Bhakti-Sufi Traditions
Changes in Religious Beliefs and Devotional Texts (c.8th to 18th Century)
● The various religious belief of the subcontinent was reconstructed from textual traditions that included compositions of poet-saints expressed orally in regional languages. These compositions were generally compiled by disciples of poet-saints.
● Hagiographies or biographics are also used by historians. These allowed a glimpse into the ways in which devotees perceived the lives of poet-saints.
A Mosaic of Religious Beliefs and Practices
● The most striking feature of Bhakti Sufi phase is the increasing visibility of a wide range of Gods and Goddesses in sculpture as well as in texts.
The Integration of Cults
● During this phase, there were two religious
processes that were going on.
● One was a process of spreading Brahmanical ideas.
The second process was the Brahmanas accepting and reworking the beliefs and practices of other social categories.
Difference and Conflict among Cults
● Tantric practices were widespread in several parts of the sub-continent. They were open to women and men and practitioners often ignored differences of caste and class within the ritual context.
● Many of these ideas influenced Shaivism as well as Buddhism, especially in the Eastern,
Northern and Southern parts of the sub continent.
● The principal deities of the Vedic religion, Agni, Indra and Soma, become marginal figures, rarely visible in textual or visual representations.
Poems of Prayer
Early Traditions of Bhakti
● During the evolution of the forms of worship, the poet-saints emerged as leaders.
● Historians of religion often classify bhakti traditions into two broad categories; saguna (with attributes) and nirguna (without attributes).
● Saguna bhakti included traditions that focused on the worship of specific deities (Lord Shiva, Lord Vishnu etc) and nirguna bhakti was worship of an abstract form of God.
The Alvars and Nayanars of Tamil Nadu
● Some of the earliest bhakti movements (c. 6th
century) were led by the Alvars (literally, those who are ‘immersed’ in devotion to Lord Vishnu) and Nayanars (literally, leaders who were devotees of Lord 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.
Protest against the Caste System
● The Alvars and Nayanars initiated a movement of protest against the caste system and the dominance of Brahmanas.
Women Devotees
● One of the most striking feature of these traditions was the presence of women as devotees.
● The compositions of Andal, a women Alvar, were widely sung (and continue to be sung to date). Andal saw herself as the beloved of Vishnu.
● Karaikkal Ammaiyar, a devotee of Shiva, adopted the path of extreme asceticism to attain her goal.
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. 6th to 9th centuries CE).
● One of the major themes in Tamil bhakti hymns is the poets’ opposition to Buddhism and Jainism. This is particularly marked in the compositions of theNayanars.
The Virashaiva Tradition in Karnataka
● A new movement emerged in Karnataka in 12th century. It led by a Brahmana named Basavanna(1106-68) who was initially a Jaina.
● His followers were known as Virashaivas (heros of Shiva) or Lingayats (wearers of the linga).
● Lingayats worship Shiva in the form of linga and men usually wear a small linga in a silver case on a thread strung over the left shoulder.
● Lingayats believe that on death, the devotee will be united with Shiva and will not return to this world.
● The Lingayats challenged the idea of caste and the pollution attributed to certain groups by Brahmanas.
● The Lingayats also encouraged certain practices disapproved in the Dharmashastras, such as post-puberty marriage and the remarriage of widows.
Religious Ferment in North India
● During 12th century, in North India deities such as Vishnu and Shiva were worshipped in temples which were usually built with the support of rulers.
● Some historians believed that this was the period when several Rajput states emerged in North India.
● Other religious leaders, who did not function within the orthodox Brahmanical framework, were also emerged.
● Many of these new religious leaders questioned the authority of the Vedas and expressed themselves in languages spoken by ordinary people.
Islamic Traditions
● Arab merchants, visited ports along the Western coast in the first millennium CE, while Central Asian people settled in the North-Western parts of the sub-continent during the same period.
● From the 7th century, with the advent of Islam, these regions became part of the Islamic world.
Faiths of Rulers and Subjects
● In 711, an Arab general named Muhammad Qasim conquered Sind, which became part of the Caliph’s domain.
● Later (c. 13th century) the Turks and Afghans
established the Delhi Sultanate.
● Muslim rulers were to be guided by the ulama, who were expected to ensure that they ruled according to the shari‘a.
● The category of the zimmi, meaning protected, developed for peoples who followed revealed scriptures, such as the Jews and Christians and lived under Muslim rulership.
● They paid a tax called jizya and gained the right to be protected by Muslims.
● In India, this status was extended to Hindus as well.
The Popular Practice of Islam
● Those who adopted Islam had accepted the five‘pillars’ of the faith
(i) there is one God, Allah and Prophet Muhammad is his messenger (shahada).
(ii) Offering prayers five times a day (namaz/salat)
(iii) Giving alms (zakat)
(iv) Fasting during the month of Ramzan (sawm)
(v) Performing the pilgrimage to Mecca ( ) hajj .
● Arab Muslim traders who settled along the Malabar coast (Kerala) adopted the local language, Malayalam.
● The blend of Islam with local traditions was evident in the architecture of mosques.
Names for Communities
● Historians who have studied Sanskrit texts and inscriptions dating between the 8th and 14th centuries, point out that the term musalman or Muslim was never used.
● People were occasionally identified in terms of the region from which they came. The Turkish rulers were designated as Turushka, Tajika were people from Tajikistan and Parashika were people from Persia.
