The Sufi, Bhakti and Sikh Movement in India

The Sufi, Bhakti and Sikh Movement in India

Sufism in India

Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti introduced Sufism in India. He came to India from Afghanistan with the army of Shihab-ud-Din Ghuri in 1192 AD and started living permanently in Ajmer from 1195. The original sufis wore simple wool cloaks and in Arabic the word Sufi means "man of wool". Pir in the Sufi tradition means Guru.

A khanqah or khangah, also known as ribat, is a building designed specifically for gatherings of a Sufi brotherhood and is a place for spiritual retreat and character reformation in Sufi tradition.

The chief orders of Sufis in India are: The Chishti, The Suharwardi, The Firdausi, The Quadri and The Naqshbandi.

The Chisti Order:

The Chishti order was established by Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti of Ajmer. Other notable disciples were Bakhtiar Kaki (the person to whom the Qutb Minar, Delhi is dedicated), Nizamuddin Auliya, the historian Barani and the poet Amir Khusro. It was popular in Delhi and the Doab region.

The Suharwardi Order:

It was popular in Punjab and Sindh region.

The Firdausi Order:

It was a branch of the Suharwardi order and its activities were confined to Bihar.

The Quadri Order:

Dara Shikoh, the eldest son of Shah Jahan, was a follower of this order.

The Naqshbandi Order:

Of all the Sufi orders, it was nearest to orthodoxy and it tried to counteract the liberal policies of Akbar, who was considered by them as heretic.

The Bhakti Movement in India:

Bhakti means personal devotion to God. It stresses the Union of the individual with God.

Bhakti movement originated in South India between the 7th and the 12th centuries AD.

The Nayanmars, who worshipped Siva, and the Alwars, who worshipped Vishnu, preached the idea of Bhakti.

Shankaracharya:

He was born in Kerala. A Hindu revivalist movement giving a new placement to Hinduism was started by Sankara in the 9th century. His doctrine of monotheism or Advaita and Nirgunabrahman (God without attributes) were too abstract to appeal to the common people. In Advaita, the reality of the world is denied and Brahman is considered as the only reality. The four mathas (monasteries or mutts) established by Adi Shankaracharya in the four corners of India were meant to uphold Sanatana Dharma (Hinduism).

Ramanuja:

He was born at SriPerumbudur, near Chennai. He preached Visishtadvaita in the 12th century. According to him, God is Saguna Brahman. He encouraged Prabattimarga or path of self-surrender to God. In Vishishtadvaita, Brahman is a personal God with omniscient qualities. The Sri Bhasya is the most famous work of Ramanuja.

Madhavacharaya:

In the 13th century, Madhavacharaya from the Kannada region propagated Dvaita or the dualism of the Jivatma and Paramatma.

Nimbarka:

Younger contemporary of Ramanuja who propagated the two Dvaita-advaita philosophy and the philosophy of Bheda-abheda (difference and non difference). He was the founder of the Radha Krishna cult.

Namdeva:

He was a poet saint from Maharashtra belonging to the 14th century, who belonged to the Varkari Sect.

Vallabhacharya:

Born in Banaras in the 15th century and lived at the court of Krishna Deva Raya. He was the founder of Shuddha Advaita or pure non-duality. He wrote the commentary on Vedanta Sutras in Sanskrit.

Ramananda:

He lived in the first half of the 15th century. He was born in Allahabad and was originally a follower of Ramanuja. He looked upon Ram and not Vishnu as the objective bhakti. He worshipped Ram and Sita and came to be identified as the founder of the Ram cult in North India. He was the first Bhakti saint to use Hindi for the propagation of his messages. Tulsidas, a follower of Ramananda, wrote Ramcharitmanas during the reign of King Akbar. The preachings of Ramananda gave rise to two schools of thought:

a) The orthodox school represented by Tulsidas,

b) The liberal school is represented by Kabir and Nanak.

Kabir:

Among the disciples of Ramananda, one of the most famous was Kabir. He was a 15 century poet and Saint whose verses are found in the Sikh holy scripture Adi Granth. The small poems of Kabir are known as Dohas.

