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Hinduism is the world’s oldest existing religion. Although its origins are unclear, it is believed to have originated in or near the Indus Valley in northern India some 4,000 years ago and the vast majority of people confessing the faith are still found in India to this day.84 Unlike other major religions, Hinduism has no founder or prophets. Its adherents believe in a supreme God called Brahman who takes on many qualities and forms, represented by a number of deities that all emanate from him.
Hindus believe in reincarnation, an endless cycle of birth, death and rebirth, driven by how one lived one’s previous life. According to Hindu belief, at some point mankind will learn from its mistakes and bring an end to suffering. This, in turn, will bring final salvation. For thousands of years Hinduism enforced a hierarchical and discriminatory caste system driven by superstition, tradition and religious beliefs, and this still lingers on today. It has even been suggested that the focus of fate within the caste system throttled initiative, and this may have played a part in the ease with which both the Mughals and the British managed to dominate India.
The French and the British fought each other several times in the 1740s and 1750s until the British, under Clive of India, decisively beat the French at the Battle of Plassey85 in 1757. The battle was important in that it allowed the EIC to gain dominance over the French in India. As a result of the war the Bengali treasury was forced to pay huge compensation, which further financed British expansion in India and allowed the British to put their own candidate on the Mughal throne. For the next hundred years, the EIC invested in the infrastructure of India, in the hope that such investment would facilitate trade.