Theme 6 – Bhakti-Sufi Traditions

0. Introduction:
• There were a variety of religious structures such as stupas, monasteries and temples which were
representatives of certain religious beliefs and practices and others have been reconstructed from
textual traditions, including the Puranas, many of which received their present shape around the same
time and yet others remain only faintly visible in textual and visual records.
• These traditions were fluid - generations of devotees tended to elaborate on the original message and
occasionally modified or even abandoned some of the ideas that appeared problematic or irrelevant in
different political, social or cultural contexts.
• Historians also draw on hagiographies or biographies of saints written by their followers (or
members of their religious sect). These may not be literally accurate, but allow a glimpse into the ways
in which devotees perceived the lives of these path-breaking women and men.

1. A MOSAIC OF RELIGIOUS BELIEFS AND PRACTICES

• Perhaps the most striking feature of this phase is the increasing visibility of a wide range of gods and
goddesses in sculpture as well as in texts. At one level, this indicates the continued and even extended
worship of the major deities - Vishnu, Shiva and the Goddess - each of whom was visualised in a
variety of forms.

1.1 The integration of cults

• During this phase, there were two religious processes that were going on:
Ø The first process was related to spreading of Brahmanical ideas. The main objective behind the
spreading of this idea was composition, compilation and preservation of Puranic texts. These texts
were written in simple Sanskrit, which were easily accessible by women and Shudras who were
generally excluded from the Vedic learning.
Ø The second process was that, the Brahmanas started accepting the beliefs and practices of other
social categories. Many beliefs and practices were reconstructed through a continuous interaction
between 'great' Sanskritic-Puranic traditions and 'little' traditions throughout the country.

'Great' and 'little' traditions

• The terms 'great' and 'little' traditions were coined by a sociologist named Robert Redfield in the
twentieth century to describe the cultural practices of peasant societies. He found that peasants
observed rituals and customs that emanated from dominant social categories, including priests and
rulers. These are classified as part of a great tradition. At the same time, peasants also followed local
practices that did not necessarily correspond with those of the great tradition.
• These he included within the category of little tradition. He also noticed that both great and little
traditions changed over time, through a process of interaction. While scholars accept the
significance of these categories and processes, they are often uncomfortable with the hierarchy
suggested by the terms great and little. The use of quotation marks for 'great' and 'little' is one way
of indicating this.

Example of Second Process:

• The most striking example of the second process was evident at Puri, Odisha. Here the main deity was
identified as Jagannatha, a form of Vishnu.
• In this instance, local deity, whose image continues to be made of God by local tribal specialists, was
recognised as a form of Vishnu. At the same time, Vishnu was visualised in a way that was very
different from that in other parts of the country. Goddess were worshipped simply in the form of a
stone with some colour pigment on it like Ochre.
 1.2 Difference and conflict
• Often associated with the goddess were forms of worship that were classified as Tantric. Tantric
practices were widespread in several parts of the subcontinent - they were open to women and men
and practitioners often ignored differences.
• There is difference between Vedic and Puranic traditions. The main deities of Vedic pantheon
(religion), Agni, Indra and Soma, become marginal figures.
• These are rarely visible in textual or visual forms. Whereas Vishnu, Shiva and the Goddess in Vedic
mantras, have little expansion with Puranic mythologies. Despite these differences, Vedas continued
to be as superior.
• There were some conflicts also. Those who valued the Vedic tradition often condemned practices that
went beyond the closely regulated contact with the divine through the performance of sacrifices or
precisely chanted mantras.
• On the other hand, those engaged in Tantric practices frequently ignored the authority of the Vedas.
• Devotees often tended to project their chosen deity, either Vishnu or Shiva, as supreme. Relations with
other traditions, such as Buddhism or Jainism, were also often strained when there was no conflict.
• During this time, devotion ranged from the routine worship of deities within temples to ecstatic
adoration where devotees attained a trance-like state (an abnormal state of wakefulness). Devotional
worship was very old.

