THEME SIX Devotional Texts (c. eighth to eighteenth century)

THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY – PART II140

We saw in Chapter 4 that by the mid-firstmillennium CE the landscape of the subcontinentwas dotted with a variety of religious structures –stupas, monasteries, temples. If these typifiedcertain religious beliefs and practices, others havebeen reconstructed from textual traditions,including the Puranas, many of which receivedtheir present shape around the same time, and yetothers remain only faintly visible in textual andvisual records.

New textual sources available from this periodinclude compositions attributed to poet-saints,most of whom expressed themselves orally inregional languages used by ordinary people. Thesecompositions, which were often set to music, werecompiled by disciples or devotees, generally afterthe death of the poet-saint. What is more, thesetraditions were fluid – generations of devotees tendedto elaborate on the original message, and occasionallymodified or even abandoned some of the ideas thatappeared problematic or irrelevant in differentpolitical, social or cultural contexts. Using thesesources thus poses a challenge to historians.

Historians also draw on hagiographies orbiographies of saints written by their followers (ormembers of their religious sect). These may not beliterally accurate, but allow a glimpse into the waysin which devotees perceived the lives of these path-breaking women and men.

As we will see, these sources provide us withinsights into a scenario characterised by dynamismand diversity. Let us look at some elements of thesemore closely.

Bhakti - Sufi TraditionsChanges in Religious Beliefs andChanges in Religious Beliefs andChanges in Religious Beliefs andChanges in Religious Beliefs andChanges in Religious Beliefs and

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Fig. 6.1A twelfth-century bronze sculpture ofManikkavachakar, a devotee of Shivawho composed beautiful devotional songs in Tamil

THEME

SIX

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“Great” and “little”traditions

The terms great and l i t t letraditions were coined by asociologist named RobertRedf ield in the twentiethcentury to describe the culturalpractices of peasant societies.He found that peasantsobserved rituals and customsthat emanated from dominantsocial categories, includingpriests and rulers. These heclassified as part of a greattradition. At the same time,peasants also followed localpract ices that did notnecessarily correspond withthose of the great tradition.These he included within thecategory of little tradition. Healso noticed that both greatand little traditions changedover time, through a process ofinteraction.

While scholars accept thesignificance of these categoriesand processes, they areoften uncomfortable with thehierarchy suggested by theterms great and little. The useof quotation marks for “great”and “ l i t t le” is one way ofindicating this.

1. A Mosaic of Religious Beliefsand Practices

Perhaps the most striking feature of this phase isthe increasing visibility of a wide range of gods andgoddesses in sculpture as well as in texts. At onelevel, this indicates the continued and even extendedworship of the major deities – Vishnu, Shiva andthe goddess – each of whom was visualised in avariety of forms.

1.1 The integration of cultsHistorians who have tried to understand thesedevelopments suggest that there were at least twoprocesses at work. One was a process of disseminatingBrahmanical ideas. This is exemplified by thecomposition, compilation and preservation of Puranictexts in simple Sanskrit verse, explicitly meant tobe accessible to women and Shudras, who weregenerally excluded from Vedic learning. At the sametime, there was a second process at work – that ofthe Brahmanas accepting and reworking the beliefsand practices of these and other social categories. Infact, many beliefs and practices were shaped througha continuous dialogue between what sociologists havedescribed as “great” Sanskritic Puranic traditionsand “little” traditions throughout the land.

One of the most striking examples of this processis evident at Puri, Orissa, where the principal deitywas identified, by the twelfth century, as Jagannatha(literally, the lord of the world), a form of Vishnu.

Fig. 6.2Jagannatha (extreme right) with hissister Subhadra (centre) and hisbrother Balarama (left)

BHAKTI-SUFI TRADITIONS


If you compare Fig. 6.2 with Fig. 4.26 (Chapter 4)you will notice that the deity is represented in avery different way. In this instance, a local deity,whose image was and continues to be made of woodby local tribal specialists, was recognised as a formof Vishnu. At the same time, Vishnu was visualisedin a way that was very different from that in otherparts of the country.

Such instances of integration are evidentamongst goddess cults as well. Worship of thegoddess, often simply in the form of a stone smearedwith ochre, was evidently widespread. These localdeities were often incorporated within the Puranicframework by providing them with an identity as awife of the principal male deities – sometimes theywere equated with Lakshmi, the wife of Vishnu, inother instances, with Parvati, the wife of Shiva.

1.2 Difference and conflictOften associated with the goddess were formsof worship that were classified as Tantric. Tantricpractices were widespread in several parts of thesubcontinent – they were open to women andmen, and practitioners often ignored differencesof caste and class within the ritual context. Manyof these ideas influenced Shaivism as well asBuddhism, especially in the eastern, northern andsouthern parts of the subcontinent.

All of these somewhat divergent and even disparatebeliefs and practices would come to be classified asHindu over the course of the next millennium. Thedivergence is perhaps most stark if we compare Vedicand Puranic traditions. The principal deities of theVedic pantheon, Agni, Indra and Soma, becomemarginal figures, rarely visible in textual or visualrepresentations. And while we can catch a glimpseof Vishnu, Shiva and the goddess in Vedic mantras,these have little in common with the elaboratePuranic mythologies. However, in spite of theseobvious discrepancies, the Vedas continued to berevered as authoritative.

Not surprisingly, there were sometimes conflicts aswell – those who valued the Vedic tradition oftencondemned practices that went beyond the closelyregulated contact with the divine through theperformance of sacrifices or precisely chanted mantras.On the other hand those engaged in Tantric practices

Fig. 6.3Sculpture of a Buddhist goddess,Marichi (c. tenth century, Bihar),an example of the process ofintegration of different religiousbeliefs and practices

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frequently ignored the authority of the Vedas. Also,devotees often tended to project their chosen deity,either Vishnu or Shiva, as supreme. Relations withother traditions, such as Buddhism or Jainism, werealso often fraught with tension if not open conflict.

The traditions of devotion or bhakti need to belocated within this context. Devotional worship hada long history of almost a thousand years beforethe period we are considering. During this time,expressions of devotion ranged from the routineworship of deities within temples to ecstaticadoration where devotees attained a trance-likestate. The singing and chanting of devotionalcompositions was often a part of such modes ofworship. This was particularly true of the Vaishnavaand Shaiva sects.

2. Poems of PrayerEarly Traditions of Bhakti

In the course of the evolution of these forms ofworship, in many instances, poet-saints emergedas leaders around whom there developed acommunity of devotees. Further, while Brahmanasremained important intermediaries between gods anddevotees in several forms of bhakti, these traditionsalso accommodated and acknowledged women andthe “lower castes”, categories considered ineligiblefor liberation within the orthodox Brahmanicalframework. What also characterised traditions ofbhakti was a remarkable diversity.

At a different level, historians of religion oftenclassify bhakti traditions into two broad categories:saguna (with attributes) and nirguna (withoutattributes). The former included traditions thatfocused on the worship of specific deities suchas Shiva, Vishnu and his avatars (incarnations) andforms of the goddess or Devi, all often conceptualisedin anthropomorphic forms. Nirguna bhakti on theother hand was worship of an abstract form of god.

