Are Hindus Overly Peaceful

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Question:

Are Hindus overly peaceful, allowing others to dominate them historically? - An analysis of whether Hindus are excessively peaceful and vulnerable to external aggression historically. :::

Answer:

Invaders coming from outside and conquering Indian territory is not convincing proof to demonstrate that Hindus (the majority population in India) were overly peaceful.

However, there can be many reasons for the defeat of Hindus at the hands of invaders and their helplessness in preventing any destruction and violence.

If we look objectively at history then the following reasons seem to be the key:

Lack of Unity: In fighting among various kings and rulers within India, so they could not present unified force to fight against well equipped and better organized invading armies Casteism and oppression in society: many times the people were oppressed by on basis of caste and there was social exclusion and lack of social justice which meant they did not put resistance when the invaders came. Some Hindu & Buddhist rulers were more cruel and violent than some of the rulers who invaded India and even used to destroy each others temples, deities and places of worship - even before the Mughals invaded India. The invading armies were generally superior in strategy of war, better equipped, well trained and more organized.

Source: Somanatha: The Many Voices of a History

References / Further Reading:

War trophies: When Hindu kings raided temples and abducted idols Temple desecration in pre-modern India Hinduism and Talibanism, The Milli Gazette, Vol. 2 No. 8 The Telegraph - Calcutta (Kolkata) This excerpt from a book demolishes Ashoka’s reputation as pacifist Ashoka, The Not So Great Somanatha: The Many Voices of a History: Romila Thapar: 9781844670208: Amazon.com: Books