2. POEMS OF PRAYER – EARLY TRADITIONS OF BHAKTI

• During the evolution of different forms of worship, the poet-saints emerged as leaders. Brahmanas
remained as intermediaries between Gods and devotees in several forms of bhakti.
• These new traditions also accommodated and accepted women and the lower castes who were earlier
considered ineligible for freedom. An important element of diversity was also present in these new
traditions of bhakti.
• Historians of religion classify bhakti traditions into two broad categories, i.e. saguna (with attributes)
and nirguna (without attributes):
Ø The saguna traditions focused on the worship of specific deities such as Shiva, Vishnu and his
avatars or incarnations and forms of the goddess or Devi which were conceptualised as having
human forms.
Ø Nirguna bhakti on the other hand, was worship of an abstract from ie., existing in thought or as an
idea but not having a physical or concrete existence of God.

2.1 The Alvars and Nayanars of Tamil Nadu

• Some of the earliest bhakti movements (c. sixth century) were led by the Alvars (literally, those who
are "immersed" in devotion to Vishnu) and Nayanars (literally, leaders who were devotees of Shiva).
They travelled from place to place singing hymns in Tamil in praise of their gods.
• During their travels the Alvars and Nayanars identified certain shrines as abodes of their chosen
deities. Very often large temples were later built at these sacred places. These developed as centres of
pilgrimage. Singing compositions of these poet-saints became part of temple rituals in these shrines,
as did worship of the saints' images.

2.2 Attitudes towards caste

• Some historians suggest that the Alvars and Nayanars initiated a movement of protest against the
caste system and the dominance of Brahmanas or at least attempted to reform the system. To some
extent this is corroborated by the fact that bhaktas hailed from diverse social backgrounds ranging
from Brahmanas to artisans and cultivators and even from castes considered "untouchable".
• The importance of the traditions of the Alvars and Nayanars was sometimes indicated by the claim
that their compositions were as important as the Vedas.
• For instance, one of the major anthologies of compositions by the Alvars, the Nalayira
Divyaprabandham, was frequently described as the Tamil Veda, thus claiming that the text was as
significant as the four Vedas in Sanskrit that were cherished by the Brahmanas.
 2.3 Women Devotees:
• The compositions of Andal, a woman Alvar, were widely sung and even now they are continued to be
sung. She saw herself as the beloved of Vishnu and her verses expressed her love for the deity.
• Karaikal Ammaiyar was another woman who was a devotee of Shiva, adopted the path of extreme self-
discipline in order to attain her goal. Her compositions were preserved within the Nayanar tradition.
• These women renounced their social obligations and posed a challenge to patriarchal norms.

2.4 Relations with the state

• There were several important chiefdoms in the Tamil region in the early first millennium CE. From the
second half of the first millennium there is evidence for states, including those of the Pallavas and
Pandyas (c. sixth to ninth centuries CE).
• Powerful Chola rulers of the ninth to thirteenth centuries supported Brahmanical and bhakti
traditions by making land grants and constructing temples for Vishnu and Shiva.
• Some of the most magnificent Shiva temples, like those at Chidambaram, Thanjavur and
Gangaikondacholapuram were constructed with the support of Chola rulers.
• In this period bronze sculpture of Shiva was produced after inspired from the Nayanars artists. Both
Nayanars and Alvars were revered by Vellala peasants and got the support. Chola rulers also tried to
get support of divine by building splendid temples with stone and metal sculpture.
• These kings also introduced the singing of Tamil Shaiva hymns in the temples under royal patronage,
taking the initiative to collect and organise them into a text called Tevaram.
• According to inscriptions around 945 CE, Chola ruler Parantaka-I had dedicated the metal images of
Appar, Sambandar and Sundarar in a Shiva temple. These were also carried in processions during the
festivals of these saints.

3. THE VIRASHAIVA TRADITION IN KARNATAKA

• The twelfth century witnessed the emergence of a new movement in Karnataka, led by a Brahmana
named Basavanna (1106-68) who was a minister in the court of a Kalachuri ruler. His followers were
known as Virashaivas (heroes of Shiva) or Lingayats (wearers of the linga).
• Lingayats continue to be an important community in the region to date. They worship Shiva in his
manifestation as a linga, and men usually wear a small linga in a silver case on a loop strung over the
left shoulder.
• Those who are revered include the jangama or wandering monks. Lingayats believe that on death the
devotee will be united with Shiva and will not return to this world. Therefore they do not practice
funerary rites such as cremation, prescribed in the Dharmashastras. Instead, they ceremonially bury
their dead.
• The Lingayats challenged the idea of caste and the "pollution" attributed to certain groups by
Brahmanas. They also questioned the theory of rebirth. These won them followers amongst those who
were marginalised within the Brahmanical social order.
• The Lingayats also encouraged certain practices disapproved in the Dharmashastras, such as post-
puberty marriage and the remarriage of widows. Our understanding of the Virashaiva tradition is
derived From vachanas (literally, sayings) composed in Kannada by women and men who joined the
movement.

