On the meaning and origins of Hinduism:

On the meaning and origins of Hinduism:  "The term Hinduism ... [ was ] introduced in about 1830 AD by  British writers. " [Encyclopedia Britannica, 20 `Hinduism' 519 ]  "The term Hindu was first imposed on south Asian nations by the  Afghan dynasty of Ghori in the 12th century; this term was never  used in south Asia prior to the Muslim era and is not even found in  early (pre-12th century AD) Brahmanical or Buddhist texts. Such a  term and concept has no historical depth in any social, religious,  ethnic or national sense past the 12th century when Mohammed Ghori  for the first time named his conquered subjects Hindus." [G. Singh,  Sakasthan and India, Toronto, 1999, p. 20]  "Hinduism, as a faith, is vague, amorphous, many-sided, all things  to all men. It is hardly possible to define it, or indeed to say  definitely whether it is a religion or not, in the usual sense of  the word." [Jawaharlal Nehru, The Discovery of India, New Delhi,  1983, p.75]  "Frankly speaking, it is not possible to say definitely who is a  Hindu and what Hinduism is. These questions have been considered  again and again by eminent scholars, and so far no satisfactory  answer has been given." [Swami Dharma Theertha, History of Hindu  Imperialism, Madras, 1992, p. 178]  "Hinduism defies definition... It has no specific creed." [Khushwant  Singh, India: An Introduction, New Delhi, 1990, p. 19]  "The more Hinduism is considered, the more difficult it becomes to  define it in a single phrase... A Hindu may have any religious  belief or none." [Percival Spear, India: A Modern History, Michigan,  1961, p.40]