HIST 4339

Borderlands of Religion

Imperialist Attitudes in Curzon’s Frontiers

• empty space

• racial inferiority

• constant improvement (under European influence)

• comparisons between the British and Roman Empires

Borderlands Contradictions

• war and peace

• gateways and barriers

• protective and imprisoning

• areas of opportunity and of insecurity

• identities in flux, as well as aggressively asserted differences

• inward-looking and outward-looking

Middle Eastern Religions

▪ Judaism (3500 years old)

            —monotheistic, based on scripture

            —established by Abraham and Moses

            —Jews as God’s chosen people

            —Jewish diaspora

▪ Christianity (2000 years old)

            —monotheistic, based on scripture

            —based on teachings of Jesus Christ in 1st c. CE

            —spread through West Asia, North Africa, and Europe in 1st-3rd c. CE

▪ Islam (at least 1300 years old)

            —monotheistic, based on scripture

            —based on Koran, revealed to Prophet Muhammad in 7th c. CE

            —five central requirements: faith, prayer, zakat [alms], fasting, pilgrimage

            —spread from 7th c. onward through West Asia, North Africa, parts of Europe

            —British concerns about Islam: jihad

South Asian Religions

▪ Hinduism (over 3000 years old)

            —a wide-ranging, dynamic group of faiths

            —pantheistic, based on scripture

            —caste: four varnas (brahmin, kshatriya, vaishya, shudra)

▪ Buddhism (2500 years old)

            —established by the Buddha (Prince Siddhartha)

            —emphasizes need to seek a middle way, restraining human desire

            —Mahayana Buddhism: a bodhisattva helps others reach nirvana

▪ Jainism (2500 years old)

            —founded by Mahavira

            —austere, ascetic

            —emphasis on not taking any life

▪ Judaism in South Asia

            —Jewish traders from Middle East settle around 1^st c CE

▪ Christianity in South Asia

            —active by 1st c

▪ Islam in South Asia

            —first comes to India in 8th c

            —gains strong foothold with 12th/13th c Muslim rulers

▪ Sufism

            —a syncretic religion: melding Islamic teachings with Hindu devotionalism

            —ecstatic personal worship of a god

▪ Sikhism (500 years old)

            —incorporates—or reacts against—elements of Hinduism and Islam

            —strives for egalitarianism

African Religions

▪ Indigenous Religion

            —based on oral tradition

            —varied, but with common characteristics:

                        —belief in one god supreme above other gods

                        —belief in ancestral spirits

                        —use of sacrifice

                        —use of rites of passage

                        —belief in spiritual aspect of human life

▪ Christianity in Africa

            —arrives by 1st c or early 2nd c

▪ Islam in Africa

            —arrives in 7th c

            —dominant religion in North Africa from 11th c onward