3. General Results: Rise of the Sects

of innumerable sects. Among the Results: founders of those sects representing Rise of monotheistic teaching, may be men- the Sects. tioned Kabir (d. c. 1449). He was a disciple of Ramanand, and taught the worship of one God, truth as the great moral code, retirement from the world as the remedy against the passions and desires, and as the best path to meditation on God, the chief way of salvation. Nanak Shah (b. near Lahore 1469; see stuns, SmHIsM) taught a doctrine which differed little from that of his predecessor, Kabir. His philosophy was practically Vedantism, while with the Mohammedan he taught the oneness of God, whether as Allah or Hari- He opposed caste and taught the brother hood of man, and his followers developed into a sect of no small dimensions. Through the stress of Mohammedan persecution this sect, under Guru Govind; one of Nanak's sucoeseors, took on a military constitution, and developed later into the Sikh nation. The followers of these religious leaders in course of time subdivided into many sects. Chaitanya, a Vishnuite Brahman (b. in Bengal

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1485), the age of twenty-four became as ascetic, and began a wandering life preaching the doctrine of BlwJtti. He admitted as his disciples members of all castes, even Mohammedans. The doctrine of Bhektro, or salvation through impassioned devotion to some god or goddess, was his fundamental tenet; and it took the place of the more sober ways of " knowledge " and " works " (Dyamlmarga And Karmamarga). Through Chaitanya and his disciples Bhaktd became an accepted form of religious worship, and largely supplemented the practise of seeking salvation through contemplation, or through moral deeds. Bhakt£ practically diaaaeociated morals from worship, and made possible forms of worship that were almost the embodiment of immorality. The later grosser forms belong, however, not to the teachings of Chaitanya, but to the departure of his successors from his ideals. Aside from the regular orthodox recta with their philosophy and worship, many special nests arose in this period. Vishnu, Shiva end Shako (the female principle) began to be worshiped in special forms, many of them extravagant and even immoral. The followers of Shakti divided into the Dakahania, or right-hand followers, and Yamia, or left-hand followers, the latter developing s secret worship of extravagant immorality. On the other hand, near the close of this period a number of philosophers and religious poets arose, who tried to lift the people from the moral degradation into which they had fallen to a higher life and thought supplied by the beat of Hindu philosophy and practical religion. In western India may be mentioned such men as Tukaram and Ramdas, who founded no sect, but whose loftier thoughts were a reforming power, while their influence continues to the present. With the rive of the Marathae under Shivaji (b. 1627; d. 1880) and the gradual extension of their power over the larger part of India, sad with the resulting decline of the Mohammedan power, the environment of Indian religious life changed, and Hinduism had an opportunity to develop along linen natural to it.

4. Period of Contact with Christianity: Frown early times India has been in contact with the West,

though no effects upon the religious :. Alezaa- life can be detected. There are trader the ditions of Indiana visiting the " White

Great to Land," Shwefadroipa, but Indian soVasco counts of this land are mythical. The da Gama, first important contact came with the invasion of northern India by Alexander the Great in 327 s.c. From that time to the arrival of the Portuguese very little accurate knowledge of India reached Europe. Rome, however, traded with both coasts of India. There is a tradition, not fully authenticated, that in 883 Alfred the Great of England sent an ambassador named Sighelmus to India to the court of some prince, and tb visit the tomb of St. Thomas. But it is not until the end of the fifteenth century that India began to feel the influence of European nations. Thin modern and permanent contact of India with the West began in 1498, when Vases da Gams landed at G'aliout, and when later, in 1510, Goo was captured by Admiral Alfonso d'Albuquerque. Along the

47e west mast Di,, Russia, Bombay, Goa, Mangalore, Cannanore, Ctauganore, Caliout, and Cochin were soon after occupied by the Portuguese, as also St. Thomas, Masulipatam, and Negapatam, on the east coast. In 1580 the archbishop of Gas tried to force the people to become Christians, when Portuguese cruelty in these mistaken efforts excited the hatred of both Hindus and Mohammedans (see below, II., 11).

The first authenticated visit of an Englishman to India occurred in 1579, when Thomas Stephens (b- in Wiltshire o. 1549, educated. at New s. Satllah- College, Oxford, to escape pesecution men went to Rome, and there joined the in India. Society of Jesus) was selected to be a missionary to India, and arrived at Goa in Oct., 1579. He acquired a thorough knowledge of Sanskrit and Marathi, and in his forty years of active labor produced many works, of which those extant are a catechism on Christian doctrine, a grammar of the Konkani Ian~, a Christian Puran in Marathi in the Honkani dialect, and an account of his voyage to Goo, reprinted in J. H. Moors, New and Complete Collection of Voyages and Travels (2 vols., London, 1785). The Puran.haa no little literary merit, and covers the ground from the Biblical account of the Creation to the closing scenes in the life of Christ. The neat Englishmen to arrive in India were James Newberry, Ralph Fitch, William Bote, and James Story, who came overland from the Persian Gulf in 1583. The Portuguese suspected them of being traders and threw them into prison, but they were soon released through the mediation of Thomas Stephens. As a result of thA interest awakened by these and other English travelers the East India Company was formed in 1800 and England's permanent contact with India began. Gradually India passed into the hands of the Fast India Company. In 1868 by net of parliament the East India Company wen abolished, and the government of India wan transferred to the British crown in the person of Queen Victoria. The religious policy of both the East India Company and of the British government was contrary to that of the Portuguese. There was no interference with the religious life of the people; and Indian thought in contact with Christianity, directly presented by missionaries And indirectly through literature and personal contact with European Christians, has been in process of natural development, and is approaching the Christian point of view regarding the relations of God and man. Thin change . is mostly confined to the classes affected by the higher modern education. Missionary effort in the peat two centuries has oleo borne fruit in organized Christian churches, the result of which appears in the census returns.

II. .Chrlstisaity In India: Contact with Roman Catholic Christianity began in the arrival of Vasco da Game in 1498. The Portuguese eai.1Romsn hibited a proselytising seal, both among

Catholic the Syrian Christians and the Hindus. Hiaioas. The first regularly equipped Roman minion, consisting of friars, arrived from Portugal in 1500. 9t. Francis Xavier (see Fxarrcre Xevnos, Seurx) arrived in 1542, and under

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his personal zeal and direction of missionary effort large numbers were converted to Christianity. In 1560 the Inquisition was established at Goa and its cruel labors stained the Christian name. With varying fortunes Roman Catholic missionary enterprise has continued to the present day, and is participated in by priests from many of the European nations. They derive their chief support from the Association for the Propagation of the Faith, and from the Society of the Holy Childhood. They take an honored part in the education of Indian youths, maintaining many schools and colleges. Their colleges are at Calcutta, Bombay, Negapatam, and Mangalore. See Missions To the Heathen, Roman Catholic.