Bhakti-Sufi Traditions : Changes in Religious Beliefs And

Devotional Texts ( c. Eighth to Eighteenth Century)

During this period, a large number of gods and goddesses

in sculpture as well as in texts appeared. This indicated
the continued and extended worship of the major deities
such as Vishnu, Shiva and the goddesses, visualized in a
variety of forms. Besides, this period also saw the spread
of Islam and several Islamic Traditions, firstly in the
Northern India and then down to the Deccan plateau.
Types of new Divine expressions also multiplied and new
religious path was shown by Kabir and Guru Nanak.
Notes by Nida Parwez (Entrance Exam Coaching)
The integration of cults
• Historians who have tried to understand these
developments suggest that there were at least two
processes at work.
• One was a process of disseminating Brahmanical ideas.
This was exemplified by the composition, compilation and
preservation of Puranic texts in simple Sanskrit verse .They
were meant to be accessible to women and Shudras who
were excluded from Vedic learning.
• There was a second process at work that of the Brahmanas
accepting and reworking the beliefs and practices these
and other social categories.
• The sociologist Robert Redfield categorized the above
two trends of interaction and integration under two
groups; Great tradition and Little tradition.
• One of the best example of integration of cults is the
identification of some key local deities in Orissa as
puranic God and Goddesses. The jagganatha temple at
Puri have both Balaram and Subhadra’s statue in addition
to Lord jagganatha.

Notes by Nida Parwez (Entrance Exam Coaching)

 Bhakti Movement
• Bhakti tradition is classified into two forms; Saguna and
Nirguna.
• Saguna is when the god or goddess is attributed with some
specific form and feature, it could be an animal form like
Cow Or Ganesha or an anthropomorphic form like shiva
and Vishnu Or some inanimate object like Tree Or stone.
• Nirguna bhakti is when the God isn’t attributed with any
human, animal or inanimate form but is imagined as an
abstract entity.
• The Alvars and Narayanars of Tamil Nadu both fall under
the nirguna bhakti tradition.
• The worshippers of Vishnu were called Nayanars. While
the devotees of Shiva were called Alvars.
• Alvars and Nayanars initiated movement against caste
system & dominance of Brahamans.
• Nalayira Divyaprabandanam – important composition of
Alvars is known as Tamil vedas.
• Tevaram is the collection of three Nayanar poet saints,
namely, Appar, Sambandar and Sundarer.
• Status of women – composition of Andal, a woman Alvar
and songs of Karaikkal Ammaiyar, A Nayanar, is sung in
the temples of Vishnu and Shiva respectively.

Notes by Nida Parwez (Entrance Exam Coaching)

• State patronage in south for Vedic gods rather than
Jainism & Buddhisn, cholas patronized brahamnical
tradition, making land grant as to lord shiva at
Gangaikonda Cholapuram as well as installed
bronze sculptures and metal statues of shiva.
• This patronising steps of Rulers was meant to draw
the support of Vellala peasants.
• Singing of hymns under royal patronage were
encouraged – Chola ruler Parantaka I consecrated
metal image of Appar, Sambandar and sundarar in
Shiva temples.
• Karnataka saw a new movement under basavanna
a brahamana in the court of kalachuri rulers
• His followers were and are called
Virashaivas/lingayats who worship shiva in the
form of a linga.
• Virashaivas don’t believe in reincarnation as they
believe that devotees of Shiva are Merged with the
body of Shiva after death.
• They bury, instead of cremating the dead, also they
allow widows to remarriage.
• In this, they differ from Orthodox Hinduism.
Notes by Nida Parwez (Entrance Exam Coaching)
Islam And Sufism: Emergence of Islamic Traditions
• The first footprints of the Islamic rule goes back to
711 AD when an Arab general Muhammad Qasim
conquered Sindh.
• Later, in 1206 CE , Turk and Afghans invaded India
and established the Delhi Sultanate and remained in
power till 1526 when another Muslim empire came
into being.
• Theoretically, Muslim rulers were to be guided by
the Ulama and followed the rules of Shari’a.
• How To rule a non-Muslim population was a major
dilemma which was sorted out by extending the title
of “Dhimmis” which means “protected “ to the
Polytheistic religious population of the Indian
subcontinent.
• Non-Muslims had to pay a tax called Jizya and gained
the right to be protected by Muslim rulers.
• Several Mughal rulers including Akbar and
Aurangzeb gave land endowments and granted tax
exemptions to Hindu, Jaina, Zoroastrian, Christian
and Jewish religious institutions.

