When did Hinduism begins?

Answer 1

Actually, the question should be when did "Sanathan Dharma" begun. Because, Hindus is a name given to the people who were living on the bank of river Indus. So it is not a religion, it is just the name of a community. Now in the case of "Sanathan Dharma" as the name says it is ever lasting, hence it has no beginning. But we can say that it begun when human beigns came to existence, because it deals with natural laws which can never be altered by anyone.

As for the question "When did Hinduism begin?"Hinduism is a religion, which began with the British Raj because the word Hinduism was created by the British East India Company to describe all non-Abraham religions of India. The word itself is non-Sanskrit and is associated with geography rather than beliefs or religions. The Persians, Arabs, and Turks referred the people living by the Indus River as Hindus. The word Hindu was first documented by the Mogul rulers, who invented taxation laws to impose on those that did not practice Islam. From the rat worshipers to the meditating yogis following the teachings of the Vedas, the Upanishads, and the associated ancient Sanskrit texts; everyone was addressed by the Moguls as Hindus. Later, the British East India Company added "ism" to the word to collectively define the religions of India as Hinduism. Subliminally, this was done to insult and discredit the Vedas, the Upanishads, and the associated ancient Sanskrit texts. In modern times the corrupt politicians of India and radical groups such as Hindutva keep the foreign word Hindu alive by inventing lies about the origin of the word. Thus ignorance continues to lives on.
The question is how not when -- all wereI am not a scholar niether am I a religionist -- but i recall in my childhood (say adolscense) i asked my granpa this very question (who is traditionalist Hindu) his answer was all human being who are born in this realm are hindus -- there arose a question then what are those others, he replied -- people convert -- but a human being born is a Hindu (the neutral one) rest are all rituals -- conforming to societal values and some traditions (built up over the ages) -- then there is political drama over it, which sometimes manifests itself as a dangerous religious Dogma.
All in all his final answer which i understand maybe i wanted to to think like that -- the aim of of life is to be happy and strive for happiness that's how i think Hinduism began.
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Hinduism is one of the oldest known organized religions-its sacred writings being dated as far back as 1400 to 1500 B.C. It is also one of the most diverse and complex, having millions of gods. Hindus have a wide variety of core beliefs, and exist in many different sects. Although it is the third largest religion in the world, Hinduism exists primarily in India, Nepal, and to a lesser extent in a few of the surrounding countries.

The main texts Hinduism uses are the Vedas (considered most important), Upanishadas, the Mahabharata, and the Ramayana. These writings contain hymns, incantations, philosophies, rituals, poems, and stories from which Hindus base their beliefs. Other texts used in Hinduism include the Brahmanas, the Sutras, and the Aranyakas.

Though Hinduism is often understood as being polytheistic supposedly recognizing as many as 330 million gods, it also has one "god" that is supreme: Brahma. Brahma is an entity believed to inhabit every portion of reality and existence, throughout the entire universe. Brahma is both impersonal and unknowable, and is often believed to exist in three separate forms as: Brahma--Creator; Vishnu--Preserver; and Shiva-Destroyer. These "facets" of Brahma are also known through many other incarnations of each. But it is admittedly difficult to "pin down" Hindu theology since most every theological system is represented in some way by a Hindu school of some sort. Hinduism can be:

1) Monistic-Only one thing exists; Sankara's school
2) Pantheistic-Only one divine thing exists so that God is identical to the world; Brahmanism
3) Panentheistic-The world is part of God; Ramanuja's School
4) Theistic-Only one God, distinct from Creation; Bhakti Hinduism.

And it can still be argued, observing other schools of Hinduism, that it is atheistic, deistic, or even nihilistic. With such diversity included under the title "Hindu" one may wonder what makes them "Hindu" in the first place? About the only real point at issue is whether a belief system recognizes the Vedas as sacred or not. If so, then it is Hindu. If not, then it is not Hindu. But the more significant issue is intangible. The Vedas are more than theology books. They contain a rich and colorful "theo-mythology," that is, a religious mythology which deliberately interweaves myth, theology, and history to achieve a story-form religious rooting. This "theo-mythology" is so deeply rooted in India's history and culture that to reject the Vedas is viewed as opposing India. Therefore a belief system is rejected by Hinduism if it does not embrace Indian culture to some extent. But if it accepts Indian culture and its theo-mythical history then it can be embraced as "Hindu" even if its theology is Theistic, Nihilistic, Atheistic, or what have you. This openness to contradiction can be a headache for Westerners who seek logical consistency and rational defensibility in their religious views. But, to be fair, Christians are no more logical when they claim belief in Yahweh yet live life as practical atheists denying Christ with their lives. For the Hindu the conflict is genuine logical contradiction. For the Christian, the conflict is more likely simple hypocrisy.

Hinduism also has a different view of mankind. Because Brahma is everything, Hinduism asserts that everyone is divine. Atman, or self, is one with Brahman. All of reality outside of Brahman is considered mere illusion. The spiritual goal of a Hindu is to become one with Brahma, thus ceasing to exist in its illusory form of "individual self." This freedom is referred to as "moksha." Until moksha is achieved, a Hindu believes that he/she will be repeatedly reincarnated in order that he/she may work towards self-realization of the truth (the truth being that only Brahman exists, nothing else). How a person is reincarnated is determined by karma, which is a principle of cause and effect governed by nature's balance. What one did in the past affects and corresponds with what happens in the future, past and future lives included.

Although this is just a brief synopsis, it is readily seen that Hinduism is in opposition to biblical Christianity on most every count of its belief system. Christianity has one God who is both personal and knowable (Deuteronomy 6:5; 1 Corinthians 8:6), and one set of Scriptures; teaches that God created the earth and all that lives upon it (Genesis 1:1ff; Hebrews 11:3); believes that man is created in God's image and lives only once (Genesis 1:27; Hebrews 9:27-28); and teaches that salvation is through Jesus Christ alone (John 3:16; 6:44; 14:6; Acts 4:12). Hinduism as a religious system fails because it fails to recognize Jesus as the uniquely incarnated Divine and solely sufficient source of salvation for condemned man.
Hinduism began when the first human migrants came to India from Africa some 70,000 years ago.
2000 bc

Ans: When Human want pleasure he look forward to himself, who is he and where he came from at that point start philloshophical thinking call " RELIGION" . The oldest philloshophy is started in Egypt not hinduism.

Soul existance was thought by Egyption but fail to confirm recarnation theory and finally in race of spritiul development the question came " can all human become GOD " and answere was found by only one philloshophy.

Answer 2

the basic answer is India. In fuller truth there is no Hinduism. The name was applied by westerners to encompass an huge variety of spiritual and religious practices including Vedic religions.