Hindus, Past and Present is not written for scholars in the fields of theology, philosophy or history. It has no claim of scholarship or originality. It is a brief account of the evolution of the concept and what it is today. The word was first used by the Arabs and the Persians to identify the people living in a particular geographical area. It did not mean people of a single religion or culture. The British rulers of India used the word to mean anybody not following one of the Abrahamic religions irrespective of whether they are Shaivas, Vaishnavas, Tantrikas, Jainas or Buddhists, and we blindly accepted it. The book goes through its entire evolution from pre-Aryan period to present day. It may help a lay person to trace his history.