2.1 The Alvars and Nayanars of Tamil NaduSome of the earliest bhakti movements (c. sixthcentury) were led by the Alvars (literally, those whoare “immersed” in devotion to Vishnu) and Nayanars(literally, leaders who were devotees of Shiva). Theytravelled from place to place singing hymns in Tamilin praise of their gods.

Discuss...Find out about gods andgoddesses worshipped in yourtown or village, noting theirnames and the ways in whichthey are depicted. Describethe rituals that areperformed.



During their travels the Alvars and Nayanarsidentified certain shrines as abodes of their chosendeities. Very often large temples were later built atthese sacred places. These developed as centres ofpilgrimage. Singing compositions of these poet-saintsbecame part of temple rituals in these shrines, asdid worship of the saints’ images.

2.2 Attitudes towards casteSome historians suggest that the Alvars andNayanars initiated a movement of protest againstthe caste system and the dominance of Brahmanasor at least attempted to reform the system. To someextent this is corroborated by the fact that bhaktashailed from diverse social backgrounds ranging fromBrahmanas to artisans and cultivators and evenfrom castes considered “untouchable”.

The importance of the traditions of the Alvarsand Nayanars was sometimes indicated by theclaim that their compositions were as importantas the Vedas. For instance, one of the majoranthologies of compositions by the Alvars, the NalayiraDivyaprabandham, was frequently described as theTamil Veda, thus claiming that the text was assignificant as the four Vedas in Sanskrit that werecherished by the Brahmanas.

2.3 Women devoteesPerhaps one of the most striking features of thesetraditions was the presence of women. For instance,the compositions of Andal, a woman Alvar, werewidely sung (and continue to be sung to date). Andalsaw herself as the beloved of Vishnu; her versesexpress her love for the deity. Another woman,Karaikkal Ammaiyar, a devotee of Shiva, adoptedthe path of extreme asceticism in order to attain

Compilations of devotional literatureBy the tenth century the compositions of the 12 Alvars werecompiled in an anthology known as the NalayiraDivyaprabandham (“Four Thousand Sacred Compositions”).

The poems of Appar, Sambandar and Sundarar formthe Tevaram, a collection that was compiled and classifiedin the tenth century on the basis of the music of the songs.

Source 1

Source 2

The chaturvedin (Brahmanaversed in the four Vedas)

and the “outcaste”

This is an excerpt from acomposition of an Alvar namedTondaradippodi, who was aBrahmana:

You (Vishnu) manifestly like

those “servants” who expresstheir love for your feet,

though they may be bornoutcastes, more than

the Chaturvedins who arestrangers and withoutallegiance to your service.

Do you thinkTondaradippodi wasopposed to the castesystem?

Shastras or devotion?

This is a verse composed byAppar, a Nayanar saint:

O rogues who quote the lawbooks,

Of what use are your gotra andkula?

Just bow to Marperu’s lord(Shiva who resides in Marperu,in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu) asyour sole refuge.

Are there anysimilarities or differencesin the attitudes ofTondaradippodi and Appartowards Brahmanas?

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Source 3

Fig. 6.4A twelfth-century bronze imageof Karaikkal Ammaiyar


her goal. Her compositions were preserved withinthe Nayanar tradition. These women renounced theirsocial obligations, but did not join an alternativeorder or become nuns. Their very existence and theircompositions posed a challenge to patriarchal norms.

A demon?

This is an excerpt from a poem by Karaikkal Ammaiyar inwhich she describes herself:

The female Pey (demoness)

with . . . bulging veins,

protruding eyes, white teeth and shrunken stomach,

red haired and jutting teeth

lengthy shins extending till the ankles,

shouts and wails

while wandering in the forest.

This is the forest of Alankatu,

which is the home of our father (Shiva)

who dances … with his matted hair

thrown in all eight directions, and with cool limbs.

List the ways in which Karaikkal Ammaiyardepicts herself as presenting a contrast totraditional notions of feminine beauty.

2.4 Relations with the stateWe saw in Chapter 2 that there were severalimportant chiefdoms in the Tamil region in the earlyfirst millennium CE. From the second half of the firstmillennium there is evidence for states, includingthose of the Pallavas and Pandyas (c. sixth to ninthcenturies CE). While Buddhism and Jainism hadbeen prevalent in this region for several centuries,drawing support from merchant and artisancommunities, these religious traditions receivedoccasional royal patronage.

Interestingly, one of the major themes in Tamilbhakti hymns is the poets’ opposition to Buddhismand Jainism. This is particularly marked in the


compositions of the Nayanars. Historians haveattempted to explain this hostility by suggesting thatit was due to competition between members ofother religious traditions for royal patronage. Whatis evident is that the powerful Chola rulers (ninthto thirteenth centuries) supported Brahmanicaland bhakti traditions, making land grants andconstructing temples for Vishnu and Shiva.

In fact, some of the most magnificent Shivatemples, including those at Chidambaram, Thanjavurand Gangaikondacholapuram, were constructedunder the patronage of Chola rulers. This was alsothe period when some of the most spectacularrepresentations of Shiva in bronze sculpture wereproduced. Clearly, the visions of the Nayanarsinspired artists.

Both Nayanars and Alvars were revered by theVellala peasants. Not surprisingly, rulers tried towin their support as well. The Chola kings, forinstance, often attempted to claim divine supportand proclaim their own power and status by building

splendid temples that were adornedwith stone and metal sculpture torecreate the visions of these popularsaints who sang in the language ofthe people.

These kings also introduced thesinging of Tamil Shaiva hymns inthe temples under royal patronage,taking the initiative to collect andorganise them into a text (Tevaram).Further, inscriptional evidence fromaround 945 suggests that the Cholaruler Parantaka I had consecratedmetal images of Appar, Sambandarand Sundarar in a Shiva temple.These were carried in processionsduring the festivals of these saints.

Fig. 6.5An image of Shiva as Nataraja

Discuss...Why do you think kings wereinterested in proclaiming theirconnections with bhaktas?

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Rituals and thereal world

Here is a vachana composedby Basavanna:

When they see a serpentcarved in stone they pourmilk on it.

If a real serpent comes theysay: “Kill. Kill.”

To the servant of the god whocould eat if served they say:“Go away! Go away!”

But to the image of the godwhich cannot eat they offerdishes of food.

Describe Basavanna’sattitude towards rituals.How does he attempt toconvince the listener?

Source 4


3. The Virashaiva Traditionin Karnataka

The twelfth century witnessed the emergence of anew movement in Karnataka, led by a Brahmananamed Basavanna (1106-68) who was initially aJaina and a minister in the court of a Chalukyaking. His followers were known as Virashaivas(heroes of Shiva) or Lingayats (wearers of the linga).

Lingayats continue to be an important communityin the region to date. They worship Shiva in hismanifestation as a linga, and men usually wear asmall linga in a silver case on a loop strung over theleft shoulder. Those who are revered include thejangama or wandering monks. Lingayats believethat on death the devotee will be united with Shivaand will not return to this world. Therefore they donot practise funerary rites such as cremation,prescribed in the Dharmashastras. Instead, theyceremonially bury their dead.

The Lingayats challenged the idea of caste andthe “pollution” attributed to certain groups byBrahmanas. They also questioned the theory ofrebirth. These won them followers amongst thosewho were marginalised within the Brahmanicalsocial order. The Lingayats also encouraged certainpractices disapproved in the Dharmashastras,such as post-puberty marriage and the remarriageof widows. Our understanding of the Virashaivatradition is derived from vachanas (literally, sayings)composed in Kannada by women and men whojoined the movement.

