Bhakti Movement

2020-04-27 12:22:21

Bhakti Movement in North India (13th -15th century)

Some scholars believed that it was a resurgence of the south Indian bhakti movt.
Ex Kabir was a disciple of Ramananda disciple of Ramanuja
Chaitanya disciple of Madhava
But had its own regional identity, socio-historical and cultural context
Movements of Kabir, Nanak, Raidas examples of it
monotheistic mostly Vaishnava in nature ![[2.2 Religion#Popular Bhati movt in North India]]

Kabir

Legend says was born Brahman but raised by Muslim weaver.
Lived in kashi. Strongly influenced by Nath panthis. Emphasised unity of God called him as Rama, Hari, Govind, Allah, Sain, Sahib etc.
Strongly against idol worship, pilgrimage, bathing in holy rivers, namaz etc.
Against people who propagated book learning.
Advised saints to be away from royal courts.
Oneness of God, different roads to same goal.
Diff b/w Hindus Muslims is meaningless.
Followers decreased late in his time.

Guru Nanak

Born in Khatri household in Talwandi/ Nankana sahib in 1469.
Preferred company of saints and sadhus. Forsook world after he had a mystic vision.
walked long distances on foot along with his companion Bhai Mardana.
Used rabab a stringed instrument. Attendant was Mardana.
No caste barrier, repeating name of God w/ devotion could get salvation.
Purity of character and conduct is imp.
Aimed at bridgin distinction b/w H M.
Denounced caste system, called rulers irreligious tyrants.
Wanted an ideal state presided by a philosopher king.

Vaishnava Bhakti Movement in North India :

Ramananda was most prominent figure
considered as link b/w South - North Indian Vaishnava Bhakti.
worshipper of Ram as supreme god, made B accessible to all irrespective of caste
Vallabhacahrya was another prominent vaishnava preacher, telugu Brahman of late 15th and early 16th century.
was founder of Pushtimarga(way of grace), advocated Krishna bhakti
Surdas other ashtachhap poets were his discipiles
Tulsidas propounded Rama Bhakti but others like Surdas and Mira Bai followed Krishna

Vaishnava Bhakti in Bengal :

was marked by 2 different traditions one was the Bhagavata Purana associated with the glorification of Krishnalila and other was Sahajiya Buddhist and nathpanthi traditions was the other
Early Vaishnava saints were Jayadeva(12th century) who composed the Gita Govinda in Sanskrit and Chandidas(14th century) and Vidyapati(14th and 15th century)
Chaitanya (1486-1533) was most prominent Vaishnava saint of Bengal
- popularised Krishna Bhakti in eastern India
- It marked the shift from devotional literally composition to a fullfledged social reform movement.
- His famous disciple was Haridas who popularised Sankirtan (singing and ecstatic dancing).
- did not question the authority of Brahmanas and scriptures.
- Popularised musical gatherings called Kirtans as a form of mystic experience
- Travelled to Vrindavan to revive Krishna cult. Spent most time in Gaya.
- Had even M and lower caste followers.
Most these saints had philosophic belief of Vedantic monism ie fundamental unity of God and the Created world.
Their songs written in Hindi language influenced the Sufis such as Abdul wahid Bilgrami even more than Persian poetry.

Bhakti Movement in Maharahstra :

Was inspired from the Bhagavata Puranai and saiva nathpanthis
Jnaeswar(1275-1296) was the pioneer saint, wrote in Marathi
- wrote Janesvari which was a commentary on Bhagavad Gita
- hymns he composed are called abhangs
Namdev (1270-1350) was another bhakti saint, belonged to the tailor caste
- lived in Pandharpur regarded as a link b/w Maharashtrian and North Indian Bhakti.
- was nirguna saint part of Varkari tradition.

Bhakti Movements in Other Regions :

Lala Ded in Kashmir.
Narsin Mehta in Gujarat of Vallabha sect.
Sankaradeva in Assam preached devotion to Vishnu and Krishna. He faced persecution.
- His influence led to the concept of Bhakti called eka sarana dharma.
- He also contributed to the dance drama and music in the region.
- He also founded the institution of satra (religious assembly) his sect is called the mahapurashiya dharma.

Influence of other Tradition on Bhakti of the Sultanate Period

Ramananda’s teachings are considered to be the source of popular monotheistic movements of Kabir, Ravidas etc
nathpanthis who were called siddhas belonged to lower strata of society establishment of Turkish rule increased its influence on other movements
influence can be seen in Kabirs non-conformist attitude, independent thinking, his use of ulatbhasi language and mystical symbolism

Influence of Islamic Ideas and Sufism :

Saints like Kabir and Nanak believed in one God
concept of nirguna bhakti, attack on idolatory non compromising
Sufi concepts of pir and union with beloved God coincided in many respects with concepts of guru and surrender to God
Nanaks encounters with sufis are descried in Janam-sakhis

Influence of Bhakti on Sufism :

#todo

Sufi Movement

2020-04-27 12:22:58

Growth of Sufism in India :

Al Hujwiri was the earliest sufi saints to have settled in India wrote Kashf ul Majhjub book.

