UNIT 29 SOCIO-RELIGIOUS

MOVEMENT: BHAKTI
MOVEMENT
Structure
29.0 Objectives
29.1 Introduction
29.2 Background : Bhakti Movement in South India
29.3 Bhakti Movement in North India
29.4 Emergence of Bhakti' Movement
29.4.1 Political Factors for the Rise ofthe Bhaktt Movement
29.4.2 Socio-Economic Factors
29.5 Main Popular Movements and their Characteristics
29.5.1 Monotheistic Movements of North lndia
29.5.2 Common Characteristic Features
29.5.3 Vnbhmva BhakU Movement 'in North lndia
29.5.4 Vaishmva BhakU Movement in Bengal
29.5.5 BhakU Movement in Maharashtra
29.5.6 BhakU Movement in Other Regions
29.6 Influence of Other Traditions and Movemerits
29.6.1 Popular Monotheistic Saints and Mmananda
29.6.2 Influence of the N.tbpntM Movement on Monotheistic Saints
29.6.3 Influence of Islamic Ideas and the Role of Sufism
29.6.4 'Ibeory of Islamic Challenge to Hinduism
29.7 Let Us Sum U p
29.8 Key Words
29.9 Answers to Check Your Progress Exercises.

29.0 OBJECTIVES
After reading this Unit, you would be able to :
understand the background of thebhakti movement,
identify the main political and socio-economic
.. factors for the rise of bhakti
.movement in North India,
list the main popular branches and the saints of this movement,
know the main characteristic features of the bhrrkti movement, and
learn about the influence of other traditions and Islam on this'movement.

Bhakti as a religious concept means devotional surrenaer t o a personally conceived

Supreme God for attaining salvation. The origin of this dogrine has been traced to
both the Brahmanical and Buddhist traditions of ancient India and to variolis
scriptures such as the Gita. But it was for the first time in South India between the
seventh and tenth century that bbakti grew from a mere religious doctrine into a
popular movement based on religious equality and broad-based social participation.
The movement which was led by popular saint-poets reached its climax in the tenth
century after which it began to decline. But it was revived as a philosophical and
ideological movement by a series of wandering scholars or acharyas, beginning with
Ramanuja in the eleventh century. The establishment of the Delhi Sultanate in early
thirteenth century witnessed great outburst of inany diverse and widespread
socio-religious movements in various parts of the country drawing upon fhe'concepts
of bhaktiieThese movements have been seen as continuation or revival of the oiber
South Indian bhakti movement. But each one o i the later movements which grew in
the Sultanate period had a.historica1 context of its own and its own peculiarities.
Moreover, one of them, namely, the non-conformist monotheistic movement which
is associated with Kabir and other "low-caste" saints bears onlv suverficial
 -.
reSemblance to the variants of the movement. Its social roots, its ideology, social
composition of its legdership and even its concept of bhakti and God set it
fundamentally apart,from the older bhakti movement of South India as well as from
the rest of the later dhakti movements. In view of these wide and a t l m e s even basic [ *
differences among various bhakti movements, they must be discussed individually inl
order to clearly bring out the characteristics of each one of them and also to discover
I
elements of unity and diversity among them.

29.2 BACKOWUND : BHAKTI MOVEMENT IN /

. SOUTH INDIA

The sai- Nayanar saints and vaishnava .Alvar saints of South India spread the
'
doctrine of bhakti among different sections of the society irrespestive of caste and
sex during the period between the syventh and the tenth century. Some of these
saints came from the "lower" castes and some were women. The saint-poets
preached bhakti. 'in an intense emotional manner and promoted religious
egalitarianism. They dispensed with rituals and traversed the region several times
singing, dan~ingand advocating bhakti. The Alvar and Nayanar saints used the
Tamil language and not Sanskrit for preaching and composing devotional songs. All
these features gave the movement a popular character. For the first time bhakti
acquired a popular base. The South Indian bhaktil saints were critical of Buddhists
and Jains who enjoyed a privileged status at the courts of South Indian kings at that
time. They won over many adherents of Buddhism and Jainism both of which by
now had become Ejgid and formal religions. At the same time, however, these
poet-saints resisted the authority of the orthodox Brahmans by making bbaktl
accessible to all without any caste and sex discrimination. But the South Indian
bhakti movement had its limitations as well. It never consciously opposed
Brahmanismor the varna'and caste systems at the social level. It was integrated with
the caste system an8 the "lower" castes continued to suffer from various soeial
disabilities. There Was no elimination of Brahmanical rituals such as worship of
idols, recitation of the Vedic mantras and pilgrimages to sacred placesin spite of the
ovemding emphasis on bhakti as the superior mode of worship. The Bbddhists and
Jains were its main targets, not the Brahmans. This perhaps was also the reason why
the Brahman dominated temples played an important role in the growth of South
Indian bhakti movement. Since the ideological and social foundations of caste
system were not qllrbstioned by the South Indian saint-poets, the bhakti :movement
of the South in the long run strengthened it rather than weakening it. Ultimately,
after the movemeno reached its climax in the tenth century, it was gradually
assimilated into the conventional Brahmanical religion. But despite these
limitations, the Sodth Indian bhakti movement in its heyday succeeded in
championing the cause of religious equality and, consequently, the Brahmans had to
accept the right of the "low-caste" to preach, to have access to bhakti as a mode of
worship and io have access even to the Vedas

Bhakti and the Sorlth Indian Acharyas

When the populari,rjv of the bhakti movement in South India was on the wane, the
doctrine of bhakti tyas defcnded at the philosophical level by a series of brilliant
vaishnava Brahamap scholars (acharyas). Ramanuja (1 lth century) was first among
them. He gave phibsophical justification for bhakti. He tried to establish a careful
balance between orthodox Brahmanism and popular bhakti which was open to all.
Though he did not qupport the idea of the "lower" castes having access to the
Vedas, he advocated bhakti as a mode of worship accessible to all including the
Sudras and even thq outcastes. While propagating bhakti, he did not observe caste
distinctions and evep tried to eradicate untouchability. Nimbarka, a Telugu
Brahman, is believsd to havc hoen a younger contemporarv of Ramanuja. He spent
most of his time in Vrindavan near Mathura in North India He believed In total
devotlon to Krishnq and Raana. Another South lndlan val\h~lav~te bhaktl
philosopher was Madhava who belonged to the th~rtccnthcentury. Like Ramanuja.
he did not dispute orthodox Brahmanical restnctlon of the Vedic study by the
SudraS He belle\rd thz? hhakti provided alterna:e avenile bf worship to the Sudras.
HISph~losophicalsystem Has based on the Bhagvar Furana. He is also believed to
havc toured NorthlIndla. The last two prominent vaishnava acharyas w: :c
 -

Ramananda (late 14thpnd early 15th century) and Vallabha (late 15tb and early
16th century). Since both of them lived mostly in North India during.the Sultanate
period and gave new orientation to the vaishnava bhakti, they will be discussed in
the section dealirig with North India.

29.3 BHAKTI MOVEMENT IN NORTH INDIA .

There arose during he Sultanate period (13th-15th century) many popular
socio-religious movements in North and East India, and Maharashtra. Emphasis on
bhakti and religious equality were two common features of these movements: As
has been pointed oat, these two were also the features of the South Indian bhaliti
movements. Almost all the bhakti movements of the Sultarlate period have been
related to one South Indian vaishnava acharya or the other. For these reasons, many
scholars believe that the bhakti movements of the Sultanate period were a
continuation or-resurgence of thealder bhakti rhovement. They argue that there
existed philosophical and ideological links between the two either due to contact or
diffusion. Thus, Kabir and other leaders of non-conformist monotheistic movements
in North India are believed to have been the disciples of Ramananda who, in turn, is
believed to have been connected with Ramanuja's philosophical order. Similar
claims have been made that Chaitanya, the most significant figure of the vaishnava
movement in Bengal, belonged to the philosophical school of Madhava. This
movement is also believed to have been connected with Nimbarka's school because
of its emphasis on 'Krishna' bhakti.
There are undoubtedly striking similarities between the older bhakti tradition of
South India and various bhakti-movements that flcprished in the Sultanate and
Mughal periods. If we exclude the popular monotheistic movements of Kabir,
Nanak and other4'low" caste saints, the two sets of movements can be shown to
have possessed many more common features. For example, like the South Indian
bhakti movement, the vaishnava bhakti movements of North and Eastern India and
Maharashtra, though egalitarian in the religious sphere, never denounced the caste
system, the authority of Brahmanical scriptures and the Brahmanical privileges as
such.
Consequently, like the South Indian bhakti, most of the vaishnava movements of
the later period were ultimately assimilated into the Brahmanical religion, though in
the process of interaction, the latter itself underwent many changes. However, the
similarities endhere. Bhakti movement was never a single qovement except in the
broad doctrinal sense of a movement which laid emphasis on bhakti and.religjous
equality. The bhakti movements of medieval India differed in many significant
respects not only from the older South Indian bhakti tradition hut also among
themselves. Each one of them had its own regional identity ahd socio-historical drfd
cultural contexts. Thus, the non-confq.rmist movements based on popular
monotheistic bhakti cdntained features that were essentially different from various
vaishnava bhakti movements, Kabir's notion of bhakti was not the same as that of
the medieval vaishnavm saints such as Chaitanya or Mirabai. Within the v-va
movement, the historical context of Maharashtra bhakti was different from that of
the Bengal vaishnavism or North Indian bhakh movement of Ramanand, vallabna.
Surdas and Tulsidas. During the later period, when tfie vaishnava bbakti movement
crystallised into sects, there arose frequent disputes between them which sometimes
even turned violent. Among all the bhakti movements of the period between the .
14th and 17th century, the popular monotheistic movements of Kabir, Nanak,
Raidas and other "lower" caste saints stand out fundamentally different.
,Popular Monotheistic Movement and Vaishnava Bhakti Mov~ment
both these movements arose in Northern India at the same time, that is, in the
centuries following the establishment of the Delhi Sultanate and advent of Islam in
that part of the country. For:this reason, the rise of both the movements is quite
often attributed to certain common causes such as the influence of Islam on
Hinduism. However, the causes and sources of the two movements and the factors
exerting influence on them were quite diverse. It will behme clear from the
following discussion that a cause which explains one mdxement may not do so in the
case of the other. This is so because the popular monotheistic movements arose and
 reached their peak ih the Sultanate period, while the valshnava. movements began in
the Sultanate period but reached their climax during the Mughal period.

Check Your Progress 1

1) Give the salierlt features of the bhaktl movement.
'

2) Write two lines on each of the following :

Ramanuja .........,;................................................................................
........................r ...........................

Nimbarka ...........................................................................................
.........................................................................................................
Vallabha ...........,...............................................................................

Chaitanya ..........: I ,................................................................................

.........................................................................................................
b
Madhava ...........1 ....;............ . .......................................................
...
..........................................................................................................

29.4 EMERGENCE OF THE BHAKTI MOWMENT

The bhakti movemMt which influenced large number of people during 14th-17th
centuries in North h d i a emerged due to a number of political, socio-economic and ;
religious factors. Wkt will discuss all these in this section.

29.4.1 Political Factors for the Rise of the Bhakti Movement

It has been pointed out that as the popular bhakti movementcould not take root in
Northern India befote the Turkish conquest because the socio-religious milieu.was
dominated by the RBjput-Brahman alliance which was hostile to any heterodox
movement. The Tutkisli conquests brought the supremacy of this alliance to an end.
The advent of Islam with the Turkish conquest also caused a setback to the power
and prestige commilhded by the Brahmans: Thus, the way was paved for the growth
of non-conformist movements, with anti-caste and anti-Brahmanical ideology. The
Brahmans had always made the people believe that the images and idols in the
temples were not jutit the symbols of God but were gods themselves who possessed
divine power and who could be influenced by them (i.e. the Brahmans). The Turks
deprived the Brahnlans of their temple wealth and state patronage. Thus the
Brahmans suffered Both materially and ideologically. The non-conformist sect of the
nathpanthis was pethaps the first to gain from the declining power of the
Rajput-Brahman alliance. This sect seems to have reached its peak i n the beginning
of the Sultanate period. The loss of power and influence by theBrahmans and the
new political situation ultimately created conditions for the rise of the popular
monotheistic moveMents and other bhakti movements in Northern India.

29.4.2 Socio-Economic Factors

It has been argued that the bhak3 movements of medieval India represented
8 sentiments of the cchmon people against febdal oppression. According to this
 viewpoint, elements of revolutionary opposition to feudalism can be found in the
poetry of the bhakti saints ranglng from Kabir and Nanak to Chaitanya and
Tulsidas. It is in this serise that sometimes the medieval bhakti.movements are a n
as Indian counterpart of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. However, there is
nothing in the poetry of the bhakti,saints to suggest that they represented the class
interestsof the peasantry against the surplus-extracting feudal state. The vaishnava
bbakti saints broke away from orthodox Brahmanical order only to the extent tbat
they believed in bhakti and religious equality. Normally, they continued to
subscribe to many basic principles of orthodox Brahmanism. The more radical
monatheistic saints rejected orthodox Brahmanical religion altogether but even they
didaot call for the overthrow of the state and the ruling class: For this reason, the
bhakti movements cannot be regarded as Indian variant of European Protestant
Reformation which was a far greater social upheaval linked to the decline of
feudalism and the rise of capitalism.
This, however, does not mean that the bhakti saints were indifferent to the living
canditions of the people. They used images of daily life and always tried to identify
themselves in one way or another with the sufferings of the common people.
Economic and Social Changes
The widespread popularity of the monotheistic movement of Kabir, Nanak, ;
Dhanna, Pipa etc. can be explained fully only in the c0ntex.t of certain significant
socio-economic changes in the period following the Turkish conquest of Ndrthern
India. The Turkish ruling class, unlike the Rajputs, lived in towns. The extraction of
large agricultural surplus led to enormous concentration of resources in the hands of
the ruling class. The demands of this resource-wielding class for manufactured
goods, luxuries and other necessaries led to the introduction of many new
techniques and crafts on a large scale. This, in turn, led to the expansion of the class
of urban artisans in the 0 t h and 14th centuries.
The growing classes of urban artisans were attracted towards the monotheistic
movement because of its egalitarian ideas as they were now not satisfied with the
low status accorded to them in traditional Btahmanical hierarchy. It fias been
pointed out that some groups of traders like the Khatris in the Punjab, who
benefited directly from the growth of towns, urban crafts protluction and expansion
of markets, were also drawn into the movement for the same reason. The popularity
of the monotheistic movement was the result of the support it obtained from one or
mpre of these different classes of the society. It is one or more of these sections
I
which constituted the social base of the movement in different parts of Northern
India. In Punjab, the popularity of the movement did not remain confined to urban
classes: it acquired a broader base by the incorporation of the Jat peasants in its
ranks. The support extended by the Jats of the Punjab to Guru Nanak's movement
ultimately contributed to the development of Sikhism as a mass religion. '

I
29.5 MAIN POPULAR MOVEMENTS AND THEIR
CHARACTERISTICS
In this section, we will discuss some of the main monotheistic and vaishnava
, movements in North India, including Maharashtra and Bengal quring the period
under review.

29.5.1 Monotheistic Movements of North India

Kabir (c.. 1440-1518) was the earliest and undoubtedly the most powerful f i b r e of
the monotheistic movements that began in the fifteenth century. He belonged to a
family .of weavers (Julaha who were indigenous converts to 1slam:~e spent greater
part of his life in Banaras (Kashi). The monotheistic saints who succeeded him
either claimed to be his disciples or respectfully mention him. His verses were
included in the Sikh scripture, the Adi Granth in large numbers than those of other
monotheists. All this indicate his pre-eminent position among the monotheists.
Raidas (or Ravidas) most probably belonged to the generation next to Kabir's. He
was a tanner by caste. He also lived in Banaras and was influenced by Kabir's ideas.
Dhanna was a fifteenth century Jat peasant from Rajasthan. Uther prominent salnts
of the same peViod were Sen (a barber) and Pipa.
a o t y and culture :IW to 15tb Guru Nanak (1469-1539) preached his ideas much in the same way as Kabir and
Century
other monotheists, but due to various developments later his teachings led to the
e-ence of a mads religion, Sikhism. The basic similarity of his teachings with
those of Kabir and kbther saints and the basic ideological agreement between them
makes him an integlqal part of the monotheistic movement. He belonged to a caste of
traders called KhaM and was born in a village in punjab' now known as Nankana
Sahib. In his later life he-travelled widely to preach his ideas. Eventually he settled
in a place in Punjab now known as Dera Baba Nanak. There he attracted large
number.of discipleg. The hymns composed by him were incorporated in the Adl
Granth .by the fifth Sikh Guru Arjan in 1604.