New religious developmentsThis period also witnessed two major developments.On the one hand, many ideas of the Tamil bhaktas(especially the Vaishnavas) were incorporated withinthe Sanskritic tradition, culminating in the compositionof one of the best-known Puranas, the BhagavataPurana. Second, we find the development of traditionsof bhakti in Maharashtra in the thirteenth century.


4. Religious Ferment inNorth India

During the same period, in north India deities such asVishnu and Shiva were worshipped in temples, often builtwith the support of rulers. However, historians have notfound evidence of anything resembling the compositionsof the Alvars and Nayanars till the fourteenth century.How do we account for this difference?

Some historians point out that in north India thiswas the period when several Rajput states emerged. Inmost of these states Brahmanas occupied positions ofimportance, performing a range of secular and ritualfunctions. There seems to have been little or no attemptto challenge their position directly.

At the same time otherreligious leaders, who did notfunction within the orthodoxBrahmanical framework, weregaining ground. These includedthe Naths, Jogis and Siddhas.Many of them came fromartisanal groups, includingweavers, who were becomingincreasingly important with thedevelopment of organised craftproduction. Demand for suchproduction grew with theemergence of new urban centres,and long-distance trade withCentral Asia and West Asia.

Many of these new religiousleaders questioned theauthority of the Vedas, and

expressed themselves in languages spoken by ordinarypeople, which developed over centuries into the onesused today. However, in spite of their popularity thesereligious leaders were not in a position to win thesupport of the ruling elites.

A new element in this situation was the coming ofthe Turks which culminated in the establishment of theDelhi Sultanate (thirteenth century). This underminedthe power of many of the Rajput states and theBrahmanas who were associated with these kingdoms.This was accompanied by marked changes in the realmof culture and religion. The coming of the sufis(Section 6) was a significant part of these developments.

Fig. 6.6Fragment of a page from theQur’an, belonging to amanuscript dating to theeighth or ninth century

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Ulama (plural of alim, or onewho knows) are scholars ofIslamic studies. As preservers ofthis tradition they performvarious religious, juridical andteaching functions.

5. New Strands in the FabricIslamic Traditions

Just as the regions within the subcontinent werenot isolated from one another, so too, contact withlands beyond the seas and mountains had existedfor millennia. Arab merchants, for instance,frequented ports along the western coast in the firstmillennium CE, while Central Asian peoples settledin the north-western parts of the subcontinentduring the same period. From the seventh century,with the advent of Islam, these regions became partof what is often termed the Islamic world.

5.1 Faiths of rulers and subjectsOne axis of understanding the significance of theseconnections that is frequently adopted is to focus onthe religions of ruling elites. In 711 an Arab generalnamed Muhammad Qasim conquered Sind, whichbecame part of the Caliph’s domain. Later (c. thirteenthcentury) the Turks and Afghans established theDelhi Sultanate. This was followed by the formationof Sultanates in the Deccan and other parts of thesubcontinent; Islam was an acknowledged religion ofrulers in several areas. This continued with theestablishment of the Mughal Empire in the sixteenthcentury as well as in many of the regional states thatemerged in the eighteenth century.

Theoretically, Muslim rulers were to be guided bythe ulama, who were expected to ensure that theyruled according to the shari‘a. Clearly, the situationwas complicated in the subcontinent, where therewere populations that did not subscribe to Islam.

It is in this context that the category of the zimmi,meaning protected (derived from the Arabic wordzimma, protection) developed for peoples who followedrevealed scriptures, such as the Jews and Christians,and lived under Muslim rulership. They paid a taxcalled jizya and gained the right to be protected byMuslims. In India this status was extended to Hindusas well. As you will see (Chapter 9), rulers such asthe Mughals came to regard themselves as emperorsof not just Muslims but of all peoples.

In effect, rulers often adopted a fairly flexible policytowards their subjects. For instance, several rulersgave land endowments and granted tax exemptionsto Hindu, Jaina, Zoroastrian, Christian and Jewishreligious institutions and also expressed respect and

Shari‘aThe shari‘a is the law governingthe Muslim community. It isbased on the Qur’an and thehadis, traditions of the Prophetincluding a record of hisremembered words and deeds.

With the expansion of Islamicrule outside Arabia, in areaswhere customs and traditionswere different, qiyas (reasoningby analogy) and i jma(consensus of the community)were recognised as two othersources of legislation. Thus, theshari‘a evolved from theQur’an, hadis, qiyas and ijma.



Fig. 6.7A Mughal painting depictingEmperor Jahangir with a Jogi

Source 5

Source 6

Who were the people from whom Akbaranticipated opposition to his order?

Identify the deity worshipped by the Jogi.Describe the attitude of the emperor towardsthe Jogi.

devotion towards non-Muslim religious leaders.These grants were made by several Mughal rulers,including Akbar and Aurangzeb.

A church in Khambat

This is an excerpt from a farman (imperial order) issuedby Akbar in 1598:

Whereas it reached our eminent and holy notice thatthe padris (fathers) of the Holy Society of Jesus wishto build a house of prayer (church) in the city ofKambayat (Khambat, in Gujarat); therefore an exaltedmandate … is being issued, … that the dignitaries ofthe city of Kambayat should in no case stand in theirway but should allow them to build a church so thatthey may engage themselves in their own worship. Itis necessary that the order of the Emperor should beobeyed in every way.

Reverence for the Jogi

Here is an excerpt from a letter written by Aurangzeb toa Jogi in 1661-62:

The possessor of the sublime station, Shiv Murat, GuruAnand Nath Jio!

May your Reverence remain in peace and happinessever under the protection of Sri Shiv Jio!

… A piece of cloth for the cloak and a sum of twentyfive rupees which have been sent as an offering willreach (Your Reverence) … Your Reverence may writeto us whenever there is any service which can berendered by us.

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5.2 The popular practice of IslamThe developments that followed the coming of Islamwere not confined to ruling elites; in fact theypermeated far and wide, through the subcontinent,amongst different social strata – peasants, artisans,warriors, merchants, to name a few. All those whoadopted Islam accepted, in principle, the five “pillars”of the faith: that there is one God, Allah, and ProphetMuhammad is his messenger (shahada); offeringprayers five times a day (namaz/salat ); giving alms(zakat ); fasting during the month of Ramzan (sawm );and performing the pilgrimage to Mecca (hajj ).

However, these universal features were oftenoverlaid with diversities in practice derived fromsectarian affiliations (Sunni, Shi‘a), and the influenceof local customary practices of converts from differentsocial milieus. For example, the Khojahs, a branchof the Ismailis (a Shi‘a sect), developed new modesof communication, disseminating ideas derived fromthe Qur’an through indigenous literary genres. Theseincluded the ginan (derived from the Sanskrit jnana,meaning “knowledge”), devotional poems in Punjabi,Multani, Sindhi, Kachchi, Hindi and Gujarati, sungin special ragas during daily prayer meetings.

Elsewhere, Arab Muslim traders who settledalong the Malabar coast (Kerala) adopted thelocal language, Malayalam. They also adoptedlocal customs such as matriliny (Chapter 3) andmatrilocal residence.

