Major religions in India: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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[[Islam]] arrived in India as early as the 8th century A.D. During the following years, Islam contributed greatly to the cultural enhancement of an already rich Indian culture, shaping not only the shape of Northern Indian classical music ([[Hindustani]], a melding of Indian and Middle Eastern elements) but encouraging a grand tradition of [[Urdu]] (a melding of [[Hindi]], [[Arabic language|Arabic]], and [[Persian language|Persian]] languages) literature, both religious and secular. As of [[2001]], there were about 138 million Muslims in India (the third largest population in the world, after Pakistan and [[Indonesia]]), who are scattered throughout the country, with the highest concentrations in the states of [[Jammu and Kashmir]], [[Assam]], [[Kerala]], [[West Bengal]] and parts of the Gangetic plain. [[Uttar Pradesh]], in the Gangetic plain, has the highest population of Muslims in one state. Muslims make up majority population in the state of [[Jammu & Kashmir]] and the union territory of [[Lakshadweep Islands]]. There are about 75 sects of Islam followed in India{{Fact|date=February 2007}}. [[Sunni Islam]] is the denomination practiced by the majority of Indian Muslims, followed by [[Shia Islam]].

====Ahmadiyya====

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{{main|Ahmadiyya}}

[[Ahmadiyya]] is a relatively small messianic movement founded in 1899 by [[Mirza Ghulam Ahmad]].<ref>[http://www.bartleby.com/65/ah/Ahmadiyy.html Ahmadiyya. The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-07<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> The majority of Ahmadis live in northern India, although many are found in New Delhi, Kashmir, and Uttar Pradesh. There are approximately one million Ahmadis in India. The Ahmadiyya's identify themselves as Muslims and there has been a court decision in which this was upheld.<ref>[http://www.thedailystar.net/law/2004/03/03/index.htm On right to freedom of religion and the plight of Ahmadiyas]. Retrieved on [[April 10]] [[2007]].</ref>

===Jainism===

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[[Sikhism]], was founded in India's northwestern [[Punjab, India|Punjab]] region about 400 years ago and Sikhs form the majority population in the state of Punjab. As of 2001 there were 19.3 million Sikhs in India. Many of today's Sikhs are situated in Punjab, the largest [[Sikh]] province in the world and the ancestral home of Sikhs. There are also significant populations of Sikhs in the neighboring states of [[Haryana]] and [[New Delhi]]. The most famous Sikh temple is the [[Golden Temple]], located in [[Amritsar]], Punjab. Many Sikhs serve in the [[Indian Army]]. The current prime minister of India, [[Manmohan Singh]], is a Sikh. Punjab is the spiritual home of Sikhs and is the only state in India where Sikhs form a majority.

===BendiktinerChristianity===

[[Image:Nasrani menorah.JPG|thumb|200px|The ''[[Nasrani Menorah]]'', the symbol of the [[Saint Thomas Christians|St. Thomas Christian]] community in [[South India]].]]

{{main|Christianity in India}}

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[[Roman Catholic Church|Roman Catholicism]] reached India during the period of [[Europe]]an colonization, which began in 1498 when the Portuguese explorer [[Vasco da Gama]] arrived on the [[Malabarian Coast|Malabar coast]]. There are over 17 million Catholics in India, which represents 1.5% of the total population. Christian missionary activity increased in the early [[19th century|1800s]]. Today Christianity is the third largest religion of India making up 2 - 2.9% of the population. Christianity is prevalent in South & North-east India. Christians make up majority population in the states of [[Meghalaya]], [[Nagaland]], and [[Mizoram]]. All these states are tribal and have extremely low population when compared to the larger states in India.

===Judaism===

[[Image:Jewish synagouge kochi india.jpg|thumb|right|200px|The old [[Paradesi Synagogue]] in Kochi.]]

{{main|Jews in India}}

Trade contacts between the [[Mediterranean]] region and the west coast of India probably led to the presence of small [[Jew]]ish settlements in India as long ago as the early first millennium B.C. In [[Kerala]] a community of Jews tracing its origin to the fall of [[Jerusalem]] in A.D. 70 has remained associated with the cities of [[Kodungallur]] (formerly known as Cranganore) and [[Kochi (India)|Kochi]] (formerly known as Cochin) for at least 1,000 years. The Paradesi Synagogue in Kochi, rebuilt in 1568, is in the architectural style of Kerala but preserves the ritual style of the [[Sephardic]] rite, with [[Babylonian]] and [[Yemenite]] influence as well.

The [[Cochin Jews|Jews of Kochi]], concentrated mostly in the old "Jew Town," were completely integrated into local culture, speaking [[Malayalam language|Malayalam]] and taking local names while preserving their knowledge of [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] and contacts with [[Southwest Asia]]. A separate community of Jews, called the [[Bene Israel]], had lived along the [[Konkan]] Coast in and around [[Bombay]], [[Pune]], and [[Ahmadabad]] for almost 2,000 years. Unlike the Kochi Jews, they became a village-based society and maintained little contact with other Jewish communities. They always remained within the Orthodox Jewish fold, practising the Sephardi rite without [[rabbis]], with the [[synagogue]] as the centre of religious and cultural life. Following trade routes established by the expansion of the [[British Empire]], a third group of Jews, the [[Baghdadi Jews]] immigrated to India, settling primarily in Bombay and [[Calcutta]]. Many of the Baghdadi traders became wealthy and participated prominently in the economic leadership of these growing cities. As a result of religious pressure elsewhere, including the [[Religious conversion|forced conversion]]s of [[Mashhad]] (''see [[Muslim Jew]]''), their numbers were increased by religious refugees. The Baghdadis came mostly from the [[Ottoman Empire]], [[Persian Empire|Persia]], and [[Afghanistan]].

It is believed by some scholars that even in India they converted to Islam under Abu Bakr Ishaq bin Muhammad Shah in the time of Subutigin, who converted 5,000 Jews (along with Christians, fire-worshipers and others.)<ref> P. 26 ''Muslim Rule in India & Pakistan, 711-1858 A.C.: A Political and Cultural History'' By Sheikh Mohamad Ikram </ref>

The population of the [[Cochin Jews|Kochi Jews]], always small, had decreased from 5,000 in 1951 to about fifty in the early 1990s. During the same period, the [[Bene Israel]] decreased from about 20,000 to 5,000, while the [[Baghdadi Jews]] declined from 5,000 to 250. Emigration to [[Australia]], [[Israel]], the [[United Kingdom]], and [[North America]] accounts for most of this decline. According to the 1981 Indian census, there were 5,618 Jews in India, down from 5,825 in 1971. The 1991 census showed a further decline to 5,271, most of whom lived in [[Maharashtra]] and [[Kerala]].

The [[Knanaya]] and [[Nasrani]] Christian groups also have strong historical ties to Judaism.

===Zoroastrianism===