Suhrawadi Silsila

in India was founded by Shaikh Bahauddin Zakariya base in Multan-Sindh-Punjab.
title of Shaikh ul Islam from Iltutmish accepted gifts enjoyed royal patronage
discipile was Shaikh Jalaluddin Tabrizi who settled in Bengal and was famous for his prosetelizing activities.
Shihabuddin Suhrawadi was founder. Bahauddin Zakariya was its founder in IN.
- ~ Did not believe in starvation or self mortification but wanted ordinary life.
- ~ Accepted Iqtas, gifts such as land and royal grants.
- ~ advocated combination of scholarship with mysticism. Did not reject sama or musical gathering.
- Opposed to certain Hindu practices adopted by Chistis ex bowing before the shaikh, giving water to visitors etc.
- ! More keen on conversions ex Shaikh Jamaluddin in Bengal.
- Had close contacts w/ rulers and nobles in the court and participated in politics.
- Zakariya sided w/ Iltutmish.
Kubrawiya silsila operated in Kashmir who encouraged destruction and desceration of Hindu temples.

Chisti Silsila

Muinuddin Chisti (d.1206) founded the Chisti order from Herat settled in Ajmer
- discipiles were Qutubuddin Bakhtiar Kaki in Delhi, Hamidduddin Nagauri in Nagaur, Rajasthan.
- Most accounts describing him were written 150 yrs after his death.
- Came to IN after Ghori’s victory over Prithviraj. Mover to Ajmer by 1206
- Settled there since it was away from Delhi/ political activity.
- His main objective was to help Muslims lead a devoted life towards God.
- MBT visited his grave and built a dome on his tomb. Mahmud Khalji also visited of Malwa also visited who built a mosque there.
- His saintly status reached peak during Akbar since Ajmer was political centre during his rule.
- A/C to him altruistic services were more imp than prayers.
Kaki was succeeded by Baba Farid whose hymns were included in Adi Granth.
- estd Chistis at Delhi as the principal sufi order
- came into conflict w/ Suhrawadis. A charge of heresy was put on him which was dismissed by Iltutmish
- Baba Farid lived in Haryana later shifted to Ajodhan in present day Pakistan. Laid emphasis on poverty, renunciation of worldly goods, attachments, controlling senses, fasting etc.
- His verses are included in Guru Granth Sahib.
Most celebrated Chishti saint Nizamuddin Auliya.
- Ziauddin Barani and Amir Khusrau his contemporaries;
- works in the Fawaid-ul Fuwad
- Auliya survived political turmoil since from the death of Balban to rise of A khaliji and thein again the rise of MBT.
- adopted many yogic exercises and had discourses with Nathpanthi yogis
- Successor was Nasirudding Chirag Dehalvi who helped FST to the throne. Did not nominate a successor -> dispersal of Chisti’s all across India and propagation of their views.
dispersed to regional kingdoms after invasion of Timur
Ex. Gesudaraz in Deccan under the Bahmani rulers
Chisti saints lived in tatched houses, very simple, poverty, humility. Sometimes remained w/o food for days.
Did ascetic practices of holding breath etc.
Married life was accepted.
Divided people into 4 categories. Mystics who preached were 1st, 2nd were Disciples, 3rd were rulers and scholars, 4th were common people.
Did not discriminate b/w converts and others. Associated w/ Hindu and Jain yogis.
Were not representatives of the masses. Most were from clergymen class.
Force of social harmonym
Also helped to mitigate harsher aspect of Turkish rule.

Various other Sufi Orders of the time Were

Suhrawadi; Firdausi → Rajgir under Yahya Maneri
Qadiri → in Punjab, Sindh and Deccan enjoyed royal patronage
Shattari → under Shaikh Abdullah was popular in Jaunpur, Bengal and Deccan;
Qalandiri → were mostly wanderes etc.
Rishi order Kashmir under Nuruddin Wali inspired by Shaivite bhakti tradition of Kashmir.