The complex blend of a universal faith with localtraditions is perhaps best exemplified in thearchitecture of mosques. Some architectural features

Fig. 6.8A Khojaki manuscriptThe ginan were transmittedorally before being recorded in theKhojaki script that was derivedfrom the local landa (“clipped”mercantile script) used by thelinguistically diverse communityof Khojahs in the Punjab, Sindand Gujarat.

Matrilocal residence is apractice where women aftermarriage remain in their natalhome with their children andthe husbands may come to staywith them.

Fig. 6.9A mosque in Kerala,c. thirteenth centuryNote the shikhara-like roof.



of mosques are universal – such astheir orientation towards Mecca,evident in the placement of the mihrab(prayer niche) and the minbar (pulpit).However, there are several featuresthat show variations – such as roofsand building materials (see Figs. 6.9,6.10 and 6.11).

5.3 Names for communitiesWe often take the terms Hindu andMuslim for granted, as labels forreligious communities. Yet, theseterms did not gain currency for a verylong time. Historians who have studiedSanskrit texts and inscriptions datingbetween the eighth and fourteenthcenturies point out that the termmusalman or Muslim was virtuallynever used. Instead, people wereoccasionally identified in terms ofthe region from which they came.So, the Turkish rulers were designatedas Turushka, Tajika were people fromTajikistan and Parashika were peoplefrom Persia. Sometimes, terms usedfor other peoples were applied to thenew migrants. For instance, theTurks and Afghans were referred toas Shakas (Chapters 2 and 3) andYavanas (a term used for Greeks).

A more general term for these migrantcommunities was mlechchha, indicating that they didnot observe the norms of caste society and spokelanguages that were not derived from Sanskrit. Suchterms sometimes had a derogatory connotation, but theyrarely denoted a distinct religious community of Muslimsin opposition to Hindus. And as we saw (Chapter 5),the term “Hindu” was used in a variety of ways, notnecessarily restricted to a religious connotation.

Discuss...Find out more about the architecture of mosques inyour village or town. What are the materials used tobuild mosques? Are these locally available?Are there any distinctive architectural features?

Fig. 6.11The Shah Hamadan mosque inSrinagar, on the banks of theJhelum, is often regarded as the“jewel in the crown” of all theexisting mosques of Kashmir.Built in 1395, it is one of the bestexamples of Kashmiri woodenarchitecture. Notice the spire andthe beautifully carved eaves. It isdecorated with papier mache.

Fig. 6.10Atiya mosque, Mymensingh district,Bangladesh, built with brick, 1609

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6. The Growth of SufismIn the early centuries of Islam a group of religious-minded people called sufis turned to asceticism andmysticism in protest against the growing materialismof the Caliphate as a religious and political institution.They were critical of the dogmatic definitions andscholastic methods of interpreting the Qur’an and sunna(traditions of the Prophet) adopted by theologians.Instead, they laid emphasis on seeking salvationthrough intense devotion and love for God by followingHis commands, and by following the example of theProphet Muhammad whom they regarded as a perfecthuman being. The sufis thus sought an interpretationof the Qur’an on the basis of their personal experience.

6.1 Khanqahs and silsilasBy the eleventh century Sufism evolved into a well-developed movement with a body of literature onQuranic studies and sufi practices. Institutionally,the sufis began to organise communities around thehospice or khanqah (Persian) controlled by a teachingmaster known as shaikh (in Arabic), pir or murshid (inPersian). He enrolled disciples (murids) and appointeda successor (khalifa). He established rules for spiritualconduct and interaction between inmates as well asbetween laypersons and the master.

Sufi silsilas began to crystallise in different parts ofthe Islamic world around the twelfth century. The wordsilsila literally means a chain, signifying a continuouslink between master and disciple, stretching as anunbroken spiritual genealogy to the Prophet Muhammad.It was through this channel that spiritual power andblessings were transmitted to devotees. Special ritualsof initiation were developed in which initiates took anoath of allegiance, wore a patched garment, and shavedtheir hair.

When the shaikh died, his tomb-shrine (dargah, aPersian term meaning court) became the centre ofdevotion for his followers. This encouraged the practiceof pilgrimage or ziyarat to his grave, particularly onhis death anniversary or urs (or marriage, signifyingthe union of his soul with God). This was becausepeople believed that in death saints were united withGod, and were thus closer to Him than when living.People sought their blessings to attain material andspiritual benefits. Thus evolved the cult of the shaikhrevered as wali.

Sufism and tasawwufSufism is an English wordcoined in the nineteenthcentury. The word used forSufism in Islamic texts istasawwuf. Historians haveunderstood this term inseveral ways. According tosome scholars, it is derivedfrom suf, meaning wool,referring to the coarsewoollen clothes worn bysufis. Others derive it fromsafa, meaning purity. It mayalso have been derived fromsuffa, the platform outsidethe Prophet’s mosque,where a group of closefollowers assembled to learnabout the faith.

Names of silsilasMost suf i l ineages werenamed after a foundingfigure. For example, theQadiri order was namedafter Shaikh Abd’ul QadirJilani. However, some likethe Chisht i order, werenamed after their placeof origin, in this case thetown of Chisht in centralAfghanistan.



6.2 Outside the khanqahSome mystics initiated movements based on aradical interpretation of sufi ideals. Many scornedthe khanqah and took to mendicancy and observedcelibacy. They ignored rituals and observed extremeforms of asceticism. They were known by differentnames – Qalandars, Madaris, Malangs, Haidaris,etc. Because of their deliberate defiance of the shari‘athey were often referred to as be-shari‘a, in contrastto the ba-shari‘a sufis who complied with it.

7. The Chishtis in theSubcontinent

Of the groups of sufis who migrated to India inthe late twelfth century, the Chishtis were themost influential. This was because they adaptedsuccessfully to the local environment and adoptedseveral features of Indian devotional traditions.

7.1 Life in the Chishti khanqahThe khanqah was the centre of social life. We knowabout Shaikh Nizamuddin’s hospice (c. fourteenthcentury) on the banks of the river Yamuna inGhiyaspur, on the outskirts of what was then thecity of Delhi. It comprised several small rooms anda big hall ( jama’at khana) where the inmates andvisitors lived and prayed. The inmates included familymembers of the Shaikh, his attendants and disciples.The Shaikh lived in a small room on the roof of thehall where he met visitors in the morning and evening.A veranda surrounded the courtyard, and a boundarywall ran around the complex. On one occasion, fearinga Mongol invasion, people from the neighbouring areasflocked into the khanqah to seek refuge.

Wali (plural auliya) or friend ofGod was a sufi who claimedproximity to Allah, acquiringHis Grace (barakat) to performmiracles (karamat).

MAJOR TEACHERS OF THE CHISHTI SILSILA

SUFI TEACHERS YEAR OF DEATH LOCATION OF DARGAH

Shaikh Muinuddin Sijzi 1235 Ajmer (Rajasthan)

Khwaja Qutbuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki 1235 Delhi

Shaikh Fariduddin Ganj-i Shakar 1265 Ajodhan (Pakistan)

Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya 1325 Delhi

Shaikh Nasiruddin Chiragh-i Dehli 1356 Delhi

Discuss...Are there any khanqahs ordargahs in your town orvillage? Find out when thesewere built, and what are theactivities associated withthem. Are there other placeswhere religious men andwomen meet or live?

