Introductory - Global Sikh Studies

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claimed to derive their authority from the Vedas, old tradition and
customs. There was presumed to be nothing older than these. To
sanctify the past was, therefore, to establish the sanctity of the Vedas,
old tradition and custom, which in turn established the authority of
the Brahmins. This was Orthodoxy. Any deviation or innovation
which challenged this basic stand was unorthodox and heretical.
Deviations there were and those were accepted, but only the ones
which did not challenge this basis of Orthodoxy. That is why allegiance
to the Vedas and the Vedic tradition, however nominal, was a
prerequisite for Orthodoxy and entry into its fold. The old culture
itself was creation of the Brahmin caste and was designed to serve
the Brahmanical system of castes. In this manner, the sentimental
attachment to the past became bound down hand and foot to social
reaction.
However, all this pride in the achievements of the Aryan culture,
or in the traditional past, was not enough to cement the Hindus into a
cohesive nation. In the first place, pride in the achievements of the
Aryan race or its culture was quite faint and remained mainly confined
to the elite of the upper castes. But, more important than this limitation
was the constitutionally divisive character of the caste system. Mutual
repulsion between its constituents was inherent in the system. The
caste system was the antithesis of social unity, much more of national
unity. Before the armies professing Islam invaded the country, its
people lacked even a common denominator. It is the foreigner who
called them Hindus, a not very respectable term in its original meaning.
The conflict with these invaders was not only a clash of arms but also
a clash of religious and social values. It was also a clash of pride in
the respective cultures and the traditions of the two parties. Indian
orthodoxy was for the first time face to face with an invader whom it
could neither defeat militarily, nor absorb into its religion, culture, and
social structure.
It is true that the Muslim rulers did not represent the real spirit
of Islam. The followers of a prophet rarely sustain his spirit for a long
time. This has happened time and again, not only in the case of Islam, but
in the case of the followers of other religions as well. People interpret the
message of the prophets according to their own lights and limitations. In