SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, July 13, 2025 (Eternal Path Musings): Hinduism has a very interesting history in Russia. By the 16th century, Hindu traders, loosely around the Silk Road, had established a presence in the Astrakhan area, which was a major trading center near the northern coast of the Caspian Sea. These were largely Punjabi and Sindhi merchants. The Indian merchants were quite successful, had their own court and many of them were amongst Astrakhan’s richest citizens. With the Russian conquest of Astrakhan in 1556, the Hindu merchants became residents of the Moscow Kingdom. That time also saw the growth of the Russian Empire, which began to heavily expand and modernize later on, especially during the reign of Peter the Great, who reigned from 1685 to 1725.

Peter was also known for being very European in outlook, inspired by the Enlightenment movements going on in Western European Kingdoms. During his rule, he modernized the military, spent time studying industrial processes, and prioritized modernized thought. Part of that modernization occurred on the back of economic growth, and cognizant of the impact of Hindu and other merchants in the area, Astrakhan Governor Aleksei Volyn was ordered by the Russian Senate to provide assistance to “Eastern merchants”. Additionally he was asked to “show kindness and goodwill” to the merchants. In 1722, Peter the Great met a delegation of Indian merchants, led by a man named “Anburam” with some requests for special trading privileges, but additionally, the delegation asked the Russian Senate for an edict protecting Hindu beliefs. Peter the Great agreed, and the Russian Senate in 1722 passed a law protecting the Hindu community and their beliefs. This was the first ever law passed in Russia protecting a “foreign” religion. The Hindu community was able to build prayer halls and Astrakhan for nearly another century served as a center for Hinduism in Europe, before the Silk Road trade dried up and the community assimilated into the Russian and Tatar communities.

https://open.substack.com/pub/eternalpath/p/week-291-russian-czar-religious-freedom?r=rnagc&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email

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