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There was an open kitchen (langar), run on futuh(unasked-for charity). From morning till late nightpeople from all walks of life – soldiers, slaves,singers, merchants, poets, travellers, rich andpoor, Hindu jogis (yogi) and qalandars – cameseeking discipleship, amulets for healing, and theintercession of the Shaikh in various matters. Othervisitors included poets such as Amir Hasan Sijziand Amir Khusrau and the court historian ZiyauddinBarani, all of whom wrote about the Shaikh.Practices that were adopted, including bowing beforethe Shaikh, offering water to visitors, shaving theheads of initiates, and yogic exercises, representedattempts to assimilate local traditions.

Shaikh Nizamuddin appointed several spiritualsuccessors and deputed them to set up hospices invarious parts of the subcontinent. As a result theteachings, practices and organisation of the Chishtisas well as the fame of the Shaikh spread rapidly.This in turn drew pilgrims to his shrine, and also tothe shrines of his spiritual ancestors.

7.2 Chishti devotionalism: ziyarat and qawwaliPilgrimage, called ziyarat, to tombs of sufi saints isprevalent all over the Muslim world. This practiceis an occasion for seeking the sufi’s spiritual grace(barakat). For more than seven centuries people ofvarious creeds, classes and social backgrounds haveexpressed their devotion at the dargahs of the fivegreat Chishti saints (see chart on p.154). Amongstthese, the most revered shrine is that of KhwajaMuinuddin, popularly known as “Gharib Nawaz”(comforter of the poor).

The earliest textual references to KhwajaMuinuddin’s dargah date to the fourteenth century.It was evidently popular because of the austerityand piety of its Shaikh, the greatness of his spiritualsuccessors, and the patronage of royal visitors.Muhammad bin Tughlaq (ruled, 1324-51) was the

The story ofData Ganj Bakhsh

In 1039 Abu’l Hasan al Hujwiri,a native of Hujwir near Ghazniin Afghanistan, was forced tocross the Indus as a captive ofthe invading Turkish army. Hesettled in Lahore and wrote abook in Persian called the Kashf-ul-Mahjub (Unveiling of theVeiled) to explain the meaningof tasawwuf, and those whopractised it, that is, the sufi.

Hujwiri died in 1073 and wasburied in Lahore. The grandsonof Sultan Mahmud of Ghazniconstructed a tomb over hisgrave, and this tomb-shrinebecame a site of pilgrimage forhis devotees, especially on hisdeath anniversary.

Even today Hujwiri is reveredas Data Ganj Bakhsh or “Giverwho bestows treasures” and hismausoleum is cal led DataDarbar or “Court of the Giver”.

Fig. 6.12A seventeenth-century painting ofShaikh Nizamuddin Auliya andhis disciple Amir Khusrau

Describe how the artist differentiates between theShaikh and his disciple.



first Sultan to visit the shrine, but the earliestconstruction to house the tomb was funded in thelate fifteenth century by Sultan Ghiyasuddin Khaljiof Malwa. Since the shrine was located on the traderoute linking Delhi and Gujarat, it attracted a lotof travellers.

By the sixteenth century the shrine had becomevery popular; in fact it was the spirited singing ofpilgrims bound for Ajmer that inspired Akbarto visit the tomb. He went there fourteen times,sometimes two or three times a year, to seekblessings for new conquests, fulfilment of vows, andthe birth of sons. He maintained this tradition until1580. Each of these visits was celebrated bygenerous gifts, which were recorded in imperialdocuments. For example, in 1568 he offered a hugecauldron (degh) to facilitate cooking for pilgrims.He also had a mosque constructed within thecompound of the dargah.

Fig. 6.13Shaikhs greeting the Mughalemperor Jahangir on his pilgrimageto Ajmer, painting by an artistnamed Manohar, c.1615

Find his signature on thepainting.

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The pilgrimage of the Mughal princessJahanara, 1643

The following is an excerpt from Jahanara’s biographyof Shaikh Muinuddin Chishti, titled Munis al Arwah(The Confidant of Spirits):

After praising the one God … this lowly faqira(humble soul) Jahanara ... went from the capitalAgra in the company of my great father (EmperorShah Jahan) towards the pure reg ion o fincomparable Ajmer … I was committed to this idea,that every day in every station I would perform twocycles of optional prayer …

For several days ... I did not sleep on a leopard skinat night, I did not extend my feet in the direction of theblessed sanctuary of the revered saving master, and Idid not turn my back towards him. I passed the daysbeneath the trees.

On Thursday, the fourth of the blessed month ofRamzan, I attained the happiness of pilgrimage to theilluminated and the perfumed tomb … With an hour ofdaylight remaining, I went to the holy sanctuary andrubbed my pale face with the dust of that threshold.From the doorway to the blessed tomb I went barefoot,kissing the ground. Having entered the dome, I wentaround the light-filled tomb of my master seven times… Finally, with my own hand I put the finest quality ofitar on the perfumed tomb of the revered one, andhaving taken off the rose scarf that I had on my head, Iplaced it on the top of the blessed tomb ...

Also part of ziyarat is the use of music and danceincluding mystical chants performed by speciallytrained musicians or qawwals to evoke divineecstasy. The sufis remember God either by recitingthe zikr (the Divine Names) or evoking His Presencethrough sama‘ (literally, “audition”) or performanceof mystical music. Sama‘ was integral to the Chishtis,and exemplified interaction with indigenousdevotional traditions.

What are the gestures that Jahanararecords to indicate her devotion to the Shaikh?How does she suggest that the dargah was aspecial place?

The lamp of theentire land

Each sufi shrine was associatedwith distinctive features. This iswhat an eighteenth-centuryvisitor from the Deccan, DargahQuli Khan, wrote about theshrine of Nasiruddin Chiragh-iDehli in his Muraqqa-i Dehli(Album of Delhi):

The Shaikh (in the grave)is not the lamp of Delhibut of the entire country.People turn up there incrowds, particularly onSunday. In the monthof Diwali the entirepopulation of Delhi visitsi t and stays in tentsaround the spring tank fordays. They take baths toobtain cures from chronicdiseases. Muslims andHindus pay visits in thesame spirit. From morningtill evening people comeand also make themselvesbusy in merrymaking inthe shade of the trees.

Source 7



7.3 Languages and communicationIt was not just in sama‘ that the Chishtis adoptedlocal languages. In Delhi, those associated withthe Chishti silsila conversed in Hindavi, the languageof the people. Other sufis such as Baba Faridcomposed verses in the local language, which wereincorporated in the Guru Granth Sahib. Yet otherscomposed long poems or masnavis to express ideasof divine love using human love as an allegory. Forexample, the prem-akhyan (love story) Padmavatcomposed by Malik Muhammad Jayasi revolvedaround the romance of Padmini and Ratansen, theking of Chittor. Their trials were symbolic of the soul’sjourney to the divine. Such poetic compositions wereoften recited in hospices, usually during sama‘.

A different genre of sufi poetry was composed inand around the town of Bijapur, Karnataka. Thesewere short poems in Dakhani (a variant of Urdu)attributed to Chishti sufis who lived in this regionduring the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.These poems were probably sung by women whileperforming household chores like grinding grain andspinning. Other compositions were in the form oflurinama or lullabies and shadinama or weddingsongs. It is likely that the sufis of this region wereinspired by the pre-existing bhakti tradition of theKannada vachanas of the Lingayats and the Marathiabhangs of the sants of Pandharpur. It is throughthis medium that Islam gradually gained a place inthe villages of the Deccan.

