14.(MEDIEVAL INDIA)RELIGIOUS AND CULTURAL LIFE UNDER THE DELHI SULTANAT

References: Satish Chandra(Medieval India) and JL Mehta(Advanced Study In History Of Medieval India).Also minor facts from other books and figure and facts from verified Internet sources.

14.RELIGIOUS AND CULTURAL LIFE UNDER THE DELHI SULTANAT

• The coming of the Turks into India and the establishment of the Delhi sultanate during the 13th century was a period of both turmoil and development.Initial phase was one of death and destruction on a large scale, with many beautiful temples being destroyed and palaces and cities ravaged. This process continued in phases as the empire expanded. But once a territory had been conquered, or had submitted, a process of peace and development started. This process began slowly in northern India where large areas remained under direct sultanate rule for 200 years.
• Coming from Central Asia during the 8th century, the Turks had, in course of time, accepted Islam. Thus, they inherited the Islamic culture of the area. These states shared the cultural and administrative norms and standards set up by the Abbasids, with minor adjustments. The Turks who came into India not only considered themselves to be champions of Islam, but were proud of being inheritors of its rich tradition, whether it was in the field of architecture, literature, forms of government or science and technology. They had also adopted Persian which had emerged as the language of government and culture in Central Asia,

Khurasan and Iran by the 10th century:

• The Hindus, too, were the inheritors of a religious and cultural tradition which had evolved during thousands of years. The 4th and 5th centuries have often been considered the period of cultural and scientific climax in north India. In the subsequent period, though India began to lag behind in the field of science, and creative thinking had gradually dried up, the cultural traditions were still alive.
• Recent studies show that the period from the 8th century to the 12th century was by no means one of cultural decline, but one in which considerable building activity, specially in the field of temple architecture took place. Thus, magnificent temples were built at Khajuraho in Bundelkhand, in Orissa, and in various other places such as Mathura, Kashi, Dilwara, etc. These temples show a high level of skill in architectural forms and sculpture. 
• There were also important developments in the field of religion and philosophy. Thus, Sankara set a seal on the philosophy of Vedanta, and a movement based on love and devotion to a personal God began in South India.
• Contact between Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam had started much before Islam came to India. The interaction quickened after Islam's coming into India. However, it is necessary to separate the political aspect from the religio-philosophical aspects, even though they over-lapped. Some of the bigoted ulemas, such as Nuruddin Mubarak Ghazanavi at the court of Iltutmish, advocated a policy of inveterate hostility to the Hindus, especially the Brahmans, whom they considered the biggest enemies of the "true" faith. Among a section of the Hindus, too, there was loathing and revulsion against the Muslims, and they adopted a policy of maintaining minimum contact with them. 
• However, despite these handicaps, and the seemingly irreconcilable nature of Islam and Hinduism, with Islam emphasizing strict monotheism, rejecting all Gods other than Allah, while Hinduism accepted unity in diversity with multifarious Gods, and image worship which the Muslims rejected, a slow process of mutual adjustment and rapproachement began. This process can be said to be seen at work in the fields of architecture, literature, music, the field of religion with the entry of sufism into the country, and bhakti movement in north India. The process continued apace during the fifteenth century and gathered force in the 16th and 17th centuries under the Mughals. But it would be wrong to assume that the elements of conflict had disappeared. Both conflict and the process of rapproachement continued side by side, with set backs under some rulers and in some regions, and faster development under some other rulers.
• Thus, the elements of conflict and rapproachement have to be seen in perspective.

Architecture:

• One of the first requirement of the new rulers was houses to live in, and places of worship for their followers. For places of worship, they at first converted temples and other existing buildings into mosques. Examples: (1)Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque (Jain temple at first, which had then been converted into a temple dedicated to Vishnu.)near the Qutb Minar in Qutab Minar Complex, Delhi .The only new construction at Delhi was a facade of three elaborately carved arches in front of the deity room (garbha griha) which was demolished. The arcaded courtyard in front consisted entirely of pillars from thirtyseven temples of the area which had been looted. The style of decoration used on these arches is very interesting: no human or animal figures were used since it was considered to be un -Islamic to do so. Instead, they used scrolls of flowers and verses of the Quran which were intertwined in a very artistic manner.
  
   (2)The building at Ajmer called Arhai Din ka Jhonpara(preiously a  monastery).
  
• Soon, the Turks started constructing their own buildings. For the purpose they mostly used the indigenous craftsmen, such as stone-cutters, masons, etc., who were famous for their skill. Later, some master architects came to India from West Asia. In their buildings, the Turks used the arch and the dome on a wide scale. Neither the arch nor the dome was a Turkish or Muslim invention. The Arabs borrowed them from Rome through the Byzantine empire, developed them and made them their own.
• The use of the arch and the dome had a number of advantages. (1)The dome provided a pleasing skyline and as the architects gained more experience and confidence, the dome rose higher. Many experiments were made in putting a round dome on a square building, and in raising the dome higher and higher. In this way, many lofty and impressive buildings were constructed. (2)The arch and the dome dispensed with the need for a large number of pillars to support the roof and enabled the construction of large halls with a clear view. Such places of assembly were useful in mosques as well as in palaces.
• However, the arch and the dome needed a strong cement, otherwise the stones could not be held in place. The Turks used fine quality lime mortar in their buildings. Thus, new architectural forms and mortar of a superior kind became widespread in north India with the arrival of the Turks.
• The arch and the dome were known to the Indians earlier, but they were not used on a large scale. Moreover, the correct scientific method of constructing the arch was rarely employed. The architectural device generally used by the Indians consisted of putting one stone over another, narrowing the gap till it could be covered by a coping-stone or by putting a beam over a slab of stones. The Turkish rulers used both the dome and arch method as well as slab and beam method in their buildings.
• In the sphere of decoration, the Turks eschewed representation of human and animal figures in the buildings. Instead, they used geometrical and floral designs, combining them with panels of inscriptions containing verses from the Quran. Thus, the Arabic script itself became a work of art. The combination of these decorative devices was called Arabesque. They also freely borrowed Hindu motifs such as the bel motif, the bell motif, swastika, lotus, etc. Like the Indians, the Turks were intensely fond of decoration. The skill of the Indian stone-cutters was fully used for the purpose. 
• The Turks also added colour to their buildings by using red sandstone. Yellow sandstone or marble was used in these buildings for decoration and to show off the colour of the red sandstone.
• The most famous and the most magnificent building built by the Turks during the 13th century was the tower or minar adjacent to the Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque. It was called the mazana or place from where the call for prayer (azan) was called. It was much later that this minar began to be called the Qutb Minar, possibly because it was started by Qutbuddin Aibak, or because, where completed by Iltutmish, Quibuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki, the famous sufi saint, was living at Delhi, and the minar began to be considered a token of his spiritual attainments. Some of the stones used at the base of the minar appear to be those belonging to some of the destroyed temples of the area. In an epigraph on the minar, the name of Fazl ibn Abul Maali is mentioned, but it is not clear from the damaged inscription whether he was the architect or merely one who supervised the work.

  

  From left top,Clockwise:(1)Qutab Minar(2)Decorative motifs on upper levels, showing both Hindu and Islamic elements(3)closer view of the calligraphy(4)closer view of the balcony(5)Inscription panels of Arabic calligraphy running around the ornate balcony

• Although the tradition of building towers are to be found in India, West Asia and elsewhere, the Qutb Minar is unique in many ways. Its tremendous height of 71.4 metres becomes more effective by its tapering character. Originally, it was only four stories high, but the top of the minar was hit by lightening, and Firuz Tughlaq repaired it, and added a fifth storey. The main beauty of the minar lies in the skilful manner in which balconies have been projected, yet linked with the tower by a devise called "stalactite honey-combing"(A framework of hexagonal cells resembling the honeycomb built by bees). The skilful use of ribbed and angular projections in the body of the tower, the use of red and white sandstones in the panels and in the top stages add further to the effect.
• The growth of the building activities of the Turks after the consolidation of the Delhi sultanat under Iltutmish is shown by the wide range of buildings belonging to this period. Thus, the mosque and group of buildings at Badaun (U.P), the lofty gate at Nagaur, and at Hansi and Palwal in Haryana are an index of the determination of the Turks to build their own buildings.
• Iltutmish's own tomb, built near the end of his reign, is an indication of the mixing of the Hindu and Muslim traditions of architecture. The tomb was a square building, but by putting pendantives and squinch arches(A small arch built across the interior angle of two walls) in the corners, it was made octagonal on which a dome was built. This devise was used in many quare buildings later on. Even more remarkable was the intricate carving on the walls, where calligraphy was combined with Indian floral motives.
• The second half of the 13th century saw the flocking into India of many scholars, including mathematicians and architects from West Asia, following the devastation caused there by the Mongols. Thus, we see the first true arch in the plain and simple tomb of Balban. That is to say, it was based on radiating voussoirs and a coping stone, not putting one stone over the other to cover the gap, and then put a stone or slab on top.
  
