassinated. His aim was to save Hindus. ASTRONOMY: 1708-37: Jai Singh II builds astronomical observatories in Delhi, Jaipur, Ujjain, Benares and Mathura. MONKS FIGHT: 1760: Saiva sannyasis fight Vaishnava vairagis in tragic battle at Hardwar Kumbha Mela; 18,000 monks are killed. 200,000 KILLED: 1761: Afghan army of Ahmad Shah Durrani routs Hindu Maratha forces at Panipat, ending Maratha hegemony in North India. As many as 200,000 Hindus are said to have died in the strategic eight-hour battle. NEPAL HINDU NATION: 1769: Prithivi Narayan Shah, ruler of Gorkha principality, conquers Nepal Valley; moves capital to Kathmandu, establishing present-day Hindu nation of Nepal. KUMBH MELA: 1796: Over two million worshipers compete for sacred Ganga bath at Kumbha Mela in Hardwar. Five thousand Saiva ascetics are killed in tragic clash with Sikh ascetics. DELHI CAPTURED: 1803: Second Anglo-Maratha war results in British Christian capture of Delhi and control of large parts of India. BHAGAVAD GITA: 1803-82: Ralph Waldo Emerson, American poet helped to popularize Bhagavad Gita and Upanishads in US. NEPOLEON: 1812: Napoleon's army retreats from Moscow. Only 20,000 soldiers survive out of a 500,000-man invasion force. INDIANS IN AMERICA: 1820: First Indian immigrants arrive in the US. BIBLE.. VEDA: 1822-79: Life of Arumuga Navalar of Jaffna, Sri Lanka, renaissance activist who propounds Advaita Siddhanta, writes first Hindu catechism and translates Bible into Tamil so it can be compared faithfully to the Vedas and Agamas. SWAMI DAYANAND: 1824-83: Swami Dayananda Sarasvati, renaissance founder of Arya Samaj (1875), Hindu reformist movement stressing a return to the values and practices of the Vedas. Author of Satya Prakash, "Light on Truth." RAM MOHAN ROY: 1828: Ram Mohan Roy (1772-1833) founds Adi Brahmo Samaj in Calcutta, first movement to initiate religio-social reform. Influenced by Islam and Christianity, he denounces polytheism, idol worship; repudiates the Vedas, avataras, karma and reincarnation, caste and more. RANJEET SINGH: 1831: British Christians defeat Ranjit Singh's forces at Balakot, in Sikh attempt to establish a homeland in N.W. India. ENGLISH: 1835: Macaulay's Minute furthers Western education in India. English is made official government and court language. MAURITIUS: 1835: Mauritius receives 19,000 immigrant indentured laborers from India. Last ship carrying workers arrives in 1922. PARAMHANSA: 1836-86: Shri Ramakrishna, God-intoxicated Bengali Shakta saint, guru of Swami Vivekananda. He exemplifies the bhakti dimension of Shakta Universalism. GUINEA: 1838: British Guinea receives its first 250 Indian laborers. RANADE: 1842-1901: Eknath Ranade, founder of Prarthana Samaj. His social-reform thinking inspires Gokhale and Gandhi. TRINIDAD: 1845: Trinidad receives its first 197 Indian immigrant laborers. KASMIR SOLD: 1846: British forcibly separate Kashmir from the Sikhs and sell it to the Maharaja of Jammu for pounds1,000,000. AMRITSAR: 1849: Sikh army is defeated by the British at Amritsar. DARWIN: 1859: Charles Darwin, released controversial book, The Origin of Species, propounding his "natural selection" theory of evolution, laying the foundations of modern biology. U.S. CIVIL WAR: 1861: American Civil War begins in Charleston, S. Carolina. TAIGOR: 1861-1941: Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore wrote beautiful poems Geetanjali. GANDHI: 1869-1948: Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, Indian nationalist and Hindu political activist who develops the strategy of nonviolent disobedience that forces Christian Great Britain to grant independence to India (1947). SWAMI RAM TIRTH: 1873-1906: Swami Rama Tirtha, who lectures throughout Japan and America spreading "practical Vedanta." FIJI: 1879: The "Leonidas," first emigrant ship to Fiji, adds 498 Indian indentured laborers to the nearly 340,000 already working in other British Empire colonies. SADHU VASWANI: 1879-1966: Sadhu T.L. Vaswani, altruistic Sindhi poet and servant of God, founds several Hindu missions in India and seven Mira Educational Institutions. RAMANA MAHARSHI: 1879-1950: Lifetime of Shri Ramana Maharshi, Hindu Advaita renunciate renaissance saint of Tiruvannamalai, South India. RADHAKRISHNAN: 1888-1975: Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, renowned Tamil panentheist, renaissance philosopher, eminent writer; free India's first vice-president and second president. VIVEKANANDA: 1897: Swami Vivekananda founds Ramakrishna Mission. MUSLIM LEAGUE IN INDIA: 1906: Muslim League political party is formed in India. BALI: 1906: Dutch Christians overtake Bali after Puputan massacres in which Hindu Balinese royal families are murdered. DADA LEKHRAJ: 1909-69: Dada Lekhraj (1909-1969), Hindu renaissance founder of Brahma Kumaris, Saivite social reform movement stressing meditation and world peace. FIJI AND TRINIDAD: 1917: Last Hindu Indian indentured laborers are brought to British Christian colonies of Fiji and Trinidad. WORLD WAR: 1918: World War I ends. Death toll is estimated at ten million. SATYAGRAHA: 1920: Gandhi formulates the