Amir Khusrau andthe qaul

Amir Khusrau (1253-1325), thegreat poet, musician and discipleof Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya,gave a unique form to the Chishtisama‘ by introducing the qaul(Arabic word meaning “saying”),a hymn sung at the opening orclosing of qawwali. This wasfollowed by sufi poetry in Persian,Hindavi or Urdu, and sometimesusing words from all of theselanguages. Qawwals (those whosing these songs) at the shrine ofShaikh Nizamuddin Auliya alwaysstart their recital with the qaul.Today qawwali is performed inshrines all over the subcontinent.

Fig. 6.14Qawwali at the dargah ofNizamuddin Auliya

Charkhanama

A song set to the rhythm of the spinning wheel:

As you take the cotton, you do zikr-i jaliAs you separate the cotton you should do zikr-i qalbiAnd as you spool the thread you should do zikr-i ainiZikr should be uttered from the stomach through thechest,And threaded through the throat.The threads of breath should be counted one by one,oh sister.Up to twenty four thousand.Do this day and night,And offer this to your pir as a gift.

Source 8

In what ways are the ideasand modes of expression usedin this song similar to ordifferent from those used byJahanara to describe herziyarat (Source 7)?

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7.4 Sufis and the stateA major feature of the Chishti tradition was austerity,including maintaining a distance from worldlypower. However, this was by no means a situation ofabsolute isolation from political power. The sufisaccepted unsolicited grants and donations from thepolitical elites. The Sultans in turn set up charitabletrusts (auqaf ) as endowments for hospices andgranted tax-free land (inam).

The Chishtis accepted donations in cash and kind.Rather than accumulate donations, they preferredto use these fully on immediate requirementssuch as food, clothes, living quarters and ritualnecessities (such as sama‘ ). All this enhanced themoral authority of the shaikhs, which in turnattracted people from all walks of life. Further, theirpiety and scholarship, and people’s belief in theirmiraculous powers made sufis popular among themasses, whose support kings wished to secure.

Kings did not simply need to demonstrate theirassociation with sufis; they also required legitimationfrom them. When the Turks set up the DelhiSultanate, they resisted the insistence of the ulamaon imposing shari‘a as state law because theyanticipated opposition from their subjects, themajority of whom were non-Muslims. The Sultansthen sought out the sufis – who derived theirauthority directly from God – and did not depend onjurists to interpret the shari‘a.

Besides, it was believed that the auliya couldintercede with God in order to improve the materialand spiritual conditions of ordinary human beings.This explains why kings often wanted their tombs tobe in the vicinity of sufi shrines and hospices.

However, there were instances of conflict betweenthe Sultans and the sufis. To assert their authority,both expected that certain rituals be performed suchas prostration and kissing of the feet. Occasionallythe sufi shaikh was addressed with high-soundingtitles. For example, the disciples of NizamuddinAuliya addressed him as sultan-ul-mashaikh (literally,Sultan amongst shaikhs).

Sufis and the stateOther su f i s such as theSuhrawardi under the DelhiSultans and the Naqshbandiunder the Mughals were alsoassoc ia ted wi th the s ta te .However, the modes of theirassociation were not the sameas those of the Chishtis. Insome cases, sufis acceptedcourtly offices.



Declining a royal gift

This excerpt from a sufi text describes the proceedings atShaikh Nizamuddin Auliya’s hospice in 1313:

I (the author, Amir Hasan Sijzi) had the goodfortune of kissing his (Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya’s)feet … At this time a local ruler had sent him thedeed of ownership to two gardens and much land,along with the provis ions and tools for theirmaintenance. The ruler had also made it clear thathe was relinquishing all his rights to both thegardens and land. The master … had not acceptedthat gift. Instead, he had lamented: “What have I todo with gardens and fields and lands? … None of …our spiritual masters had engaged in such activity.”

Then he told an appropriate story: “… SultanGhiyasuddin, who at that time was still known asUlugh Khan, came to visit Shaikh Fariduddin (and)offered some money and ownership deeds for fourvillages to the Shaikh, the money being for the benefitof the dervishes (sufis), and the land for his use.Smiling, Shaikh al Islam (Fariduddin) said: ‘Give methe money. I will dispense it to the dervishes. But asfor those land deeds, keep them. There are many wholong for them. Give them away to such persons.’”

Source 9

What aspects of therelationship between the sufisand the state do you think arebest illustrated in this account?What does the account tell usabout the modes ofcommunication between theShaikh and his disciples?

Fig. 6.15The dargah of Shaikh Salim Chishti(a direct descendant of Baba Farid)constructed in Fatehpur Sikri,Akbar’s capital, symbolised thebond between the Chishtis and theMughal state.

Discuss...What are the potentialsources of conflict in therelationship between religiousand political leaders?

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8. New Devotional PathsDialogue and Dissent inNorthern India

Many poet-saints engaged in explicit and implicitdialogue with these new social situations, ideas andinstitutions. Let us now see how this dialogue foundexpression. We focus here on three of the mostinfluential figures of the time.

8.1 Weaving a divine fabric: KabirKabir (c. fourteenth-fifteenth centuries) is perhapsone of the most outstanding examples of a poet-saintwho emerged within this context. Historians havepainstakingly tried to reconstruct his life and timesthrough a study of compositions attributed to himas well as later hagiographies. Such exercises haveproved to be challenging on a number of counts.

Verses ascribed to Kabir have been compiled inthree distinct but overlapping traditions. The KabirBijak is preserved by the Kabirpanth (the path orsect of Kabir) in Varanasi and elsewhere in UttarPradesh; the Kabir Granthavali is associated withthe Dadupanth in Rajasthan, and many of hiscompositions are found in the Adi Granth Sahib (seeSection 8.2). All these manuscript compilationswere made long after the death of Kabir. By thenineteenth century, anthologies of verses attributedto him circulated in print in regions as far apart asBengal, Gujarat and Maharashtra.

Kabir’s poems have survived in several languagesand dialects; and some are composed in the speciallanguage of nirguna poets, the sant bhasha. Others,known as ulatbansi (upside-down sayings), arewritten in a form in which everyday meaningsare inverted. These hint at the difficulties ofcapturing the nature of the Ultimate Reality inwords: expressions such as “the lotus which bloomswithout flower” or the “fire raging in the ocean” conveya sense of Kabir’s mystical experiences.

Also striking is the range of traditions Kabir drewon to describe the Ultimate Reality. These includeIslam: he described the Ultimate Reality as Allah,Khuda, Hazrat and Pir. He also used terms drawnfrom Vedantic traditions, alakh (the unseen), nirakar(formless), Brahman, Atman, etc. Other terms withmystical connotations such as shabda (sound) orshunya (emptiness) were drawn from yogic traditions.

The One Lord

Here is a composition attributedto Kabir:

Tell me, brother, how canthere be

No one lord of the worldbut two?

Who led you so astray?

God is called by many names:

Names like Allah, Ram, Karim,Keshav, Hari, and Hazrat.

Gold may be shaped intorings and bangles.

Isn’t it gold all the same?

Distinctions are only wordswe invent …

Kabir says they are bothmistaken.