29.5.2 Common ; Characteristic Features

The teachings of all;the saints who are associated with the monotheistic movement
have certain'commqp features which give the movement its basic unity :
1) Most of the mdnotheists belonged to the "low" castes and were aware that .
there existed ailrnity of ideas among themselves. Most of them were aware of
each other's teachings and influences. In their verses they mention each other
and their predecessors in such a way as to suggest a harmonious ideological
affinity among:them. Thus, Kabir speaks of Raidas as "saint among saints".
Raidas, in his ium, respectfully mentjons the names of Kabir, Namdev,
Trilochan, ~ h k h n aSen
, and Pipa. 6hanna takes pride in speaking of the fame
and popularity'bf Ngmdev, Kabir, Raidas and Sen and admits that he devoted
himself to bhaktiafter hearing their fime. Kabir's influence on Nanak also is
beyond dispute. It is, therefore, not surprising that the later traditions link
Kabir, aida as,: Dhanna, Pipa, Sen, etc. together as disciples of Ramananda.
The ideologicab affinity among the monotheists is also clear from the inciusion
of the hymns d Kabir, Raidas. et'c. along with those of Nanak by,the fifth Sikh
Guru Arjan in4he Adi Granth.
ii) All the monotpleists were influenced in one way or another and in varying
degrees by the~lraishnavaconcept of bhakti, the nathpantRi movement and the
Sufism. The mdnotheistic movement represents the synthesis of elements from
these three traflitions. But more often than riot they did not accept the element
of these traditibns in their original form and made many innovations and
a4aptations which gave new meanings to old concepts.
iii) For the monotheists, there was only one way of establishing communion with
God : it was tty way of personally experienced bhrdrti. This was aiso the way of
the vaishnava hhakti saints, but there was one fundamental difference of
perceptions :f i e y all have been called monotheists because they
uncompromisi~glybelieved in only on6 God. Then, God of ~ a i a kwas ,
non-incarnate hnd formless (nirankar), eternal (akal) and ineffable (alnkh).
The monotheistic bhakti, therefore, was nirguna bhakti and not saguna -which
was the case with the vaishnavites who believed in various human incarnations
of God. 'The monotheists adopted the notion of bhakti from the vaishnava
- bhakti tradition but gave it a nirguna orientation. Quite often Kabir-called God '
by the name, Ram. For this reason he has been called Ram-bhakta.'But Kabir
himself made ik clear in his utterances that the Ram he was devoted to was not
the one who whs born as an incarnation in the house of king Dashratha of
Ayodhya or who had killed Ravana, but a formless, non-incarnate God. In
addition to thd loneness of God and nirguna bhakti, the monotheists also
emphasised the crucial importance of repetition of divine name, spiritual guru, -
community sidging of devotional songs (kirtan) and companionship of saints
(mt-g).
iv) The monothei~tsfollowed a path which was independent of both dominant
religions of the time-Hinduism and Islam. They denied their allegiance to

wy
either of themland criticised the superstitions and orthodox elements of both
the religions. launched a vigorous ideological assault bn caste system and
idolatry. They rejected the authority of the Brahmans and their religious
scriptures. Kabr, in his harsh and abrasive stylq uses ridicule as a powerful
method for debouncing orthodox Brahmanism.
v) The mvnvthcists composed their poems in popular la&uages. Some of them
4
used a langua t Ghich was a mixture of different dialects spoken in various
parts of North India. The monotheistic saints preferred this common language
 to their own native dialects because they considered it fit for the propagation of
their non-conformist ideas among the masses in various regions. The use
common language is a striking feature of the movement considering that t e
saints belonged to different parts of North India and spoke different dialects.
IP
The monotheists also made use of popular symbols and images to propagate
their teachings. Their utterances are expressed in short verses which could be
e a d y remembered. Thus, for instance, Kabir's poetry is unpolished and has a
rustic, colloquial quality but it is essentially a poetry of the people.
vi) Most of the monotheistic saints were not ascetics. They led worldly life and
were married. They lived and preached among the people. They had aversion
to and disdain for professional ascetics.-They frequently refer to professional
caste groups in their verses which would suggest that they continued to pursue
their family professions. They were also not like the medieval European
Christian saints who were recognised as "holy" by the Church. The
expression which has been used for them and by which they themselves
referred to each other is sant or bhagat. In the adi Granth, ~abi;, Raidas,
Dhanna, Pipa, Namdev, etc. have been listed as bhagat.
vii) m e monotheistic saints travelled widely to propagate their beliefs. Namdev, a
14th-century saint from Maharashtra travelled as far as Punjab where his
teachings became so popular that they were later absorbed in the Adi-Granth.
Kabir, Raidas and other saints are also believed to have travelled widely.
viii) The ideas of Kabir and other monotheists spread to Larious regions and
became popular among the "lower" classes. The popularity of the monotheists
broke territorial barriers. This is clear from the high position accorded to Kabir
in the Sikh tradition and in the Dadu panthi tradition of Rajasthan. Their
continuing popularity even almost twohundred years after their time and in a
distant region is clear from the way a mid-17th century Maharashtrian saint
Tukaram looks upon himself as an admirer and follower of Kabir, Raidas, Sen,
Gora, etc. A 17th century Persian work on comparative religion
Dabiitan-i Mazahib testifies to the continuing popularity of Kabir among the
people of North India.
ix) Despite the widespread popularity that the teachings of monotheists enjoyed
among the masses, the followers of each one of the major figures in the
monotheistic movement like Kabir, Raidas and Nanak gradually organized
themselves into exclusive sectarian orders called panths such as Kabir panth,
Raidasi panth, Nanak panth, etc. Of all these panths, the Nanak panth alone
eventually crystallised into a mass religion while most of the others continue to
survive till today but with a vastly reduced following and a narrow sectarian
base.

Check Your Progress 2

1) Discuss the factors that led to the rise of the bhakti movement.

2) Writethree li&s on each of the following :

Kabir .......................................................................
: ........................

..................................................................... r . . . . . . ........................
...................................................................................................
Guru Nanak ..:................................................................................
...................................................................................................
...................................................................................................
- t y culture : ~ j t b
~ ~ d c.ad to 15th
' 3) What are the characteristic features of monotheistic bhakti move~~lent?
thenames af three saints belonging to this'movement.

........................................................................... .
i..?.....................

29.5.3 Vaishnava Bhakti Movement in North India

Ramananda was the most prominent scholar saint of the vaishnava bhakti in
Northern India during this period. Some of his ideas have already been mentioned in
Section 29.3. He belonged to the late 14th and early 15th c'entury. He lived in South
India in the early parrt of his life but later settled in Banaras. He is considered to be
the link between thesouth Indian bhakti tradition and North Indian vaishnhva
bhakti. However, hq deviated from the ideology and practice of.the earlier South
Indian atharyas in thtee important respects :
i) he looks upon Ram and not Vishnu as object of bhakti. To him, Ram was the.
supremk God who is to be adored with Sita. In this sense he came to be
regarded as the 'Pounder of the Ram cult in North Ind~awithin the framework of
vaishnava bhakti'tradition.
ii) he preached in etle language of the common people. and not in Sanskrit, to
propagate the Ram cult.
iii) the most significtint contribution to vaishnava bhakti, was that he made bhakti
accessible to all irrespective of caste. He greatly relaxed the caste rules in
respect of religibus and social matters. Though himself a Brahman, he took
food with his "Cow" caste vaishnava follow:rs.
It is perhaps for the last mentioned point that some later vaishnava traditions link
Kabir and some other monotheists to him as his disciples. The innovations were
probably due to the influence of Islamic ideas. It has also been suggested that he
made these innovations in order to counter the growing popularity of the heterodox
nathpanthl, the "lower" classes of the society. His followers are called Ramanandis.
A hymn attributed t& him was incorporated in the Adi Cranth.
Another prominent ~aishnavapreacher in t h i Sultanate period was Vallabhacharya,
a Telugu brahman of the late 15th and early 16th century. He, too, was born in
Banaras. He was the founder of Pushtimarga (way of grace). It also came to be
known as Vallabha sempradaya (Vallabha Sect). He advocated Krishna bhakti.
Famous Krishna bhaetti saint-poet, Surdas (1483-1563) and seven other Krishna
bhakti poets belongihg to the ashtachhap were believed to have been the disciples of
Vallabha. The sect later became popular in Gujarat.
In North India, howqver, the vaishnava bhakti ,cult acquired a more pophlarpase.
only in the Mughal p r i o d . Tulsidas (1532-1623) championed the cause of Rama
b h k t i while Surdas (1483-1563), Mira Bai (1503-73) and many others popularised .
~rishna'bhakti.
?

29.5.4 Vaishnava Bhakti Movement in Bengal

In many significant ways the vaishnava bhakti in Bengal was different from its North
Indian and the oldet South Indian bhakti. The sources which influenced it can be
traced to two different traditions-the vaishnava bhakti tradition of the Bhagavata
Purana, with its glodtication of Krishnalila on the one hand, and Sahajiya Buddhist
and nathpanthi traditions on the other. Thc vaishnava influence was transmitted by
various bhakti poet4 beginning with~ayadevain the 12th century. Jayadeva's Cita
Govinda was compased in Sanskrit. He also wrote songs in Maithili dialect which
were later absorbed in the ~ e n ~ a l i i a i s h n a vbhakti
a tradition. He highlighted the
erotic-mystical dimetision of the love with reference to Krishna and Radha. Various
non-vaishdava cults kuch as those of Sahajiya Buddhists and nathpanthis that
rtmrvi~edin Renoal ahd Hihar infl~lenredt h orrlwth
~ nf hhakti m n v ~ m ~ in
n iR ~ n o a l
 These cults preached an easy and natural religion focussing on esoteric and Sdo-Religious Movement :
Bhakll Movement
emotional elements. Vaishnava bhakti poets such as Chandidas (14th century) and
Vidyapati (14th to 15th centuries) came under the influence of these non-vaishnava
cults, though tlie Bhagavata tradition was always the major source of influence. The
songs of Chandidas who was the first Bengali bhakti poet and those of Vidyapati
who wrote in Maithili, highlighted the Krishna-Radha relationship. These songs '
became part of the growing vaishnava movement in Bengal. Chaitanya himself did
not come under the direct influence of Sahajiya doctrine. It is, however, possible
that elements of esoteric cults entered into his mqvement through the influence of
Chandidas and Vidyapati. But the most important source of inspiration was the
Bhagavata Purana.
Chaitanya (1486-1533) was the most prominent vaishnava saint of Bengal. He
popularized Krishna-bhakti in many parts of Eastern India. His popularity as a
rel~giouspersonality was so great that he was looked upon as an avatara
(incarnation) of Krishna even in his life. The advent of Chaitanya marks the shiftlng
of tbe focus of the Bengal vaishnava bhakti from devotional literary compositions to'
a fpll-fledged reform movement with a broad social base.
I

Chaitanya disregarded all distinctions of caste, creed arld scx to give a popular bdse
to Krishna-bhakti. His followers belonged to all castes and communities. One of his
most favourite disciples was Haridas who was a Muslim. He popularized the practice
of sankirtan or group devotional singing accompanied by ecstatic dancing.
However, chaitanyi did not givk up traditional Brahamanical values altogether. He
did not question the authority of the Brahmans and scripturcs. He upheld the caste
prejudices of his Brahman disciples against the "lower" caste disciples. Six
Sanskrit-knowing Brahman Goswamins who were sent by him to Vrindavan near
Mathura established a religious order which recognized caste restrictions in its
I devotional practices and rituals. These Goswamins gradually distanced themselves
from Chaitanya's teachings and from the popular movement that had grown around
him in Bengal.
I

I But Chaitanya's movement had a great impact on Bengali society. His disregard for
-caste distinctions in the sphere of devotional singing promoted a sense of equality in
I
Bengali life. In Bengal and in Puri in Orissa, his movement remained popular. In
these places, his followers were not always scholarly Brahmans but included,
I
common people. They wrote in Bengali, propagated his bhakti and looked upon
1 Chaitanya as the living Krishna or as Radha and Krishna in one body.

29.5.5 Bhakti Movement in Maharashtra

I Like other vaishnara bhakti movements, the Maharashtra bhakti tradition drew its
t basic inspiration &om that of the Bhagavata Purana. In addition, however, it w&
i also influenced by the saiva nat,hpanthi who were quite popular in the "lower"
I classes of the Maharashtrian society during the I Ith and 12th centuries and who
I composed their verses in Marathi. Jnaneswar (1275-1296) was the pioneer bhakti
saint of Maharashtra. He wrote an extensive commentary on the Bhagavad Gita
popularly called Jnanesvari. This was one of the earliest works of Marathi literature
. and served as the foundation of bhakti,fdeology in Maharashtra. H e was the author
of many hymns called abhangs. He taught that the onl) way to attain God was
bhakti a n d in bhakti there was ho place for caste disttnctions.
Namdev (1270-1350) helong~dto tailor caste. He is considered to be the link
between the Maharashtrian bhakti movement and North Indian monotheistic
movement. He lived in Pandharpur but travelled to North India including the
Punjab. His bhakti songs have also been included in the Adi Granth. In
Maharashtra. Namdev is considered to be a part of the varkari tradition (vaishnava
dcvotional tradition), but in the North Indian monotheistic tradition he is
remembered as a nirgunasaint, Other prominent bhakti saints of Maharashtra were
Eknath (1533-99) and Tukaram (1598- 1650).

29.5.6 Bhakti Movements in Other Regions

Saiva bhakti flourished in Kashrnir in the 14th century. Most prominent of the saiva
bhakti saints was a woman, La1 Ded. In Gujarat, bhakti was preached by the
vallabha sect of Vallabhacharya and another important saint, Narsimha hiehta
(14141481, o r 15001t580). H e knew of Jayadeva and Kabir and was followed by a
number of poet-sairJlls. The frallabha sect became popular among mefchants and
landowners of Gujamt. In Karnataka, the saiva bbPktf cult of the Kannad spaking
virasaivas developed during the 12th and 13th centuries. They preached a strongly
radical and heterodqbr concept of bhakti by incorporating social criticism in their
religious outlook. \

In Assam, sankaradtva (1449-1568) introduced hbPkt5 both in the Brahmputra

valley as well as in Gwh-Behar. H e was born in the family of non-Brahman
Bhuyan chiefs. He @&camean ascetic during the later part of his life and is believed
to have visited many places of pilgrimage in North and South India. H e preached
absolnle devotion to Vishnu or his incarnation, Krishna. He had to face persecution
at the I ands of orthodox Brahmanical priesthood of the Ahom kingdom and took
shelter in the territocies of the neighbouring Cooch-Behar where its king gave him
the freedom to preqch bhakd. Monotheistic ideas influenced his concept of b U t i
which came to be known as the eka-sarana-dharma('religion of seeking refuge in
one'). He denounced the caste system and preached his ideas to the people in their
language (an ~ s s a m b s form
e of Brajaboli). H e made some significant innovations in
the ilevotional practike such as inclusion of dance-drama-music form in the
preaching of bhakti. He also founded the institution of satra which means a sitting
during which people of all classes assembled for religious as well as social purposes.
Later the satras grew into full-fledged monasteries. His sect is called mahakrashiya
dharma.

Check Your Progres8 3

1). Writea note on: ~aishnavitebhakti movement.
.............." .....................................................................................

2) Write five lines dn each of the following :

, a) Bhakti movement in Bengal

b) Bl.akti movdtnent in Maharashtra

29.6 INFLUEACE OF OTHER TRADITIONS AND

It is clear that the b u t i movement of the Sultanate period cannot be linked in any
way with the older sdbth Indian bhakti. But they were influen'ced in one way or
 another by certain existing traditions and movements whose history goes back to the
'pre-Sukanate peripd. These i,ncluded the bhakti tradition of the Bhagavat Purana,
religious ideas and activities of scholar-saints such as Ramananda, andsuch
heterodox movements as that of the nathpanthis.
' h e doctrine/ of bhakti is fully developed in the most famous of the PurPhas--the
dhaga~atPurana, a Vaishnavite work composed around the 9th century. Its most
"k;lportant feature is its emphasis on the bhakti of Vishnu in his various incarnations,
especially in the form of Krishna. The Bhagavata accepts the orthodox Brahmanical
theory of the origin of the v m a system but does not accept the superiority of the
Brahmans simply on the basis of their status or birth. For it, bhakti 4s. the main
.c;riteria. I t has been pointed out that Bhagavata Purana is the link between various,
vaishnava bhakti movements of the medieval period. However, the influence of thk
Bhagavata tradition on monotheistic saints such as Kabir and Nanak was not exerted
in a direct manner. Most of these saints were illiterate and did not have any direct .
access to the Bhagavata and other scriptures. Kabir's concept of bhakti is
characteristically different from thatzof the Bbagavata. Kabir and other
non-conformist saints did not believe in incarnations either and rejected the
Brahmanical and scriptural authority altogether.
I

29.6.1 Popular Monotheistic Saints and Ramananda

Ramadandaysteachings are considered to be the source of popular mbnotheistic
movement of Kabir, Raidas and others. As we shall discuss later, Ramanauda was
.strongly opp6sed to caste restrictions and opened the path of bhakti to ah. He also
preached his ideas in popular dia!ect. But, on the whole, his ideas and his cqncept of
bhakti were essentially a part of jhevaishnava bhallti. On the other hand, Kabir and
other monotheists went many stkps further than even the most liberal vaishnava
bhaktas like Ramanand and denounced the Brahmanical religion in its entirety. In
fwt, none of the monotheists, who are claimed to have been Ramanand's disciples,
make any mentionof him or any other human puru in their utterances. .

29.6.2 Influence of'the Nathpanthi Movement on' Monotheistic Saints

h !&me of the ideas of Kabir and other monotheists can be traced to the influence of
\
heterodox movements likathat of the nathpanthi. A large number of nathpanthi
preachers called siddhas belonged.to the "lower" c a s t e s d o m a , chamara,
(tanners), washerman, oilman, tailor, fisherman, w o d t u t t e r , cobbler etc. y i t h the
establishment of Turkish rule in northern India: the popularity of the nathpanthi
movement reached its peak during the 13th and 14th centuries. Anybody could be
' [qitiated into the sect of the nathpanthi yogis irrespective of caste.
I

I
Nathpanthi influence on Kabir is clearly seen in his non-conformist attitudes, in his
independent thinking, in the harsh style of his utteran&*s;in his "upside-down"
language (called ulatbasi containing,paradoxes and enigmas) and partly in his
mystical symbolism, However, Kabir and other monotheists, in their
, characteristically critical and innovative manner adopted the ndpanthi ideas on a
selective basis only and everl when they did so,they adapted these i'yleas to their own
purpose. Kabir rejected their asceticism and esoteric practices and also their
physical methods such as breath control. Thus, the influence of the nathpanthis on
the monotheistic saints of medieval period can be seen more in their heterodox'
P attitudes towards the established Brahmanical religion than in their pactices.

29.6.3 Influence of Islamic 1de& A d the Role of sufksrn

Many scholars have argued that all the variants of the bhakti movement and the
doctrine of bhakti itself came into being as a result of Islamic influence bothbefore"
and after the 12th century. This claim has been made on the basis of many
%similaritiesbetween Islam and the bhakti cults,. On the other hand, it is pointed out
that bhakti and bhakti movements had indigenous orighs. It has been noted above
that bhakti as a religious cohcept had .developed in the religious ttaditvns of ancient . .
India. The older South Indian bhakti movemmt also c k n o t be explained in terms
 in South 1ndia~&cmceptus?ly,a movement based on thg idea of devotio,~or grace is
not peculiar to any $articular religion but could grow independently in different
religions at differen1rimes depending on the concrete historical conditions. It would
be more appropriate to understand the bbakti movements of medieval India in their
immediate historical Icontext rather than searching fox far-fetched sources of

It
inspiration in any pa icular religion. However, Islam did influence the bhakti cults
and, in particular, t popular monotheistic movements in other ways.
Non-conformist saibs such as Kabir and Nanak picked up some of their ideas from
Islam. These includM their noncompromising faith in one God, thkir rejection of
incarnation, their cdhception of nirguna bhakti and their attack on idolatry and the

1
caste system. But ky did not uncritically borrow from Islam and rejected many
elements of orthod k Islam. The vaishnava bhakti movements, on the other hand,
cannot be interpret& in terms of ouch an influence of Islam as they neither
denounced idolatryilnd the caste system nor the theory of incarnation. They
believed in saguna 4hakti. The relationship between monotheistic bhakti movement
and Islam seems to have been one of mutual influence and sufism p~ovidedthe
common meeting gtbund. Sufi concepts of pir and mystic uniop with the "beloved"
(God) coincided in hany respects with the non-conformist saints' con'cepts of guru . *
and devcltional sudnder to God. Kabir is even believed to have had affiliations
with Chiihti sufi saipts, though concrete historical evidence is lacking. Guru Nanak's
encounters with sufis are described in the janam-sakhis. Though the sufism and the
monotheistic moveteenf were historically independent of ea& other, t h ~ r ewas
remarkable simila* in many of their basic ideas, including their common rejection
of Hindu and Musllin orthodoxies. The interactiori between them, however indirect,
must have given impetus to both of them.