• The Khalji period saw a lot of building activity. Alauddin built his capital at Siri, a few kilometres away from the site around the Qutb. Alauddin planned a tower twice the height of the Qutb Minar but did not live to complete it(Alai Minar). However, he added an entrance door to the Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque. This door, which is called the Alai Darwaza. It was the first building in which the dome was built not on the principle of overlapping courses of masonary, gradully decreasing in size as they rose upwards, but on the basis of radiating voussoirs.(voussoir is a wedge-shaped element, typically a stone, used in building an arch or vault).The horse-shoe arch used for the first time in the building, is pleasing in appearance.

  

  All in Qutab Complex

• The decorative devices—merlons in the inside of the arch, use of lotus on the spandrel of the arch, and use of white marble in the trellis work and the marble decorative bands to set off the red sandstone give to the building an appearance of grace and strength which is considered a special feature of Indian architectural tradition.
• Mosque architecture was also developed during this period as shown by the Jamaat Khana mosque at the mausoleum of the sufi saint, Nizamuddin Auliya.
• There was great building activity in the Tughlaq period which marked the climax of the Delhi sultanat as well as the beginning of its decline. 
• Ghiyasuddin and Muhammad Tughlaq built the huge palace-fortress complex called Tughlaqabad. By blocking the passage of the Jamuna, a huge artificial lake was created around it. 
  
• The tomb of Ghiyasuddin marks a new trend in architecture. To have a good skyline, the building was put up on a high platform. Its beauty was heightened by a marble dome.
• A striking feature of the Tughlaq architecture was the sloping walls, called "batter", and gives the effect of strength and solidity to the building. However, the batter is used sparingly in the buildings of Firuz Tughlaq. A second feature of the Tughlaq architecture was the deliberate attempt to combine the principles of the arch, and. the lintel and beam. In the buildings of Firuz Tughlaq in the Hauz Khas, which was a pleasure resort and had a huge lake around it, alternate stories have arches and the lintel and beam. The same is to be found in some buildings of Firuz Shah's new fort ,now called the Kotla.
• The Tughlaqs did not generally use the costly red sandstone in their buildings but the cheaper and more easily available greystone. In the buildings of Firuz, rubble is finished by a thick coat of lime plaster which was colour washed in white—a method used in buildings till recent times. Since it was not easy to carve this type of stone or lime paster, the Tughlaq buildings have a minimum of decoration. But the decorative device found in all the buildings of Firuz is the lotus. A devise used in the tomb of Firuz Tughlaq is a stone-railing in front which was Hindu design.



Tomb of Firuz Tughlaq with adjoining Madarsas in Hauz Khas Complex

• Many mosques were also built during this period, such as the Kalan mosque, in Nizamuddin the Khirki mosque in Sounth Delhi(By Firuz Tughlaq). They were of undressed stone and lime plaster, and hence not very elegant. The pillars were thick and heavy.
  
• Also, the Indian builder had not yet developed the confidence of raising the dome high enough. Hence, the buildings appear squat.
• Another architectural devise which was used for the first time in the tomb of Firuz's wazir, Khan-i-Jahan Telangani, was the octagonal tomb. Many features were added to it: a verandah was built around it with long, sloping chajja or eaves as a protection against sun and rain. As each corner of the roof, chhatris or kiosks were built. Both these features were of Gujarati or Rajasthani origin. Both the arch and the lintel and beam are used in their buildings.



Tomb of Khan-i-Jahan Telangani

• The Lodis continued the Tughlaq tradition of using rubble or undressed stone and lime plaster in their buildings. But by this time, the Indian architects and masons had gained full confidence in the new forms. Hence, their domes rose higher in the sky. A new devise which appeared in India for the first time was the double dome. Tried experimentally at first, it appears in a developed form in the tomb of Sikandar Lodi. It became necessary as the dome rose higher and higher. By putting an inner cover inside the dome, the height remained proportionate to the room inside. This devise was later on used in all buildings.
• Another device used by the Lodis was placing their buildings, especially tombs, on a high platform, thus giving the building a feeling of size as well as a better skyline. Some of the tombs were placed in the midst of gardens. The Lodi Garden in Delhi is a fine example of this. Many of these features were adopted by the Mughals later on, and their culmination is to be found in the Taj Mahal built by ShahJahan.

  

  From top left clockwise:(1)Bara Gumbad tomb and mosque, Lodhi Gardens, (2)The three domed mosque, adjacent to Bada Gumbad, Lodhi Gardens(3)Sheesh Gumbad, Lodhi Gardens(4)Sikander Lodi's Tomb(5)Walled enclosure of the Sikander Lodi's Tomb(6)Mohammed Shah's Tomb, who was last of Saiyyid dynasty

• By the time of the break-up of the Delhi Sultanat, individual styles of architecture had also developed in the various kingdoms in different parts of India. Many of these, again, were powerfully influenced by the local traditions of architecture. This, as we have seen, happened in Bengal, Gujarat, Malwa, the Deccan, etc.
• Thus, we not only see an outburst of architectural activity but a coming together of the Muslim and Hindu traditions and forms of architecture. In the various regional kingdoms which arose during the fifteenth century, attempts were made to combine the style of architecture which had developed at Delhi with regional architectural traditions. .

Religions Ideas and Beliefs:

• Religion is both a complex phenomenon, and a sensitive subject, with the votaries of each religion claiming it to be unique and uninfluenced by any other faith. However, such rigid demarcations are difficult to maintain, especially when the followers of different religions live in the same geographical space, or when people convert from one faith to another, bringing with them some of their previous ideas, beliefs and practices. Travellers, including saints who moved from one place to another, wittingly or unwittingly became agents of transmitting "alien" ideas in the countries they visited.
• Islam was the last of the great organised and structured religions which rose in the modern world. In its early formative phase, which is broadly considered to be the first three centuries of its existence, i.e. to the end of the 9th century, it came into contact with the older civilisations of the area—Iranian, Greeco Byzantine, and Indian. Greek thinking strongly influenced Islamic philosophy. The influence of Iran and Byzantine was strong in the fields of government, architecture etc. The influence of India in the fields of religion, philosophy and science is still a matter of controversy. However, we can hardly doubt that there was continuous interaction in these fields between India, and its neighbouring areas because of geographical, commercial and political reasons. Nestorian Christianity, Manichism and Buddhism survived in the remote regions of Khurasan and Central Asia till the tenth century.In the 9th century, works on Buddhism and Indian works dealing with astronomy and medicine, ethical books such as Hitopadesh, and treatise on logic and military science etc. were translated into Arabic. The Arabs were exceedingly keen to learn about the customs, manners, sciences and religions of the peoples they came into contact with, including Indians. Thus, Al-Kindi wrote a book on Indian religions. Al-Nadim, Al-Ashari, Shahrastani and many others devoted chapters in their books to describe and discuss Indian religion and philosophical systems. Al-Biruni who came from this area in the 10th century, notes sufi parallels in the Yoga Sutra of Patanjali which he translated into Arabic.
• Indian atomic theory of Nyaya-Vaisheshik also influenced Islamicphilosophy.
• However, despite this, the fundamental tenets and philosophy of Islam remained rooted in the Quran, and in the words and practice (hadis) of the Prophet.

(a) The Sufi Movement: Early Origins:

• The 10th century marked a new phase in the history of Islam. It saw the rise of Turks on the ruins of the Abbasid Caliphate, as well as important changes in the realm of ideas and beliefs. In the realm of ideas, it marks the end of the domination of the Mutazila or rationalist philosophy, the formation of orthodox schools based on the Quran and hadis, and the rise to prominence of the Sufi mystic orders.
• The Mutazalites or Rationalists who were favoured by the Abbasid Caliphs, and used political power to persecute their opponents, tried to systematize theology by applying reasons to it. They were concerned with the nature of God, creation, relationship of man with God, nature of the soul etc. They argued that man was the author of his own actions, good or evil, and that the Quran was created, disagreeing with the orthodox view that it was the word of God and hence eternal and infallible.
• The orthodox elements accused the Mutazalilites of spreading scepticism and atheism. They equated their philosophy of monism which held that God and the created world were fundamentally one, as being heretical on the ground that it abolished the difference between the Creator and the Created.
• Sustained persecution and orthodox opposition led to the collapse of the Mutuzalites. This strengthened the hands of the "traditionalists" and led to the crystallization of the four schools of Islamic Law. Of these, the Hanafi school, which was the most liberal, was adopted by the eastern Turks who later came to India. 
• The collapse of the Mulazalites also strengthened the hands of the sufi mystics. Mystics, who later came to be called sufis, had risen in Islam at a very early stage. Most of them were persons of deep devotion who were disgusted by the vulgar display of wealth, and degeneration of morals following the establishment of the Islamic empire. 
• Some of the early sufis, such as Hasan Basri, and his follower, the woman mystic Rabia (eighth century) laid great emphasis on prayer, continual fasting and disinterested love of God. Rabia lived the life of a hermit and her reputation travelled far and wide. 
• By this time the mystics had started wearing a patched garment of wool (suf) which, according to them, was a legacy of the prophets, and Christian apostles and ascetics.
• Zunnu Misri of Egypt (died ninth century), who travelled widely in Arabia and Syria, worked out the concept of mystic union with God by a process of contemplation. Zunnu was accused of heresy, but was acquitted. The sufi concept of fana or spiritual merger of the devoted with God led to constant conflict with the orthodox ulema. Thus, Bayazid Bayat, whose grand-father was a Zorastrian, shocked the ulema by his statements uttered in a state of ecstacy, "How great is My Majesty"; "I saw the Kaba walking around me". His successor, Mansur bin Hallaj of Baghdad, was not so lucky and was imprisoned and executed on a charge of heresy(10th century). Mansur had travelled widely and visited Sindh also where, it is now established, he met some Hindu Vedantists. But,Vedantist and yogic ideas were wide-spread in Iran, and it was hardly necessary to go to Sindh to learn about them.
• Mystic experience in various religions often led in the same direction. Mansur's proclamation of the doctrine "Anal -Haq (I am Truth/God)" was merely an expression of the sufi belief that unification with God was the highest stage of enlightenment. However, Mansur's refusal to recant, and his willingness to sacrifice his life for his beliefs conferred on the sufis not only the mantle of martyrdom, but the reputation of being men who were pure of heart, sincere and unconcerned with worldly gains.
• In this way, a quietist movement based on love, devotion and contemplation gradually became transformed into a movement based on ecstatic love in which social norms, and religious beliefs and practices could be disregarded.
• Sufism had spread far and wide in the Islamic world by the 10th century. Between the 10th and 12th centuries, the philosophical ideas, beliefs, practices such as holding the breath, or doing penance and fastings, the rise of various schools or silsilahs, and the organisation of khanqahs or hospices, established by many of the sufis had been worked out. In working out of the practices and organisation of the khanqahs, the organisation of Buddhist and Christian monastic systems played a definite role.
• Wandering Nath Panthi Yogis, with their headquarters at Peshawar, known in the Islamic world as Jogis, familiarized the sufis with the practices of hath-yoga. In fact, Amrit Kund, the Sanskrit book on hath-yoga was translated into Arabic at this time, and later into Persian.
• A series of Persian poets spread the sufi message of mystic union and love far and wide. The four most famous of these poets were Sanai (d.c. 1131), Attar (d. 1230), Iraqi (d. 1289) and Rumi (d. 1273). Their poetry was considered the highest stage of mystical fervour and love, and made its way to all parts, including India. These poets were humane in their outlook, and were tolerant to people of all faiths.
• Some of the sufis also supported musical gatherings (sama) in which a state of ecstacy was created. This again was frowned upon by the orthodox ulema.
• Al-Ghazali (d. 1112), who is venerated both by the orthodox elements and the Sufis, tried to reconcile mysticism with Islamic orthodoxy. This he was able to do in a large measure. He gave a further blow to the "rationalist" philosophy by arguing that positive knowledge of God and His qualities cannot be gained by reason, but by revelation. Thus, the revealed book, Quran, was as vital for a mystic as for other Muslims.
• Around this time, the Sufis were organised in 12 orders or silsilahs.In the early phase, the silsilahs provided stability, and enabled the sufis to withstand the hostility of the orthodox ulema and to pass on spiritual knowledge. The silsilahs were generally led by a prominent mystic who lived in a khanqah or a hospice along with his disciples. The link between the teacher or pir and his disciples or murids was a vital part of the sufi system. Every pir nominated a successor or khalifa to carry on his work. They also appointed walis or deputies for spiritual work in particular regions.
• The Sufi orders are broadly divided into two : ba-shara, that is, those which followed the Islamic Law (shara) and be-shara, that is, those which were not bound by it. Both types of orders prevailed in India, the latter being followed more by wandering saints, the qalandars. Although these saints did not establish an order, or silsilah, some of them became figures of popular veneration, sometimes for the Muslims and Hindus alike.

The Chishti and the Suhrawardi Silsilahs:

The Chishtis

The two most famous sufi orders, or silsilahs which flourished in India during the Sultanat period were

the Chishti and the Suhrawardi. The Suhrawardis were active mainly in Punjab and Sindh, whereas the

Chishtis were active at Delhi, and in the areas around it, including Rajasthan, parts of Punjab and

modern U.P. These orders also spread to Bengal and Bihar, Malwa, Gujarat etc. and, later, to the

Deccan. A different order, the Kubrawiya, operated in Kashmir. In general, sufis belonging to different

orders were cordial to each other. Thus, Suhrawardi saints visited Delhi and were made welcome there,

and Chishti saint visited Multan and were received cordially. This is because of the sufi tradition of

dividing territories between different saints. Thus, when a musician who was going from Ajodhan in the

Punjab to Multan and asked Baba Farid to pray for his blessing, the Baba replied that the limit of his

spiritual influence was at a certain water tank and beyond it began the influence of the Suhrawardi

saint, Shaikh Bahauddin Zakariya, whose prayer he should obtain.

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The Chishti sisilah established in India by Muinuddin Chishti was essentially Indian, the order in Chisht

(Afghanistan) having more or less died out there. We know little about the early life and activities of

Muinuddin Chishti because he did not leave behind any book or a collection of his sayings or preaching.

The accounts we have were written a hundred and fifty years after his death, and later writers added

many fanciful stories, such as his persecution by Prithviraj Chauhan, and his miracles, which have

become popular. Modern research shows that Muinuddin came to India not before, but after

Muizzuddin Muhammad Ghuri's victory over Prithviraj, and moved to Ajmer only around 1206 by which

time Turkish rule over it had been firmly established, and a sizeable Muslim population of Tukrish ghazis

and forcibly converted prisoners-of-war had come into being. The Khwaja settled at Ajmer because like

Chisht, it was a small town and away from the centre of political activity, Delhi. The Khwaja believed that

for a spiritual life of seclusion, a small town was better than a large, bustling town. Thus, his disciple,

Hamiduddin, settled down at Nagaur—another small town in Rajasthan which also had a sizeable

Muslim population. Khwaja Muinuddin was married, but lived a simple, ascetic life based on piety and

devotion to God. His main object was to help the Muslims to lead a life of devotion to God, not to effect

conversions, since he believed faith was an individual's concern.

Muinuddin's fame as a saintly man grew gradully after his death (1235). Muhammad Tughlaq visited his

grave, and a dome on his tomb and a mosque was built later by Mahmud Khalji of Malwa during the

15th century. Muinuddin's stature as a saint reached its peak under Akbar who was greatly devoted to

him. Ajmer was politically important for Akbar, and Muinuddin's prestige as a saint, and as a man whose

benevolence extended to all, irrespective of religious beliefs, was considered by him to be a positive

element in a volatile situation.

The Chishti influence at Delhi was firmly established by Qutbuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki who moved from his

birth place, Transoxiana, to Delhi in 1221. He was warmly welcomed by Sultan Iltutmish because his

fame as a sufi saint had reached Delhi even before his arrival. Delhi had, by this time, acquired the

reputation of being a leading centre of Islam (qubbat-ul-Islam), on account of the many eminent

scholars, religious divines and fugitive princes seeking shelter there following the Mongol devastations

of Central and West Asia. Bakhtiyar Kaki fulfilled the difficult task of establishing the Chishtis at Delhi as

the principal sufi order,

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meeting the challenge both of clerical elements and the Suhrawardis. The former wanted to oust him

from Delhi, and brought a charge of heresy against him for his resort to musical gatherings (sama).

However, this charge was dismissed by Iltutmish who wanted to use sufi influence to counter the ulema.

By this time, Bakhtiyar Kaki had become so popular that when he planned to leave Delhi for Ajmer,

droves of people accompanied him outside the city for miles, and he had to cancel his departure. The

Suhrawardi's orthodox approach failed to endear themselves to the people of Delhi.

The most famous disciple and successor of Bakhtiyar Kaki was Baba Fariduddin Ganj-i-Shakhar who lived

at Hansi in modern Haryana, then shifted to Ajodhan which was on the Sutlej on the main route from

Multan to Lahore. Baba Farid laid great emphasis on poverty, renunciation of worldly goods and

attachments, control of the senses by fasting and other austerities, and adopting an attitude of

humbleness and service to others. His outlook was so broad that some of the verses, ascribed to him

were included in the Guru Granth Sahib of Nanak. (On linguistic grounds, some modern scholars think

that though the ideas may have been his, the verses included in the Guru Granth Sahib were the work of

his successors who also adopted the name Farid).

Nizamuddin Auliya (d. 1325) a chief successor of Baba Farid was undoubtedly the most famous Chishti

saint at Delhi under whom the Chishtis reached their high water mark. He lived and worked at Delhi for

fifty years during a period of great political upheaval—end of Balban's dynasty and the rise to power of

Alauddin Khalji, the troubled period following the death of Alauddin, and the rise of the Tughlaqs. He

survived through these repeated changes of dynasties and rulers because of the Chishti philosophy of

staying away from politics, and not associating with rulers and nobles. Thus, when Khusrau, the Baradu,

offered him a large sum of money, he accepted it but distributed it immediately among the needy.

When subsequently asked by Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq to return the money, he replied that it was the

money belonging to the Muslims, and had been distributed among them. It is not clear whether the

Sultan was satisfied. Rumor had it that the Sultan wanted to take action against him, after his return

from the Bengal campaign, and when asked, Nizamuddin said casually, "As yet, Delhi is f ar away (hinoz

Dehli durast)." As is well-known, the Sultan died before reaching Delhi in the pavilion built by

Muhammad bin Tughlaq to welcome him. Whether the story was true or not, it made Nizamuddin a

living legend.