Neither can find the onlyRam. One kills the goat, theother cows.

They waste their lives indisputation.

What is Kabir’sargument against thedistinction madebetween gods ofdifferent communities?

Source 10



Diverse and sometimes conflicting ideas areexpressed in these poems. Some poems draw onIslamic ideas and use monotheism and iconoclasmto attack Hindu polytheism and idol worship; othersuse the sufi concept of zikr and ishq (love) to expressthe Hindu practice of nam-simaran (remembranceof God’s name).

Were all these composed by Kabir? We may neverbe able to tell with certainty, although scholars havetried to analyse the language, style and content toestablish which verses could be Kabir’s. What thisrich corpus of verses also signifies is that Kabir wasand is to the present a source of inspiration forthose who questioned entrenched religious andsocial institutions, ideas and practices in theirsearch for the Divine.

Just as Kabir’s ideas probablycrystallised through dialogueand debate (explicit or implicit)with the traditions of sufis andyogis in the region of Awadh (partof present-day Uttar Pradesh),his legacy was claimed by severalgroups, who remembered himand continue to do so.

This is most evident in laterdebates about whether he wasa Hindu or a Muslim by birth,debates that are reflected inhagiographies. Many of thesewere composed from theseventeenth century onwards,about 200 years after Kabir’slifetime.

Hagiographies within theVaishnava tradition attemptedto suggest that he was born aHindu, Kabirdas (Kabir itself isan Arabic word meaning “great”),but was raised by a poorMuslim family belonging tothe community of weavers orjulahas, who were relativelyrecent converts to Islam. Theyalso suggested that he wasinitiated into bhakti by a guru,perhaps Ramananda.

Fig. 6.16Roadside musicians, a seventeenth-century Mughal paintingIt is likely that the compositionsof the sants were sung bysuch musicians.

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However, the verses attributed to Kabir use thewords guru and satguru, but do not mention the nameof any specific preceptor. Historians have pointedout that it is very difficult to establish thatRamananda and Kabir were contemporaries, withoutassigning improbably long lives to either or both.So, while traditions linking the two cannot beaccepted at face value, they show how importantthe legacy of Kabir was for later generations.

8.2 Baba Guru Nanak and the Sacred WordBaba Guru Nanak (1469-1539) was born in a Hindumerchant family in a village called Nankana Sahibnear the river Ravi in the predominantly MuslimPunjab. He trained to be an accountant and studiedPersian. He was married at a young age but he spentmost of his time among sufis and bhaktas. He alsotravelled widely.

The message of Baba Guru Nanak is spelt out inhis hymns and teachings. These suggest that headvocated a form of nirguna bhakti. He firmlyrepudiated the external practices of the religions hesaw around him. He rejected sacrifices, ritual baths,image worship, austerities and the scriptures of bothHindus and Muslims. For Baba Guru Nanak,the Absolute or “rab” had no gender or form. Heproposed a simple way to connect to the Divine byremembering and repeating the Divine Name,expressing his ideas through hymns called “shabad”in Punjabi, the language of the region. Baba GuruNanak would sing these compositions in variousragas while his attendant Mardana played the rabab.

Baba Guru Nanak organised his followers into acommunity. He set up rules for congregationalworship (sangat ) involving collective recitation. Heappointed one of his disciples, Angad, to succeedhim as the preceptor (guru), and this practice wasfollowed for nearly 200 years.

It appears that Baba Guru Nanak did notwish to establish a new religion, but after his deathhis followers consolidated their own practicesand distinguished themselves from both Hindusand Muslims. The fifth preceptor, Guru Arjan,compiled Baba Guru Nanak’s hymns along withthose of his four successors and other religiouspoets like Baba Farid, Ravidas (also known asRaidas) and Kabir in the Adi Granth Sahib. Thesehymns, called “gurbani”, are composed in various



languages. In the late seventeenth century the tenthpreceptor, Guru Gobind Singh, included thecompositions of the ninth guru, Guru Tegh Bahadur,and this scripture was called the Guru Granth Sahib.Guru Gobind Singh also laid the foundation of theKhalsa Panth (army of the pure) and defined its fivesymbols: uncut hair, a dagger, a pair of shorts, a comband a steel bangle. Under him the community gotconsolidated as a socio-religious and military force.

8.3 Mirabai, the devotee princessMirabai (c. fifteenth-sixteenth centuries) is perhapsthe best-known woman poet within the bhaktitradition. Biographies have been reconstructedprimarily from the bhajans attributed to her, whichwere transmitted orally for centuries. According tothese, she was a Rajput princess from Merta inMarwar who was married against her wishes to aprince of the Sisodia clan of Mewar, Rajasthan. Shedefied her husband and did not submit to thetraditional role of wife and mother, insteadrecognising Krishna, the avatar of Vishnu, as herlover. Her in-laws tried to poison her, but she escapedfrom the palace to live as a wandering singercomposing songs that are characterised by intenseexpressions of emotion.

Love for the Lord

This is part of a song attributed to Mirabai:I will build a funeral pyre of sandalwood and aloe;Light it by your own handWhen I am burned away to cinders;Smear this ash upon your limbs.… let flame be lost in flame.

In another verse, she sings:What can Mewar’s ruler do to me?If God is angry, all is lost,But what can the Rana do?

Source 11

What does this indicate about Mirabai’sattitude towards the king?

Fig. 6.17A fifteenth-century stone sculpture(Tamil Nadu) depicting Krishnaplaying the flute, a form of thedeity worshipped by Mirabai

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According to some traditions, her preceptor wasRaidas, a leather worker. This would indicate herdefiance of the norms of caste society. Afterrejecting the comforts of her husband’s palace, sheis supposed to have donned the white robes of awidow or the saffron robe of the renouncer.

Although Mirabai did not attract a sect orgroup of followers, she has been recognised as asource of inspiration for centuries. Her songscontinue to be sung by women and men, especiallythose who are poor and considered “low caste” inGujarat and Rajasthan.

Discuss...Why do you think the traditions of Kabir, BabaGuru Nanak and Mirabai remain significant inthe twenty-first century?

9. Reconstructing Histories ofReligious Traditions

We have seen that historians draw on a varietyof sources to reconstruct histories of religioustraditions – these include sculpture, architecture,stories about religious preceptors, compositionsattributed to women and men engaged in the questof understanding the nature of the Divine.

As we have seen in Chapters 1 and 4, sculptureand architecture can only be understood if wehave a grasp of the context – the ideas, beliefs andpractices of those who produced and used theseimages and buildings. What about textual traditionsregarding religious beliefs? If you return to thesources in this chapter, you will notice that theyinclude a wide variety, written in several differentlanguages and styles. They range from theapparently simple, direct language of the vachanasof Basavanna to the ornate Persian of the farman ofthe Mughal emperors. Understanding each type oftext requires different skills: apart from a familiaritywith several languages, the historian has to be awareof the subtle variations in style that characteriseeach genre.

ShankaradevaIn the late fifteenth century,Shankaradeva emerged as oneof the leading proponents ofVaishnavism in Assam. Histeachings, often known as theBhagavati dharma because theywere based on the BhagavadGita and the Bhagavata Purana,focused on absolute surrenderto the supreme deity, in this caseVishnu. He emphasised theneed for naam kirtan, recitationof the names of the lord in satsanga or congregations of piousdevotees. He also encouragedthe establishment of satra ormonasteries for the transmissionof spiritual knowledge, andnaam ghar or prayer halls.Many of these institutions andpractices continue to flourishin the region. His majorcomposit ions include theKirtana-ghosha.