Notes by Nida Parwez (Entrance Exam Coaching)

 • All those who adopted Islam accepted the five pillars of
the faith that are:
There is one God, Allah, and prophet Muhammad is his
messenger.
Offering prayers five times a day (namaz/salat).
Giving alms (Zakat).
Fasting during the month of Ramzan (Sawm).
Performing the pilgrimage to Mecca (Hajj).
• People were occasionally identified in terms of the region
from which they came. Migrant communities often termed
as Mlechchha meant that they did not observe the norms
of caste, society and spoke languages that were not
derived from Sanskrit.
• The indigenous population never called these new rulers
“Muslims “. Instead, prior to the fourteenth century, they
called them by their place of origin, Tajiks, Turushkas,
Parashikas and so on.
• 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.

Notes by Nida Parwez (Entrance Exam Coaching)

• Sufis were critical of the dogmatic definitions and
scholastic methods of interpreting the Quran and
sought an interpretation of it on the basis of their
personal experience.
• By the 11th century, Sufism evolved into a well
developed movement.
• There were two types of Sufis; Besharia And
Basharia.
• The sufis who followed Sharia were called Basharia.
• The sufis who didn’t follow sharia were called Be
sharia, for example, Qalandris, Malangs, Haidris and
so on.
• The sufis began to organise communities around the
hospice or Khanqah (Persian) controlled by a
teaching master known as Shaikh, Pir or Murshid. He
enrolled disciples (murids) and appointed a
successor (Khalifa).
• Sufi Silsila means a chain, signifying a continuous link
between master and disciple, stretching as an
unbroken spiritual genealogy to the Prophet
Muhammad.
• When Shaikh died, his tomb-shrine (dargah) became
the centre of devotion for his followers and practice
of pilgrimage or ziyarat to his grave, particularly on
 death anniversary or urs (or marriage, signifying the
union of his soul with God) started. The cult of
Shaikh transformed into wali.
• The Chishtis In the Sub-continent:
• The Chishtis were the most important group of
Sufis who migrated to India, their silsila was named
after a place in Afghanistan called Chist.
• The Khanqah was the centre of social life.
• Shaikh Nizamuddin’s hospice on the banks of river
Yamuna in Ghiyaspur in the fourteenth century was
very famous. The Shaikh lived here and met visitors
in the morning and evening.
• There was an open Kitchen (langar) and people from
all walks of life came here from morning till late
night.
• Visitors who came here included Amir Hasan Sijzi,
Amir Khusrau and Ziyauddin Barani.
• Pilgrimage (Ziyarat) to tombs of Sufi saints was
common. It was a practice for seeking the Sufis
spiritual grace (Barakat).
• The most revered shrine was ‘Gharib Nawaz’, the
shrine of Khwaja Muinuddin at Ajmer.
• This shrine was funded by Sultan Ghiyasuddin Khalji
of Malwa. Emperor Akbar visited several times and
 constructed a mosque within the compound of
dargah.
• Specially trained musicians or qawwals performed
music and dance to evoke divine ecstasy. Disciple of
Nizamuddin Auliya Amir Khusrow is attributed with
the invention of qawwali.
• Baba Farid’s compositions in the local language were
incorporated in the Guru Granth Sahib.
• In Karnataka, the Sufis were inspired by the pre-
existing bhakti traditions and composed Dakhani,
Lurinama (lullabies) and Shadinama (wedding songs).
• Sultans of Delhi always preferred the Sufis although
there were instances of conflict between them.
New Devotional Paths in Northern India:
• Kabir was a poet-saint of 14nth-15nth century.
• Kabir’s verses were compiled in three distinct
traditions
• The Kabir Bijak is preserved by the Kabirpanth in
Uttar Pradesh.
• The Kabir Granthavali is associated with the
Dadupanth in Rajasthan.
• Many of his verses were included in the Adi Granth
Sahib.
 • Kabir described the ultimate reality as Allah, Khuda,
Hazarat and Pir. He also used terms from vedantic
traditions, like alakh, nirakar, brahmin, atman, etc.
• Kabir accepted all types of philosophy i.e. Vedantic
traditions, Yogic traditions and Islamic ideas.
• Kabir’s ideas probably crystallised through dialogue
and debate.
Guru Nanak : Rise of Sikhism
• The founder of a new religion and the first guru,
Guru Nanak was born in Nankana Sahib, Pakistan
on 15 April 1469.
• The message of Guru Nanak is spelt out in his
hymns and teachings, where he advocated a form
of Nirguna bhakti.
• According to Guru Nanak, the absolute or ‘rab’ had
no gender or form. His ideas expressed through
hymns called ‘Shabad’ in Punjabi.
• Guru Arjan compiled Guru Nanak’s hymns along
with the hymns of Baba Farid, Ravidas and Kabir in
the Adi Granth Sahib. Later, Guru Gobind Singh
included the compositions of Guru Tegh Bahadur
and this scripture was known as the ‘Guru Granth
Sahib.’
• The tenth guru, guru Gobind Singh laid down the
Khalsa panth Or the Army of pure, and prescribed 5
mandatory symbols of the Khalsa; uncut hair, Silver
bracelet, wooden Comb, dagger and a pair of
shorts/underwear.
• Their sacred text is “Gurbani” also called Guru
Granth Sahib.