Cause of Popularity of Chisti order -

resemblence to pre-existing non-conformist religious orders
religious tolerance towards non-Muslims
egaliatrian atmosphere of Khanqahs
stayed away from courts and did not accept state patronage
their alleged miracle performing powers were propounded by contemporary writers
bhakti preacher Lal Ded exercised profound influence on Nuruddin Wali
yoga treatise Amrit Kund was translated into Persian during this time.
Some say they were a means of social and cultural revolution. This was not so since a structural change in society was beyond the capacity of the Sufis.

Role of Sufi saints/movement in the Dev of Vernacular Language, on Thought of People

#todo
Chistis believed in the use of simple language.
Challenged Arabo-Persian liguistic hegemony through the use of vernacular dilect to propagate the message of sufism.
! Contributed to the dev of literary genres ex Prem kahani.
The sufi saints carried the idea of Islam with them which was adapted esp by the lower sections of the populace.
The cultural assimilation of Ajlaf/ lower class muslims was faster. They readily adopted vernacular language in their day to day life. In this the sufi’s were prime agents for this.
Khanqah provided for a place of discourse among various sections of people -> acted as place of cultural dissipation such as language.
Bengali language is an example of this.
~ Makhdum Nuh a sufi saint in 16th century translated Quran in Persian language.
Other saints during the 18th 19th century tranlated the Quran into Urdu and Purabi Hindi dialect.
Produced poetry in Rajasthani, Punjabi, Sindhi, Marathi, Bengali, Bihari, Dakkhani, Tamil etc.
Muinuddin Chisti of Ajmer had learnt Hindustani language. Hamid aldin Siwali of Nagaur used the Hindavi langugae. Baba farid used local language.
Sufis used feminine voice in Punjabi, Sindhi, Urdu lang.
Also led to the dev of new scripts of languages such as Sindhi.

Failure of Sufi and Bhakti Movement :

#todo
Preaching in local language made the nobles aloof from their influence and prevented their patronage.
Nomadic nature of them made it difficult to record many of their poetic verses.
No institutional structure prevented a long term change since lineage of saints could not continue.
Failed to offer a proper alternative to prevailing social/religious customs that they often attacked.
It was difficult for these saints who often came from lower sections to break their religious and social customs to form a new cult.
Limited geographical reach within the subcontinent.
Factionism among the various sufi orders/ silsilas and Bhakti saints,
Exaggerated reverence of saints brought them to brink of image worship esp at therr tombs.
Sometimes created an atmosphere of sycophancy.
Rationalism was denounced by the Sufis which led to inc in miracle mongering and suspicion about science and scientists. Which restricted growth of science.

Bhakti and Sufi Movements 15th and Early 16th Century

2020-04-27 12:27:20

Monotheistic Movements of North India :

Kabir1440-1518 was the most powerful figure. was a weaver/ Julaha
- verses were included in the Adi Granth in large numbers.
Rai Ravidas belonged to the next gen as that of Kabir. He was a tanner and lived in Varanasi.
Dhanna was a Jat peasant from Rajasthan.
Other prominent saints were Sen and Pippa.
Guru Nanak 1469-1539. His teachings were similar to the ones of Kabir. Born in Nankana sahib and settled in Dera Baba Nanak. His hymns were incoporated in the Adi granth by the 5th Sikh Guru Arjan 1604.

Characteristic

came from the lower rungs of the socieity and mentioned each other in their hymns and teachings.
influenced by the Vaishnava concept of Bhakti, Nathpanthi movement and Sufism.
believed in a personal experience of Bhakti with God. But God for them meant different entities.
denied their allegiance to both Hinduism and Islam and attacked caste system and idolatory.
used popular languages to propagate their ideas.
Most monotheistic saints were not ascetics.
travelled long distances to propagate their beleifs.
transcended regional boundaries, saints had mass followings.

PYQs

Bhakti and Sufi

What was the most significant contribution of Kabir and Guru Nanakdev to Bhakti movement? [1983, 20m]

Discuss briefly the causes that contributed to the religious movements of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Analyze their approach to the realities of contemporary life. [1985, 60m]

Write a short essay on: “Significance of the Bhakti Movement.” [1987, 20m]

Write a short essay on: “The Sufi Movement and its role in promoting communal harmony.” [2000, 20m]

Refer Cause of Popularity of Chisti Order

Evaluate the impact of the Sufi and Bhakti Movements on vernacular languages and life and thought of the common people. [2001, 60m]

Preached in Vernacular, Nayanar Alavar in Tamil, Nannaya Tikkana in Telugu, Basava in Kannada, Punjabi, Hindi, Oriya, Hindi, Urdu.
Impact on thought -
- AL Srivastava - Bhakti had 2 motives withstand onslaught of Islamic proselytism and reconciliate b/w H and M, traditional rigid caste rules were liberalised, all equal before god, god for laity, oneness, religious harmony.