29.6.4 Theory & Islamic Challenge to Hinduism

One modem view@int, associated with communal interpretation of Indian history,
tends to attribute t*/e rise of the medieval bhakti movements to alleged persecution .
of the Hindus undd 'Muslim' rule and to the challenge that Islam is suppbsed to .
have posed to Hindpism through its doctrines of "Unity of God", equality and
brotherhood. ~ d d i n ~ 'this t otheory, the bhakti movements were a two-pronged
defensive mechanisp to save the Hindu religion by purging it of such evils as caste
system and idolatry and at the same time defending its basic tenets by popularising
it. The former task is believed to have been undertaken by Kabir, Nanak, etc., and
the latter project was accomplished by Tulsidas in the late 16th and early 17th
'
centuries. Such a &tion of the medieval bhakti movement is not borne out by
evidence.
i) This theory oftimagined Islamic threat to Hinduism is in essence a projection of-
modern comrdunal prejudices into the past. By the time lslam rehched India;
the Islamic dactrine of "brotherhood" had lost much of its appeal and social,
economic and racial inequalities had crept into the Muslim society. The
Turkish mlin@class possessed a strong sense of racial superiority and looked
upon "lowcaqle" Indian converts to Islam as low-born and not fit for high
offices. I

' ii) The Hindu pkpulation continued to observe their religious practices and to
celebrate theji religious festivals. In fact, the overwhelming majority of
population rdbrained Hindu even in the vicinity of Delhi, the capital of the
Sultanate.
iii) - The monothdbtic saints denounced the aspects of both orthodox ~rahmaniim
- and orthodox lslam and their ritualistic practices.
iv) To assume thlt all mondtheistic and vaishnava bhnkti saints were reacting on
+
behalf of the Hindus to Islamic threat is not convincing because kabir and
other "low cdte" saints hardly saw any unity of purpose with the saints
belonging to !be vsishnava bhakti cults.
and the teachings of the vaishnava'bhakti-dant;or dl the-
not concerned with Islamic influence or at b4st show
regard. In fact, it has been pointed out that Hindus and
Muslims both stoo&ide by side among Chaitanya's disciples, as they had done
~ ~ n ~di r~ nr a ~ nK
c al h i r f N a n a l nr narlll n a v n l
 Check Your Progress 4
1) In what way the bhakti saints were influenced by the oathpanthi doctrine?

2) Do you agree that the bhnkti movement'was the result of Islamic

influence? Comment.

29.7 LET US SUM UP

The bhakti movement of the Sultanate period represented themost widespread

constellation - both interwoven and variegated - o f socio-religious movements in
Indian history after the rise of heterodox movements of the 6th century B.C. They -
I
influenced the whole country at different times by propounding new socio-religious
ideas and practices. Many of the current practices of popular Hinduism such as
repetition of divine names, emphasis on the company of saints and community
devotional singing can be traced to medieval bhakti movements. They also
I
. contributed to the growth of modem vernacular languages, emergence of organized
religious communities like the Sikhs and evolution of various sects or panths.
3

. In this Unit, we have.studied the :

.
background of bhakti movement in South India which emerged in Tdifferent
form in North India,
main political and socio-economic factors for the rise of bhakti movement,
..
two main streams of bhakti movement-the monotheistic and the v ~ i s h k v a ,
main popular movements and saints of two streams of North India including
Maharashtra and Bengal,
influekes of various sects and beliefs on North Indian bhakti movement, and
influence of Islam on bhakti movement.

29.8 KEY WORDS

Acharya : scholar-saint who propounded new religious and philosophical ideas
the most important sacred scripture of the Sikhs compiled by the' fifth
Sikh Guru Arjan in 1604. Later came to be called Gum Gmnth Sahib
-,. Bhagat : colloquial expression for bhakta, a devotee
:Julaha : member of a Muslim weaver caste
Kirtan community singing of hymns .
*
kmga path; a devotional order such as Rama m r g or Krishna m k g
Mukti salvation
Nam the divine name
Nirsnksr - without form
.-$
soa*dC.lbr;:")~wl* a Nirguna : ' without attributes, unqualified
CcotPrg , ,;. ,I'Y
1 ;' Panth : path, seq; th,e community of the followers of a mopotheistik
saint e.$. , Kabirpanth, Nanakpanth, Dadupanth , etc.
Parampara : lineage, tradition,
~abada : the divipe word, the divine self-communication '
Saguna : having qualities or atfpbutes - -
Samprrulaya: tradition, school of religious thought and practice
Vaishnava . : worshipper of Vhhnu
Varlfari : vaishnava devotional tradition
I

29.9 ANSWEIRi's TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

. EXERCI$ES
r
Cheek Your Progress $
1) :See~ed.29.1,28.2
2) See Sec. 29.2
Check Your Progress 3
1) See Sec. 29.4
2) See Subsec. 29.9.1
3) See Sub-sec. 29i5.1.29.5.2
.chi& your m e s s3
. 1 ~ = Slib-sec.
e 293.3
2) See Sub-sec. 29,5.4, 29.5.5
Cheek' Your Progress 4
1) See Sub-sec. 2916.2
2) See Sub-sec. 29,6.3
 Y MOVEMENT : SUFI
4"

? Structure
.
"0.0 Objedtives
30.1 Introduction
30.2 Salient Features of Sufism
r 30.3 Growth of Sufi Movement in Islamic World
30.3.1 The Formative Stage (Upto 10th Century)
30.3.2 Growth of Organised Sun Movement (10th-12th Century)
L,
30.3.3 Formation of Sufi Orders or Sibilah (late 12th and 13th Centuries)
- 30.4 Growth of Sufism in India
I
30.5 Sufi orders in 1ndia During the Sultanate Period '
30.5.1 The Subrnwardi ~~
30.5.2 The Chisbtl SUsikb
30.5.3 Other Sull Orders
30.6 The Causes of Chishti Popularity
30.7 Social Role of The Sufis
30.7.1 The.Sulls and the State
+ 30.7.2 The S w and ~ the Ulema
:
; 30.7.3 The Sufla and Conversions
s
-
.
30.7.4 Material Life in Su6 ~b.aq.hs'
30.8 The Impact of Contemporary MysSicIdeas of Islamic Countries on
Indian Sufism
30.9 The Sufi and the Bhakti Movements and Cultural 'Svnthesis
30.10 Let Us Sum U p
30.11 Key Words
30.12 Answers to Check Your Progress Exercises

30.0 O~JECTIVES
I

In this Unit, we will discuss sufi movement and ideas in medieval India. After going
through this unit, you would be' able to learn about :
' the salient features of Sufism, e
-3 the growth of Sufism in the Islamic World,
0,. its development in India during the period of Delhi Sultanate
: the main sub sllsilahs that flourished in India during the period,
the reasons for the popularity of Chish dlsilah in India, and ,
m ,

the impact of Sufism on the contemporary Indian d t y . -

',
'> ,
' , i -*,

.t 30.1 INTRODUCTION . q,\,

1

Sufism or tasawwuf 'is the name f ~ i ~ v a r i o umystical

s tendencies &d movements in
Islam. It aims at establishing direct communion between God and man through
perSUhal expe{ence of mystery which lies within Islam. Every religion gives rise to
mystical tendencies in its fold at a particular stage of its evoluiion. In this sense,'
sufism was a natural development within Islam based on the spirit of Q~Prurie~picty.
The sufis while accepting the Shariat did not confine tfieir,religious pra&& to
formal adherence and stressed cultivation of religious experierice aimed at direct
perception of c o d .
In this Unit, we will discuss the main features of sufism, its growth in Islamic world
a@ its spread i? India. You will study wut:arious
, popular sufl sects in India.
-. -. .
Wq
,-
30.2 SALIENT'FEATURES OF SUFISM
There developed a nudnber of sufi orders Or sildah in and outside India. All these d
orders had their speci$k characteristics. Howeuer, therc were a number of features
which are common to &I1sun orders Here we will discuss such features.
i) Sufism as it devebped in the Islamic world came to stress the importance of
traversing the su& path (tariqa) as a method of establishing direct communion
with divine reality (haqiqat).
ii) According to tbessuR beliefs, the novice has to pass tnrough a succession of
"stations" or "stages"(maqamat) and changing psychological conditions or
"states" (hal) to axperience God.
iii) The sufi path codd be traversed only under the strict supervision of a spiritual
director (shaikl;, {piror murshid) who had himself successfully traversed it and
consequently established direct communion with God.
iv) The disciple (mutld) progressed through the "stages" and "states" by
practising such spiritual exercises as self mortification, recollection of God's
name to attain concentration (zikr) and contemplation. :
v) The d i s organhied impassioned musical iecital ( m a ) . The practice of m a '
was intended to induce a mystical state of ecstasy. However, some sufi orders did
not approve of cdi-tain forms of sama' and the &ma were particularly hostile to
thSs prahice.
vi) Yet another featme of sufism is the organisation of the sufb into various orders
(silsilrrh). Each of these silsilah e.g. suhrawardi, Qadiri, Chishti, etc. were
founded by a leading figure who lent his name to it. A silsilah consisted of
persons who had become disciples of a particular sufi.
vii) The hospice (khanqah) was the centre of the activities of a sufi order. It was the
place where the imparted spiritual training to his disciples. The popularity
of the khanqc~hatld its capacity to attract disciples depended on the reputation
of the pir. The lQlanqahs were supported by endowment and charity.

30.3 GROWTH OF SUFI MOVEMENT IN ISLAMIC

WORLD
By the time the variols sufl orders began their activities in India from the beginning
of the 13th century, sQtfismhad already grown into a full-fledged movement in
different parts of the Islamic world. Sufism acquired distinct characteristic. in the
Indian environment M t its growth in India, particularly in the initial phase, was
linked in many ways with the developments that occurred in wfi beliefs and practice I
in the Islamic World @ring the period between 7th and 13th centuries. The growth
of sufism in the central lands of Islam during this period can be divided into three
broad phases.

30.3.1 The Formiitive Stage (Upto 10th Century)

Early Sufi applied ali'esoteric meaning to verses in the Qurian which stressed on
such virtues as repentpnce (tauba), abstinence, renunciation, poverty, trust in God
Gmwakkd) etc. Mecca, Medina, Basra and Kufa were the earliest centres of sufism.
'l'he su&, .most of wbbm belonged to the 8th century, have been called 'Quietists'
because t h y were mdre concerned with experiencing than with popularizing their
ideas through mass cohtact. They believed more in guiding than in teaching. Sufism
at Basra reached its height during the time of the woman mystic Rabia (d. 801).
Other regions of the Islamic world where sufism spread early were Iran, Khurasan,
Transoxiana, Egypt, 8yria and Baghdad. As Sufism spread to Iranian regions, it
tended to express gr4ter individualism, divergent tendencies, and heterodox
dootrines and practidb under Persian influence. The most famous of the early sufis *
in the Iranian regions/Was Bayazid Bistami (d. 874) from Khurasan. He gave a new
turn to sufism by intrtiducing in it the element<of ecstasy and mystic doctrine of "all
is in God". He was a l b the first sufi.to employ the concept of "fana" (annihilation
of the self) which exepised influence on later sufls.
In Baghdad, the capiihl of the Abbasid caliphate, Al Junaid was the most well
 - ---
orthodoxy and represented controlled and disciplined side of Sufism and, therefore,
those sufis who followed his line are regarded as sober. Both Junaid and Bistami
exercised profound Influence on their contemporary and later sufis. Two contrasting
tendencies initiated by them came to be distinguished as Junaidi and Bistami, or
Iraqi and Khurasani.
Another prominent early sufi from Baghdad was Mansur al-Hallaj (d. 922) who
started his career as a pupil qf A1 Junaid but later developed the method of Bayazid
Bistami. His mystical formula "1 am God" played an important role in the evolution
of sufi ideas in Iran and then in India. The Ulema considered him a blasphemer and
denounced him for claiming mystical union with God. He-was condemned,
imprisoned and finally hanged. His ideas provided the basis for the development of
the doctrine of 'insan-i-kamil' (the perfect Man).
F Early sufi groups were loose and mobile assoc~ations,quite unlike the later sufi
orders. Members of a group travelled widely in search of master. In Arab regions,
the wandering sufis were attached to.frontier-posts or hosteis called ribat while in
- the Iranian regions they were associated with'hospices (khanqah). There were
separate convents for women sufis. .

30.3.2 Growth of Organized Sufi Movement (10th-12th

Century)
Sufism began to acquire the form of an organized movement with the establishment
of the Turkish rule under the Ghaznawis and then under the Seljuqs in variohs parts
k of Central Asia and Iran in the later 10th and 1lth centuries. The period marks the
1 development of two parallel institutions in the Islamic world -(a) the madrasa system
f (seminary, higher religious school) in its new form as an officiai institution of
orthodox 1slam0iclearning and (b) the khanqah system as an-organized, endowed
i and permanent centre of sufi activities.

i
Khanqah was no longer a loose organization of individual.sufis but a more effective
and institutionalized centre of sufi teaching. However, the bond between the master
and his disciples was still purely personal and had not yet acquired a ritualistic and

1 esoteric character. Moreover, sufi orders had not yet begun t a take concrete form.
But khanqi~hshad now developed from mere hostels for s u f i into popular and
well-established centres of organized sufi teaching and practice with their own
spiritual masters and circles of disciples.
The ulema continued to show their suspicion of sufism in general and were
particularly hostile to such non-conformist practices as sama'to.inducegcstasy.
However, certain sufis, with their background of orthodox Islamic learning, tried to
effect a compromise between the ulema land the sufls. Most prominent of such sufi
scholars was Abu amid al-Ghazzali (A.D. 1058-1111). He was an Alim
(theologian) but later led the life of a sufi. He stressed on the observance of extemal
and formal aspects of Islamic law in sufi practice. However, orthodox and'sufi
tendencies in Islam continued to follow separate and divergent paths.
This stage is also characterized by the appearance of sun literary texts which argued
and codified the sufi ideas and doctrines. Al-Ghazzali was the most outstanding sufi .
author. One of the most authentic and celebrated manual of sufism was Kashful
Mahjub written by al-Hujwiri (d. c. 1088).

II
Another salient feature of sufism during this period was the emergence of sufi
poetry in Persian. While Arabic literature on mysticism is in prose, Persian
. literature is in poetry. Sufi poetry in Persian in the form of narra'tive poems
(masnavis) reached its peak during the 12th and 13th centuries. Two of its greatest
exponents were Fariduddin-Attar (d. 1220) and Jalaluddin Rumi (d. 1273).

30.3.3 Formation of Sufi Orders or Silsilah (Late 12th and 13th

Centuries)

I i) A few decades before sufism began to exercise influence on Indian society and
religious life, organized sufi movement reached its peak in the Islamic world in
the form of various tariqa (paths) or sufi orders. These orders began to
crystallize when from the end of the 12th century each one of the sufi centres
i
 began to perpqtuate the name of one particular master end his spiritual j.
amxstq and facussed on its own tariga consisting of-gieculiarpractice~~and '.
rituals. A sdi+order (sllsilah) developed as a lineage system or continuo&
chain through which suciessivemiritual.heirs (Kbafila! traced their spiritual
inheritance to 4he found& of the order.
ii) The relationsw between the spiritual head of a sllsilah and his hisciples ,
because the disciplef were now linked to.the
initiatory rituals and vow of allegiance. Each one of
institutional rules to regulate the day-to-day life of the
The spiritual director (murshkl) now came to be ,
regarded as prQtegeof God (wali). The murid (disciple) was obliged to
surrender himlklf completely to the murshid. The mumhid, in turn, bestowed
'the tariqa, its Secret wird (a phrase of patterned devotion), formulae, and
symbols on hisirnurid. I

iii) The founders df various silsllabs accepted the Islamic law and iitual practices
of Islam. The Ppk &tween orthodox Islam and siisilah founders is also clear
from the fact t b t many of the latter were professional jurists. However, they
gave an esoteria ~rientation~to orthodox Islamic rituals and introduced many
innovations, pqticularly in their religious practices, which were not always in
consonance with the orthodox outlook. Though the silsilah founders laid
emphasis on sMct adherence to'Jslamic law, many silsilahs later did develop
many heteroddx beliefs and prackices.
The sllsilahs which became popular in Iran, Central Asia and Baghdad ana
played signifidnt role in'the growth of sufism in various parts of the Islamic
wor& included!the Suhrawardi founded by Shaikh Shahabuddin Suhrawardi
(d. 1234); the oM&i formed by Shaikh Abdul Qadir Jilani (d. 1166); the'
Chbhti of Muimddin Chishti (d. 1236) and the Naqshbandi first known as
Khawajagan, but later came to be associated with the name of Bahauddin
Naqshbandi (d, 13981. The sutls who had teceived their training in these
silsilabs began to establish their branches in their countries or in new countries
such as India. Gradually these branches became independent sufi schools wilh
their own characteristics
and tendencies.
As sufism grew'through these three broad stages in different parts of the
Islamic world, Iran, Khurasan, Transoxiana and India, etc. it came under the
influence of v a k u s mystic tendencies in other religions and philosophies slich
as Christianity,,Neoplatonism,Buddhism and Hinduism. These influences
were assimilated within the Islamic framework of the movement.

Check Your Progress 1

.1) What do you understand by sufi siisilah?
....................................................................................................
\ '

......................................................................................................
.t 2) W h s the c o . t of p ind , prid:.in
:< . . sufi terminology?
, '
a ',

...................................
-., r............................................................'..
- .
%
r . J \

...................................................................................................
3) W r i t e w lines on each of.the following;--
i) - Khanqah 'I
' ........:.......:,.... ..................... .......................................................
\
i:
i
;

......... ...........'ic..............................................................
\,\

< ?..........?..
, .
 4.) Write three lines on each of She following early suile.
-: i) Al-Junaid

........................... .........................................................................
i
/
'X

. .
ii) Mansur ~al-Hallaj
...................................................................................................
a
...................................
.
.
..
.
..
.
..
.
.
..
.
..
.
..
.
.
..
.
..
.
..
.
.
..
.
..
.
.
..
.
..
.
..
.
.
..
.
..
.
..
.
.
..
.
...

....................................................................................................