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Nasiruddin Chiragh Delhi (d. 1356) was the last of the great Chishti saints at Delhi. Nasiruddin had been

with Muhammad Tughlaq's army in Sindh when he died, and he helped in the elevation of Firuz to the

throne. Firuz held him in great respect, and even called on him several times while at Delhi. But the saint

reverted to the policy of keeping aloof from politics. Finding no one who would come up to his

expectations, Nasiruddin Chiragh did not nominate any successor {khalifa), and ordered his relics—his

patched cloak, his prayer-carpet, his wooden bowl, rosary, wooden sandals etc. to be buried with him.

One result of Nasiruddin Chiragh's refused to nominate a successor was that it led to a dispersal of the

Chishti saints to different parts of the country, and led to the dissemination of the Chishti sufi ideas even

more widely.

The Chishti saints laid great emphasis on a life of simplicity, poverty, humility and selfless devotion to

God. They carried the concept of poverty to such an extreme that they did not live in pucca houses but

mud covered and thatched houses, and wore patched clothes. They and their families sometiems

remained without food for days. They considered that control of the senses was necessary for a spiritual

life. For the purpose, they resorted to ascetic practices, such as fasting, holding of the breath etc. and

self-mortification through penances. They advocated renunciation of the world, by which they meant

renouncing wealth, government service, and association with (loose) women. This did not mean

withdrawal from society. For Muinuddin Chishti, the highest form of devotion to God was nothing but to

redress the misery of those in distress, to fulfil the needs of the helpless, and to feed the hungry.

According to Nizamuddin Auliya, altruistic service was more important than obligatory prayers. Except

Nizamuddin Auliya, all the leading Chishti saints were married, and had a family. Thus, married life for

the saint was accepted, as long as it did not come in the way of his leading a spiritual life.

The Chishtis generally divided people into four categories. Of these, the mystics who preached to the

others came in the highesst category, their disciples next. The rulers and the scholarly elements came in

the third category, and the common people who had neither learning nor desire for spiritual elevation

came in the fourth. For the disciples, the Chishtis advocated earning their livelihood from a profession.

Agriculture and business was also accepted, but they were advised not to accumulate money beyond

their daily needs. Honesty and fair dealing in business was emphasised. Family responsibility

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was accepted, but again it was not to be a barrier in spiritual progress. The values of forbearance,

avoiding anger, or causing hurt to others, and a policy of love and tolerance or avoiding violence was

emphasised, though it cannot be called a policy of non-violence because that was concerned with the

attitude of the state.

The Chishtis made no discrimination between people on the basis of their wealth, religious beliefs,

family status etc. At a time when the Turks had largely forgotten the Islamic concept of brotherhood,

and looked down on the ordinary people, including the converts, the sufi attitude of non-discrimiation

not only made them popular, but helped to relieve social tensions. Thus, the doors of Niamuddin

Auliya's Jamaat-khana were always open to people for sympathy, support and advice. Although the main

concern of the sufi saints was the amelioration of the condition of Muslims, their care and concern did

not exclude the Hindus. Muinuddin Chishti's pupil, Hamiduddin Nagauri, was so careful of Hindu

sentiments that he had become a vegetarian, and constantly urged his disciples to give up meat-eating.

The Chishti saints freely assoicated with Hindu and Jain yogis, and discussed with them various matters,

especially yogic exercises. While welcoming voluntary conversions, they considered that preaching

contributed little to the change of faith, only example. However, the Chishti saints were fully conscious

of the strength of the Hindu faith. As a mystic exhorted:

"Oh you who sneer at the idolatry of the Hindus, learn also from him how worship is done." On one

occasion, while strolling on his terrace with his friend, the poet Amir Khusrau, Nizamuddin Auliya saw a

group of Hindus at worship. Greatly impressed at their devotion, he said to him, "Every community has

its own path and faith, and its own way of worship."

It was this broad tolerance which went a long way in making the Chishtis a success in the predominantly

non-Muslim Ganga Valley.

However, sufi orders differed in their attitude towards poverty, and the extent of tolerance to nonMuslims. The Qubrawiya order in Kashmir encouraged their supporters to demolish and desecrate

Hindu temples. At the same time, they kept good relations with the Hindus.

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The Suhrawardis

The Suhrawardis, while treading the same mystic path, differed from the Chishtis in important aspects.

Thus, Bahauddin Zakariya, the founder of the order in India, did not believe in starvation or selfmortification but favoured an ordinary life in food and dress. Nor did he consider poverty to be a

necessary means for a spiritual life. Unlike the Chishtis who refused to accept grant of villages as iqta, or

grants for the maintenance of the saints and their khanqahs, but only accepted unsolicited gifts (futuh),

or uncultivated land (ihya) where the sufis could labour themselves, the Suhrawardis acceptd royal

grants. Thus, Bahaduddin Zakariya was rich, and even led a life of affluence. He justified his riches by

arguing that money enabled him to serve better the poor who thronged around him. Regarding the

orthodox ulema, Bahauddin Zakariya laid emphasis on observing all the external forms of religion, i.e.

namaz, roza, etc. He advocated a combination of scholarship (ilm) with mysticism. He did not reject

sama or musical gathering, but indulged in it only occasionally. Despite this, the hostility of the orthodox

ulema towards Bahauddin Zakariya did not abate. The successors of Bahauddin Zakariya continued to

play a leading role in Punjab and Sindh for a century and a half after his death. In course of time, the

Suharwardis extended their influence in Gujarat, Bengal and Kashmir. The Suhrawardis were opposed to

some of the Hindu practices adopted by the Chishtis, such as bowing before the shaikh, presenting

water to visitors, tonsuring the head of a new entrant to the mystic order etc. They were also more keen

on conversions. Thus, the Subrawardi saint, Shaikh Jamaluddin, who had settled in Bengal, did not

hesitate in making forcible conversions, and pulling down a Hindu temple at Devatalla near Pandua in

order to create his khanqah there.

There was a major difference, also, in the attitude of the Chishtis and Suhrawardis towards the State.

We are told that the Chishtis believed in cutting themselves off from kings, politics and government

service because government service "distracted" a mystic from the single minded pursuit of the ideal of

"living for the Lord alone". We are further told that medieval thinkers, such as Imam Ghazali, considered

all the income of the State to come from prohibited sources so that service paid from these sources was

illegal; and that the entire pattern of life at the court and the government was alien to the true spirit of

Islam. Therefore, Imam Ghazali adds: "One should neither desire their continuation, nor praise them,

nor enquire about their affairs, nor keep contact with their associates."

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However, Islamic tradition was not uniform on this matter. While some of the orthodox ulema also

pointed out the essentially un-Islamic aspects of the state as it evolved after the rule of the first four

Caliphs, they and some sufis themselves underlined that the rulers of the world were the chosen of God

the Almighty, and that under no condition showing disrespect to them or disobeying thei r orders was

proper or permitted in sharia. They also quoted the Tradition that the Prophet had said 'Whoever obeys

the sultan, obeys God and whoever obeys God obtains salvation.'

The Suhrawardi sufis, therefore, did not reject government service, The founder of the silsilah,

Shihabuddin Subrawardi, had close contact with the Caliph, preached in Baghdad under court

patronage, and continued in government service. Bahauddin Zakariya, the founder of the Suhrawardi

silsilah in India, accepted this tration, and argued that visits to royal courts provided the saints an

opportunities to help the poor people by getting their grievances redressed by the sultan. He also felt

that there was no reason why the sultan and his associates should be deprived of the spiritual

ministrations of the saints.

The Suhrawardi saints also took active part in politics. Thus, Bahauddin Zakariya openly sided with

Iltutmish, and invited Iltutmish when the Sultan wanted to add Sindh to his dominions by ousting

Qubacha, although the Shaikh had received full backing and support from Qubacha.

The attitude of the Suhrawardi saints towards state and politics cannot be explained away by saying that

the early Turkish sultans stood in need of the support of the religious classes in order to consolidate

their power and build up an integrated and compact polity, because this argument would apply equally

for the Chishtis. As we have shown, both the orthodox clerical elements and many sufis were ambivalent

in their attitude towards the state. To most  of them it was a necessary evil. Even then, they expected

justice from the Sultans, and protection of the poor. A Chishti saint quoted the Prophet as saying: "If any

woman goes to bed hungry in any town of a kingdom, she would hold the collar of the ruler on the Day

of Judgement which is sure to come."

Thus, even the Chishtis expected the ruler to be benevolent. In such a situation, they could hardly adopt

an attitude of hostility towards the state. The attempt of some modern historians to present the Chishtis

as the representative of the masses, whereas the governing class by its very nature was an exploiting

class, and an association with them would mean association with the exploiters,

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appears to be a grossly mistaken view of the situation. The Chishti saints tried to associate closely with

the masses, but they can hardly be called representatives of the masses any more than the official

clergy. Unlike Central Asia where many of the sufis were drawn from various professions—such as attar

(dealer in perfumes or drugs), hallaj (cotton dresser), qassab (butcher), haddad (blacksmith) etc. in India

most of the sufis came from the class of clergymen. Perhaps, Nasiruddin Chiragh, whose father was a

dealer in pashmina shawls, was the only exception. While rejecting grant of villages, the Chishtis largely

depended on futuh or unsolicited grants. The main source of this was undoubtedly the nobility

supplemented by grants from merchants. The latter was an important source and most khanqahs were

significantly located at or near important trade routes. But neither of these sections would have been

provided futuh if the attitude of the ruler was one of hostility or opposition. Broadly, rulers welcomed

the sufi because they considered that their blessings, and their goodwill with the people would not only

enhance their own prestige but legitimize their position. Also, the sufis were a force of social harmony,

and acted as a kind of a device for letting off steam to offset social tensions and mass discontent.