4. RELIGIOUS FERMENT IN NORTH INDIA

• In North India, deities like Vishnu and Shiva were worshipped in temples which were mainly built
with the support of rulers.
• Historians pointed out that in North India, many Rajput states emerged. Brahmanas occupied
important positions and performed a range of secular and ritual functions in most of these states.
There was hardly any attempt to challenge their position directly.
• Other religious leaders, who did not function within the orthodox Brahmanical framework were
gaining ground during twelfth century. They were the Naths, Jogis and Siddhas.
• Most of them came from artisanal group like weavers, who became important due to the development
of organised craft production.
• These leaders questioned the authority of the Vedas. They expressed themselves in languages spoken
by ordinary.
• A new element in this situation was the coming of the Turks which culminated in the establishment of
the Delhi Sultanate (thirteenth century). This undermined the power of many of the Rajput states and
the Brahmanas who were associated with these kingdoms. This was accompanied by marked changes
in the realm of culture and religion. The coming of the sufis (Section 6) was a significant part of these
developments.

5. NEW STRANDS IN THE FABRIC - ISLAMIC TRADITIONS

• Just as the regions within the subcontinent were not isolated from one another, so too, contact with
lands beyond the seas and mountains had existed for millennia. Arab merchants, for instance,
frequented ports along the western coast in the first millennium CE, while Central Asian people
settled in the northwestern parts of the subcontinent during the same period. From the seventh
century, with the advent of Islam, these regions became part of what is often termed the Islamic
world.

5.1 Faiths of rulers and subjects

• The Arab general named Muhammad Qasim conquered Sind in 711 CE and became part of the Caliph's
territory.
• Later in thirteenth century, the Turks and Afghans established the Delhi Sultanate, which was
followed by the formation of Sultanates in the Deccan and other parts of the subcontinent.
• Islam was an acknowledged religion of rulers in several areas. This continued with the establishment
of the Mughal Empire in sixteenth century and in regional states in the eighteenth century.
• A category of the Zimmi (protected) was developed for people who followed revealed scriptures.
These included Jews and Christians. They paid a tax called Jizya and gained the right to be protected
by Muslims.
• Rulers adopted a fairly flexible policy towards their Muslim and non-Muslim subjects. They expressed
devotion towards non-Muslim religious leaders. Several grants were made for subjects by Akbar and
Aurangzeb and many other Mughal rulers.
Ulama and Shari’a
• Muslim rulers were to be guided by the ulama who were expected to ensure that they ruled
according to the shari’a.
• Ulama are scholars of Islamic studies and as preservers of this tradition, they perform various
religious, judicial and teaching functions. Whereas, shari’a is the law governing the Muslim
community.
• Shari'a is based on the Quran and the hadis, traditions of the Prophet including a record of his
remembered words and deeds.
• With the expansion of Islamic rule outside the Arabia, giyas (reasoning by analogy) and ijma
(consensus of the community) were reorganised as two other sources of legislation. Sharia was
evolved from the Quran, hadis, giyas and ijma.

5.2 The Popular practice of Islam

• Those who have accepted Islam, also accepted the five pillars of the faith. They are:
Ø There is one God, Allah and Prophet Muhammad is his messenger (shahada).
Ø Offering prayers five times a day (namaz/salat).
Ø Giving alms (zakat).
Ø Fasting during the month of Ramzan (sawm).
Ø Performing the pilgrimage to Mecca (hajj).
• These features were practiced differently among sectarian affiliations like Sunni and Shi'a.
• They were also influenced from the local customs. For example, the Khojahs, a branch of the Ismailis
(Shi'a sect) developed new modes of communication, disseminating ideas derived from the Quran.
• These included the ginan (knowledge), devotional poem in Punjabi, Multani, Sindhi, Kachchi, Hindi
and Gujarati.
• Arab Muslim traders who settled along the Malabar coast (Kerala) adopted the local language,
Malayalam. They also adopted local customs such as matriliny and matrilocal residence.
• The blend of Islam with local traditions was evident in the architecture especially construction of
mosque.
• The orientation towards Mecca and placement of the mihrab (prayer niche) and the minbar (pulpit)
was as per Islamic traditions but they show variations in several features like in roofs and building
materials.