30.4 GROWTH OF SUFISM IN INDIA

A1 Hujwiri d.c. A.D. 1088) was the earliest st15 of eminence to have settled in India.
His tomb is in Lahore. As we have already mentioned above, he was the author of
1 Kashf-ul Mawub, a famous Qersianpeatise on Sufism. However, various sutl orders
, were introduced in India onty after theestablishment of the Delhi Sultanate in @e
1 beginning of the 13th century. India not only provided a dew pasture ground for the
propagation of sufi ideas but also became the new home of the sdb who along with *
1 mani othkr refugees fled from those parts of the.dslamic world ,which had been
1 conquered by the-Mongols in the thirteenth century. During the 13th and 14th
1 centuries, khaaqahs sprang up in various parts of India. The suile introduced various
j 'orcJers in India from the Islamic world, built up their own organizations and
1: .@a%lished themselves in their respective areaspf influence. By the middle of the
1 'l*century, the entire country from Multan to Bengal and from Punjab to Deogiri
; had come under the sphere of their activity. According to the observation of an early
14th century traveller, there were two thousand sufi hospices and khurgrrhs in Delhi
and its neighbourhood.
la
Sufism in India originally stemmed from the sufl thought and practice as it
developed in various parts of the Islamic world, especially in Iran and Central Asia. 1
However, its subsequent developynent was influenced more by Indian environment
than by non-Indian variants of sufism. Once the sue orders took rbot in different
parts of India, they followed their own phases of growth, stagnation and revival.
These were determined largely by indigenous circumstances, though the influence
of developments in sufism outside lndia cannot altogether be discounted.
1

30.5 SUFI OBDERS IN INDIA DURING THE

SULTANATE PERIOD
A number of sufl silsiiah became popular in lndia during the ~ultanate.period.Here
we will discuss the important ones.
-
30.5.1 The Suhrawardi Sllsilah
The Suhrawardi silsilah was a major order of the Sultanate period. Its founder in .
lndia wa_sShaikh Bahauddin Zakariya (1182-1262). He was a Khurasami and was a
?
disciple of S h a ~ !$hahabuddinSuhrawardi who had initiated the silsilah in
Baghdad and was directed by the latter to proceed to lndia. He made Multan and
Sind the centres of his activity. Thus, one af the oldest khanqahs in India was .
e.2 15lisbedby him at Multan. Iltutmish was the Sultan of Delhi at that time, but
iltan was'under the control of his rival. Qubacha. Shaikh Bahauddin Zakariya
as.critical of Qubacha's administration and openly sided with Ilt~nmishin his .
- 3 \
s-dm :lrntom oonflict against the Mwtan ruler's overthrow. Bahauddin Zakariya received from
Cabrl lltutmish the title of Sbaikh-ul Islam (Leader of Islam) and endowment. Contrary to
the chishti0si+ntsof time, he followed a worldly policy and built up a large
fortune, He accepted-Statepatronage and maintained links with the ruling cl~sses.
However, during the later period many independent sutt lines stemmed from him
and some of them came to be known as 'beshara' (illegitimate orders).
In addition to Shaikh Bahuddin-Zdcariya, many other Khalifas were designated by
Shaikh Shahabuddin quhrawardi to spread the Sulirawakdi sllsilab in India. One of
them was Shaikh Jalalpddin Tabrizi. After his initial stay in Delhi, where he failed to
establish his suprtmaey, he went to Bengal. He established his k h a q a h there and
made many disciples. tqe attached a langar (centre for the distribution of free meals)
to his khanqah. He is said to .have played an important role in the process of
Islamization in Bengd.
During the Sultanate period, Punjab, Sind and Bengal became three important
centres of the Suhrawiqrdi activity. Scholars are generally of the opinion that the
Suhrawardi sut5s converted Hindus to Islam and in this task they were helped by
their affluence and connections with the ruling class. In this connection, a sharp
contrast is drawn between their attitude and that of the Chishti sufls whose teachings
did not aim at conversbn.

b
30.5.2 The Chishti;Silsilah '
The growth of the Chi&ti order in India during the Sultanate period took place in
two phases. The first phase ended with the death of Shaikh Nasiruddin (Chiragh-i-
Delhi) in 1356. The seldond phase is marked by its initial decline during the later part
of the 14th century foljbwed by revival and expansion in various pans of the'country
during the 15th and ldth centuries.
First Phase
The Chishti order whiuh later became the most influential and popular sufi order in
India, originated in H k a t and was introduced in India by Khwaja Muinuddin
Chishti (d. 1236) who Was born in Sijisian in c. 1141. He came to India at the time of
the Ghori conquest. finally settled in Ajmer about 1206 and won the respect of
. authentic record of his activities is available. .
both Muslims and n o n ~ u s l i m s No
During the later period, qany legends projected him as an ardent evangelist.
However, he was not actively involved in conversions and his attitude towards
non-Muslims was one af tolerance. His tomb in Ajmer became a famous centre of
pilgrimage in later centpries.
The successor of Khwaja Muinuddin Chishti in Delhi was Khwaja Qutbuddin
Bakhtiyar Kaki (d. 1235). Shaikh Hamidduddin Nagauri (d. 1274), another Khalifa
of Shaikh Muinuddin (Chishti, made Nagaur in Rajasthan centre of his activity.
Shaikh' Hamiduddin NtJgauri established the silsilah in Nagau! where he lived like
an ordinary Rajasthani peasant and dissociated himself from those in authoriv. He
was a strict vegetarian. He and his successors trans!ated many Persian sufi verses in
the local language called Hindavi : these are earliest examples of translations of this.
kind. II

Khwaja Qutbuddin Balchtiyar Kaki was succeeded in Delhi by his Khalifa, Khwaja
Fariduddin Masud (1175-1265) known as Ganjshakar and more popularly as Baba
Farid. Baba Farid left Oelhi 'for Ajodhan in Punjab and lived in his khanqah'there.
He despised associatiom with the ruling class and rich persons. Nathpanthi yogis also
visited his khanqah and discussed with him the nature of mysticism. His popularity
in Punjab is clear fromsghe fact that more than three hundred years after his death,
verses ascribed to him Were included in the Adi Granth compiled by the fifth Sikh
Guru, Arjun, in 1604. Yis tomb at Pakpatan soon developed into a centre of
pilgrimage.
The most celebrated ditciple of Baba Farid and the greatest sufi saint of the 14th
century was Shaikh Ni&muddin Auliya (1236-1325). He made Delhi the most
famous centre of the C#shti order. Two historians Ziauddin Barani and Amir
Khusrau, who were hisltontemporaries, testify to his eminent position in the social
and religious life of ~ o t t h e r nIndia during the late 13th and early 14th centuries.
Later. his successors spkad the Chishti order in various parts of the country. His
teachings and conversations (malfuzat) are recorded in Fawaid-ul Fuwad written by
Amir Hasan Sijzi. This work serves more as a guide to practical aspects of Sufism
than as a treatise on its metaphysical and theosophical aspects.
Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya saw the reigns of seven successive Sultans of Delhi. But
he always avoided the company of the kings and nobles and never visited the court.
The langar (an alms-house for the distribution of free food) of his khanqah was open
to Hindus and Muslims alike. In his khanqah, he had many conversations with the
Nathpanthi yogi visitors. He adopted many yoga.breathing exercises and was called
a sidh (perfect) by the yogis. Amir Khusrau (1253-1325) was a aevoted disciple of
Shaikh Mizamuddin Auliya.
Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya had many spiritual successors or Khdifas. One of them
was Shaikh Burhanuddin Gharib (d. 1340) who was one of those sutis who were
forced by Sultan ~ u h a m m e d~ u ~ h l to
u qmigrate to the Deccan. He made
Daulatabad centre of his activities and introduced the Chishti order there.
The most famous of Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya's Khalifas and his successor in Delhi
was Shaikh Nasiruddin Mahmud (d. 1356) who came to be ki~ownas Chiragh-i Delhi
(Lamp of Delhi). He andsome pf his disciples discontinued some of those practices
of early Chishtis which could clash with Islamic orthodoxy and, in turn; persuaded
the ulema to soften their attitude towards the Chishti. practice of sama.

Decline of the Chishti Order in Delhi During the Later Tughluq and Saiyyid Periods
Some scholars hold the view that the decline of Delhi as a centre of the Chishti order
was due to the attitudes and policies of Sultan Muhammad Tughluq. However, it
must be pointed out that the Sultan was not opposed to the sufis per se. Some sufio,
including Shaikh Nasiruddin Chirag-i Delhi, remained in Delhi though the'y were
compelled by the Sultan to accept state service. Moreover, sufi activities in many
khanqahs were restored after the death of Muhammad Tughluq when his successor
Feroz Shah Tughluq showered gifts on them. However, Delhi was left with no
commanding Cbishti figure after the death of Shaikh Nasiruddin in 1356. He died
without appointing a sp~ritualsuccessor. One of his chief.disciples, Gesudaraz left
-
Delhi for a safer place in the Deccan at the time of Timur's invasion (A.D. 1398). As
the Delhi Sultanate began to decline and disintegrate, the sufis dispersed to the
more stable provincial kingdoms and established their khanqahs there. This
dispersal of the Chishti order in different parts of the country during the later 14th
and 15th centuries was accompanied by significant changes in the attitudes and
practices of the Chishti sufis.
Second Phase
The second phase in the history of theChishti dsilah during the Sultanate period
began with its decline in Delhi following thk death of Shaikh Nasiruddin and its
subsequent dispersal in various regional kingdoms. Though the sufis had begun to
arrive in the Deccan from the late 13th century, it was Shaikh Burhanuddin Gharib
who introduced the Chishti order there during the reign of Muhammad Tughluq.
Later, several Chishti sufs migrated to Gulbarga, the capital of the Bahmani
kingdom (1347-1538). In Gulbarga, these sufs developed close relations with the
court and accepted state patronage, thus causing a change in the attitude of the
Chishti order towards the state. The Bahmani kings, on their part, purchased the
political loyalty of these sufw and gave land grants to them. The most prominent of
these Chishtis was Muhammad Banda Nawaz, Gesudaraz (c. 1321-1422).He left for
the Deccan and received land grant of four villages from Bahmani Sultan, Feroz
Shah Bahmani (1397-1422). He was an orthodox sufi and declared the supremacy of
lslamic law (Sbariat) over all sufi stages. Gisudaraz discontinued many practices of
early Chishtis which clashed with the attitudes of orthodox ulema. Unlike the early
Chishti masters, he was a voluminous writer on tasawwuf. After his death, the
Bahmani Sultans continued the land grants in favour of his fanlily descendants. His
tomb or dargahin Gulbarga later developed into a popular place of pilgrimage in
the Deccan. But the transformation of his descendants into a landed elite and their
indifference towards Chishti teachings led to the decline of living Chishti tradition in
Gulbarga. The change of Bahmani capital from Gulbarga to Bidar in 1422 also
contributed to the decline of the Chishti order in Gulbarga. It has been pointed out
that the Bahamani Court at Bidar, owing to its pro-foreigner and anti-Deccani bias,
encouraged the immigration of foreign sufis' and did not patronise the Chishtis who
- .-7

SaWACdd'
-

were considered "iqo Indian". However. the Chishti tradition begw to thrive again
in the Deccan from4 the end of the 15th century and it continued to grow during thk
16th and 17th centuries. Its new centre was a place popularly known as Shahpur
Hillock, just outsidel the city of Bijapur-the capital city of the Adil Shahi Sultans.
The Chishti traditibp of Shahpur Hillock was different from most of the later CMehtl
traditions such as thht of Gulbarga in that it maintained distance from the court and
the ulema and dred its inspiration from local influences. The Ch&ti~aints df
Shahpur Hillock wdte thus much closer 3x1 their attitudes to the early Chlshtl sufb of
Delhi, though it mdst be pointed out that the Shahpur Hillock Chishti tradition
developed indepen&nt of both the Delhi and Gulbarga traditions.
I

In Northern India, lhe resurgence of the Chiahti order took place during the later
15th and early 16th Identury. T h e , ~ l h t h is* be'longed to three different branches
of the Chishtl order4- Nagaurlya (after the name of Shaikh Hamiduddin Nagauri),
Sabiriya (after the b&me of Shaikh Alauddin Kaliyari).and N i d y a Yafter the rl-
of Shaikh ~ i z a m m d d i nAuliya). Another important Chishti centre in Northern
India during the i a J r half of the 15th century and in the beginning of the 16th
century was ~ a u n ~ uthe d . capital of the Sharqi Sultans. From the beginning of the
15th century, a C
(in modem Uttar 3 centre flourished in Rudauli near Lucknow. Later, Bahraich
I

desh) emerged as another centre during the Lodi period.

Gangoh in Saharanpbr district of Uttar Pradesh became an important centre of the
s W i under ~haikblAbdul Quddus Gangohi (1456-1537). He wrote many books on;
sufi thought and prqpice and also on metaphysical subjects. He also translated
Chandayrth, a romahtic poem in Hindawi written by Maulana Daud in Persian.
During the second base, the Chishti centre@also flolirished in Malwa and Bcngal.
Many ~ h i s h t saints
i laf the second phase wrote commentaries on Arabic and Persian
classics ahd also tran$lated Sanskrit works on mysticism into Persian. Like the early
\ sadis of Delhi, the laifler Chlshti s& made followers fro? all classes of society but,
unlike heir 'spirituai~redecessors,most of them accepted state patronage.
i
30.5.3 Other Sud Orders
In addition to the Chishti and the Suhrawardi.orders, there were others such as the
Firdausi, 'the Qadiri, , the Shattari, Qalandari etc. which were introduced in India
during this period. f i e Firdausi order was a bianch of the 8obnwudi which
established itself at Rpjgir in Bihar towards the end of the 14th centuryyThe most,
prominent suff beloqng to this sUsilaN in India ms Shaikh ~ h a r f u c ) d ~ n * ~ n h b
Maneri (d. 1380).
The Qadidwas' the iqportant suff order in the Central Islamic cowtries and was
fdundd i n ~ a ~ h d by
a dAbdul ~ a d iJilani
r (d. 1166). It was introduced in India in .
the late 14th century a/nd established itself in the Punjab, Sind and the Decian. The
Qadiri had an ortho*x orientation and its doctrinal positions were similar to those
of the orthodox ulemq. f i e Qadiri sutis had close relations &th the ruling classes of
varipus provincial ~dtanates,and accepted state charity. The order was
urban-based and attehpted t o reform the religious life of Indian Muslims of what it
considkred yn-Islami$ influences.
/ I

The Shattnri drder wkch was introdu?d in India in the 15th century,by Shaikh
- Abdull* Shattari, w#b also an orthodox order. The Shattari centres here \-

established in Bengal, Jaunpur and the Deccan. Like the Qadiris, the Thattari adtp
. hwai'close tieswith thd court and accepted state patronage. 2-

h e ~ a i a n d a r iordericovered a wide range of wandering dervishes who violated

frequ-y P
normal social behavi r. They were considered reprehensible a@ above the
law. 'They had no rec nized spiritual master and organization. Many

-7 .cp
visited& &(i khanqahs andbecame absorbed into the
q d b d a r s had with the Nathpahhi yogis,and adopted
cu tomyand practices ch as earpiercing.
' I
The RIshi order-if suf/$mflourished in Kashmir during \he 15th and 16th centurieti.
~ e f o r ethe emergend bf this order; a religioui preacher from Hamadan, Mir
Saiyyid Ali Hamadanif[1314-1385) had entered Kashmir with a groupof followep tc
II

spread Islam. The mis$ionary zeal of Hamadani, his sons and disciples made little
impact on the people 4f Kashmir. The RisN order, on the other y
\

d,was an
!
1 indigenous one eszblished by Shaikh Nuruddin Wali (d. 1430). It prospered in the
rural environment of Kashmir and influenced the religious life of the people during ,
~ ~ M 0 r C y . t :
SdM.nrclll
L
the 15th and 16th centuries. The popularity of the ~ i s horder
i was due to the tact
and it drew inspirafion from the popular Shaivite bhakti tradition of Kashmir and
was rooted in tkq wcio-cultural milieu of the region.
t

, i Check Your Progrerrs 2

I

b 1) List the main characteristics of Suhrawardi silsilah.

...................................................................................................
t
2) *(a) List the names of five sufis of Chishti silsilah.
I ....................................................................................................

(b) Name five sufis orders that flourished in India

....................................................................................................

3) Write five lines on Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya.

...................................................................................................
,
1
4) Write a brief note on the Chishti saints who settled outside Delhi.

30.6 THE CAUSES OF CHISHTI POPULARITY

All the sufi orders of the Sultanate period believed in achieving the basic sufi goal of
.establishing direct communion with God by traversing the sufi' path under the .
supervision of a spiritual guide. However, different suti' orders observed distinct
rituals and customs of their own and differed in their attitudes to state and society.
Of all the orders of this period, the Chishti,emerged as the most popular, and it was
also widespread. ~ $ Chishti
e rituals, attitudes and practices made it an essentially
Indian silsilah.The -causes of its popularity are as follows :
i) Many practices of early Chlshtis bore close resemblance to the attributes of
.. some of the alreadv existine non-conformist relinious orders in India such as
SobbdCmho: U(L(.ISIL asceticism, Wwing before the master, shaving the head of a new entrant into
Crbl the order and prganizipg spiritual musical recital. In this sense, the Chishtis
came to be replarded as patieof an established tradition in India.
ii) The Chishtis #opted an attitude of religious tolerance towards the non-Muslim
population od lndia and adjusted themselves to the needs of a predominantly
non-Muslim dhvironment. They made use of popular imagery and popular
idiom to conuey their ideas LO their Indian followers and adopted many of their
customs and tituals. Many of the Chishti saints made Hindawi the vehicle tor
spreading their teachings.
iii) The egalitarign atmosphere of the Chishti kbpnqabs attracted large number of
people from lbwer sections of Indian society. The Chishti attitude towards
religion was dharacterised by sympathy towards the deprived sections of the
society. Caste distinctions of the Brahmanical socia order were meaningless in
the Chishti khanqabs.. Merchants, artisans, peasants and even sweepers
became the fdllowers of the Chishti order. Nor did they accept, the two-fold
racial division of the people by the Turkish ruling class into noble-Bofn and
low-born.
iv) The inspired pleadership of the early Chishti masters, their aloofness from the
court and their unwillingness to accept state patronage, their rejection of the
orthodoxy aqd externalist attitudes of the ulema,.and, finally, the combining of
the simple Hecepts of Islam with the sufl teachings contributed to the
popularity od the Chishti order.
v) The popularity of the early Chishtis rose after their life time as the cult of saints-
k g a n to dedelop in the later centuries around their shrines (dargahs).Later,
legend-makars and writers of hagiographic literature sometimes attributed the
popularity of the early Chishti sufls to their ability to perform miracles. In the
subsequent aenturies, traditions were invented to repre'sent the early Chi&&
as being actiMely involved in the conversion of the non-Muslims who were
believed to have been drawn to them due to their alleged miracle-performing
powers. However, the early Chishti sufb disapproved of the dispiay of , ,
miraculous pbwers, though they did tielieve in the possibility of miracles. They
did not consider the miracles of primary importance in sufl teaching and
practice. Nevertheless, the miracle stories about the early ChbPhtis played an
important rale in enhancing the popularity of the Chishti shrines and the
posthumous~popularityof the sufis themselves.

30.7 SOCIm ROLE OF THE SUFIS

Sufis played an ir&ortant role in society and at times in polity. Here we will discuss
their role in djffetedt spheres.

30.7.1 The Suftis and the S-tate

It has already bedn mentioned above that with the exception of the early Chishti
sulis and the Chisstis of the Shahpur Hillockin the Bijapur Kingdom, the sufis ,
be onging to most,of the other silsilah, including the later Chislytis, were involved in
$he affairs of the &ate and accepted state endowments. There are instances of
expression of disagreement by Clishti sufOs over the policies pursued by individual
Sultans as during the reign of Muhammad ~ u g h l uWhile
~ . the suns belonging to
otheqsufl groups'$erved the state machinery by becoming an integral part of it, the
early Chiihtis'heQed the state by creating a milieu in which people belonging to
different ciasses ahd religious communities could live in harmony.
The sufls, includ/bg the great Chishti masters of the early period, never queshoned
the existing politj$al system and the class structure. At the moSi, they advised the
state officials to bow leniency in collecting land revenue from the peasants. O n the
1
other hand, they did not forbid their ordinary followers from seeking state favours
and involvementlin the affairs of the court. It was perhaps due to these limitations of
the otherwise raqpal sufi order that the later transition within the Chishti silsilah to
the acceptance of,state patronage and involvement in courb politics was a smooth
30.7.2 Sufis and the Ulema
We have already noted that the ulema continued to show t h e ~ disapproval
r of the
sufls.despite various attempts made by al-Ghazzali to effect a reconciliation
between the two. The attitude of mutual distrust between the two continued during
the Sultanate period, though orthodox sufi orders such as the Subrawardi, the
Qadiri, etc. pandered to the ulema. The ulema were in particular hostile to the early
Chishti s u b and their practices. he^ pronounced against the Chiihti practice of
-a and objected to the Chlshti quest for religious synthesis. However, Chiihti
,
sufissuch as Shaikh Nasiruddin (Chiragh-i Delhi) and Gesudaraz gave an orthodox
orientation to the Chishti order to mitigate the hostility of the ulema towards the
Chishti practices. It appears that as the Chishtis began to involve themselves in court
politics and accept state endowments, they adopted doctrinal attitudes similar to
those of the ulema.

