By most accounts, Hinduism was established in India by the Aryans from Central Asia sometime between 2000 and 1000 B.C. As the religion developed over the years, it became highly ritualized and dependent upon the power of Brahman priests. These powerful priests then became a very powerful force, but it was not a group into which everyone could enter. Consequently, Indian society and religion became highly stratified into, on one hand, the priests and those who could afford their services and, on the other hand, those who could not.
In reaction to the exclusionary nature of Hinduism, Buddhism was born around 500 or 600 B.C. Its originator was a man named Gauttama Siddhartha, the Buddha. The religion he created did not rely on the rituals of Hinduism, although it was not a complete break with the spiritual texts of Hinduism. Rather, it was more of a varying interpretation of the meaning of one of these texts in particular. Nonetheless, despite the widespread nature of Buddhism throughout the world, Hinduism remains the dominant religion in India. This appears to be largely due to an attempt by its adherents to make it more accessible to those who previously had been excluded from its power base.
Hinduism has an ancient history in India. Between 1800 and 1500 B.C., India was invaded by the "Aryans" ("noble ones") who entered India from Central Asia and from the region to the east of the Caspian Sea (Herman 37). They brought with them oral compositions that came to be called "the Vedas" (Herman 37). Kenneth Ch'en, in his book Buddhism: The Light of Asia states that this Vedic literature is a body of lyric poetry, hymns, and verses that provides a considerable amount of information about the life and beliefs of the early Aryans before and after they arrived and settled in India (Ch'en 1).
However, in a move uncommon in the literature about Hinduism, A.L. Herman argues in his book A Brief Introduction to Hinduism that du...