Crypto-Hinduism

Crypto-Hinduism is the secret adherence to Hinduism while publicly professing to be of another faith; practitioners are referred to as "crypto-Hindus" (from Greek kryptos - κρυπτός, 'hidden'). Crypto-Hinduism was observed during a period of forced religious conversions in South Asia, as well as suspected against Hindus who were forcibly converted to the religion of the invaders or colonizers. Many crypto-Hindus were arrested for practicing Hinduism after professing to have converted to Christianity, some sentenced to death for being a crypto-Hindu such as in colonial Portuguese Goa.[1][2]

Islamic sultanates

Some Hindus who joined official positions in Delhi Sultanate were accused of following Hinduism in secret. For example, states Bardwell Smith, Khusru Khan, a convert from Hinduism to Islam and an army commander who led plunder raids against Deccan kingdoms, was towards the end of his life "accused by Turkish nobles of harboring crypto-Hindu tendencies, a false charge but one which reflected genuine factional divisions and prejudices within the Muslim ruling class".[3] According to Aziz Ahmad, Arabic Islamic scholars have considered the form of Islam followed in Bengal (Bangladesh, West Bengal) to have elements of crypto-Hinduism and have attempted to reform it to more strict adherence to the version found in the Arabian peninsula.[4]

Goa Inquisition

Main article: Goa Inquisition

Crypto-Hinduism by Goan Catholic converts was a criminal offence in Portuguese Goa from 1560 to 1821. Some native Goans were accused, arrested and tried for being crypto-Hindus.[5] Those accused of it were imprisoned and depending on the criminal charge, could even be sentenced to death if convicted.[6]

Like the Spanish Inquisition and the Portuguese Inquisition before it, the original targets behind the creation of the Goa Inquisition were falsely-converted Sephardic Jews and North African Muslims who had emigrated to Goa from the Iberian peninsula, while lying about being Catholic. These two communities were perceived as a security threat due to their established reputation for joining forces to overthrow Christian rulers in the Iberian peninsula.[7] Of the 1,582 persons convicted between 1560 and 1623, 45.2% were convicted for offenses related to Judaism and Islam.[8]

A compilation of the auto-da-fé statistics of the Goa Inquisition reveal that a total of 57 persons were burnt in the flesh and 64 in effigy (i.e. a statue resembling the person). All the burnt were convicted as relapsed heretics or for sodomy.[9]

Indonesia

Many followers of Kejawèn, a syncretic tradition that contains animistic, Buddhist, Hindu and Sufi traditions, had officially identified as followers of Islam on government issued ID cards prior to the recognition of the faith in 2018. The faith maintains some characteristics of Esoteric Buddhist and Hindu traditions.[10]

References

  1. ^ António José Saraiva (2001). The Marrano Factory: The Portuguese Inquisition and Its New Christians 1536-1765. BRILL Academic. pp. 346–347, 353. ISBN 90-04-12080-7.
  2. ^ Charles H. Parker; Gretchen Starr-LeBeau (2017). Judging Faith, Punishing Sin. Cambridge University Press. pp. 292–293. ISBN 978-1-107-14024-0.
  3. ^ Bardwell L. Smith (1978). Religion and the Legitimation of Power in South Asia. BRILL Academic. pp. 19–20. ISBN 90-04-05674-2.
  4. ^ Aziz Ahmad (1999). Studies in Islamic Culture in the Indian Environment. Oxford University Press. pp. 84–85. ISBN 978-0-19-564464-7.
  5. ^ Anthony D’Costa (1965). The Christianisation of the Goa Islands 1510-1567. Bombay: Heras Institute.
  6. ^ Augustine Kanjamala (2014). The Future of Christian Mission in India: Toward a New Paradigm for the Third Millennium. Wipf and Stock. pp. 165–166. ISBN 978-1-62032-315-1.
  7. ^ Roth, Norman (1994), Jews, Visigoths and Muslims in medieval Spain: cooperation and conflict, Leiden: Brill
  8. ^ Delgado Figueira, João (1623). Listas da Inquisição de Goa (1560-1623). Lisbon: Biblioteca National.
  9. ^ de Almeida, Fortunato (1923). História da Igreja em Portugal, vol. IV. Porto: Portucalense Editora.
  10. ^ "Indonesians Fight to Keep Mystical Religion of Java Alive". Voice of America. Archived from the original on January 15, 2020. Retrieved 2021-04-01.
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