A later form of the Vedic religion developed by Indo-Aryan-speaking settlers who migrated from Central to South Asia in the second millennium BCE. Brahmanism developed between 1100 and 500 BCE through encounters with non-Aryan cultures in the Indian subcontinent. It has no specific scriptural basis or founding figure. Brahmanism retained some foundational features of Vedic religion, including the organisation of social life by caste, but deviated from its elaborate ritualism, and increasingly focused on a philosophy of the universe as Brahman. It incorporated tenets and practices from non-Vedic traditions, such as vegetarianism, asceticism and meditation, in a complex process of cultural assimilation. The term ‘Brahmanism’, coined in the sixteenth century, is widely used by scholars to accurately designate the stratified, inherently caste-based nature of the religion. Since the nineteenth century, the term ‘Hinduism’ has also been applied in English to refer to the hugely varied practices and beliefs of Brahmanism.