Crypto-Hinduism

Crypto-Hinduism is the secret adherence to Hinduism while publicly professing to be of another faith; practitioners are referred to as "crypto-Hindus" (from Greek kryptos - κρυπτός, 'hidden'). Crypto-Hinduism was observed during a period of forced religious conversions in South Asia, as well as suspected against Hindus who were forcibly converted to the religion of the invaders or colonizers. Many crypto-Hindus were arrested for practicing Hinduism after professing to have converted to Christianity, some sentenced to death for being a crypto-Hindu such as in colonial Portuguese Goa.

==Islamic sultanates== Some Hindus who joined official positions in Delhi Sultanate were accused of following Hinduism in secret. For example, states Bardwell Smith, Khusru Khan, a convert from Hinduism to Islam and an army commander who led plunder raids against Deccan kingdoms, was towards the end of his life "accused by Turkish nobles of harboring crypto-Hindu tendencies, a false charge but one which reflected genuine factional divisions and prejudices within the Muslim ruling class". According to Aziz Ahmad, Arabic Islamic scholars have considered the form of Islam followed in Bengal (Bangladesh, West Bengal) to have elements of crypto-Hinduism and have attempted to reform it to more strict adherence to the version found in the Arabian peninsula.