30.7.3 Sufs and Conversions

The sufis of the Sultanate period have been generally considered as propagators of
Islam in India. Several traditions and legends of the later medieval period also
represented the sufis as active missionaries. The later h'dgiographic accounts of the
life of Shaikh Muinuddin Chishti showed him as being actively involved in the
conversion of non-Muslims to Islam. Similarly, the first sufis who entered the
Deccan in the late 13th century and early 14th century have been portrayed in the
later legends as militant champions of Islam who waged a jihad (war against
non-Muslims). There were certain active evangelists among the Suhrawardi'sufb.
Mir Saiyyid Ali Hamadani and his followers who entered Kashmir in the 14th
century were also imbued with proselytizing zeal though they did not achieve mu'ch
success in their mission. However, it must be pointed out that conversion of
non-Muslims to Islam was not a part of the activities of all the sulk. Shaikh
Muinuddin Chishti was not an evangelist and was not actively involved in
conversions. His attitude and that of his spiritual successors towards non-Muslims
was one of tolerance. Shaikh Nizamuddin Aulia on one occasion observed that
many Hindus considered Islam a true religion but did not accept it. He was also of
the view that every religious community had its own path and faith and its own way
of worship. Also, there is little historical evidence to show that the early s u f s in the
Deccan were warriors fighting for the expansion of Islam.
Howqver, large number of non-Muslims, especially from the low castes, were
attracted to the sufis and later to their dargahs where they belonged to the wider
circle of devotees. There they gradually came under the influence of Islamic
pre'cepts which eventually led to their Islamization. Later, the descendants of many
groups which were Islamized claimed that their ancestors were converted to Islam
by one or another medieval sufi. Such a claim seems to have been motivated by their
desire to establish their long association with the dargah of thesufi and their long
standing in Islam.

30.7.4 Material Life in Sufi Khanqahs

We have seen above that there are instances of prosperous khanqahs supported by
,staie endowments, of sufis forging links with the state and finally of the
transformation of some sufis into landed elites. Ideally, however, the sufis such as
the early Chishtis .lived in khanqahs which remained in physical separation frofn !he
court and social hierarchy, and where life was based on egaliiarian principles. We
have pointed out that the early Chishtis'accepted the logic of the existing class
structure a t t h e broader social and political level and did riot see any alternative to it. .
Nevertheless, life in their own khanqahs was characterized by a lack of hierarchy
and structure. The khanqah was a place where both its inhabitants and the pilgrims
experienced equa1ity:For their necessarv expensds such khanqahs depended not on
state patronage but on futuh (unsolicited charity).
The Chishti khanqahs were open to all sections of the society and to all
communities. The qalandars and jogis made' frequent visits to the khanqahe where
they were provided accommodation. The khanqahs also contributed to economic
life in various ways. Some of them undertook the cultivation of waste lands. O t h e ~ s
were involved in the construction of buildings both of religious character and public
 -
utility and planted gatdens. The institution of the &an@ played gn important
role in the process of !wanization. The annual urs (the fedval commemorating the
death of a spiritual mg(ster) gave impetus to trade, commetce'and production of local
handicrafts.

30.8 THE IM1E)IACT OF CONTEMPORARY MYSTIC

IDEAS O@ISLAMIC COUNTRIES ON INDIAN
SUFISM - - -

Although the growth ~ n expansion

d of the sufl movement in India was primarily
determined by the Indian environment, it continued to be influenced by various ',
a

developments in sufistn in the Islamic world. The d thought of great masters sudh '
as al-Ghazzali continued .to influence successive generations of Indian suils k*
belonging to various dldahs.The ideas and poetic imagery of the Persian mhs like
Faiduddin.Attar (d. Q20) and Jalaluddin Rumi (d. 1273) also inspired Indian suUa
of the Sultanateperiq. The Chishtb of this period are'generally believed to have
been influenced by t k work of the Spanish-born mystic,.ibribArabi(d. 1240) who
propounded the docttCne of wPbdatsl wujud (unity of the phenomenal and
noumenal world) whiflh w q opposed by the uiema andorthodox sufts. However, it
should be noted that Most of the sufls, including the ~bishtiji,did not consider
doctrines such as w-t-a1 wUjud of primary importance in the sufi way of life. For
them, sufism was not so much a doctrine but a practical activie of traversing the ad
path.
The ideas of Alauddaihla Simnani (1261-1336), an Iranian who opposed Ibn Arabi's
doctrine; also influenced some Indian mfEs.Gesudaraz came under the influence of
Simnani's orthodox ideas and denounced the views of Ibn Arabi and Jalaluddin
Runii.
..
30.9 THE SWI AND THE BHAKTI MOVEMENTS AND/i
CULTUWL SYNTHESIS
The impact of Islam and sufism on the monotheistic bhakti movement has been
discussed in Unit 29. The interaction between the two is clear from the remarkable
similarities between the two. These similarities included emphasis on monotheism,
on the role of the spiltiitual guide (pir or guru), and on mystical uniop with God.
Moreover, both the makti saints and many ad orders were critical of the orthodox
elements in Hind~ism~and Islam respectively. o n e prominent example of the
influence of the bhaktt movement on sufism is offered by'the Rlehi .order of the wltls
in Kashmir. Here, the non-conformist ideas of the famous 14th century women ,
bhakti-preacher, La1 P e d , exercised profound influence on the founder of the order
Shaikh Nuruddin Wdi.
The interaction between the Chishti sufls and the nathpanthi y@ during the
Sultanate period is a .*ell established fact. The movement of the n a b j k t h i s had
attained considerable' popularity in Northern India, in particular among the hwer
sections of the society, during the 13th and 14th centuries. The nathpanthi y q h
frequently visited theikhaoqahs of the leading C e S h a i b and had discussions
with them on the nature of mysticism. The translation af the Y - treatise
~
Amrit-kund into Perjian from Sanskrit even before the advent 01sufism in India led
to the adoption df m a y meditativepractices by the sulls.'3"he 6kly Chishtis'
approved some of thd ethical values of the nathpanthi yogis and their'corpratpway,
of life. Like the Chishtis, the nathpanthis had opened their doors to all sections of '
society, ir;respZctive df caste distinctions. The common outlook of the two popular
moyeqeim provided*a basis for mutual understanding bemeen Muslims and
noiiMuslims. .I

Tbe adaptability of tde Caishtis in the non-I&uslirn environment of India released

syncretic forces and ldd to cultural synthesis. Many early CW&He spoke i i Hindawi
and composed versed in it. Many khnnQilbs inspired the composition of mystical
wetrv in renionat lantua~es.Some earlv Hindi works such as Chrmd.yyanby Mulla
Daud (second half of the 14th century) combined mysticism with Hihdu mythology
and philosophy. The sufi folk literature of the later times was a mix of the simplest
precepts of Islam and sun terminology and the existing popular imagery and idiom
and, thus, contributed to the growth of eclectic religious life, particularly in the rural
areas. The Chkhti practice of sama provided the basis for a syncretic musical tradition
such as the repertoire of religious songs called qawwali which is said to have begun
with Amir Khusrau. I

Check Ywr Progress 3

1) What were the factors for the popularity of the CBishd order in India?
Write five lines.

2) What role did the dis. play in the state affairs?

3) What do you understand by wahadat-a1 wujud?

...................................................................................................
...................................................................................................
...................................................................................................
. .
...................................................................................................
....................................................................................................

4) Write a note on the interaction between sufism and the bhakti movement.

...................................................................................................
....................................................................................................
....#....................................................................,.....*,..................
......................................................................................................
..........................)..........................................................................

30.10 LET US SVM'UP

Early sufi saints came to India even before the establishment of the Delhi Sultanate.
The basic features of sufisin in India continued to be the same as they were in the
Islamic~World.In the Islamic world it developed into.an organised movement
during 10th-12th ceMuries. During 12th and 13th centuries there developed a
number of sufi orders or silsilahs. Like in the Islamic w m . a number of s d orders
became popular in India during ihe Sultanate period. Of t h e s d d d a v b a i and
Chishii orders were more prominent. In India, the Chishti order became most
popularamong the masses.
4
~ J ~ C E M ljtbtolstb
U ~ ~ : Sufis played a very important role in the social life of the period. In general they did
c-Y not get involved with the affairs of the state but we come across a number of cases
where sufis accepted state patronage and got involved with the affairs of the state.
/
Throughout this periqd we witness an attitudeof distrust between sufis and ulema.
The latt'kr disapprovqd of a number of practices popular with sufis.
The khanqahs were the centre of activity of sufls and their disciples. Sufis in India
contiriued to be affect&d by the developments of mystic ideas in the contemporary
Islamic world. In India there was a regular interaction between sufi and bhakti
movement. This interaction had positive effect on the social and cultural l i b during
the Sultanate period, This interaction also resulted in a cultural synthesis in the
areas of art, music and1 literature.

Beshara : be=without, shara=Shariat i.e. those who do not strictly adhere to the
Shariat (Itdamic law)
Dargah : sufi shrindtomb
Futuh : income received gratuitously
Khanqah : place w h a e sufi saints lived
M d i i w t : sufl literature
Qalandar : Muslim mpndicant who abandon everything and takes to a wandering life
Ribat : frontier pbsts
Sama : a sufi gathering- where music is played and songs are recited.

30.12 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

EXERCISES
Check Your Progress 1
1) SUsila means sufi.order. See Sec. 30.2 and Sub-sec. 30.3.3.
2) Piris a teacher add murid a disciple. See Sec. 30.2.
3) i) SeeSec. 30.2dnd Sub-sec. 30.3.2.
ii) See Sec. 30.2.
4) See Sub-sec. 30.3.1.
Chedt Your Progress 2 -J
1) See Sub-sec. 30.5.1.
2) a) See Sub-sec. @.5.2.
b) See Sub-sec. N.5.3.
3) Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya was one of the most prominent SSsaints
I .
of Cbishti order. Qee Sub-sec. 30.5.2.
4) Shaikh Burhanuddin Sharif in Gulbarga, Shaikh Hamiduddin Nagauri in
Nagaur etc. See Sub-sec. 30.5.2.
Check Your Progress 3
1) See Sec. 30.6
2) See Sub-sec. 30.7.1
3) See Sec. 30.8
4) SeeSec. 30.9
1 I UNIT 31 ART AND ARCHITECTURE
OF DELHI SULTANATE

i
31.0 Objectives
31.1 Introduction
31.2 Architecture
31.2.1 New Struaural Forms

i
31.2.2 StyliQc Evolution
31.2.3 Public Buildings and Public Works
31.3 Painting
31.3.1 Literary Evidence for Murals
31.3.2 The Qumaic Calligraphy
31.3.3 Manuscript Illustration
31.4 Music
31.5 Let Us Sum Up
31.6 Key Words
31.7 Answers to Check Your Progress Exercises

In Unit 14, you read about the establishment and consolidation of the ruledf the
~urkishSultans in India. The new rulers established a regime thatwas in some'
profound respects different from the old. India now witnessed the emergence of a
culture which combined elements of both indigenous and Islamic traditions. The
most effedve and distinct manifestation of this synthetic culture is to be seen in the
art and architecture of this period.
After going through this Unit, you should be able to :
distinguish between the pre-Islamic and Indo-Islamic styles of building,
identify major architectural styles of the period,
R r i w the traditions of painting prevalent in the Delhi Sultanate, and
learn the major developments in qusic during this period.

31.1 INTRODUCTION
Art and architecture are true manifestations of the culture of a period as they reflect
the mind and approach of that society. It is here that the ideas aql techniques of a
society find visual expression. The adient of the Turkish rule in India is significant in
more than one respect;xWhile it gave rise to a new socio-political system which you
read about in Units 29 and 30, it also marked the beginning of a new expression in
art. The style of architecture that evolved during this time is called Indo-Islamic.
Unlike architecture, the art of painting as practised in the Delhi Sultanate is not
properly documented. We know that calligraphy and book-illumination in the
Islamic world had achieved supreme heights by the close of the 12th century; there
also existed a developed tradition of figural murals in the Ghaznavi kingdom.
Possibly the same tradition was camed to Delhi by the early Turkish Sultans where
it flourished in the 13th and 14th centuries.

31.2 ARCHITECTURE
The most important source 'for the study of architecture is the surviving remains of
buildings themselves. Thdugh these enable us to grasp architectural techniques and
styles peculiar to our period, it offers little help in understanding other related
aspects of architecture such as the role of the architects and the drawings and
estimates and accomts ~f the buildings.

31.2.1 New StruOYural Forms

i) Arch and Dome :Do a careful reading of the reports prepared by General
llexander Cunningbam of archaeological sites and remains (Reports of the
\rchaeological Survey-ofIndia, vols. I-XXIII, Simla, Calcutta, 1865-77) in Northern
I ndip, we observe that the incidence of masonry building-including civilian
housing in towns-increases significantly after the 13th century. This was primarily
possible due to the use of lime-mortar as the basic cementing material about which
you have already read in Unit 22. The building of true arch required stones or bricks
to be laid as voussoir$ in the shape of a curve and bound .ogether firmly by a good
binding material. TW binding material was lime-mortar. (figure 1 gives the
diagram of an arch .)

The result of the intioduction of the new technique was that the pre-Turkish forms;'
lintel and beam and norbelling, were replaced by true arches and vaults and the
spired roofs (shikhad) by domes. Arches are made in a variety of shapes, but in India
the pointed form of the Islamic world was directly inherited. And sometime in
second quarter of the 14th century, another variant of the pointed form, the
four-centred arch, was introduced by the Tughluqs in their buildings.'lt remained in
vogue till the end of Ihe Sultanate. (These forms have been illustrated in figure 2.)
 +
~sd~mwedumaf
The pointed arch was adopted in the Islamic world quite early due to its durability Delhi Sultanate
and ease of construction. The usual method of raising apointed arch was to erect a
light centering and place one layer of bricks over it. This layer supported another
thin layer of flat bricks over wtiich radiating voussoirs of the arch were fixed in
mortar. These two bottom layers of brick-work would, if needed, act as permanent
shuttering for the arch (as shown in Figure 3). It may be noted here that the
employment of bricks instead of an all-wood centring was a feature typical of regions
deficient in reserves of wood such as West Asia and even India.
But the construction of dome demanded especial techniques. The problem was to
find a suitable method for converting the square or rectangular top of the walls of
the room into a circular base for raising a spherical dome. The best way to overcome
this problem was to convert the square plan into a polygon by the use of squinches
across the corners (shown in figure 3). Later, in the fifteenth century, stalactite
pendentives came to be used for the same purpose. (Shown in photo 1 : Bara Fig. 3
Gumbad Mosque, New Delhi.)

Photo 1
Fig. 5

ii) Building Material :It is a curious fact that there are very few instances of early
Turkish buildings in India where newly quarried material has been employed by the
architects. The fashion was t o use richly carved capitals, columns, shafts and lintels
from pre,-Turkish buildings. In India, towards the beginning of the 14th century
when the supply of such matetial had exhausted, buildings were raised by using
1 originally quanied or manufactured material.
t
In the masonry work, stone has been used abundantly. The foundations are-mostly
of rough and small rubble or, wherever it is available, of river boulders, while the
superstructure is of dressed stone or roughly shaped coarsed stonework. However,
.in either case, the buildings were plastered all over. Percy Brown (Indian
Architecture : Islamic Period,Bombay, 1968) has noted that in the buildings of the
Khalji period a new method of stone masonry was used. This consisted of laying
stones in two different courses, that is headers and stretchers. This system was

-
retained in subsequent buildings and became a characteristic of the building
technique of the Mughals.
The material commonly used for plastering buildings was gypsum. Apparently
lime-plaster was reserved for places that needed to be secured against the leakage of
water, such as roofs, indigo-vats, canals, drains, etc. In the later period, i.e. around
15th century, when highly finished stucco work became common, gypsum mortar
was preferred for plaster work on the walls and the ceiling (as shown in photo 2
below).
 uildings served the purpose of
revealing it. Since the depiction
of living beings was b;bnerally frowned upon, the elements of decoration were, in
most cases, limited t ~ :
a) calligraphy, b) B e b e t r y , and c) foliation.
It was by their manid lation that a rich and sumptuous effect was obtained in the
'
Sultanate buildings. Ikut characteristically enough no one type of decoration was
reserved for a particalar type of building; on the contrary, these pan-Islamic
decorative principle8 were used for all kinds of buildings in the Delhi Sultanate.
Calligraphy is an imI)ortant element of the decorative art in the buildings of this
period. The Qurania sayings are inscribed on buildings in an angular, sober and
monumental script, Yeown as kufi.They may be found in any part gf the
building-frames of the doors, ceilings, wall panels, niches etc., and invariety of
materials-tone, stdcco and painting (See the photos 3 & 4 for suetifftens of stone
and stucco calligraptjf respectively).
I
Geometric shapes in abrstract form are used in these buildings in a bewildering Art and Architecture of
Dclhi Sultanale
variety of combinations. The motifs indicate incorporation of visual principles :
repetition, symmetry, and generation of continuous patterns. It has been suggested
5y Dalu Jones (Architecture of the Islamic World,ed. George Michell, London,
1978) that the generating source of these geometric designs is the circle, which could
be developed into a square, a triangle or a polygon. These forms are then elaborated
by multiplication and subdivision, by rotation and by symmetrical arrangements
(see, for example, photo 2 supra).
Of the foliations, the dominant form of decoration employed in Sultanate buildings,
is the arabesque. It is characterised by a continuous stem which splits regularly,
producing a series of leafy secondary stems which can in turn split again or
reintegrate into the main stem. The repetition of this pattern produces a beautifully
halanced design with a three dimensional effect (see figure 4 and photo 5).

..
Pig. 6

Check Your Progress 1

1) What was the main reason for a significant increase in masonry buildings after
the 13th Century?

...................................................................................................
....................................................................................................
Identify the problem to make a dome.
...................................................................................................
.............................................:.....................................................
.....................................................*............................................
...................................................................................................
............................................................................................ ?.......
3) What were the *in elements of decoration in the Sultanate architecture? \

31.2.2 Stylistic Evolution

The purpose of the dikussion here is to provide you with a general outline of the
evolution of the Indojlslamic architectural style under the Sultans of Delhi and to
highlight the features that characterise its more prominent phases.

1
The history of Indo-I larnic architecture proper commences with the occupation of
Delhi by the Turks in A D . 1192. The Tomar citadel of Lal Kot with its Chauhan
extension, cailed Qil pai Pithora, was captured by Qutbuddin Aibak. Here he
began the constructio of a Jami Masjid which was completed in 1198. According to
an inscription on the osque it was known as Quwwatul Islam and was built from
the wreckage Of twen -seven Hindu and Jain temples demolished by the
conquerors, Again, iq 1199, an expansive screen with lofty arches was raised across
the entire front of thel$anctuaxy of the.mosque. In both these constructions, the
hand of the local architect is quite evident. The lintels, carved-columns and slabs,
have been used liberally by only turning their carved sides inwards or using them
upside down. The arches of the screen have been built by employing the method of
corbelling. And the obamentation of the screen, is emphatically Hindu in
conception (see photd 16 below).