The Chishti saints, it would seem, were not as much opposed to government service and the state as has

sometimes been made out. The full restrictions about government service and association with the

rulers applied only to those disciples who were given patents of spiritual authority, and were asked to

lead others on the mystic path. The ordinary disciples were not so strictly barred from government

service. Shaikh Nasiruddin Chiragh Dehli said that government service was not necessarily an obstacle to

contemplation and meditation. What the Chishti saints advocated, above all, was labour in which, as we

have seen, crafts and agriculture were given primacy.

Thus, what the Chishtis advocated was maintaining a certain distance from the state and the ruling

classes, while trying to create conditions in which the state could function in a more humanitarian way.

There was no fundamental clash of interests between the two, though there were differences of

approach. The proper functioning of the state was necessary for the sufis to tread the path of mysticism

in peace, and the sufi attempt to create harmony helped in the process of the consolidation of the state

and the Muslim society.

The Chishti advocacy of toleration between peoples of different faiths, their opening the doors of their

khanqahs to all irrespective

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of their religious beliefs, their attitude of benevolence to all, their association with Hindu and Jain Yogis,

and using Hindavi in their conversation and in their musical assemblies, created an atmosphere of

greater interaction between the two major communities, the Hindus and the Muslims. It also helped, to

some extent, to mitigate the harsher aspects of Turkish rule, and the manner in which Islam was

interpreted by some of the Turkish warriors and some orthodox clergymen. However, it would be an

exaggeration to believe that they were the means of a social and cultural revolution, as some modern

scholars have argued. For such a revolution, a structural change in society was necessary which was

hardly feasible and which, in any case, was beyond the capacity of the saints. Sufi saints in different

parts of the country, including the wandering saints, followed their own courses, sometimes liberal,

sometimes orthodox, sometimes a combination of the two. These need to be studied, without making

broad generalisations, though we would not be too far wrong in saying that, on balance, and with some

exceptions, the sufis followed a liberal rather than an illiberal course.

Some of the negative aspects of the sufi ideology should, not be lost sight of. The tradition of

exaggerated reverence to the saint brought many devotees to the door of image worship, particularly

when after the death of a saint, his tomb became an object almost of worship. Implicit obedience to the

wishes of the saint sometimes created an atmosphere of sycophancy. That is why some of the

wandering minstrels, the qalandars, were strongly opposed to the khanqahs.

Along with excessive book learning, the sufis denounced philosophy which they equated to rationalism.

The orthodox ulema and the sufis included among the philosophers natural scientists. According to the

biographer of Nizamuddin Auliya, the saint told the story how a philosopher, carrying books, had

approached a Caliph, and told him that the motion of the heavens was of three kinds—natural,

voluntary and involuntary. If a stone was thrown into the air it must fall to the ground, so such a motion

was natural. An involuntary motion was beyond the control of human beings. Based on such an

argument, the motion of the heavens was involuntary, said the philosopher. Shaikh Shihabuddin

Suhrawardi rushed to the Caliph to contradict this. He stressed that the involuntary nature of the

heavenly motions was due to the miraculous activity of angels acting under divine command. He then

proceeded to show the supernatural sight of angles moving the heavens.

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Thus, under the influence of the sufis, miracle mongering and suspicion about science and scientists

increased. It was in these adverse circumstances that philosophy and natural sciences grew in Central

and West Asia, and in India during the subsequent centuries.

(b) The Bhakti Movement: Early Origins

The bhakti movement which stressed mystic realization of God within oneself, and the ultimate union of

the individual with God, based on loving devotion on the part of the devotee and God's grace (prasad),

had been at work in India long before the growth of sufism in Islam, and its arrival in India. The seed of

bhakti can be traced to the Vedas in which some hymns are full of the sense of wonder before divinity

which is sought to be perceived in a mystic manner. Such sentiments are also found in the Upanishads.

As the worship of personal Gods—Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesh grew in the post-Vedic age, the concept of

bhakti or personal devotion to them also grew. Thus, we find elements of bhakti in the Bhagawata

movement aimed at Vasudeva (later associated with Krishna) in the post-Maurya period, as also the rise

of the Pashupat school devoted to the worship of Siva. The worship of a gracious (avakokita) Buddha

who had refused nirvana in order to deal with the sufferings of humanity also arose at this time. In the

final shape given to the Ramayana and Mahabharata, of which the Bhagawat Gita formed a significant

part, bhakti was considered, along with jnana and karma, a path to salvation.

Two aspects of bhakti may be distinguished here. One was the path of devotion based on service to God

with the devotee (bhakta) throwing himself completely at the mercy of God. This was the path of

prapatti or surrender. It has been argued that the word bhakta, derived from the root bhai, meaning 'to

apportion' literally means one who enjoys a share. Since the word bhakta was originally employed to

denote a servant or retainer who shared the wealth of his master, in course of time the word was used

for a devotee in view of his dasabhava or attitude of service. In any case, the path of prapatti was an

easy one, and could be followed even by slaves, retainers and the lowly people because it did not need

any book-learning or preparation.

The second aspect of bhakti was that of a bond based on pure love. This was based on equality rather

than service, with the ideal changing from emancipation to that of participation in the life

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divine. This was exemplified in the legend of Prahald set out in the Vishnu Purana in which Prahald prays

that he may be blessed with unwavering devotion to God wherever he is born. But gradually this bond

was sought to be explained in terms of carnal love between a lover and his beloved, and the example

chosen was the relationship of Krishna with Radha and the gopis. This, apparently, was first expounded

in the Bhagawata Puran which is generally dated to the 9th century.

It was the latter aspect of bhakti, of loving devotion to Siva and Vishnu, which was emphasized by a

remarkable series of saints who flourished in south India between the latter part of the 6th and the 10th

centuries. Starting from the Tamil lands under the Pallava rulers, bhakti spread to different parts of

south India, including the Pandya kingdom in southern Tamil lands, and to the Chera kingdom in Kerala.

There were several new features in this movement. It was preached and spread by a large number of

popular saints, called Adiyars or Nayanars who were Saivites, and the Alvars who were worshipers of

Vishnu. Among them we find not only brahmans but many from low castes. There was among them a

woman, Andal, who said that the relation of a devotee with God was like that of a loving wife towards

her husband. The broad-based character of the saints made it clear that their message of loving

devotion was not meant for any one section, but could be followed by all, irrespective of caste, family or

sex. To that extent, the movement had an egalitarian approach which disregarded caste.

The main attack of the Nayanars and Alvars was against Buddhism and Jainism which were dominant in

south India at the time. These saints were able to wean over people to their side because Buddhism and

Jainism had, in course of time, become hide-bound, and enmeshed in meaningless ritualism with an

emphasis on austerities to inflict pain on the body. Thus, they no longer catered to the emotional needs

of the people. The Nayanars and the Alvars preached a simple faith in the language of the people, Tamil,

using or incorporating local myths and legends. Thus, they were able to make a strong emotional appeal.

The movement was pushed forward by the support of many local rulers, the Pallava rulers to begin with.

The change in the attitude of the rulers is generally ascribed to the influence of some eminent saint

whose aura of saintliness combined with his capacity to make miracles, to the discomfiture of their

Buddhist or Jain opponents, led to the change in the attitude of the ruler. Sometimes, the leading

minister or the queen is also brought into the

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picture. While all these must have undoubtedly played a role, the rulers may have had their own

political considerations. They could hope for greater legitimacy by allying themselves to a popular

movement. This was reinforced by the rise of temples which played a role in stabilizing society,

expanding agriculture and even taking part in trade. The temples were strengthened by royal gifts,

including grant of lands, and the rulers were strengthened by the brahmans legitimizing their powers

and position. In the immediate context, royal support was used, on occasions, to persecute the Jains and

Buddhists. Thus, the Pallava king, Mahendra Varman, destroyed a Jain monastery after ousting the Jains

from his court. Another rulers, Neduraman, is reputed to have impaled several thousands of Jains.

At the intellectual level, the Buddhist ideas and beliefs were given a death blow by Sankara who is

placed at the end of the 8th and the beginning of the 9th century. Sankara systematized the Vedanta

system, and was the great exponent of the phiosophy of advaita or non-dualism. According to him, the

separation of God and the phenomenal world was due to ignorance, and the way to salvation was

through the realization, by means of knowledge (jnan), that God and the created world was one. He

used dialectics to demolish Buddhist ideas, and to establish that the Vedas were the fountain-head of

knowledge.

With its trimph over Buddhism and Jainism, the bhakti movement in south India slowly began to lose its

open, egalitarian character. While the saints often disregarded the caste taboos, they did not challenge

the caste system as such, or the primacy of the brahmans. In the temples which proliferated, the deity

was treated as a living king, and an elaborate ritual and ceremonial was developed to emphasize his

position. These ceremonials were presided over by the brahmans who continued to use the traditional

caste restrictions. This situation was sought to be modified by Ramanuja who is placed in the eleventh

century. Ramanuja argued that for salvation, the grace of God was more important than knowledge

about him. He further argued that the path of bhakti was open to all, irrespective of caste, and enrolled

disciples from all castes. Unlike the Nayanars and Alvars who distrusted book learning, Ramanuja tried

to link bhakti with the tradition of the Vedas.