Sometimes Turks and Afghans were referred as Shakas and Yavanas was a term used for Greeks.
The Growth of Sufism
● Sufis were a group of religious minded people. They believed in asceticism and mysticism in protest against the growing materialism of the Caliphate.
● They laid emphasis on seeking salvation through intense devotion and love for God by following his commands.
● They also followed the example of Prophet Muhammad whom they regarded as a perfect human being.
Khanqahs and Silsilas
● By the 11th century, Sufism evolved into well-developed movement. It had a body of literature on Quranic studies and Sufi practices.
● The Sufis began to organise communities around the hospice or khanqah (Persian) controlled by a teaching master known as shaikh (in Arabic), pir or murshid (in Persian).
● Sufi silsilas began to take form in different parts of the Islamic world around the 12th century.
● The word silsila literally means a chain, signifying a continuous link between master and disciple.
● This chain stretched as an unbroken spiritual link to the Prophet Muhammad.
Outside the Khanqah
● Some sufis disrespected Khanqah and took to
mendicancy (poorness) and observed celibacy
(self-restraint).
● They ignored rituals and observed extreme forms of asceticism. They were known by different name like Qalandars, Madaris, Malangs, Haidaris, etc.
The Chishtis in the Sub-continent
● The Chishtis who migrated to India in the late twelfth century were most influential among all the groups of Sufi. They adapted successfully to the local environment and adopted several features of Indian devotional traditions.
Life in the Chishti Khanqah
● The khanqah was the centre of social life. Shaikh Nizamuddin’s had his hospice (c.14th century) on the banks of the river Yamuna in Ghiyaspur, on the edges of Delhi.
● It comprised several small rooms and a big hall (jama’ at khana) where the inmates and visitors lived and prayed.
Chishti Devotionalism : Ziyarat and Qawwali
● Ziyarat means pilgrimage to tombs of sufi saints, was prevalent all over the Muslim world.
● This practice is an occasion for seeking the sufi’s spiritual grace (barakat).
● The most respected shrine is that of khwaja
Muinuddin, popularly known as Gharib Nawaz (comforter of the poor).
● The earliest textual references to Khwaja Muinuddin’s dargah date to the 14th century.
● It was evidently popular because of the austerity and piety of its Shaikh, the greatness of his spiritual successors and the patronage of royal visitors.
Languages and Communication
● In Delhi, the Chishti silsila conversed in Hindavi, thelanguage of the people.
● Sufis such as Baba Farid composed verses in the
local language, which were incorporated in the Guru
Granth Sahib.
● A different genre of sufi poetry was composed in and
around the town of Bijapur, Karnataka. These were
short poems in Dakhani (a form of Urdu) attributed to
Chishti sufis who lived in this region during the 17th
and 18th centuries.
Sufis and the State
● A major feature of the Chishti tradition was simplicity
and maintaining a distance from worldly power.
● The sufis accepted grants and donations from the
political elites.
● The Sultans in turn set-up charitable trusts (auqaf) as
income for hospices and granted tax-free land (inam).
● The Chishtis accepted donations in cash and kind.
● They preferred to use donations for immediate
requirements such as food, clothes, living quarters
and ritual necessities (such as sama’).
New Devotional Paths Dialogue and
Dissent in Northern India
Weaving a Divine Fabric : Kabir
● Kabir (c. 14th-15th centuries) is one of the most
outstanding examples of a poet-saint who emerged
within this context.
● Verses belonged to Kabir have been compiled in
three distinct, but overlapping traditions.
● The Kabir Bijak is preserved by the Kabirpanth (the
path or sect of Kabir) in Varanasi and elsewhere in
Uttar Pradesh.
● The Kabir Granthavali is related with the Dadupanth
in Rajasthan and many of his compositions are
found in the Adi Granth Sahib.
● Kabir’s poems have survived in several languages
and dialects. Some of these are composed in the
special language of nirguna poets, the sant bhasha.
● Others known as ulatbansi (upside down sayings),
are written in form in which everyday meanings are
inverted.
● According to hagiographies within the Vaishnava
tradition, Kabirdas (Kabir itself is an Arabic work
meaning ‘great’) was born a Hindu, but he was
raised by a poor Muslim family belonging to the
community of weavers of julahas, who were recently
converted to Islam.
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.
● The message of Baba Guru Nanak is explained in his
hymns and teachings. These suggest that he
advocated a form of nirguna bhakti.
● He rejected sacrifices, ritual baths, image worship,
simplicity and the scriptures of both Hindus and
Muslims. For Baba Guru Nanak, the absolute or ‘rab‘
had no gender or form.
● Baba Guru Nanak organised his followers into a
community. He set-up rules for congregational
worship (sangat) involving collective recitation.
● Guru Arjan compiled hymns of Baba Guru Nanak
along with 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.
Mirabai, the Devotee Princess
● Mirabai (c.15th-16th centuries) is the best-known
women poet within the bhakti tradition.
● 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 opposed her husband and did not accept the
traditional role of wife and mother. She instead
recognised Krishna, the avatar of Vishnu, as her lover.
Reconstructing Histories of
Religious Traditions
● Historians use a variety of sources to reconstruct
histories of religious traditions. These include
sculpture, architecture, stories about religious
preceptors, compositions attributed to women and
men engaged in the quest of understanding the
nature of the Divine.
● Textual traditions range from the simple, direct
language of the vachanas of Basavanna to the ornate
Persian of the farman of the Mughal emperors.
