By about 1500 BCE, the Vedic culture and agrarian lifestyle were established in the northwest and northern Gangetic plain of South Asia.

In this period, states Samuel emerged the Brahmana and Aranyaka layers of Vedic texts, which merged into the earliest Upanishads.

[32] Alongside the BJP, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has also been accused of being a chief organisation in the Hindu nationalist cause.

[38] Other hardline Hindutva groups, such as the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP)[39] and the Bajrang Dal[40] (which are designated as paramilitary groups by many nations such as Australia,[41] Canada and United States[42]) have also contributed a major role to the enhancement of Hindu nationalism and are also blamed for increasing Islamophobia in India and attacks on Christians.

[46] 5 of the 10 nations with the biggest Hindu populations are in South Asia, namely India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

[B] Hinduism is the second largest religious group in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bhutan and there is a very minute Hindu minority in Afghanistan.

[C] In recent years, Hindu populations have decreased in non-Hindu majority countries in South Asia, especially Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan.