Indische Palaographie von circa 350 a. Chr. – circa 1300 p. Chr. c46.18

c46.18

It must be understood that the term „Tribal Animism“ refers to the religion returned under the tribal name by those who adhere to none of the wider creeds. Again, the title „Hindūism“ is only recognised by the community to whom it is applied as denoting a distinction between them and the foreigner. The word was first used by the Muslim invaders for all Indian creeds in which the uncompromising Unitarianism of the follower of the Prophet detected signs of the worship of idols. It is here taken in its conventional sense of „the collection of rites, worships, beliefs, traditions and mythologies that are sanctioned by the sacred books and ordinances of the Brāhmans, and are propagated by Brāhmanic teaching“ (Lyall). In practice, this amounts to the application of the title to any Brāhmanic community that has not returned one of the more specific denominations which can legitimately be included under the general name. Consequently, the great mass of the people come under it. The prevalence of the different professions of faith in the principal territorial divisions of India is shown in a Table appended to this volume.