However, the borroW4$d elements of Hindu architecture were soon discarded and
relatively little was retained by the maturing Indo-Islamic style. In later buildings of
this phase, such as Qgtab Minar (built 1199-1235), Arhai Din Ka Jhoupra (built c.
1200) and Iltutmish's tomb (completed 1233-4), though corbelling'could not be
replaced as the princi#al structural technique, decoration became almost fully
Islamic in detail. In this connection, the principles employed in the constructioq of
the domical roof of I1 tmish's tomb (built 1233-4, not extant now) are also of great
?
interest. Though the ,bme was raised with the help of corbelled courses it was
supported on squinch&$bullt at the corners of the square chamber (sbown in phbto
7 ) U P T Pn ~ r h a n cis th# pnrlipct attpmnt CRVC P ~ r r vRrnwn n f crllvino t h n~r n h l ~ mn f
 Photo 7

The culmination of the architectural style designated by us as the Early Form was
the mausoleum of Balban built around 1287-88. It is in ruins now but occupies an
important place in the development of Indo-Islamic architecture, as it is here that we
notice the earliest true arch. (Eastern arch shown in Photo 8).
ii) The Khaljis
With their architecture, as revealed in Alai Darwaza (built 1305) at the Qutub
complex, and the Jamat Khana Masjid (built 1325) at Nizamuddin, a marked change
.
ig, style appears. In the evolution of Indo-Islamic architecture, this phase occupies a
key position as it exhibits a distinct influence of the Seljuq architectural traditions (a
Turkish tribe ruling- over Central Asia and Asia Minor in 11-13 centurv) ., as also
certain salient features of composition which were adopted in the succeeding styles. photo 8
The characteristic features of'this phase may be listed below :
a) Employment of true arch, pointed horse-shoe in shape (photo 9).
1
I
b) Emergence of true dome with recessed arche? under the squinch (photo 10).

I Photo 9 Photo 10
 ud Cdhve :13th B 15th
Sofk(~
c) Use of red sandstohe and.decorative marble reliefs as new building materials
Qnlurg (photo 11).
d) Appearance of '104~s-bud'fringe on the underside of the arch - a Seljuq feature

e) Emergence of new fnasoq-faclng, consisting of a narrow course of headers -

alternating with a qluch wider course of stretchers (see 31.2.1Fagain a Seljuq
feature.
In addition, the decoradke features characterised by calligraphy, geometryand
7
arabesque now became @uch bolder and profuse.
iii) The Tughluqs
A new architectural stylb came into vogue in the buildings of this period. Judging
from the remains, only q e first three rulers of this house appear to have been
interested in the art ofbpilding. However, the architecture of this period can be
divided into two main gtbups. To the first group belong the constructionq of
Ghiyasuddin and Muhahimad Tughluq, and the other to those of Feroz Taghluq.
The general features of the Tughluq style of architecture are listed~below:
I

a) Stone rubble is the /principal building material and the walls are in most cases
plastered.
b) The walls and bastens are invariably battered, the effect being most marked at
the comers (see pqfto - 13).
 c) A hesitant and possibly experimental use of a new shape of arch- the four
centered arch-necessitating its reinforcement with a supporting beam. (see
'
photo 14). This arch-beam combination is a hall-mark of the Tughluq style.
The pointed horse-shoe arch of the preceding style was abandoned because of
its narrow compass and therefore the inability to span wider spaces.

Photo 14
. -
' d) Emergence of a pointed dome with clearly visible neck in c o ~ t r a swith
t rather
stifled dome of the preceding style. (see photo 13 suhra).

e) Introduction of epcaustic tlles as an element of decoration in the panels of the

buildings.

f) Emergence, in the tombs of this period, an octagonal plan which came to be

copied and perfected by the Mughals in the 16th-17th century.
- An aaditiona~reature was the element of reduced ornament, confined mostly to
inscribed borders and medallions in spandrels executed in plaster or stucco.
iv) The Final phase
Within a decade of the death of Feroz Shah Tughluq (1388), the Sultanate became
politically unstable, and in 1398 was sacked and plundered by Timur. However,
some .semblance of central authority remained with the two succeeding dynasties of
the Saiyyids and ~ o d i s although
; they ruled over a greatly Shrunken Sultanate of
Delhi between 1414 and 1526. A large number of tombs were built in and around
Delhi so mdch so that over a period of time the area around Delhi looked like a
sprawling qabristan (graveyard). \

Yet some of these structures are important from architectural point of view and can
be considered as heralding a distinct style. The more important of these
tomb-buildings took two separate forms, the distinguishing features of which are
given below :
a) Mausoleums designed on an octagonal plan incorporating the following .
elements :
-main tomb-chamber surrounded by an arched verandah.
. --one storey high.
-verandah with projecting eaves supported on brackets

b) The other type was built on square.plan. These were characterised by the
following elements :
-absence of verandah around the main tomb-chamber.
-exterior comprised ot two, and sometimes three storeys.
-absence of eaves and supporting brackets Fig. 8

rhere is an original treatment of wloured tile decoration in these buildings. It is set

sparin& in friezes. In addition, there are intricately incised surfaces of plaster.
 ' u*llr
mdkare The end of the DelM Sultanate came in 1526 with the d&at of last of th= Lodi
-,
Sultans at the hands of {be Mughal invader, Babur. ~his'alsosiballed an end of the
Sultanate style of archiecture, which had begun showing signs f stagnation in the
15th century.
j,
31.2.3 Public Buildbgs and Public Work
You must have noticed fiat in our discussion of the development of the Sultanate

f
architecture in the pre ding two Sub-sections, 31.2.1 dfid 31.2.2, we made
references mostly to ro bl structures like palace-citadels, tombs or mosques. This,
hoyever, is not to suggqst that other kinds of buildings were non-existent or thai
they were insignificant. j '
Contrary to the populad &nion that the number of structures other than royal
buildings was abysmal, we in fact notice that such structures far outnumber royal
buildings. The majorityibf these buildings comprised sarai, bridges, irrigation-tanks,
wells and baoli, dams, lfschehri (atlministrative buildings), prison-houses, k d w d
(police-stations), dak-c$buki (post-stations), hammam (public baths), and katra
(market places), etc. Silyce almost all these types were intended for public and civic
purposes, we group them collectively under public buildings and public works. They
were available to the g&eral public regardless of their religious affiliations.
1
S d is perhaps the mojt conspicuous of these public buildings. It was introduced in
India by the Turks in thH 13th century. The earliest mentipn of the existence of sarai
is from Balban's time ($66). Among late rulers both ~ n h a m m a dTughluq and .
Feroz Tughluq are known to have built a large number ocsarais in Delhi as d s o
along the major land-routes of the Sultanate. The main features of these sarais may
be listedrhus :
Square or rectangulat disposition, enclosed on all four sides by masonry walls, with
entry through one of sometimes two gateways.
Series of rooms f r o n t h by small vaulted spaces along all the four sides inside the
enclosure. Wareho.u*s in the corners of the enclosure.
Existence of a small &osque and one or more wells in the open courtyard within
the enclosure. (These; features may be seen ih figure 5 and in the plan of a sard
of Sher Shah's time),

Fig. 9
I
B3dges were anotherimkrtant category of public buildings. However, only small
and medium sized rivers were provided with masonry bridges. Major rivers such as
the Ganga and the Yamjna were provided with bridges mada of boats. We are
fortunate in having at leagt two masonrv bridees made of boats. We are fortunate in
having at least two masonry bridges of this period surviving even today. One is ~ u d ~ m u e ~ t r e d
located at Chittorgarh over the Gambheri river (shown in photo 15 below). The mh~mblb.rc

other was built over Sahibi, a tributary of Yamuna, at Wazirabad Delhi (shown in
photo 16).

.-
Pbooo 16

Sarais and bridges are only the two most cotnmon specimens from a rather rich and
,miscellaneous order of public buildings of the Sultanate period. Weirs and
step-wells, too, are a part of the Delhi Sultanate architectwe. For example, gandhak
ki baoli built by Iltutmish at Mehrauli (DeJhi) is one of the step-wells.

Check Your Progress 2

1) Mark ( d )or ( x ) :
i) The arches in the screen of Quwwatul Islam Masjid are corbelled.
ii) Dome in Iltutmish's tkmb was raised by placing crossbeams at the
comers of the tomb-chamber.
iii) Openings in Balban's tomb are corbelled.
2)- List three main features of the Khalji architecture.

3) Answer each of the following in one line.

i) Why was pointed hotse-shoe arch abandoned in the Tughluq period?

ii) How are the walls and bastions of Tughluq period different from
the preceding structure's?

iii) What difference do you notice in the building material of the

\
Tughluq buildings?
4) Write a note on the lqlistinctive features of the Saiyyid and Lodi. mausoleums. I,

........................i;.................................'.....

........................1L ..........................................................................
j
5) Define a public bui{bing and list some of the important public buildings
of the Delhi Sultan$te.
I:

................................................................................................... "

........................I1 ':
. .
L'............................................................................

The history of paintinglin the Sultanate period is obscure compared with its
architecture. This is d u primarily
~ to the non-availability of any surviving specimens
for at least the first huddlred years of the establishment of the Delhi Sultanate.
Equally surprising is thk! absence of illuminated books, an art carried to supreme
height in the Islamic world by 1200. However, the researches during the last 20-25
years have unearthed rlew and some crucial evidence, forcing the scholars to change
their opinion radically. We now know that not only book illumination but murals
too were executed durifig the Sultanate period. The art of painting may thus be
divided into the following three categories each of which will be discussed separately.
I

31.3.1 Literary EvEdence 'for Murals

The closest view tKat one may have of the murals as a flourishing art formduring the
rule of the Delhi Sultarl6 is through a large number of literary references occurring in
tbe chronides of this W i o d . These have been compiled and analysed by Simon
Digby ('The Literary Elvidence for Painting in the Delhi Sultanate', Bulletin of the
American Academy of @enam,Vol. I; 1967,47-58).

The-earliest reference id, murals-in the Sultanate period is in a qasida ( T w a t - i

Nasiri) in praise of Iltuttnish, on the occasion of the gift of Khila't from the Caliph in
1228. The verses in thi$ composition make it clear that human o r animal figures were
depicted upon the spanalrels of the main arch raised to welcome the envoy of the
Caliph. i

'The most important sidgle reference to painting in the Delhi Sultanate occurs in the

P
context of un-Islamic o servances of earlier rulers inviting a ban by Feroz Tughluq
(Tarikh-i Ferozshrhi b I Afif). It indicates the existence of a continuous tradition of
figural painting on the Falls of the palaces of Delhi, which was sought to be banned
by Feroz Tughluq. 1 . _ -
This tradition of painting was not confined to the murals alone. In a reference hull SPltrutc
relating to the entertainment parties thrown by Qutbuddirl Mubarak Khalji .
(1316-20), mentio; is made of a profusely painted open-sided tent: The decorations
would therefore appear to be on painted cloth (Nuh Siphr by Amir Khusrau).
In contrast, there did survive a tradition of wall painting in the houses of the
common people, especially the non-muslims. It is testified by :
a stanza from a 14th century Hindi poem Chandayan written by Maulana Daud in
1379-80, which describes the painted decoration of the upper rooms ,of the house
were Chanda, the leading lady of this poem, sleeps with her female companions.
an actual painting from one of the illustrated manuscripts of this poem belonging
to tbe 15th century and showing the bedchamber of Chanda, on the walls of which
are painted scenes from the Ramayana (see photo 17).

. .

31.3.2 The ~ u r a i Calligraphy

c
Calligraphy was the most revered art in the Islamic world,and was used as a
'decorative feature both on stone and on paper. In the hierarchy of craftsmen, a
calligrapher was placed above the illuminator and painter. However, the calligraphy
of the Quran became one of the foremost forms of book art, where copies of Quran.
were produced on a majestic and expansive scale.
earliest
'I% & known copy of the Quran is dated 1399. It was calligraphed at Gwalior,
and has a variety of ornamental motifs,'derived both from Iranian and Indian
sources. (Two pages of this manuscript are shown in photo 18). The geometrical
frontispiece of this manuscript seems to be in the Sultanate style and suggests the
folloving as prominent features of the Delhi ateliers in the 14th century :
The work produced here isin line with the i rani an tradition.
The script used in the headings and inscriptional panels of the Quran is inva'riably,
kuti.
The illumination of geometrical frontispieces was the speciality of this school.
 Photo 18 I

The state of book-art in the 15th century, under the Saiyyid and Lodi dynasties,
remained a sad shadow of its former self as it became incapable of supporting artistic
endeavour on a large scale. The initiative seems to have been wrested by provincial
dynasties.
!

31.3.3 ~anuscri&Illustration .
Manuscript illustration in the Sultanate peridd is a hotly debated and disputed
subject. There is very little concurrence among scholars on terminology and
provenance. Thus, deciding the traits of Sultanate manuscript illustrations is a
cumbersome job. On the contrary, though a good number af illustrated manuscripts
in Persian and Awadhi from the period between 1400 and the advent of the Mugt als.
are now known, some of these manuscripts appear to have been produced at -
provincial courts. However, there is a distinct, althopgh small, group of manuscripts
which was probably not connected with any court. They seem to have been
produced for patrons, presumably independent but located somewhere in the
Sultanate. They have sometimes been termed as representing a 'bourgeois' group
and are attributable to the period 1450-4500. Given below are brief notes on two of
these manuscripts forming t t e 'bourgeois' group.
Hamzanama (Berlin)
This manuscript is dafed to about 1450'and depicts the legendry exploits of Amir
Hamza, one of the cothpanions of the prophet (one leaf shown in phato 19).
Chandayan (Berlin)
I t is datable to 1450-70 and illustrates the romance of two lovers Laur and Chanda.
It was composed in the Awadhi dialect of Hindi by Maulana Daud of Dalmau near
Rai Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh in'1389 (one leaf shown in photo 20).

Photo 20
-

31.4 MUSIC
The development of music as an art form in Delhi Sultanate took a back seat
compared with the growth of architecture and painting. Moreover. the history of
music during this period suffers from a serious handicap- the lack of
documentation. Historical references are scattered and scanty and most of the
modern day writings are speculative rather than historically substantive. They are
replete with fables and legends about music in the Sultanate period.
The 14th century is perhapsthe most important period in the histoy of the Delhi
Sultanate from the point of view of music, That music in some form was practised in
the courts of the early Sultans is, however, not improbable. Kaiqubad had built for
himself a magnificent palace at Kilugarhi. The courtly 'revels included dancing and
singing of Persian and Hindi songs by beautiful girls. But it was Amir Khusrau who
has left an enduring mark on the music not only of the Sultanqte but of India as a
whole. Amir Khusrau was the disciple of the great sun saint Shaikh Nizamuddin
Aulia of Delhi. He was also the court poet of Alauddin Khalji who was himself very
fond of music. The genius of Amir Khusrau in the sphere of music was mainly
utilised in innovating new compositions as well as in assimilating different forms of
music prevalent in his time. He is credited with having introduced :
the qawwali mode of singing into the countryside for the first time.
several of our modem rags like Zilaph, Sazgiri and Sarparda, etc., produced by
combining Persian and Indian tunes.
Khayal form of singing by abandoning the traditional dhrupad.
a new musical instrument called sitar by combining the old Indian vina and the
Iranian tambura.
 modifications in the onventional percussion instrument mridang t o bifurcate it
7
into two and call t h e p tabla.
1 I

The changes introduceiby Amir Khusrau had far-reaching social consequences in

br~ngingtogether peoplti of two divergent creeds.
4

Check Your Progress 3 '

1) ~ e s c n b ethe source!for the tradition of wall-painting in the Delhi Sultanate.

.........................7 ........................................................................
"

2) When and where wab the earliesiknown copy of Quran made?

3) Define 'bourgeois' g q u p of paintings.

....................
C.....)...... .........................................-..........................

4) Give a list of some of Amir.Khusrau's major musical achievements.

.......................... !.......................................................................
i'

O n the basis of the feature ' discussed above, it is evident that the development of art
&li
and architecture in the D e Sultanate followed an uneven pattern. While growth of
 Art ud Arcbltecturc d
architecture occupied t#fe paramount position, other art forms like painting and Ddhl Sultanate
music did not get equal attention. Individual initiative, a full-blooded support for
their growth is found missing. Much of the artistic impulse came to be expressed in
architecture enriching it both structurally and stylistically. It also gave rise to a rich
heritage of civic buildings-the public buildings and public works. Informed interest
in these constructions is relatively recent, but they must claim a place in any
comprehensive survey of Indo-Islamic architecture.

Much of this architecture appears within the urban setting, the main building types
being mosques (masjid), tombs (maqbara), palace-citadels as well as structures of
public utility, such as sarais, bridges, step-wells, and water reservoirs.
There are no specific architectural forms for specific functions. Most can be
adopted for a variety of purposes. A s an illustration of this feature one could think
of the four-cloistered courtyard structure which served equally well as palace,
mosque, sarai and madrasa.
An important element of this architecture is the emphasis on the enclosed space
generally defined by walls, arcades and vault.
The decoration in-the architecture is mostly of a kind which suggests spaces existing
beyond the decorative frames-atectonic in nature. Its chief elements are
arabesque, geometry and foliation, the depiction of animate forms was popularly
thought of having been prescribed under Islam. But there is nothing in the Quran
t o support this popular view.

A lively tradition of wall-painting deriving inspiration from the Ghazanavid

kingdom survived in Delhi Sultanate upto at least 1350. It had a wide repertory, the
subjects depicted ranging from the themes of the Mahabhara and Ramayana down to
popula? folkltales. Another important tiadsion that grew during thispec0.d was of
illuminated manuscripts. But it was independent of court patronage and for that
reason the manuscripts have been termed as 'bourgeois'. Manuscript illustration and
the art of writing the Quran flourished only till Timur's invasion. The influence of
Iranian School was quite prominent. This tradition died soon after 1398-the year of
the sack of Delhi. But it sprouted and flourished in the provincial courts.
A tradition of figural painting in the form of murals and painted cloth during the
13th and 14th centuries derived mainly from the Ghaznavi kingdom.
A sidiultaneous tradition of the Quranic calligraphy in Kufi script which lasted
upto 13-till Timur's sack of Delhi. This kind of painting developed with the
introduction of paper in India.
Another t~aditionwas that of'illustrated Persian and Awadhi manuscripts
originating probably ai the beginning of the 15th century and growing
independently of the imperial court.

The history of music in the Delhi Sultanate suffers from lack of reliable evidence.
The only definite information relates to the musical genius of Amir Khusrau and a
list of some prominent musical instruments given by Ibn Battuta.

31.6 KEY WORDS

Arcade : a r a n g e of arches carrying a roof o r other superstructure
Ashlar ' : masonry walling formed of dressed stones
Batter : a slight inward inclination of a wall from its base upwards
Buttress : a vertical mass of masonry projecting at intervals from the external face
of wall
Centering : a temporary support facilitating the construction of an arch
Eaves
Mural : painting on a well
.
: the lower edge of a sloping roof, overhanging the face of the wall

Parapet : a low wall around the roof

Spandrel : space b m e e n two adjacent arches
Stucco : designinb in plaster.