satyagraha, "firmness in truth," strategy of noncooperation and nonviolence against India's Christian British rulers. Later resolves to wear only dothi to preserve homespun cotton and simplicity. TAIGORE: 1922: Tagore's school at Shantineketan (founded 1901) is made into Vishva Bharati Univ. Becomes national Univ., 1951. DEVADASIS: 1927: Maharashtra bars tradition of dedicating girls to temples as Devadasis, ritual dancers. BHARATIYA VISHYA BHAVAN: 1938: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan is founded in Bombay by K.M. Munshi to conserve, develop and diffuse Indian culture. HITLER: 1939: Adolph Hitler's Mein Kampf ("My Struggle"), manifesto of Nazism, published 1925, sells 5 million copies in 11 languages. It reveals his racist Aryan, anti-Semitic ideology, strategy of revenge and Socialist rise to power. 1939: World War II begins September 3, as France and Britain declare war on Germany after Germany invades Poland. JINNAH: 1939: Mohammed Ali Jinnah calls for a separate Muslim state. SIX MILLION KILLED: 1945: Germany surrenders to Allied forces. Ghastly concentration camps that killed 6 million Jews are discovered. NAGASHAKI & HIROSHIMA: 1945: US drops atomic bombs on Nagasaki and Hiroshima, Japan, ending World War II. Total war dead is 60 million. INDEPENDENCE: 1947: India gains independence from Britain August 15. Pakistan emerges as a separate Islamic nation, and 600,000 die in clashes during subsequent population exchange of 14 million people between the two new countries. NO DISCREMINATION: 1949: India's new constitution, authored chiefly by B.R. Ambedkar, declares there shall be no "discrimination" against any citizen on the grounds of caste, jati, and that the practice of "untouchability" is abolished. HINDU LAW: 1955-6: Indian government enacts social reforms on Hindu marriage, succession, guardianship, adoption, etc. EINSTEIN - NATARAJ: 1955: Albert Einstein (1879-1955), German physicist formulator of the relativity theory dies. He declared Lord Siva Nataraja best metaphor for the workings of the universe. DALAI LAMA: 1959: Dalai Lama flees Tibet and finds refuge in North India as China invades his Buddhist nation. FEW IMMIGRANTS: 1960: Since 1930, 5% of immigrants to US have been Asians, while European immigrants have constituted 58%. 1963: US President Kennedy is assassinated in Dallas, Texas. VHP: 1964: India's Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), a Hindu religious nationalist movement, is founded to counter secularism. MEDITATION: 1964: Rock group, the Beatles, practice Transcendental Meditation (TM), bringing fame to Maharshi Mahesh Yogi. MARTIN LUTHER KING: 1968: US Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King is assassinated. ON THE MOON: 1969: US astronaut Neil Armstrong sets foot on the moon. BANGLADESH: 1971: Rebellion in East Pakistan (formerly Bengal). Ten million Bengalis, mainly Hindus, flee to India. Indo-Pak border clashes escalate to war. India defeats West Pakistan. E. Pakistan becomes independent Bangladesh. INDIANS EXPEL: 1972: Muslim dictator Idi Amin expels Indians from Uganda. SURINAM: 1975: Netherlands gives independence to Dutch Guyana, which becomes Suriname; one third of Hindus (descendants of Indian plantation workers) emigrate to Netherlands for better social and economic conditions. COW: 1981: India has one-half world's cattle: 8 cows for every 10 Indians. EELAM: 1983: Violence between Hindu Tamils and Buddhist Singhalese in Sri Lanka marks beginning of Tamil rebellion by Tiger freedom fighters demanding an independent nation called Eelam. Prolonged civil war results. IMMIGRANTS: 1984: Since 1980, Asians have made up 48% of immigrants to the US, with the European portion shrinking to 12%. In 1988 US allows annual influx of 270,000 Asian immigrants. INDIRA GANDHI: 1984: Indian soldiers under orders from Prime Minister Indira Gandhi storm Sikh Golden Temple in Amritsar to crush rebellion. She is assassinated this year by her Sikh bodyguards in retaliation. Her son Rajiv takes office. KRISHNAMURTI: 1986: Jiddha Krishnamurti, anti-guru guru, semi-existentialist philosophical Indian lecturer and author, dies. HINDU EXODUS: 1990: Hindus flee Muslim persecution in Kashmir Valley. RAM MANDIR: 1990: Foundation stones are laid in Ayodhya for new temple at the birthplace of Lord Rama, as Hindu nationalism rises. OVER 50,000 TEMPLES DESTROYED: 1992: Hindu radicals demolish Babri Masjid built in 1548 on Rama's birthplace in Ayodhya by Muslim conqueror Babar after he destroyed a Hindu temple marking the site. The monument was a central icon of Hindu resentment toward Muslim destruction of 50,000 temples. DUSTRUCTION OF ALL TEMPLES: 2001: Afganistan Government has declared "Jehad" that they shall destroy each and every Hindu temple in the country. Sarve bhavantu sukhinah, Sarve santu niramaya; Sarve bhadrani pashyantu, maa kaschit dukhbaagbhvet. May all be happy and contented. May all be heatly and prosperous. May all experience good things in life. O Lord may no one face misfortune in life. ***Om Shanti Shanti Shanti*** |
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