Thus, Ramanuja was a bridge between the popular movement based on bhakti, and total surrender to

God (prapatti), and the upper caste movement based on the Vedas. In this way, it was Ramanuja rather

than Sankar who stood forth as the guiding spirit

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of a movement which brought important changes in popular religion, attitude to God, and His

relationship with man. He, thus, prepared the ground for meeting the challenges of a new age.

It may be mentioned in passing that a more radical movement, represented by the Vir Shaiva or

Lingayats, rose to prominence in the 12th century in parts of modern Karnataka. An old sect which was

revised and reformed by Basava, the brahman prime minister of the Chalukyan rulers, the Lingayats

were worshippers of Siva, and laid emphasis on love towards God, and bhakti as the means of attaining

the goals of human life. They attached great importance to the guru, and rejected fasts, feasts or

pilgrimages. They were strongly opposed to Buddhism and Jainism, as also to the Brahmans, and the

values and social institutions associated with them. They upheld human equality, and denounced the

caste system. All those who joined the sect were to eat together, intermarry, and to live in unity. They

disapproved of child marriage. Divorce was allowed. Widows were treated with respect and they were

allowed to marry again.

Popular Bhakti Movement in North India

Although the sentiment of bhakti had grown in the early phase in north India, its development as a mass

phenomenon took place in the south, as we have seen. The popular bhakti movement which began in

north India from the 14th-15th centuries onwards has often been considered an off-shoot of the

southern movement. Interaction in the cultural field between north and south India was a continuous

process, both among the Hindus and among the Buddhist and Jain scholars. During the 9th century,

Sankara is supposed to have undertaken a journey to north India to engage in scholarly discussions

because, according to tradition, such discussions in north and south were necessary to establish a

system of thought. What is notable, however, is that despite this strong tradition, and the early origins

of bhakti in north India, bhakti did not become a mass phenomenon in north India till the fifteenth

century. This gap of five hundred years or more can only be explained in terms of the social, political and

cultural conditions obtaining in the two regions. In south India, the bhakti movement began as a

reaction against the rigidities of the Buddhists and the Jains. In north India, the Buddhists and the Jains

had been ousted from their preeminent position much earlier, the Gupta rulers being strong champions

of Hinduism Harsh, though a votary of Siva, had not discriminated

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against the Buddhists, but Buddhism had continued to decline. In the period following Harsh, a number

of states called Rajput states came into being. There has been controversy regarding the origin of the

Rajputs, but it is generally agreed that they were drawn from different sections—some from brahman or

other castes, some from local tribes which were ruling over some tracts, some were even foreigners.

The word Rajput itself originally meant a horse-trader. But as the various sections acquired control

overland, and political authority, and their followers emerged as warriors, the brahmans accorded them

the status of kshatriyas. In return, the brahmans received generous grants of land, and money for the

building and maintenance of temples. They were also accorded positions in government as raj-purohits,

or advisors of government on religion and polity. On occasions, they were sent on diplomatic missions.

They were also assessed land-revenue at concessional rates—a tradition which continued in some of the

Rajput states till their merger in the Indian Union. It was this local Rajput-Brahman alliance which

dominated society and the cultural scene till the arrival of the Turks. The proliferation of temples and

their wealth was an index of the prosperity of the brahmans, and their high status in the Rajput polity.

One result of this Rajput—Brahman alliance was that the Rajput rulers stood forth as the protectors of

the four-fold varna system, which legitimized the privileges of the brahmans and a highly stratified,

hierarchical society. Any sect or philosophical school which challenged this social order and the

privileges of the brahmans had, thus, to face not only the hostility of the powerfully entrenched

brahmans, but also invited repression at the hands of political authority. This may explain why the early

stirrings of bhakti in north India did not lead to a broadening of the movement, though works on bhakti

continued to be written in Sanskrit. At the grass-root level, it is possible to discern the rise of a number

of dissident or heterodox movements during the period. These included the Tantrik and the Nathpanthi

movements. The Tantrik siddhas were often drawn from the lower castes, and anyone, irrespective of

caste or sex could, join them. They believed in the worship of female godesses, and believed that

magical powers could be gained by following a set course which included asceticism. They were strongly

opposed to the existing, unequal social order, and the brahmanical code of conduct and religious rites.

To demonstrate their opposition to existing social norms, some of them partook forbidden food and

drink, while some even advocated free love as a stage to the attainment

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of higher knowledge. Due to the hostility of the brahmans, and fear of political repression, some of them

used elliptical language which only the initiates could understand. Although the Nathpanthis adopted a

high moral tone, the brahmans attacked all of them as being immoral and even enemies of state and

society. Nevertheless, the Nathpanthis had spread all over India and, from their headquarters at

Peshawar, even travelled all over West and Central Asia.

The coming of the Turks, the defeat of many Rajput rajas, the destruction of temples and trampling

under-foot of images which were often represented not as symbols of God, but Gods themselves who

were ministered to by the brahmans, not only dealt a heavy blow to the Rajput-Brahman alliance, but

undermined the prestige of the brahmans. It was in this new situation that the movement of popular

bhakti developed in many parts of north India.

A well-known sociologist, Max Weber, has argued that an apocalyptic movement such as bhakti was

often the ideology of a defeated ruling class, with aspects of quietism and suffering being emphasized. It

is hardly possible to agree with this view because it would hardly explain the rise of the mass movement

of bhakti in the south.

It has also been argued that bhakti grew in the north as a kind of a defence mechanism, to save Hindu

society from the threat of subversion posed to it by the Turkish rulers, and the challenge faced from the

Islamic ideology which was simple, and emphasized the ideas of brotherhood and equality. However,

this does not to take into account the totality of the situation. As we have seen earlier, after an initial

phase of warfare, the Hindus did not face any immediate threat of conversion, though prisoner of war,

and even women and children captured in the course of operations were enslaved and converted to

Islam. Both rulers and saints, such as Nizamuddin Auliya, admitted that the Hindu faith was too strong to

be affected either by threats of force, or the concept of brotherhood and equality held out by Islam. In

any case, social equality had long disappeared in Islam, and the Turkish rulers looked down upon Hindu

converts, especially those from the artisan and low castes.

It has also been argued that the only purpose of the bhakti saints was to carry out those reforms which

would enable them to meet the Islamic ideological challenge. This appears rather lop-sided. As we have

seen, Hindu and Buddhist ideas had influenced sufism in its formative phase. In India, the sufi emphasis

on monotheism, on the role of the pir or guru, on mystical union with the 'beloved',

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etc. coincided with the ideas of many earlier sects and elements in Hinduism. With the entry of Islam,

these common elements received renewed emphasis in Hinduism.

Thus, the bhakti movement marks a phase of symbiosis where common elements were emphasized.

This aspect is more important than claims of mutual borrowing which are always a matter of dispute.

Perhaps the first region in north India where the early stirrings of this movement can be seen is

Maharashtra. Sant Jnaneshwar (c. 12th cent) wrote a commentary on Gita in which equal stress was laid

on jnan, karma and bhakti. In a significant step, he wrote not in Sanskrit but in the language of the

people, Marathi. Jnaneshwar's successor was Namdeva (14th century) whose poetry breathes a spirit of

intense love and devotion to God. Namadeva is said to have travelled far and wide, and engaged in

discussions with the sufi saints at Delhi. Another saint, Ramanada, who was a follower of Ramanuja, was

born at Prayag (Allahabad) and lived there and at Banaras. He popularised the worship of Rama as an

avtar of Vishnu. What is more, he taught his doctrine of bhakti to all the four varnas, and disregarded

the ban on people of different castes cooking or eating their meals together. He is said to have enrolled

disciples from all castes, including the low castes. Thus, his disciples included Ravidas, who was a cobbler

by caste; Kabir, who was a weaver; Sena, who was a barber; and Sadhana, who was a butcher.

Namadeva was equally broad-minded in enrolling his disciples.

Among those saints who carried the message of bhakti to the people, who were strongly critical of the

religion of works, and of image worship and of the caste system, and made a strong plea for HinduMuslim unity the names of Kabir and Nanak stand pre-eminent.

There is a good deal of uncertainty about the dates and early life of Kabir. Legend has it that he was the

son of a brahman widow who abandoned him, and that he was brought up in the house of a Muslim

weaver. He learned the profession of his adopted father, but while living at Kashi, he came in touch with

both the Hindu saints and sufis. He was also strongly influenced by the Nath-panthis. Kabir emphasised

the unity of God whom he calls by several names, such as Rama, Hari, Govind, Allah, Sain, Sahib, etc. He

strongly denounced idol-worship, pilgrimages, bathing in holy rivers or taking part in formal worship,

such as namaz. Nor did he consider it necessary to abandon the life of a normal householder for the

sake of a saintly life. Though familiar with yogic practices expounded by the Nath-panthis, he did not

consider asceticism, or book-learning important for true knowledge.

