Vaishali Institute Research Bulletin 7

Author(s): Nand Kishor Prasad
Publisher: Research Institute of Prakrit Jainology & Ahimsa Mujjaffarpur

Page 123

Vaishali Institute Research Bulletin No. 7
The origins of varnashram dharma, the doctrine of karma (deed), samsara (the cycle of birth and death), etc. can be found here. The early upanishads of the seventh century present a variety of speculations and theories on the origins of the universe, the nature of the soul (atma) and
other matters4.
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The two epics, the Ramayan and the Mahabharat including the Shreemadbhagvadgeeta, the Puranas, the compositions of the Bhakti poets like Kabirdas and Tulsidas in the medieval period and the neo-vedanta of Swami Vivekananda, S. Radhakrishnan and others of the modern period have all contributed to the evolution of Hinduism.
A vast majority of the 143,000 indentured Indian immigrants who were brought to the British colony of Trinidad from British India between 1845 and 1917 A. D. were Hindus. Between 1845 and 1891 only 11,885 out of the 88,501 Indian immigrants got repatriated. With the grant of the crown land in lieu of the back passage to India the Indians started settling and recreating their villages in an alien environment. Each census since 1891 showed a small downward trend in the relative importance of this religious group even though its actual numbers went on increasing. But settlements like Delhi, Chandernagar, Fyzabad and Barrackpur were coming up.
By 1946 the Hindus constituted 22.64 per cent of the total population of Trinidad. There were 126,345 Hindus-65,448 males and 60,897 females. Many of them were born in the island but their parents were homesick and told them stories from the Ramayan and Mahabharat. In the counties of Caroni, Victoria and St. Patrick the Hindus were the most important group. In the wards of Cunupia and Montserrat they outnumbered all other groups put together. In the wards of Chaguanas, Couva, Ortoire, Point-a-Pierre, Savana Grande, Cedros, Siparia and Charuma they were the largest single group.
The vast majority of the Hindu immigrants were from the Gangetic plains of North India. But some of them were from South India, Tamil, Telugu and Malayam speaking people, commonly called the Madrasis whose manners, customs and rituals were different from the northerners.
Moreover, there were many sects and sub-sects of Hinduism among the immigrants, the largest group being that of the Sanatanists. Among them were the Ramanandis, the followers of Swami Ramanand of medi
4.
5.
A. L. Basham, The Wonder that was India, Indian edition, Calcutta, 1963, p. 249.
West Indian Census: Trinidad and Tobago, 1946, p. XI.