5.3 Names for Islamic communities

• Historians who have studied Sanskrit texts and inscriptions dating between the eighth and fourteenth
centuries point out that the term musalman or Muslim was virtually never used.
• Instead, people were occasionally identified in terms of the region from which they came. So, the
Turkish rulers were designated as Turushka, Tajika were people from Tajikistan and Parashika were
people from Persia. Sometimes, terms used for other peoples were applied to the new migrants. For
instance, the Turks and Afghans were referred to as Shakas and Yavanas (a term used for Greeks).
• A more general term for these migrant communities was mlechchha, indicating that they did not
observe the norms of caste society and spoke languages that were not derived from Sanskrit. Such
terms sometimes had a derogatory connotation, but they rarely denoted a distinct religious
community of Muslims in opposition to Hindus. The term "Hindu" was used in a variety of ways, not
necessarily restricted to a religious connotation.

6. THE GROWTH OF SUFISM

• In the early centuries of Islam a group of religious-minded people called sufis turned to asceticism and
mysticism in protest against the growing materialism of the Caliphate as a religious and political
institution.
• They were critical of the dogmatic definitions and scholastic methods of interpreting the Our'an and
sunna (traditions of the Prophet) adopted by theologians.
• Instead, they laid emphasis on seeking salvation through intense devotion and love for God by
following His commands and by following the example of the Prophet Muhammad whom they
regarded as a perfect human being. The sufis thus sought an interpretation of the Our'an on the basis
of their personal experience.

6.1 Khanqahs and Silsilas

• Sufism evolved into a well-developed movement by eleventh century. It had a body of literature on
Quranic studies and Sufi practices. The Sufis started creating institutions by organising communities
for travellers called khanqah (Persian).
• These institutions were controlled by a teaching master known as shaikh (in Arabic), pir or murshid
(in Persian). The master enrolled disciples (murids) and appointed a successor (khalifa). He
established rules for spiritual conduct and interaction between group members as well as between
laypersons and the master.
• Around the twelfth century, sufi silsilas began to take form in different parts of Islamic world. The
word silsila means chain, which signifies the continuous link between master (Shaikh) and disciple.
• This chain stretched as an unbroken spiritual link to the Prophet Muhammad. The spiritual power and
blessings were transmitted to devotees through this channel.
• Special rituals to admit people into the group were developed in which persons who wanted to enter
the group took an oath of commitment, wore a piece of cloth and shaved their hair.
• When shaikh died, his tomb-shrine called dargah (Persian term meaning court) became the centre of
religious worship for his followers. This encouraged the practice of pilgrimage of ziyarat to his grave,
especially on his death anniversary or ‘urs’ or marriage. signifying the union of his soul with God.
• This was because people believed that in death, saints were united with God, and were closer to him
when living and sought their blessings. Thus the evolved cult of the Shaikh revered as Wali.

6.2 Outside the Khanqah

• Some mystics initiated movements based on a radical interpretation of sufi ideals. Many scorned the
khanqah and took to mendicancy (practice of begging) and observed celibacy.
• They ignored rituals and observed extreme forms of asceticism (self-discipline). They were known by
different names - Qalandars, Madaris, Malangs, Haidaris, etc.
• Because of their deliberate defiance of the shari'a they were often referred to as be-shari'a, in contrast
to the ba-sharia sufis who complied with it.