Other religious paths

• Mirabai was a famous woman-poet of Bhakti
tradition. She composed many songs that were
characterised by intense expression of emotions.
• Mirabai’s song inspired poor and low caste people
in Gujarat and Rajasthan.
• Shankaradeva in the late fifteenth century was a
leading proponent of Vaishnavism in Assam.
• He emphasised the need for ‘Naam Kirtan’ and
encouraged the establishment of ‘Satra’ or monas
tries and ‘naam ghar’ or prayer halls. His major
compositions include the ‘Kirtana-ghosha’.

Some important facts

• There are four types of texts associated with sufis:
Treatises/Manual; Maktubat; Malfuzat; Tazkirah.
 • Kashf ul Mahjub was written by Ali bin Usman
Hujwiri.
• Fawaid-ul-Fawad was written by Amir Hasan Sijzi.
• Maktubat-e-Imam Rabbani was written by Sheikh
Ahmed Sirhindi.
• Siyar-ul-Auliya was written by Mir khwurd Kirmani
• Akhbar-ul-Akhyar was written by Abdul Haq
Muhaddis.
• “Hunuz Dehli Dur Ast/Delhi is still far away” who said
this? Nizamuddin Auliya.

Timeline
1236 – Death of Shaikh Muinuddin Chishti
1469 – Birth of Guru Nanak Dev Ji
1604 – Compilation of Guru Granth Sahib
1699 – Foundation of Khalsa Panth by Guru Gobind
Singh Ji Some Major Religious Teachers in the
Subcontinent. This Timeline indicates the period of the
major saints and reforms era
500-800 – CE Appar, Sambandar, Sundaramurti in Tamil
Nadu
800-900 – Nammalvar, Manikkavachakar, Andal,
Tondaradippodi in Tamil Nadu The teaching of these
saints influence entire the people of India.
1000-1100 – Al Hujwiri, Data Ganj Bakhsh in the Punjab,
Ramanujacharya in Tamil Nadu
1100-1200 – Basavanna in Karnataka
1200-1300 – Jnanadeva, Muktabai in Maharashtra;
Khwaja Muinuddin Chishti in Rajasthan; Bahauddin
Zakariyya and Fariduddin Ganj-I Shakar in the Punjab;
Qutbuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki in Delhi.
1300-1400 -Lai Ded in Kashmir, Lai Shahbaz Qalandar in
Sind; Nizamuddin Auliya in Delhi; Ramananda in Uttar
Pradesh; Chokhamela in Maharashtra; Sharafuddin
Yahya Maneri in Bihar
1400-1500 – Kabir, Raidas, Surdas in Uttar Pradesh;
Baba Guru Nanak in the Punjab; Vallabhacharya in
Gujarat; Mir Sayyid Muhammad Gesu Daraz in
Gulbarga, Shankaradeve in Assam; Tukaram in
Maharashtra.

Notes by Nida Parwez (Entrance Exam Coaching)

1500-1600 – Sri Chaitanya in Bengal; Mirabai in
Rajasthan; Shaikh Abdul Quddus Gangohi, Malik
Muhammad Jaisi, Tulsidas in Uttar Pradesh.
1600-1700 – Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi in Haryana; Miyan
Mir in the Punjab.

Notes by Nida Parwez (Entrance Exam Coaching)