He was born near Benares to a Brahman widow, but was brought up by a Muslim couple who were weavers by profession. Kabir’s objective was to reconcile Hindus and Muslims and establish harmony between the two sects.

He is regarded as the greatest of the mystic saints and his followers are called Kabirpanthis. Among those who were influenced by Kabir were Raidas, who was a tanner by caste, Guru Nanak, who was a Khatri merchant from Punjab, and Dhanna, who was a Jat peasant from Rajasthan.

Bijak is the best known of the compilations of the compositions of Kabir.

Guru Nanak:

The first Sikh Guru and founder of Sikhism, who was also a Nirguna Bhakti Saint and social reformer. He was born in a Khatri household in the village of Talwandi (now called Nankana), on the banks of the river Ravi in c.1469 CE.

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu:

Well-known saint, ascetic Hindu monk, and social reformer of Bengal, who popularised the Krishna cult in the 16th century. With him, the Bhakti Movement in Bengal began to develop into a reform movement as it questioned social division on the basis of caste – Popularised the

Sankirtan/Kirtan system (group devotional songs accompanied with ecstatic dancing). He was born in 1486 A.D. at Navadweepa in West Bengal in a Brahmin family. His childhood name was Nimai or Biswambhar Mishra.

Surdas:

Surdas was a 16th-century blind Hindu devotional poet and singer, who was known for his works written in praise of Krishna, the supreme lord. He was a great Vaishnava and is respected and revered by all the Vaishnava traditions. They are usually written in Braj Bhasha, one of the two literary dialects of Hindi.

Narsingh Mehta:

Saint from Gujarat who wrote songs in Gujarati depicting the love of Radha–Krishna. Author of Mahatma Gandhi’s favorite bhajan – “Vaishnav jan ko”.

Mirabai:

She belonged to a high class ruling Rajput family. Mirabai’s poetry speaks of her vision of Lord Krishna when she was a child. From that point onwards, Mira vowed that she would forever be his bride. However, against her wishes, she was married to the son of Rana Sanga of Mewar at an early age.

Tukaram:

Tukaram was a 17th century poet Saint of Bhakti movement in Maharashtra who was a contemporary of King Shivaji. He is considered as the greatest Bhakti poet of Maharashtra. He is known for his devotional poetries named Avangas. His poetry was devoted to Vithoba, an avatar of the Hindu God Vishnu. Samarth Ramdas was the spiritual guru of King Shivaji.

The Sikh Movement in India:

Guru Nanak: founder of Sikhism.

Guru Angad: developed the gurmukhi script, introduced the langar (free kitchen) and tradition of mall akhara for the youth.

Guru Amar Das: composed the Anand Sahib, introduced the simple Anand Karaj marriage and abolished the Sati among the Sikhs.

Guru Ram Das: laid the foundation of the holy city of Amritsar and initiated the construction of the Golden Temple.

Guru Arjan Dev: compiled the Adi Granth and completed the construction of the Golden Temple. It was during Ranjit Singh's reign that the shrine of the temple was richly decorated with marble and golden plates and came to be known as the Golden Temple.

Guru Hargobind: created the Sikh Martial art called Gatka and trained the Sikhs in military art and tactics. Build the Akal Takht and was known as the soldier Saint.

Guru Har Rai: he maintained a large army of Sikh soldiers.

Guru Har Krishan: the youngest of all Sikh gurus. He was installed as a guru at the age of five.

Guru Teg Bahadur: he refused to convert to Islam and was beheaded in Delhi on the orders of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb.

Guru Gobind Singh: transformed the Sikhs into a military force by establishing the body of the Khalsa in 1699.

Miscellaneous Facts:

 a) The Gita Govinda is a work composed by the 12th-century Hindu poet, Jayadeva. It describes the relationship between Krishna, Radhika and the gopis (female cow herders) of Vrindavana.

b) The Shrine of Hazarat Nizamuddin Auliya is situated in Delhi.

c) Ajmer Sharif Dargah is a Sufi tomb of the revered Sufi saint Moinuddin Chishti located at Ajmer, Rajasthan, India.

d) Amir-Khusrau was the originator in India of the early form of the musical style known as Qawwali. He also helped to develop the dialect Khariboli. Amir Khusrau was born in Patiala.