7. THE CHISTIS IN THE SUBCONTINENT

• Of the groups of sufis who migrated to India in the late twelfth century, the Chishtis were the most
influential. This was because they adapted successfully to the local environment and adopted several
features of Indian devotional traditions.
7.1 Life in the Chishti khanqahs
• The khanqah was the centre of social life of the Chishtis. In fourteenth century, Shaikh Nizamuddin's
hospice (lodging for travellers) on the banks of the river Yamuna in Ghiyaspur, on the outskirts of the
city of Delhi were popular.
• It had many small rooms and a big hall called Jamaat khana, where the inmates and visitors lived and
prayed. The inmates included family members of the Shaikh, his attendants and disciples.
• The Shaikh lived in a small room on the roof of the hall where he met visitors in the morning and
evening. The courtyard was surrounded by a veranda and a boundary wall was present around the
complex.
• Poets like Amir Hasan Sizi and Amir Khusrau and the court historian Ziyauddin Barani also visited and
wrote about the Shaikh.

7.2 Chishti devotionalism: ziyarat and qawwali

• Shaikh Nizamuddin appointed several spiritual successors and deputed them to set up religious
institutions in various parts of the subcontinent.
• This resulted in the rapid spread of the teachings, practices and organisation of the Chishtis and also
the fame of the Shaikh. This in turn resulted in drawing the pilgrims to his shrine and also to the
shrines of his spiritual ancestors.
• It means pilgrimage to tombs of sufi saints. This was common all over the Muslim world. This practice
was used as an occasion to seek the sufi's spiritual grace (barakat). The most respected shrine is that
of Khwaja Muinuddin who was popularly known as Gharib Nawaz (comforter of the poor).
• In the fourteenth century, there were references to Khwaja Muinuddin's dargah. Muhammad bin
Tughlaq was the first Sultan to visit the shrine, but the construction to house the tomb was funded by
Sultan Ghiyasuddin Khalji of Malwa in late 15th century.
• The shrine had become very popular by the 16th century. Akbar visited the tomb, and was inspired by
the spirited singing of pilgrims in the Shrine of Ajmer.
• Also part of ziyarat is the use of music and dance including mystical chants performed by specially
trained musicians or qawwals to evoke divine ecstasy.
• The sufis remember God either by reciting the zir (the Divine Names) or evoking His presence through
sama' (literally, "audition") or performance of mystical music. Sama' was integral to the Chishtis, and
exemplified interaction with indigenous devotional traditions.

7.3 Languages and communication

• It was not just in sama' that the Chishtis adopted local languages. In Delhi, those associated with the
Chishti silsila conversed in Hindavi, the language of the people. Other sufis such as Baba Farid
composed verses in the local language, which were incorporated in the Guru Granth Sahib.
• Yet others composed long poems or masnavis to express ideas of divine love using human love as an
allegory. For example, the prem-akhyan (love story) Padmavat composed by Malik Muhammad Jayasi
revolved around the romance of Padmini and Ratansen, the king of Chittor.
• A different genre of sufi poetry was composed in and around the town of Bijapur, Karnataka. These
were short poems in Dakhani (a variant of Urdu) attributed to Chishti sufis who lived in this region
during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. These poems were probably sung by women while
performing household chores.
• Other compositions were in the form of lurinama or lullabies and shadinama or wedding songs. It is
likely that the sufis of this region were inspired by the pre-existing bhakti tradition of the Kannada
vachanas of the Lingayats and the Marathi abhangs of the sants of Pandharpur. It is through this
medium that Islam gradually gained a place in the villages of the Deccan.

7.4 Sufis and the state

• A major feature of the Chishti tradition was austerity, including maintaining a distance from worldly
power. However, this was by no means a situation of absolute isolation from political power. The sufis
accepted unsolicited grants and donations from the political elites. The Sultans in turn set up
charitable trusts (augaf) as endowments for hospices and granted tax-free land (inam).
• The Chishtis accepted donations in cash and kind. Rather than accumulate donations, they preferred
to use these fully on immediate requirements such as food, clothes, living quarters and ritual
necessities (such as sama). All this enhanced the moral authority of the shaikhs, which in turn
attracted people from all walks of life. Further, their piety and scholarship, and people's belief in their
miraculous powers made sufis popular among the masses, whose support kings wished to secure.
• When the Turks set up the Delhi Sultanate, they resisted the pressure of the ulama on implementing
sharia as state law because they expected opposition from their subjects, the majority of whom were
Non-muslims.
• Sultans asked for Sufis help, who derived authority directly from God and did not depend on jurists
(counsellor) to interpret the shari’a.
• Sometimes there were instances of conflict between the Sultans and the Sufis. To assert their
authority, both expected that certain rituals like prostration (lying stretched on the ground) and
kissing of the feet, should be performed.
• Sufi Shaikh often took high-sounding titles. For instance, the disciples of Nizamuddin Auliya called him
as Sultan-ul-Mashaikh (means sultan amongst Shaikhs).

