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| The
Hindu Phenomenon |
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THE
CIVILIZATIONAL PERSPECTIVE
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it happened, at the beginning of the nineteenth century, some
British and other European scholars were launched on a search for
the origins of their civilization. In this search they discovered
links not only between Latin, Greek, German, English and French
within Europe, but also between classical European languages, that
is Latin and Greek, and Sanskrit and the original language of Zend
Avesta. This again is a long and complex story which certainly does
not run in a straight line. But it would suffice for our purpose to
note that the efforts of Orientalists - Sir William Jones clearly
the most outstanding among them in the latter part of the eighteenth
century which was of critical importance by virtue of its being the
formative period for the Raj as well as for Hindu India in the new
context - restored to Hindus confidence in their heritage. This
confidence has in a fundamental sense, not been shaken since,
whatever else might have happened in between. And, needless to add,
no similar advantage flowed to Islam in India, or for that matter
anywhere else, from the British Raj, or any other Western empire, or
contact.
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The
Civilizational Perspective |
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