values, myths, and norms of behavior is used both to exercise control over
citizens and to seek their compliance with the laws. We agree with Alexis
de Tocqueville that "in order that society should exist . . . it is necessary
that the minds of all the citizens should be rallied and held together by
certain predominant ideas." ¹ Besides acquiring ideas and beliefs from
certain groups of people, believers in a distinct ideology tend to identify
themselves with certain heroes, seers, sages, historic persons and events,
and sacred works and declarations. ²

Ideologies are part of a culture or if borrowed, they gradually become
integrated into a culture. They determine how the members of a society
should act, live, and respond to the demands made on them by the changes
taking place in the environment. They are dynamic and reflect the changes
constantly taking place in the citizens' and the elites' existing world-views
and assumptions.

In the context of political developments in India, the ideology of
nationalism, identified with a politically unified Indian state, is of recent
origin. In the early stages of Indian history, Indian unity was achieved on
the basis of pan-Indian cultural identity and common civilizational values.
The core of this value system was the recognition of multiple diversities,
both behavioral and normative, and legitimacy of group identities and
autonomies. In the absence of a centralized political authority it was "the
Indian civilizational enterprise" which "over the centuries achieved a
remarkable degree of cohesion and held together different sub-systems in
a continental-size society." ³ The unifying force was Indian civilization
rather than a political ideology.

The major component of this civilization was Hinduism. This religion
lacked a dominant theology and allowed various sects to flourish within its
fold with their own theologies and ways of worship. The variety of castes
and communities that formed part of the Hindu social organization also
developed their own norms of behavior and traditions. These various
traditions of Hinduism led to the development of the pluralistic traits of
Indian civilization within which different communities with different
traditions and beliefs could coexist.

Islam, Christianity, and Judaism, religions coming from outside the
Indian sub-continent, while contributing to Indian civilization and culture,
were also deeply influenced by the pluralistic nature of Hindu society and
became part of the diversified cultural traditions of India.

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