ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that the claim that Hinduism was invented or constructed by European colonizers, mostly British, sometime after 1800 is false. In any case, only a recognition of the fact that much of modern Hindu identity is rooted in the history of the rivalry between Hinduism and Islam will enable us to correctly gauge the strength of communalist forces and wage war against them. Hinduism—the word and perhaps the reality too—was born in the 19th century, a notoriously illegitimate child. Introductory books about Hinduism written by modern scholars tend to follow three different models or formats. The chapter shows how such earlier accounts, although generally more fragmentary, consistently embody substantial parts of Monier-Williams's standard model. The descriptions of Hinduism by these early missionaries, like those of Holwell and Dow, generally feature the same set of beliefs, gods, and practices found in the writings of later scholars associated with the British colonial project and the standard model.