Varieties of sources used to reconstructthe history of sufi traditions

A wide range of texts were produced in and around sufi khanqahs.These included:

1.Treatises or manuals dealing with sufi thought andpractices – The Kashf-ul-Mahjub of Ali bin Usman Hujwiri (diedc. 1071) is an example of this genre. It enables historians to seehow traditions outside the subcontinent influenced sufi thoughtin India.

2. Malfuzat (literally, “uttered”; conversations of sufi saints) –An early text on malfuzat is the Fawa’id-al-Fu’ad, a collection ofconversations of Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya, compiled by AmirHasan Sijzi Dehlavi, a noted Persian poet. Source 9 contains anexcerpt from this text. Malfuzats were compiled by different sufisilsilas with the permission of the shaikhs; these had obviousdidactic purposes. Several examples have been found fromdifferent parts of the subcontinent, including the Deccan. Theywere compiled over several centuries.

3. Maktubat (literally, “written” collections of letters); letterswritten by sufi masters, addressed to their disciples andassociates – While these tell us about the shaikh’s experienceof religious truth that he wanted to share with others, theyalso reflect the life conditions of the recipients and are responsesto their aspirations and difficulties, both spiritual and mundane.The letters, known as Maktubat-i Imam Rabbani, of the notedseventeenth-century Naqshbandi Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi(d.1624), whose ideology is often contrasted with the liberaland non-sectarian views of Akbar, are amongst those mostfrequently discussed by scholars.

4. Tazkiras (literally, “to mention and memorialise”; biographicalaccounts of saints) – The fourteenth-centurySiyar-ul-Auliya ofMir Khwurd Kirmani was the first sufi tazkira written in India.It dealt principally with the Chishti saints. The most famous tazkirais the Akhbar-ul-Akhyar of Abdul Haqq Muhaddis Dehlavi(d. 1642). The authors of the tazkiras often sought to establishthe precedence of their own orders and glorify their spiritualgenealogies. Many details are often implausible, full of elementsof the fantastic. Still they are of great value for historians andhelp them to understand more fully the nature of the tradition.

Remember that each of the traditions we have been consideringin this chapter generated a wide range of textual and oral modesof communication, some of which have been preserved, manyof which have been modified in the process of transmission, andothers are probably lost forever.

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Virtually all these religious traditions continue toflourish to date. This continuity has certainadvantages for historians as it allows them to comparecontemporary practices with those described in textualtraditions or shown in old paintings and to tracechanges. At the same time, because these traditionsare part of peoples’ lived beliefs and practices, thereis often a lack of acceptance of the possibility thatthese may have changed over time. The challenge forhistorians is to undertake such investigations withsensitivity, while at the same time recognising thatreligious traditions, like other traditions, are dynamicand change over time.

TimelineSome Major Religious Teachers in the Subcontinent

c. 500-800 CE Appar, Sambandar, Sundaramurti in Tamil Nadu

c. 800-900 Nammalvar, Manikkavachakar, Andal, Tondaradippodiin Tamil Nadu

c.1000-1100 Al Hujwiri, Data Ganj Bakhsh in the Punjab; Ramanujacharyain Tamil Nadu

c.1100-1200 Basavanna in Karnataka

c.1200-1300 Jnanadeva, Muktabai in Maharashtra; Khwaja MuinuddinChishti in Rajasthan; Bahauddin Zakariyya and FariduddinGanj- i Shakar in the Punjab; Qutbuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki in Delhi

c.1300-1400 Lal Ded in Kashmir; Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Sind;Nizamuddin Auliya in Delhi; Ramananda in Uttar Pradesh;Chokhamela in Maharashtra; Sharafuddin Yahya Maneri in Bihar

c.1400-1500 Kabir, Raidas, Surdas in Uttar Pradesh; Baba Guru Nanak in thePunjab; Vallabhacharya in Gujarat; Abdullah Shattari in Gwalior;Muhammad Shah Alam in Gujarat; Mir Sayyid Muhammad GesuDaraz in Gulbarga, Shankaradeva in Assam; Tukaram inMaharashtra

c.1500-1600 Sri Chaitanya in Bengal; Mirabai in Rajasthan;Shaikh AbdulQuddus Gangohi, Malik Muhammad Jaisi, Tulsidas inUttar Pradesh

c.1600-1700 Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi in Haryana; Miyan Mir in the Punjab

Note: These time frames indicate the approximate period during which these teachers lived.



Answer in100-150 words

1. Explain with examples what historians mean by theintegration of cults.

2. To what extent do you think the architecture ofmosques in the subcontinent reflects a combinationof universal ideals and local traditions?

3. What were the similarities and differences betweenthe be-shari‘a and ba-shari‘a sufi traditions?

4. Discuss the ways in which the Alvars, Nayanars andVirashaivas expressed critiques of the caste system.

5. Describe the major teachings of either Kabir orBaba Guru Nanak, and the ways in which thesehave been transmitted.

Write a short essay (about250-300 words) on the following:

6. Discuss the major beliefs and practices thatcharacterised Sufism.

7. Examine how and why rulers tried to establishconnections with the traditions of the Nayanars andthe sufis.

8. Analyse, with illustrations, why bhakti and sufithinkers adopted a variety of languages in whichto express their opinions.

9. Read any five of the sources included in this chapterand discuss the social and religious ideas that areexpressed in them.

Map work

10. On an outline map of India, plot three major sufishrines, and three places associated with temples(one each of a form of Vishnu, Shiva and thegoddess).

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Richard M. Eaton (ed). 2003.India’s Islamic Traditions.Oxford University Press,New Delhi.

John Stratton Hawley. 2005.Three Bhakti VoicesMirabai, Surdas and Kabirin their times and ours.Oxford University Press,New Delhi.

David N. Lorenzen (ed.). 2004.Religious Movements inSouth Asia 600-1800.Oxford University Press,New Delhi,

A.K. Ramanujan. 1981.Hymns for the Drowning.Penguin, New Delhi.

Annemarie Schimmel. 1975.Mystical Dimensions of Islam.Univesity of North CarolinaPress, Chapel Hill.

David Smith. 1998.The Dance of Siva: ReligionArt and Poetry in South India.Cambridge Univesity Press,New Delhi.

Charlotte Vaudeville. 1997.A Weaver Named Kabir.Oxford University Press,New Delhi.

Projects (choose one)

11. Choose any two of the religious teachers/thinkers/saints mentioned in this chapter, and find out moreabout their lives and teachings. Prepare a reportabout the area and the times in which they lived,their major ideas, how we know about them, andwhy you think they are important.

12. Find out more about practices of pilgrimageassociated with the shrines mentioned in thischapter. Are these pilgrimages still undertaken?When are these shrines visited? Who visits theseshrines? Why do they do so? What are the activitiesassociated with these pilgrimages?

If you would like to knowmore, read:

For more information,you could visit:http://www.alif-india.com

Fig. 6.18The dargah of Shaikh Bahauddin Zakariya,Multan (Pakistan)


Documents

THEME SIX Devotional Texts (c. eighth to eighteenth century)