8. NEW DEVOTIONAL PATHS – DIALOGUE AND DISAGREEMENT IN NORTHERN INDIA

• Many poet-saints engaged in explicit and implicit dialogue with these new social situations, ideas and
institutions. Let us now see how this dialogue found expression. We focus here on three of the most
influential figures of the time.
8.1 Weaving a divine fabric: Kabir
• Kabir (c. Fourteenth - Fifteenth centuries) was one of the most important examples of a poet-saint
who emerged within this context. Kabir is an Arabic name and its meaning is 'great'.
• Writings on lives of saints within the Vaishnava tradition suggest that Kabir was born Hindu, but he
was brought up by a poor Muslim family belonging to community of weavers of julahas, who were
recently converted to Islam. They also suggested that Kabir was initiated into bhakti by a guru named
Ramananda.
• The verses attributed to Kabir use the words guru and satguru, but do not mention the name of any
specific preceptor. Kabir was the source of inspiration for those who questioned entrenched religious
and social institutions, ideals and practices in their search for the Divine.
• Verses that belonged to Kabir have been compiled in three different but overlapping traditions. These
were:
 Ø The Kabir Bijak was preserved by the Kabirpanth (the path or sect of Kabir) in Varanasi, Uttar
Pradesh.
Ø The Kabir Granthavaliis related with the Dadupanth in Rajasthan.
Ø Many of his compositions are found in Adi Granth Sahib.
• All these texts compilations were made long after the death of Kabir. By the nineteenth century,
collection of poems and writings that belonged to Kabir were circulated in print in regions as far as
Bengal, Gujarat and Maharashtra.
• Kabir's poems have survived in different languages and different forms of languages. Some of them
are composed in the special language of nirguna poets, the sant bhasha. Others known as ulatbansi
(upside-down sayings), were written in a form in which everyday meanings are inverted.
• Kabir used to describe the ultimate reality in Islam as Allah, Khuda, Hazrat and Pir. He also used terms
from Vedantic traditions, alakh (the unseen), nirakar (formless), Brahman, Atman, etc. Other spiritual
ideas such as shabda (sound) or shunya (emptiness) belonged to yogic traditions.
• Sometimes diverse and opposing ideas were expressed in these poems. Some poems took Islamic
ideas and used the concepts like monotheism (belief in one God) and iconoclasm (the destruction of
religious images) to attack Hindu polytheism (belief in many Gods) and idol worship.
• Some other poems use the Sufi concept of zikr and isha (love) to express the Hindu practice of nam-
simaran (remembrance to God's name).