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Kabir's sharpest barbs were directed against the religious leaders of the two communities, Hinduism and

Islam, who misused the credulity of the people for their purposes, and tried to parade their booklearning without understanding the essence of religion. Kabir derived from his belief in the unity of God,

his concept of human equality. This led him to attack the existing hierarchical order of society, and those

who prided themselves on their wealth, control over land, family, race etc. Since the State upheld the

unjust social order, Kabir advised the saint to stay away from royal courts.

Belief in the oneness of God also led Kabir to the conclusion that all religions were different roads to the

same goal. Hence, he considered the differences among the Hindus and the Muslims to be meaningless.

Since Kabir was illiterate and his message was carried by word of mouth and was written down much

later, there have been much additions and alterations to his message, so much so that it is difficult to

distinguish between the two. Kabir was not a social reformer but hoped that human conduct would

shape society.

Different ideas have been expressed on the influence of Kabir on the large mass of the Hindus and the

Muslims. Despite Kabir, the two religions continued in their set ways. Nor was there any breach in the

caste system. In course of time, the followers of Kabir, the Kabir-panthis, shrank into a small sect. But

Kabir's mission needs to be seen in a broader context. He created a climate of opinion which continued

to work through the ages, so that Kabir became a symbol of human equality, Hindu-Muslim unity, and

opposition to cant and hypocrisy in all forms.

Guru Nanak, from whose teachings the Sikh religion was derived, was born in a Khatri household in the

village of Talwandi (now called Nanakana) on the bank of river Ravi in 1469. Although married early, and

trained in Persian to take his father's profession of accountancy, Nanak showed a mystic, contemplative

bent of mind, and preferred the company of saints and sadhus. Sometimes later, he had a mystic vision

and forsook the world. He composed hymns and sang them to the accompaniment of the rabab, a

stringed instrument played by his faithful attendant, Mardana. It is said that Nanak undertook wide

tours all over India and even beyond it, to Sri Lanka in the south, and Mecca and Madina in the west. He

attracted a large number of people towards him, and his name and fame spread far and wide before his

death in 1538.

Like Kabir, Nanak laid emphasis on the one God, by repeating whose name and dwelling on it with love

and devotion, one could

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get salvation without distinction of caste, creed or sect. However, Nanak laid great emphasis on the

purity of character and conduct as the first condition of approaching God, and the need of a guru for

guidance. Like Kabir, he strongly denounced idol-worship, pilgrimages and other formal observances of

the various faiths. He advocated a middle path in which spiritual life could be combined with the duties

of the householder.

Nanak had no intention of founding a new religion. His catholic approach aimed at bridging distinctions

between the Hindus and the Muslims, in order to create an atmosphere of peace, goodwill and mutual

interaction. Like Kabir, Nanak also believed in human equality and brotherhood, and strongly denounced

the caste system. He also considered the rulers of his time to be irreligious tyrants. However, unlike

Kabir, he postulated an ideal state which would be presided over by a philosopher-king who would base

his conduct on morality, justice and equality.

The liberal sufis, and the nirguna bhakti saints posed a challenge to the orthodox elements in Islam and

Hinduism. The response of the orthdox sections was varied—from open hostility to finding common

meeting points with them, and redefining the old faith in a manner to meet their challenge. The struggle

between these two trends, one liberal and non-sectarian, and the other orthodox and traditional, was at

the heart of many intellectual movements and religious controversies during the sixteenth, seventeenth

and subsequent centuries. In this continuing struggle, the impact of Kabir, Nanak and many others of the

same way of thinking was by no means insignificant.

The Vaishnavite Movement

Apart from the non-sectarian movements led by Kabir and Nanak, the bhakti movement in north India

developed around the worship of Rama and Krishna, two of the incarnations of the god Vishnu. The

childhood escapades of Krishna and his dalliance with the milkmaids of Gokul, especially with Radha,

became the theme of a remarkable series of saint-poets who used them in an allegoric manner to depict

the relationship, in its various aspects, of the individual soul with the supreme soul. Born and educated

in Nadia which was the centre of Vedantic rationalism, Chaitanya's tenor of life was changed when he

visited Gaya at the age of 22 and was initiated into the Krishna cult by a recluse. He became a godintoxicated devotee who incessantly uttered the name of Krishna.

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Like the early sufis, Chaitanya popularised musical gathering or kirtan as a special form of mystic

experience in which the outside world disappeared by dwelling on God's name. Chaitanya is said to have

travelled all over India, including Vrindavana where he revived the Krishna cult. But most of his time was

spent at Gaya. He exerted an extraordinary influence, particularly in the eastern parts of India, and

attracted a large following, including some Muslims and people from the low castes. He did not reject

the scriptures or idol-worship, though he cannot be classified as a traditionalist.

The writings of Narsinha Mehta in Gujarat, of Meera in Rajasthan, of Surdas in west Uttar Pradesh, and

of Chaitanya in Bengal and Orissa reached extraordinary heights of lyrical fervour and of love which

transcended all boundaries, including those of caste and creed. These saints were prepared to welcome

into their fold everyone, irrespective of caste or creed. All the saint poets mentioned above remained

within the broad framework of Hinduism. Their philosophic beliefs were a brand of Vedantic monism

which emphasised the fundamental unity of God and the Created world. The Vedantist philosophy had

been propounded by a number of thinkers, but the one who probably influenced the saint poets most

was Vallabha, a Tailang brahman, who lived in the last part of the fifteenth and the early part of the

sixteenth century.

The approach of these saint-poets was broadly humanistic. They emphasised the broadest human

sentiments—the sentiments of love and beauty in all their forms. Like the non-sectarian, nirguna saints,

their criticism of the caste system did little to weaken it. They did, however, provide an escape route for

select ones, especially those who were suffering from the inequities of the caste system by promising

them not only the prospect of release (moksha), but as bhaktas, gave them a high status even in the

phenomenal world. Thus Ravidas says:

My caste is low, my deeds are low,

And lowly is my profession,

From this low position,

God has raised me high,

Says Ravidas the chamar.

The basic concepts of the saint-poets were reciprocated in a remarkable degree by the sufi poets and

saints of the period. During the fifteenth century, the monistic ideas of the great Arab philosopher, Ibn-iArabi, became popular among broad sections in India. Arabi had been vehemntly demounced by the

orthodox elements

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and his followers persecuted because he held that all being is essentially one, and everything is a

manifestation of the divine substance. Thus, in his opinion, the different religions were identical. Arabi's

doctrine of Unity of Being is known as Tauhid (Unity of)-i-Wajaudi (Being). This doctrine kept on gaining

in popularity in India, and became the main basis of the sufi thought before the time of Akbar. Contact

with yogis and Hindu saints went a long way in popularising the concept of pantheism. The Indian sufis

started taking more interest in Sanskrit and Hindi, and a few of them, such as Mulla Daud, and Malik

Muhammad Jaisi, composed their works in Hindi. The bhakti songs of the Vaishnavite saints, written in

Hindi and other regional languages, touched the hearts of the sufis more than Persian poetry did. The

use of Hindi songs became so popular that an eminent sufi, Abdul Wahid Bilgrami, wrote a treatise

Haqaiq-i-Hindi in which he tried to explain such words as "Krishna", "Murli", "Gopis", "Radha", Yamuna",

etc. in sufi mystic terms.

Thus, during the fifteenth and the early part of the sixteenth century, the bhakti and the sufi saints had

worked out in a remarkable manner a common platform on which people belonging to various sects and

creeds could meet and try to understand each other. 

iii Literature and Fine Arts

Sanskrit Literature

Sanskrit continued to be a vehicle for higher thought and a medium for literature during the period

under review. In fact, the production of works in Sanskrit in different branches was immense and

perhaps greater than in the preceding period. Following the great Sankara, works in the field of Advaita

philosophy by Ramanuja, Madhava, Vallabha, etc., continued to be written in Sanskrit. The speed with

which their ideas were widely disseminated and discussed in different parts of the country showed the

important role which Sanskrita continued to play during the period. There was a network of specialised

schools and academies in different parts of the country, including areas under Muslim domination.

These schools and academies were not interfered with and they continued to flourish. In fact, many of

them took advantage of the introduction of paper to reproduce and disseminate the older texts. Thus,

some of

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the oldest available texts of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata belong to the period from the eleventh

or twelfth century onwards.

Besides philosophy, works in the field of kavya (poetical narrative), drama, fiction, medicine, astronomy,

music, etc., continued to be written. A large number of commentaries and digests on the Hindu law

(Dharmashastras) were prepared between the twelfth and the sixteenth century. The great Mitakshara

of Vijnaneshwar, which forms one of the two principal Hindu schools of law, cannot be placed earlier

than the twelfth century. Another famous commentator on the Dharmashastras was Chandeshwar of

Bihar who lived in the fourteenth century. Most of the works were produced in the south, followed by

Bengal, Mithila and western India under the patronage of Hindu rulers. The Jains, too, contributed to the

growth of Sanskrit. Hemchandra Suri was the most eminent among these. Oddly enough, they largely

ignored the presence of the Muslims in the country. Little attempt was made to translate Islamic works

or Persian literature into Sanskrit. Possibly the only exception was the translation of the love story of

Yusuf and Zulaikha, written by the famous Persian poet, Jami. This might be taken to be as another

example of the insularity of outlook of the Hindus which had been mentioned by Albiruni earlier. Refusal

to face the existing reality may be one reason why much of the writing of the period is repetitive, and

lacks fresh insight or originality.