Write a short essay on: “Origin of the Bhakti Movement” [2002, 20m]

Write a short essay on: “Sufi Movements” [2003, 20m]

Refer previous notes on Origin, Meaning, Spread, Characterstics, Different popular orders, effect on Society Culture Religion, impact on Bhakti

What impact did Kabir and Nanak leave on Indian Society and Culture? [2003, 60m]

Discuss the growth of the Niguna School of Bhakti Movement emphasising the contribution of Kabir and Nanak to it. [2004, 60m]

“The tenets of Hindu and Muslim mystics were similar enough that the ground was ripe for syncretic movements involving adherents of both religious.” Elucidate. [2005, 60m]

Write a short essay on: “Chaitanyadeva and Vaishnavism” [2005, 20m]

Bengal 1485, Sanskrit, Krishna worship, Brahma Sampradaya, Madhava philosophy, travelled Mathura Vrindavan, Denounced rituals caste sys, disciples also M, Vaish in Bengal,
Achintya Bhed Abhed - Soul both distinct and non-distinct, integrate strict dualism of Madhva and Vishistadvaita of Ramanujacharya,
Krishna divine in own essence not mere incarnation all pervading,
attain highest state of madhurya/sweetness, virtue and ethical training necessary pre requisite for full realisation, Sankirtana

Write a short essay on: “Sufism in North India” [2006, 20m]

Refer previous notes/Anki

“The tenets of Hindu and Muslim mystics were similar enough that the ground was ripe for syncretic movements involving adherents of both religious.” Elucidate. [2007, 60m]

Assess the contribution of the Acharyas in the development of the ideological basis of Bhakti. [2012, 10m]

Discuss and evaluate critically various trends in the historiography of Bhakti. [2013, 15m]

R.G. Bhandarkar - movt indigenous, literary and epigraphic evidences,
R.C. Zaehner - movt inspired by Islam,
Tarachand - equity, universal brotherhood equivalent to Sufi thought
Yusuf Hussain - B upto 13th century was individual after contact w/ Islam transformed into cult
AL Srivastava - refer above
JR Kamble - estd egalitarian society, enabled composite IN culture
K Iswaran - Lingayatism preached universal value of freedom, equality, rationality
Irfan Habib - superior economic org of Turks proliferated artisan class, new profession emerged, rigid caste boundaries dec by B saints
Max Weber - low caste H became even more staunch
David Kinsley - male overwhelmed females

Evaluate the Malfuzat texts sources of medieval history. [2013, 10m]

Oral teachings of Sufi saints in Malf, popular, historical imp
Refer Survey of sources
- Malfuzat it Timuri of Amir Timur
- Nizamuddin Auliya’s teachings in Fawaid ul Fuwad by Amir Hasan Dehlavi
- Khair ul Majlis by Hamid Qalandar
- Society, Customs, manners recorded in conversation form
- Limitation - wrote from memory, no info about rulers and political history

Bhakti and mysticism of Lal Ded emerged as a social force in Kashmir. Comment. [2013, 10m]

Refer Anki
Used Local language Kashmiri, foundation of K literature, composite culture, M called her Lal Arifa H as Lal Ded/grandmother

Evaluate the contribution of Vaishnava saints to the growth of medieval Bhakti literature. [2014, 10m]

Shankaracharya, Ramanuja, Madhavas works
Influenced local languages
Gita Govinda of Jayadeva, Nalariya Divya Prabandham in Tamil, Nannaya Tikkana ErraPragada, Haridasa Sahitya, Saraladeva in Oriya, Shankaradeva and Madahvadas in Assamese
Write from Bhakti Saints part in ANKI

“Sufis and medieval mystic saints failed to modify either the religious ideas and practices or the outward structure of Islamic/Hindu societies to any appreciable extent.” Comment for/against. [2015, 10m]

“Tantrism, if not in practice, at last on conception level challenged patriarchy.” Examine Tantrism specially keeping in mind the above context. [2015, 10m]

Panchatattva - Alcohol, Meat, Fish, Physical Practice and Sex
Open to all, higher status to women, sexual rituals
Shakti or feminine power, venerated Goddesses, fertility worship
Led to Shaktism in H, Tara in Buddhism
Dak Tantra or Dakar Bachan is a Buddhist tantric work contains wise sayings
Shankaracharya purged objection features of Devi worship in Tantricism

Why should the sixteenth century be regarded as the period of Indian Renaissance? [2015, 15m]

“Bhakti and Sufi movements served the same social purpose.” Discuss. [2017, 15 Marks]

What was the role of Sufi Folk literature in the diffusion of Islam in India in general and Deccan in particular. [2018, 15 Marks]