31.7 ANSWEeS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

Cbeck Y olir Progress 1

1) Introduction of abuate technique and lime-mortar. See Sub-sec. 31.2.1
':
2) SeeSub-sec. 31.2.1
i) Cross-beams kt the corners
?1
ii) Squinches 1
iii) Pendentives '
1
3) Arabesque, geoqetrical designs, and foliation. See Sub-sec. 31.2.1
Check Your Progress 2
1) i) V
ii) x
iii) x
2) See Sub-sec. 31.4.2 ii
3) i) Because of it$ inability to cover wide areas.
ii) They are battered.
iii) They use stoqe-rubble and plaster to cover the surfaces.
4) See Sub-sec. 31.2i2 iv
5) See Sub-sec. 31.2!3
Check Your Progress L)
1) See Sub-sec. 31.3il
2) In 1399 at Gwaliqt
3) See Sub-sec. 31.3.3
4) See Sec. 31.4
 Art and Archltectwe d
Delhl Sdtnnate

4. Gandhak-ki ~ a o l iIlltutmish's
, reign (1210-36), New Delhi

2. .Qutub Minar, A.D.'1199, New Delhi

5. Balban's Tomb, C. 1280 A.D., New Delhi

3. Illtutmish's Tomb, c. 1235 A.D.. New Delhi !

51
I . - 6. W h a r m , A.D. 1305, New Delhl
I 9. Khirki Masjid, c. 1375 A.D., New Delhi.

1 7. Sdpdm, Mphmmsd Tnghluq'r reign (A.D. 1325-51),

New DrBi

I .,
11. Moth Ki Masjid, A.D., 1505, New Dtlhi.
I
 UNIT 32 ART AND ARCHITECTURE
OF REGIONAL STATES
Structure
32.0 Objectives
32.1 Introduction
32.2 Architecture
32.2.1 Eastern India
32.2.2 Western lndia
32.2.3 Central India
32.2.4' Deccan
32.2.5 Vijaynagar
I 32.3 Painting
32.3.1 Western Indian Style
3z.3.2 Caurnpaneaaika Style
32.3.3 Provincial Developments
32.3.4 The Deccani Painting
32.4 Music
32.5 Let Us Sum Up
32.6 Key Words
I 32.7 Answers to Check y o u r Progress Exercises

32.0 OBJECTIVES
The present Unit oversteps the political boundaries of the Delhi Sultanate and
attempts a study of the development in art and architecture in regions outside the
Sultanate. Its purpose is to :
emphasize the character and development of architectural styles in the buildings
in the regional states,
highlight the traditions and forms of painting, mainly of manuscript illumination,
outside of the realm of the Delhi Sultanate, and
account for some of the major developments in the musical forms in North and
South-Indian styles.

32.1 INTRODUCTION .
The development of art and architecture in the regional states follows diverse
course. While architectuie adheres mainly to the technological principles evolved
under the Indo-Islamic style, painting, particularly manuscript illumination, scales
new heights due mainly to the substitution of paper for palm-leaf as the writing
material. Music adopts a syncretic'approach. It must be understood that this
multiplicity of form does not conforni to any set geographical pattern, but
sometimes, as in the case of painting, takes cross-regional course.
The different sections of this Unit take into account the developments in
architecture, painting and music in Eastern, Western and Central India, the Deccan
and the Vijaynagar kingdom.

52.2 ARCHITECTURE
'The regional styles of architecture came into vogue usually after these states had
thrown off the allegiance to Delhi and proceeded to develop a form suiting their
individual requirements. They were distinct from the Indo-Islamic style practiced at
Delhi and often displayed definitely original qualities. In the areas which had a .
stron$ indigenous tradition of workmanship in masonry, regional styles of Islamic
architecture produced the most elegant structures. On the other hand where these
traditions were not so pronounced, the buildings constructed for the regional states
were less distinctive. In some cases totally novel tendencies, independent of both the
indigenous and the imperial Sultanae traditions. are also visible.
~ a c ~jtbtotsth
~ ~ ~ Eastern
32.2.1 : Indb
c--J 'I
, It is interesting that theideve~o~mentoffhe earliest regional stvle in architecture
should have taken plactl at the other end of the subcontinent, in eastern ~ n d i a In.
fact there did emerge two major strands of architectural style in this region viz., in
Bengal and in Jaunpur, both of which witnessed the rise of regional states.
a) Bengal :The establishment of an independent Muslim power in Bengal rook place
within a gap of five yeaT since the capture of Delhi by the Turks. But an
independent building style, distinct from the one prevalent at Delhi, developed at
the beginning of the forneenth century and lasted for a period of nearly 250 years.
Bengal style spread in all parts of the region, but most of the prominent buildings
were located within therboundary of the Malda district which had been the strategic
centre of the region due, to the confluence of the two rivers, the Ganga and the
Mahananda. Here lie the remains of the two principal cities - Gaur and Pandua -
which, in turn, enjoyed nhe status of the capital seat of the regional ruling power. In
our effort to understand the distinctive features of the architectural style of this
region we have to depelbd mostly on the buildings extant in these two cities and a few
important examples elstwhere.
The building art of Benbal is generally divided into the following three phases of
which the first two are donsidered preliminary stages and the third its ultimate
develbpment into a specific style.
The first phase is fratn A.D. 1200-1340 (During most of this time Gaur was the
capital seat. Only in later years it was shifted to Pandua).
The second extendeh from A.D. 1340 to 1430, and
The .third phase f r o 7 A.D. 1442 to 1576 when the Mughals captured the province.
During this phase t+ capital was shifted back to Gaur.
The data in the form ofkxtant buildings forthe first phase is scanty. Even where tSJo
or three structures survive they are in a badly ruined state. It is, nonetheless, evident
that the buildings raised during this period were wholesale conversions of the
existing Hindu structures.
Similarly, the second pHase is also deficient in data as it is represented by a solitary
example. But this b u i l b g -
Adina Masjid .at Pandua (built 1364) - surpasses all .
other Islamic structures) in Bengal in size. It introduces two new features in the
architectural style : .

the "drop" arch, haying ;span greater than its radii, and centres at the import
level, and
' the method of raisini the roof in a system of arched-bays whQe small domes
supported by bri~k-~&ndentives in over-sailing courses were raised over each bay.
The bricks in these pqndentives were set diagonally in each alternate course in such
a manner that their homers project and help in the transition from a square to a
circular base (figured 1 & 2 show Adina Masjid).

54 Fig. 1 I Fig. 2
I The third phase is the most remarkable as it depicts the emergence of a
semi-indigenous style in tune with the peculiar environment and local condition in
. Bengal. The result was to translate the native bamboo'structures into brick. In the
course of time this special form of curved roof became a fixed convention (see
figures 3). In most of these buildings, moreover, an indigenous form of decoration.
i.e. terracotta tiles, was adopted.
A r t M d ~ w e d
R e -

Fig. 3

. _It thus becomes ckar that nowhere in lndia did climate and local conditions as well
as indigenous building styles affect the development of architecture as profoundly as
in Bengal. Its merit lies in its dynamic ability to transform itself by adoption and
adaptation.
b) Jaunpur : The Sharqi kingdom of Jaunpur was founded by Malik Sarwar, a noble
of Feroz ShahtTughluq,in 1394. In the wake of Timur's invasion and sack of Delhi,
Jaunpur took over from the capital as a centre for scholars and writers. The
surviving architecture of Jaunpur consists exclusively of mosques. Moreover, all the
surviving buildings produced under the Sharqis are located in the capital city
Jaun~ur.
I The Sharqi architecture of Jaunpur carries a distinct impact of the Tughluq style, the
I battering effect of its bastions and minarets and the use of arch-and-beam
I combination in the openings being the two most prominent features. However, the
r
most striking feature of the Jaunpur style is the design of the facade of the mosques.
1 It is composed of lofty propylons with sloping sides raised in the centre of the
sanctuary screen. The propylons consist of a huge recessed arch framed by tapering
I square minars, of exceptional bulk and solidity, divided into registers (see figure 4)
The best examples can be seen in the Atala Masjid (buit in 1408) and the Jami
Masjid.

Fig. 4
Evidently, the propylon was the keynote of ~ a u ~style
~ u and
r occurs in no other
' manifestation of lndo-lslamic architecture.

32.2.2 Western India

The regional style of architecture that came into being in Western lndia towards the
beginning of the 14th century is almost exclusively confinedto Gujarat.
-
-&-: rJcLm'Sch Gujarat :This regiondl style flourished for a period of some two hundred and fifty
years beginning early ll.1 the 14th century. The founders of Gujarat style of
Indo-Islamic architectbre were in fact the governors of the Khalji Sultans of Delhi.
There were three diffatent phases of the G u j a r ~style
t :
The first phase lasting for the first half of the 14th'century marked by the
demolition of the Hindu temples and their reconversion into ~ u s l i mbuildings.
The second phase ptevailing mostly during the first half of the 15th century and
showing signs of heirlitant maturity of a distinctive style.
Finally, the pha* *ginning in the latter half of the 15th centurywhen Gujarat
style emerges in itsiown magnificent form. Most of the typical examples relate to
this period'of ~ u j a i style.
~t '
Here it is important tolremember that the Gujarat style of architecture is the most
indigkous in charactet. In some of the finer examples of this style considerable
portions of the buildinbs are in fact adaptations from either Hindu or Jain temples.
The essence of Gujarat style will be easily understood if you envisage a scheme of
construction where thd btructure of a temple is fitted into the sanctuary of the
mosque in the form of $ central compartment. Almost all the mosques from the
second and third phase are composed in this manner (see figures 5 and 6.)

m3.5 Fig. 6

. 32.2.3 Central India

In Central India, the development of Indo-Islamic architecture remained confined
within the Malwa regiop which became an independent kingdom at the turn of the
15th century. But, unlikk other regions, the Muslim rulers of Malwa did not inherit
any strong tradition of $sual art. The result was that, to carry out their building
projects skilled and exprerienced artisans were summorfed from as distant a place as
Delhi who incorporated various styles prevalent at Delhi. It was only in the later
period that original elements of architecture were developed and decorative motifs
of their own were adopted in the buildings of the Malwa rulers which gave them a
distinctive appearance.
Malwrr-Dhar and an& : The regional manifestations of Indo-Islamic architecture
in Malwa are located eskntially within the confines of two cities, Dhar and Mandu,
though some buildings may also be seen at Chanderi. The Sultans o f ' ~ h a and
r
Mandu have left a rich iirchitectural legacy, the main buildings.being mosques, .
tombs and palaces.
The buildings at Dhar and Mandu derive many features from the Tughluq
architecture such as the battered walls, fringed arch and the arch-beam
.
combination. But soon *e also notice the emergence of distinctive features which
give Malwa style of arcwecture a character of its own. Somelof the mQre prominent
features are described bblow :
Perhaps the most i m h r t a n t is an innovative technique by which the two separate
structural systems ofi the arch and the lintel have been combined in Malwa
 architecture. (see figure 7). In no other early type of architecture has this problem Art .admhitectore d
RenioDslStates
of using arch and beam as structural elements been more artistically solved.
Another notable feature of the Malwa buildings is the construction of stately flights
of steps of considerable length leading to their entrances. This became necessary
due to the use of unusually high plinths on which most of the important buildings
are raised. (see figure 8)

Fig. 8
I
1 The most striking impressions conveyed by Malwa style are not structural but t$e
result of decorative properties. In these buildings, the element of colour assumes
a significant role. We noti,= the use of two separate methods for obtaining this
colour effect. The first is the use of various.coloured stones and marble, and the
second is by means of encaustic tiles.
This architectural impulse died in 1531 with the defeat of the last Malwa ruler
Mahmud I1 at the hands of Bahadur Shah of Gujarat. Malwa was temporarily
brought under the Mughals by Humayun in 1535 and was finally conquered by
Akbar in 1564.

32.2.4 Deccan
The Indo-Islamic architecture that developed in the Deccan from 14th century
onwards under the Bahmanis acquired a definitely regional character quite early in
its growth. But this architecture followed a different pattern in evolution than other
regional styles. As opposed to the growth of regional styles in Northern India,
architecture in the Deccan seems to have ignored to a very large extent the
pre-Islamic art traditibns of the region.
In practice, the Deccan style of architecture consisted basically of the fusion of :
a) the architectural system in vogue at Delhi under the Sultans, particularly the
Tughluq form, and
b) an entirely eqtraneous source that is, the architecture of Persia.
The architectural developments in the Deccan may be divided broadly into three
phases corresponding on each occasion to a change in the seat of the government.
The first phase begins in 1347 at the capital city of Gulbarga. Second phase begins in
1425 when the seat of power is transferred to the city of Bidar. And finally, with the
change of capital again in 1512 to the city of Golconda, begins the third phase lasting
till 1687, the year of Mughal conquest.
a) Gulbarga : Gulbarga became the seat of an independent kingdom in 1347 under
Alauddin Bahman. With this began the first phase of architectural development in
the Deccan. The early structures, however, did not as yet represent a distinctive
style of the Deccan Islamic architecture. For the most part they followed the
I
contemporary Tughluq architecture of the North. The Jami Masjid (1367) inside the
I Gulbarga fort was, howeyer, different and unique. This structure was conceived and
designed by an ingenious 14th century architect named Rafi. He was a ~ a t i v of
e
I
Qazvin in Northern Persia and had taken to service under the Bahmani ruler of
I
Gulbarga. The central designing idea lay in reversing all the architectural principles
of mosques with a courtyard. Thus, in the Jami Masjid of Gulbarga the conventional
clesign of the courtyard was filled with small cupolas supported by arches placed
I
Socie(~.adc.lluc:rmtots(b close together (see figure 9 & 10). But this design was never repeated. Possibly the
Century
I unorthoctox plan of this mosque did not find favour with the traditionalists.

Fig. 9 Fig.10

b) Bidar : The ~ a h m a ncapital

l was transferred to Bidar, a fortress town, in 1425 by
ruler Ahmad Shah (142;d-36). Soon the new capital saw a flurry of building activity
as within its walls spranfl up palaces with large audience halls and hammams,
mosques, a madrasa, abd royal tombs. Moreover, this change of capital largely
' eliminated the architecbral influence of Delhi. The new buildings show a strong
contemporary Iranian influence. The substantive style of architecture was now
composed of forms very'largely borrowed from Iran, but modified and adopted to
suit local conditions. TYey did not, of course, abandon the Indo-Islamic traditions
altogether. Some impoRant features of Bidar style may thus be listed below :
Since colour was the kharacteristic feature of Iranian architecture, palaces at Bidar
show a brilliant schebe of the use of coloured.tiles and the mural painting. The
glazed tiles which ccfmed the exteriors were imported by sea from Iran.
There is a distinctive /change in the shape of some of the domes in the buildings at
Bidar. They are constricted in the lower contour and thus become the
fore-runners of bulbous domes of the Mughals. The drums of these
project the domes in full view.

1
The fall of the Bahmani Sultanate towards the beginning of the 16th century brought
the first phase of the D can style to a close. Soon, however, under the Adil Shahi
kingdom of Bijapur, a d w phase of architectural activity was to take over from
where the Bahmanis hadl left. But this style developed contemporaneously with the
Mughal style and thus forms the subject of study in a separate course.

Vijaynagar has an extraoidinary history. It was born out of the incursions into the
Deccan and even furthef south of the Delhi Sultanate. The capital., the famous
Vijaynagar, was founded in about 1336 on the banks of the river Tungabhadra.
i
Vijaynagar, now desert*, is one of the most important historical and architectural
sites as it is the only Hingu city from the pre-modern period of which extensive
remains still exist above~$round.The Vijaynagar style of architecture was
distributed throughout iouth India, but the finest and most characteristic group of
buildings is to be seen in the city of Vijaynagar itself. This city, in fact, had a great
advantage as a site for lwge scale building activity in that it.abounds in granite and a
dark green chlorite stony, both used extensively as building material. The use of
monolithic multiple pierb~in the temple at Vijaynagar testify this fact.
The expanse of the city ~f Vijaynagar at the height of its glory meayured some 26 sq.
km., and it was enclosediwith a stone wall. Besides palaces and temples, the city had
extensive waterworks andl many secular buildings such as elephaht stables and the
Lotus Mahal. The basic dements of Vijaynagar style are listed thus :
The use of pillars for larchitectural as well as decorative purpose is on an
unprecedented scale.
Numerous cornpositi&s are used in raising the pillars, but the most striking and
also the most frequent is one in which the shaft becomes a central core with which
 ~ud~raeched
is attached an unpraised animal of a supernatural kind resembling a horse or a w-
hippogryph (see figure 11).
Another distinguishing feature is the use of huge reverse-curve eaves at the
cornice. This feature has been borrowed into the style from the Deccan and gives
the pavillions a dignified appearance. (see figure 12).
As noted above, pillars form an integral part of Vijaynagar architecture, almost
all of which have ornamental brackets as their capitals. Usually this bracket is a
pendant known as bodegai in local parlance. This pendant, in Vijaynagar style, is
elaborated into the volute teminating in an inverted lotus band. The occurrence of
this pendant is a index reliable of the building in the Vijaynagar group. (see
Figure 13).

!
Fig. 11
-

Fig. 12 Pi.13

The glory of the Vijaynagar empire ended in A.D. 1565 at the battle of Talikota
when the combined army of the Sultans of the Deccan inflicted a crushing defeat on
the Vijaynagar ruler Ram Raya.

Check Your Progress 1

1) How many major architectural styles developed after the decline of the
Delhi Sultanate?

I! 2) What is the connection between the development of a regional style of

architecture and the existence of a masonry tradition in that region?
...................................................................................................
....................................................................................................