Arabic and Persian Literature

Although the greatest amount of literature produced by the Muslims was in Arabic which was the

language of the Prophet, and was used as the language of literature and philosophy from Spain to

Baghdad, the Turks who came to India were deeply influenced by the Persian language which had

become the literary and administrative language of Central Asia and Iran from the tenth century

onwards. In India, the use of Arabic remained largely confined to a narrow circle of Islamic scholars and

philosophers. In course of time, digests of the Islamic law were prepared in Persian also with the help of

Indian scholars. The most well-known of these Fiqh-i-Firuzshahi which was prepared in the reign of Firuz

Tughlaq. But Arabic digests continued to be prepared, the most famous of these being the Fatawa-iAlamgiri, or the Digest of Laws prepared by a group of jurists in the reign of Aurangzeb.

With the arrival of the Turks in India during the tenth century, a new language, Persian, was introduced

in the country. There was

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a resurgence of the Persian language in Iran and Central Asia from the tenth century onwards and some

of the greatest poets of the Persian language, such as Firdausi and Sadi, and the great poets of mystic

love, Sinai, Iraqi, Jami, Hafiz etc. lived and composed their works between the tenth and fourteenth

centuries. From the beginning, the Turks adopted Persian as the language of literature and

administration in the country. Thus, Lahore emerged as the first centre for the cultivation of the Persian

language. Although the works of only a few of these early writers of Persian in India have survived, we

find in the writings of some of them, such as Masud Sad Salman, a sense of attachment and love for

Lahore. However, the most notable Persian writer of the period was Amir Khusrau. Born in 1252 at

Patiali (near Badaun in western Uttar Pradesh), Amir Khusrau took pride in being an Indian. He says, "I

have praised India for two reasons. First, because India is the land of my birth and our country. Love of

the country is an important obligation.... Hindustan is like heaven. Its climate is better than that of

Khurasan...it is green and full of flowers all the year round. The brahmans here are as learned as

Aristotle and there are many scholars in various fields...."

Khusrau's love for India shows that the Turkish ruling class was no longer prepared to behave as a

foreign ruling class, and that the ground had been prepared for a cultural rapprochement between them

and the Indians.

Khusrau wrote a large number of poetical works, including historical romances. He experimented with

all the poetical forms, and created a new style of Persian which came to be called the sabaq-i-hindi or

the style of India.

Khusrau has praised the Indian languages, including Hindi (which he calls Hindavi). Some of his scattered

Hindi verses are found in his writings though the Hindi work, Khaliq Bari, often attributed to Khusrau,

was in all probability the work of a later poet of the same name. He was also an accomplished musician

and took part in religious musical gatherings (sama) organised by the famous Sufi saint, Nizamuddin

Auliya. Khusrau, it is said, gave up his life the day after he learnt of the death of his pir, Nizamuddin

Auliya (1325). He was buried in the same compound.

Apart from poetry, a strong school of history writing in Persian developed in India during the period. The

most famous historians of this period were Minhaj Siraj, Ziauddin Barani, Afif and Isami.

Through the Persian language, India was able to develop close cultural relations with Central Asia and

Iran. In course of time,

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Persian became not only the language of administration and diplomacy, but also the language of the

upper classes and their dependents, at first in north India and later, with the expansion of the Delhi

Sultanat to the south and with the establishment of Muslim kingdoms in different parts of the country,

in almost the entire country.

Sanskrit and Persian, in the main, functioned as link languages in the country, in politics, religion and

philosophy, and were also means of literary productions. At first, there was little interchange between

the two. Zia Nakhshabi (d. 1350) was the first to translate into Persian Sanskrit stories which were

related by a parrot to a woman whose husband had gone on a journey. The book Tuti Nama (Book of the

Parrot), written in the time of Muhammad Tughlaq, proved very popular and was translated from

Persian into Turkish, and later into many European languages as well. He also translated the old Indian

treatise on sexology, the Kok Shastra, into Persian. Later, in the time of Firuz Shah, Shaskrit books on

medicine and music were translated into Persian. Sultan Zain-ul-Abidin of Kashmir had the famous

historical work Rajatarangini, and the Mahabharata translated into Persian. Sanskrit works on medicine

and music were also translated into Persian at his instance.

Regional Languages

During the period, literary works of high quality were produced in many of the regional languages as

well. Many of these languages, such as Hindi, Bengali and Marathi trace their origin back to the eighth

century or so. Some others, such as Tamil, were much older. Buddhists and Jains, and the Nath Panthi

siddhas had used the "corrupt languages" (apabhramsha), as also local languages for their works in

preference to Sanskrit. Writing in the beginning of the fourteenth century, Amir Khusrau had noted the

existence of regional languages and remarked: "There is at this time in every province a language

peculiar to itself, and not borrowed from any other—Sindhi, Lahori, Kashmiri, Kubari (Dogri of the

Jammu region), Dhur Samundari (Kannada of Karnataka), Tilangi (Telugu), Gujar (Gujarati), Mabari

(Tamil), Gauri (North Bengal), Bengali, Awadh, and Delhi and its environs (Hindavi)". He adds, "These

languages have from ancient times applied in every way to the common purposes of life."

Some modern regional languages, such as Assamese, Oriya, Malayalam have not been noted. However,

Khusrau rightly points

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to a significant development, viz the emergence of the modern regional languages of India. The rise to

maturity of many of these languages and their use as means for literary works may be considered a

striking feature of the medieval period. There were many reasons for this. Perhaps, with the loss of

prestige by the brahmans, Sanskrit also lost some of its prestige. The use of the common languages by

the bhakti saints was, undoubtedly, an important factor in the rise of these languages. In fact, in many

parts of the country, it was the saints who fashioned these languages for literary purposes. It seems that

in many regional kingdoms of the pre-Turkish period, regional languages, such as Tamil, Kannada,

Marathi, etc., were used for administrative purposes, in addition to Sanskrit. This must have been

continued under the Turkish rule, for we hear of Hindi-knowing revenue accountants appointed in the

Delhi Sultanat. Later, when the Delhi Sultanat broke up, local languages, in addition to Persian,

continued to be used for administrative purpose in many of the regional kingdoms. Thus, literature in

Telugu developed in south India under the patronage of the Vijayanagara rulers. Marathi was one of the

administrative languages in the Bahmini kingdom, and later, at the court of Bijapur. In course of time,

when these languages had reached a certain stage of development, some of the Muslim kings gave

them patronage for literary purposes also. For example, Nusrat Shah of Bengal had the Mahabharata

and the Ramayana translated into Bengali. Maladhar Basu also translated the Bhagavata into Bengali

under his patronage. His patronage of Bengali poets has been mentioned earlier.

The use of bhakti poems in Hindi by the Sufi saints in their musical gatherings has been mentioned

before. In east U.P. sufi saints, such as Mulla Daud, the author of Chandayan, Malik Muhammad Jaisi,

etc. wrote in Hindi and put forward sufi concepts in a form which could be easily understood by the

common man. They popularised many Persian forms, such as the masnavi.

Fine Arts: Music

Trends towards mutual understanding and integration are to be found not only in the fields of religious

beliefs and rituals, architecture and literature, but also in the fields of fine arts, particularly music. When

the Turks came to India, they inherited the rich Arab tradition of music which had been further

developed in Iran and Central Asia. They brought with them a number of new musical instruments, such

as the rabab and sarangi, and new musical

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modes and regulations. Indian music and Indian musicians at the court of the Caliphs at Baghdad had

possibly influenced the development of music there. However, systematic contact between the two

began in India under the Sultanat. We have already referred to Amir Khusrau. Khusrau, who was given

the title of nayak or master of both the theory and practice of music, introduced many Perso-Arabic airs

(ragas), such as aiman, gora, sanam, etc. The qawwali is supposed to originate with him. He is credited

with having invented the sitar, though we have no evidence of it. The tabla which is also attributed to

him seems, however, to have developed during the late seventeenth or early eighteenth century.

The process of integration in the field of music continued under Firuz. The Indian classical work

Ragadarpan was translated into Persian during his reign. Musical gatherings spread from the abodes of

the sufis to the palaces of the nobles. Sultan Husain Sharqi, the ruler of Jaunpur, was a great patron of

music. The sufi saint, Pir Bodhan, is supposed to have been the second great musician of the age.

Another regional kingdom where music was highly cultivated was the kingdom of Gwaliyar. Raja Man

Singh of Gwaliyar was a great music lover. The work Man Kautuhal in which all the new musical modes

introduced by the Muslims were included was prepared under his aegis. We do not know at what time

the musical modes in north India began to differ from those in the south. But there in little doubt that

the differentiation was largely due to the incorporation of Perso-Arabic modes, airs and scales.

A distinctive style of music, influenced in considerable measure by Persian music, developed in the

kingdom of Kashmir.

After the conquest of Jaunpur, Sikandar Lodi followed its tradition of patronising music on a lavish

scale—a tradition which was further developed by the Afghan rulers. Thus, Adali, a successor of Sher

Shah, was a great master of music. But music came into its own under the Mughals.