8.2 Baba Guru Nanak and the Sacred Word

• Baba Guru Nanak (1469-1539) was born in a Hindu merchant family in a village called Nankana Sahib
near the river Ravi in the predominantly Muslim populated Punjab. He trained to be an accountant
and studied Persian. He was married at a young age but he spent most of his time among sufis and
bhaktas. He also travelled widely.
Guru Nanak's Teachings
• The message of Baba Guru Nanak is spelt out in his hymns and teachings. These suggest that he
advocated a form of nirguna bhakti. He firmly repudiated the external practices of the religions he saw
around him. He rejected sacrifices, ritual baths, image worship, austerities and the scriptures of both
Hindus and Muslims.
• For Baba Guru Nanak, the Absolute or "rab" had no gender or form. He proposed a simple way to
connect to the Divine by remembering and repeating the Divine Name, expressing his ideas through
hymns called "shabad' in Punjabi, the language of the region. Baba Guru Nanak would sing these
compositions in various ragas while his attendant Mardana played the rabab.
• Baba Guru Nanak organised his followers into a community. He set up rules for congregational
worship (sangat) involving collective recitation. He appointed one of his disciples, Angad, to succeed
him as the preceptor (guru), and this practice was followed for nearly 200 years.
• It appears that Baba Guru Nanak did not wish to establish a new religion, but after his death his
Followers consolidated their own practices and distinguished themselves from both Hindus and
Muslims.
• The fifth preceptor, Guru Arjan, compiled Baba Guru Nanak's hymns along with those of his four
successors and other religious poets like Baba Farid, Ravidas (also known as Raidas) and Kabir in the
Adi Granth Sahib. These hymns, called "gurbani', are composed in various languages.
• In the late seventeenth century the tenth preceptor, Guru Gobind Singh, included the compositions of
the ninth guru, Guru Tegh Bahadur, and this scripture was called the Guru Granth Sahib. Guru Gobind
Singh also laid the foundation of the Khalsa Panth (army of the pure) and defined its five symbols:
Ø uncut hair,
Ø a dagger,
Ø a pair of shorts,
Ø a comb and
Ø a steel bangle.
Ø Under him the community got consolidated as a socio-religious and military force.
 8.3 Mirabai, the devotee princess
• Mirabai (c. fifteenth-sixteenth centuries) is perhaps the best-known woman poet within the bhakti
tradition. Biographies have been reconstructed primarily from the bhajans attributed to her, which
were transmitted orally for centuries. According to these, she was a Rajput princess from Merta in
Marwar who was married against her wishes to a prince of the Sisodia clan of Mewar, Rajasthan.
• She defied her husband and did not submit to the traditional role of wife and mother, instead
recognising Krishna, the avatar of Vishnu, as her lover.
• Her in-laws tried to poison her, but she escaped from the palace to live as a wandering saint
composing songs that are characterised by intense expressions of emotion.
• After leaving his husband's palace she lived as a wandering saint and composed songs. As per some
traditions, her instructor was Raidas, a leather worker. This indicated that she challenged the norms
of caste society. She did not form a sect or had group of followers, but she was recognised as a source
of inspiration for many centuries. Both women and men sing her songs, especially those who are poor
and considered low caste in Gujarat and Rajasthan.

Shankaradeva
• In the late fifteenth century, Shankaradeva emerged as one of the leading proponents of
Vaishnavism in Assam. His teachings were often known as the Bhagavati dharma because they were
based on the Bhagavad Gita and the Bhagavata Purana.
• He emphasised the need for naam kirtan i.e., recitation of the names of the lord in sat sanga or
congregations of pious devotees. He also encouraged the establishment of satra or monasteries for
the transmission of spiritual knowledge and naam ghar or prayer halls. His major compositions
include the Kirtana-ghosha.

9. RECONSTRUCTING HISTORIES OF RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS

• The availability of wide range of texts produced in and around Sufi khanqahs give us knowledge about
history of Sufi traditions and these can be used by historians to reconstruct the history.
• These sources are:
Treaties or Manuals: Treaties or manuals dealing with Sufi thought and practices from the Kashf-
ul-Mahjub of Ali bin Usman Hujwiri is an example of this category. It helps historians to see how
traditions outside the subcontinent influenced sufi thought in India.
• Malfuzat: Malfuzat means uttered i.e., conversations of sufi saints. Fawa’id-al-Fu'ad is an example of
early text on malfuzat. It was the collection of conversations of Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya, compiled
by Amir Hasan Sizi Dehlavi, a noted Persian poet.
• Malfuzats were compiled by different sufi silsilas with the permission of the shaikhs. The ultimate
motto of these texts was to teach moral values. Several such texts have been found from different
parts of the subcontinent, including the Deccan.
• Maktubat: Maktubat means written collections of letters by Sufi masters to their disciples and
associates. These give us information about the shaikh's experience of religious truth that he
wanted to share with others. They also show the life conditions of the recipients and are responses
to their aspirations and difficulties. Maktubat-i Imam Rabbani, written by Nagshbandi Shaikh
Ahmad Sirhindi is an example of Maktubat.
• Tazkiras: Tazkiras means to mention and memorialise biographical accounts of saints. The
fourteenth century Siyar-ul-Auliya of Mir Khwurd Kirmani was the first Sufi Takira written in India.
It was mainly about Chishti saints. The most famous Tazkira was the Akhbar-ul-Akhyar of Abdul
Haqq Muhaddis Dehlavi.

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