I
3) In which region foreign architectural influence is evident on the bnildings,
I and what was this influence?
The age-old traditionbf painting in India continued in the regional states in the
medieval period despite having suffered a setback in its growth in the Delhi
Sultanate. Larger do4mentary material in the form of paintings survives for the
regional states. HoweMer, these paintings defy geographical classification;they are
best understood in te+s of the stylistic evolution they follow. The following
Sub-sections are therefore arranged according to various styles of painting that came
in vogue in different +gions.
32.3.1 Western Inhian Style
a) Jain Painting :The kestem Indian style is generally considered to have
originated in the 12th dentury since the earliest surviving illustrated manukripts in
this style date from the1 parly period of this century. They were discovered in Jain
bhandars (libraries) p&cipally in Gujarat and Rajasthan. It is, however, important to
note that by no peans ill the tern are Jain, or even religiau in nature, nor is this
style isolated and regional in character. It has come to be designated Western Indian
style as most of the maduscripts are discovered in Gujarat and parts of Rajasthan
and Malwa. The Jains, however, were not confined to Western India; we also get
some splendid illustrateb manuscripts from as far a place as Jaunpur and Idar. I
The early specimens of the Western Indian style are palm-leaf manuscripts. They
follow the pothi format with two or three columns df text depending on the wfdth of
the leaf and the numberibf necessary stringholes to hold the leaves together. In the
13th century, the materib1 was gradually changed from palm-leaf to paper. This
opened up great possibilFties of illumination in the margins. The format of the new
paper manuscripts was at'first kept to the proportions of the palm-leaf, before
gradually increasing the height of the folio. No attempt was made, however, to
abandon the pothi format.
The Western Indian style was fully formed by the end of the 14th century. Paper
manuscripts begin to appear regularly from the middle of the 14th centdry, though
palm-leaf as writing m a t q a l was not abandoned altogether. Some commonly
identifiable traits of this style are given below i
Painting in these manacripts is in a single plane, contained within a sometimes
brilliant but always brittle line. The figures have been drawn on a red or
ultramarine background.
Paper is seen as a surfad to be decorated with colours in patterns, yielding in the
best examples a brilliarlt jewel-like surface. The number of pigments used has
increased- costly pigmnts such as ultramarine, crimson, iold and silver are used
in increasing quantities.
Architectural elements b e reduced to essentials. The hieratic litrle figures, and
sometimes animals as wqll as household furniture, are little more than pictograms
occupyinmg boxes b a leometrical composition.
Mannerisms include the'extension of the further eye, the swelling torso, and a
particularly tortuous arrangement of legs in seated figures. Men and women are
often practically indistinguishable (see figure 14).
 Art nnd ArnhltecNre of
A careful study of the illustrated manuscripts in the Western Indian style makes it Regional Sfates
evident that they were apparently mass produced at thk great Jain centres of Pattan
and Ahmadabad and are only superficially rich. Much Mrer and far more beautiful
are maiiuscripts individually created by professional artists fer discerning patrons
(se& figure 15).
There are very few of these manuscripts which give us information about their
.
artists. In most cases, there are indications that the scribe and the artists were
distinct identities. There are notes by the scribes in the manuscripts to instruct the
illustrator about the subject to be painted in the blank space.
b) Hindu Painting :The style of a typically Jain manuscript with its projecting .
bodily distortions, and flat colour planes is also that used for certain Hindu
-
manuscri~tsdating from the 15th century, and also in two instances for Buddhist
manuscripts. Clearly, then, this sectarian nomenclature is inaccurate. In the Fig. 15
absence, however, of an alternative we retain this erroneous name;keeping in mind
that Jain painting was quite frequently the work of the Hindus.
We do not find any illustrated Hindu manuscripts on palm-leaf from the early
centuries of Muslim rule over Northern India. But the existence of such manuscripts
in Nepal argues that they must have been produced in India also.

32.3.2 Caurapancasika Style

The Caurapancasika is a manuscript written by a Kashmiri poet Bilhana who,
awaiting execution for having been the lover of the king's daughter, sings of his
uhrepentant passion in lyrical stanzas. Paintings designated as Caurapancasika are
only occasionally directly related to the text.
The emergence of Caurapancasika style is not quite certain though it is considered
to have emerged in a group of 15th and 16th century paintings in a less purely
decorative and anecdotic vein. The manuscripts illustrated in this style are nqt
usually Jain, and where and when they were painted is a matter of debate. It seems
Caurapancasika group of manuscripts can only have developed stylistically after it
had been found pbssible to turn the human head around into strict profile and drop
the further projecting eye.
The distinctive features of Caurapancasika style may be described as below :
Almost all the paintings in this style are in an oblong format with the text written
on the reverse. They are, in fact, successors to the pothi format of the Western
- Indian style.
The protruding further eye of the Western Indian style gives way to an
uncompromising side view and a single very large eyk. (see figure 16).
The paintings are still in a single plane, with backgrounds in brilliant primary
colours.
The Caurapancasika style is known for its beauty of expressions and its dramatic use
of colour and the richness of the painters' fancy. On occasion a human being is
caught in action (see figure 17), an achievement rare in Indian paintings. Few
Indian paintings can rival the vitality of the best of them.

Fig. 16 Fig. 17
C d W
:IMtLtoa 32.3.3 Provincial Development
a) C~igraphy , ,
i) Jaunpur :The Jaqfipur School of Calligraphy flourished in the latter part of the
15th and first part of the 16rh century. The manuscripts of the Quran calligraphed
under this school use :
a script knowri as dlhari,
crimson colour in the frames for the text rather heavily.
much bolder desig* of arabesque and creeper, with more inventive medallions in
their illuminative cbntent.
ii) Ahmedabad : Tbeikhmedabad School owes its origin to Sultan Mahmad Begarha
a
of Gujarat; it lasted fot about half century (c: 1425-75). The scnpt used for writing
the Quran in this school is known as suluth. It was a serpentine, static script, used
mostly in the Middle %st for writing chapter-headings and inscriptions. When it
came to be adopted in India in the early 15th century, it assumed the form of tall
slanting uprights and qnward-sweeping sub-linear curves and flourishes.
b) Manuscript IUumik?ation :The illumination of manuscripts practiced as an art of
painting flourished in lkan in the 13th-i5th centuries under royal patronage.
The most important gtoup of these manuscripts of suggested Indian provenance
with Irani influence a m dated during the period 1420-50. The most likely place of
their origin seems to be Bengal since Delhi may be ruled out as a provenance and
there is no evidence of the provincial Sultans patronizing artists until later in the
century. The picture, b w e v e r , becomes much clearer by 1500. A group of
~nanuscriptsdated c. 1490-1510 is known from Mandu in which the direct influence
of the Irani' style is visible. (see figure 18 a, b, c.) The Khalji Sultans of Malwa would
seem t o have imported artists ind pokibly manuscripts from Iran, and had the style
copied by their.own ahsts.
I

6 -
18b ' i Fig. I8c

The basic features of!j ~inatsdmanuscripts with'miniatures suggest :

a horizontal forma! across the page, or sometimes squares in shape,
text columns on ei&er side, towards the bottom of the page, and
a lifting of the norphal viewpoint, thus affording tosthe painter a new world 01
landscape and of spatial relationships between figurts.

32.3.4 The ~ e c c a &Painting

A distinct style of paiding in the Deccan emerges in the kingdoms of Ahmadnagar,
Bijapur and Golcondq in the late 15th and early 16th centuries. It certainly predated
the Mughal painting and is, in fact, known to have influenced its beginnings. The use
of daring colours--puple and yellow, pink and green, brown and blue - the
sophistication and artqtry of their compositions, and the traditional Deccani
costume argue by themselves a pre-existence for the style.
 - -

The Deccani style drew on many sources including the Irani tradition. This is clearly '

reflected when we identify their distiriguishing features :

The faces in thisstyle are.comrnonfy painted in three-quarters.

6 The grounds are shown as sprigged, i.e. sprayed with flowers or similar motifs.
Another Deccani feature is the reduction of buildings to totally flat screen-like
panels. (see figure 19 a, b.)
A typically Irani influence in some paintings is the golden sky.
And suggestive of the Chinese influence in some paintings are pink and green
flowering plants, lotus and chrysanthemum.
.-

\
Check Your Progreao 2 Fig. 1%

1) Where are the repositories of the Western Indian style of painting

.
located?

2) What is the major difference between the Western 1ndian style and
Caurapaxcasika style?

3) Indicate two important foreign elements in the paintings of

Cauradancasika style.

4) Describe the three most important features of manuscript illumination

as practiced under the provincial dynasties.

5) Justify a pre-Islamic tradition of painting in the Deccan from the

surviving paintings.
ÿ red^: ljtLtOlMJ --
C&=Y * 32.4 MUSIC j!
I

Music is the least dodumented of all the fine arts of medieval India. Whatever little
information we get about the music and its development jn the Delhi Sultanate is
from the works of ~ & i Khusru.
r There is not much change in this situation in
respect of provincial p g d o m s . Historical information is scanty and at times it
becomes difficult to $kt history from legend. We shall, however, prepare a narratk L
account on the basis &piecemeal
I(
records handed down to us by history.
The earliest known tdjetise on music in the n~edievalperiod is Sangeet Ratnakar.
The text has not beenilost and is referred to by the practitioners of music even today.
It was composed by Qharangdev sometime between 1210-47 at the court of the
Yadav ruler of.Devagiti. Besides being a treatise on tqusic - vocal as well as
instrument - Sang@ Ratnakar also delves into the details of the contemporary
dance forms. It describes as many as 264 ragas classified into major and minor
categories, though thd basic of this classification remains obscure. The chief merit of
this text lies in its bein# the first systematic exposition of the various elements of
music From the courq iof Vijaynagar, we get a Sanskrit commentary on
Sharangdev's Sangeet Ratnakar written by Kallinath, a courtier under king
Mallikarjun (1446-65), There are two other Sanskrit commentaries of the same
kind, by Keshav and & Singhbhoopal, but it is not known as to when and where
they were written.
In the 15th century wd (come across two interesting musical treatises from ~ u j a r a t..
The first one is called @ngeet Sudhakar, and is attributed to HaripalDev, the ruler
of Saurashtra. It is herb for the first time that the Indian musical form is divided into

k
the Hindustani and th 'Karnatak styles. The other text is a Persian work kalled
Ghunyat-ul Munya, rn ning literally 'pleasure of desire'. Unfortunately, the '
manuscript copy of thib text is incomplete with its first folio and the last four
Sub-sectlons missing. a u s the name o i the author, if atall was given in the missing
portions, is lost foreveq. We, however, know that the text was compiled at the
instance of Malik Shamsuddin Abu Raja, the governor of the province of Gujarat
under Feroz Tughluq. Ohunyat, as its author claims, aimed at being a compendium
on the art of sangeet inJndia, for the avowed purpose of educating the taste of the
elite of the time and al& tocater to the demands of the Mu'tabiran (the authorities)
and Na'rif (the adept).i (Ghunyat-ul Munya : The earliest known Persian work on
Indian Music, ed. ShabCb Sarmadee, Asia Publishing House, New elh hi, 1978.)
This text has been of g q a t value in several respects. It is the earliest treatise and
commentary in Persian ,on music and some of the Sanskrit texts on music
respectively. Besides tMt, Ghunyat extensively uses some such Sanskrit works on
music which have become extinct now.
In the 15th century, weicome across a text called Raag Tarangini ascribed p o p u k l y
to Lochan Kavi. It contains illustrations from both Jaidev (of Geet Govind) and
Vidyapati, and may thdq be safely placed in the 15th c e n t q . R a w Tarangini is
important for having iniiiated an alternative system of the division of ras-the that
-system. All the variobs forms of music described here are practiced today.
Music got an impetus under the Sharqi rulers of Jaunpur in the second half of the
15tWentury. A connoiaeur and an expert in his own right, Sultan Hussain Sharqi +
(1458-99) promoted v o q l music by introducing a variant form of rendering khayal
th Kalawanti khayal. Ik is also credited with some new rag, such as Jaunpuri
bd
T i, Sindhu Bhairavi, ~$induraand Rasuli Todi,
I

We have noted earlier thht the court at Vijaynagar had become a centre of music
under its more promine& rulers. The most significant treatise on the South Indian
style is the Swarmel ~ a l d h i d h iwritten
, by Ramamatya, the foremost of the
exponents of the South Ihdian style. It is considered as the most authentic treatise of
its kind and is frequently keferred to by the music lovers today.
It iS evident from the dejpription given above that music in the 13th-15th centuries
had grown even if its devplopment seemed located in specific places and Jtas not
indicative o f any coordin)lted attempt to bring all the various forms at one place.
The development of mus{$ had attained the take-off stage when Mughals intervened
and gave it greaterrheights.
' I
 Check Your h g r e k 3- .

1) Where was the Karnatak style identified as a distinct branch of music

for the first time?

2) Who invented rag Sindura and Sindhu Bhairavi?

......................................... ..........................................................
...........................................$.........................................................
....................................................................................................

3) Why is Ghunyat-ul Munya known to music lovers as an important text

on contemporary music?.

32.5 LET US SUM UP

A notable fact about the regional architectural style is that their most interesting
structures are to be found in areas previously known for a thriving building activity,
and where indigenous masonry traditions were strongest. Although buildings in the
regional states were subsidiary to the main Indo-Islamic style, very few of them
imitated the forms in use at Delhi. Quite often they possessed original qualities and
showed remarkable beauty in compositions. Some of the important factors
characterising regional styles are listed below :
In the provinces associated for a long duration with the Delhi Sultanate, the effect
of the Sultanate style is more pronounced. Lesser the association, less noticeable
this influence.
Different kinds of building material generalli introduced technical differences in
arqhitectural styles in different regions.
The unusual climatic conditions in certain parts of the country necessitated special
treatment for the corresponding regional styles. 0
Influence of Irani elements on the architecture was pronounced in the Deccas. But
, other regional varieties adopted local forms and material rather succinctly.
Unlike Delhi Sultanate, painting did not take a back seat. Architecture and painting
developed at alomost the same pace. In the realm of painting, a notable event is the '
development of paper manuscripts in the Western India and the development of
illumination and made possible by the use of new material. Jain tradition of book
writing and library keeping gave a tremendous impetus to a very pronounced form
of painting known as Western Indian Style. Another distinct group of paintings like
Caurapancasika developed across regional boundaries. Moreover, we also observe
the growth of calligraphic art in the form of the Quranic illustration and in a few cases
the emergence of manuscript illumination in provincial kingdoms.
-
mW-: m,in our study of thq art and architecture in the regional states, the following
aspects deserve consided~tion:
Structural variants ariOl the development of regional styles,
New forms of manus@ipt illumination, and
Growth of North and South Indian styles.
In the field of music, t h e e are two remarkable contributions, by the work d
Sharangdev in North Indian style and by Rarnamatya in South rndian style. Besides,
the Sharqi rulers of JaurQur also contributed richly to the growth of music.

32.6 KEY WORPS .

The key words for this Uhit will remain the same as for Unit No. 31.

32.7 ANSWERS $0 CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

EXERCISES
Check Your Progress 1
1) SeeSub-see.32.2.1,32.2.2,32.2.3,32.2.4,32.2.5
2) In the regions which have a strong tradition of masonry development
of regional Indo-Islamic form has been easy. See Sec. 32.2
3) See Sub-sec. 32.2.4.-
Check Your Progress 2 *
1) In the Jain bhandars in Gujarat and in Pajasthan pirimarily.
2) See Sub-sec. 32.3.2
3) Sprigged gtound, lous and chrysanthemum flowers.
4) See Sub-sec. 32.3.3.b
5) See Sub-sec. 32.3.4
a Check Your Progress 3
1) In Sangeet Sudhakar
2) Sultan Hussain Sharqi
3) See Sec. 32.4
 -- -

. UNIT 33 . LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE

' 33.0 Objectives
33.1 Introduction
33.2 Sanskrit Literature
33.3 . Arabic Literature
33.4 Persian Literature
33.4.1 Early Phase
33.4.2 Contribution of Amir Khusrau
33.4.3 Other Persian Po&
33.4.4 Historical Worh in Persian
33.4.5 Slln Literature in Persian
33.4.6 Sanskrit Translatiom in Persian
33.5 Literature in Rzgional Languages
33.6 Social Background of the Detelopment of Regional Languages
33.7 *Literature in the Regional &anguages of North India
33.7.1 The Development of Hindi Literature
33.7.2 The Origin and Growth of Urdu Language
33.7.3 Punjabi Literature
33.7.4 Bengali Literature
33.7.5 Assamese Lite~ture
33.7.6 Oriya Literature
33.7.7 Marathi Literature
33.7.8 Gujarati Literature
33.8 Literature in the Languages of South India
33.8.1 Tamil Literature
- 33.8.2 Telegu Literature
33.8.3 Kannada Literature
33.8.4 Malaydam Literature
33.9 Let Us Sum Up
33.10 Key Words
33.11 Answers to Check Your Progress Exercises

33.0 OBJECTIVES
After reading this Unit you should be able to know:
.'that decadence had crept into the quality of Sanskrit works produced during the
period under review,
?bout the introduction and growth of Persian language and literature in India,
0 , about theorigin and growth of Urdu language,

thesfactors responsible for the growth of regional languages and literature, and
about the nature of cultural and literary synthesis achieved in this period.

r 33.1 INTRODUCTION
The Sultanate witnessed the flowering of a rich corpus of literature, This was a
period when new languages were introduced with a remarkable growth in the sphere
of culture and literature. This cultural and literary synthesis is manifested in the
origin and growth of a synthetic language like Urdu and in the interchange between'
Persian and Sanskrit. The regional languages and literature which were considerably
'
influertced by Sanskrit and Persian mirrored the religious, social and popular
, attitudes of the period under study. The Hindi works of M u s h writers like Amir
Khusrau and Jayasi as well as the Bengali Vaishnavite poems composed by Bengali
:lk#uslimsalso highlight the process of cultural synthesis operative during this period.
- P
' 33.2. SANSKRT LITERATURE
Itsisgenerally believed that the loss of official patronage caused the decline of
Sanskrit literature during the Sultanate period. While it is true that Persian replaced
 I
I

Sanskrit as the official lwguage, there was no quantitative decline in the production
of Sanskrit literary workb as such. The period is remarkable for the immense
production of literary wprks in different branches of Sanskrit hterature - b v y a
(poetical narrative), redgion and photosophy, giammar, drama, stories, medicine,
astronomy, commentaries and digests on the Law Rooks (Dharamasbastras) and
other classical Sanskrit Forks. Nor was the loss of official patronage to Sanskrit
absent for there were sf111many kings who patronized Sanskrit poets--especially in
South India and RajastqBn. ~ u t w h i l e~anskdtworks continued to be produced in
large number, there see@s to be a marked decline in the quality of these works. This
decline had set in befor# the establishment of the Sultanate and became more
pronounced during the flultanate period. There was not much originality in most of
the Sanskrit works that bppeared during this period. Much of the Sanskrit writing
was wearisomely repetitive, artificial and forced. Sanskrit works on religious themes
were often characterisefl by metaphysical speculations. Biographical works were
mainly in the form of heroic ballads which contained hagiographical details and
stories of romance. Stinkkrit lost the patronage of the new Persian speaking ruling -
class but the Sultanate 4 d not interfere with the independent production of Sanskrit
literary works. In fact, the introduction of paper during the Sultanate period gave an
impetus to the literary qctivity of reproduction and dissemination of already existing
Sanskrit texts such as tlje Ramayana and the Mahabbarata.
South India, Bengal, W l a and Western India played the leading role in the
production of Sanskrit 'literary works. The Vijaynagar kings patronised Sanskrit
poets. The Jain scholar$in Western India also contributed to the growth of Sanskrit
literatwe. The most famous Jain scholars of Sanskrit literature in Western India was
Hemachandra Suri whd belonged to the 12th century. Mithila in northern Bihar
developed into yet ano&er centre of Sanskrit. Later, towards the end of the
Sultanate period and d ~ t i n gthe Mughal period, the Chaitanya movement in Bengal
and Orissa contributed b the production of Sanskrit works in several fields -
drama, champu (a mixed form of verse and prose), grammar, etc.
Many Rajput rulers pawonised Sanskrit poets. These poets wrote the family
histories of their patrons in the classical form of a Sanskrit eulogy. The writings of
these family histories fallowed a set formtila and became an established trend during '
this period. Some of thbe Sanskrit works such as Brithvirqjavijaya and
Hammirmahakavya are well known. A number of historical poems are on Muslim
rulers, e.g., Rajavlnoda a biography of Sultan Mahmud Begarha of Gujarat
I--

written by his court p d t , Udayaraja. Kalhan's Rajatarangini (12th century), which

presents the history of Kashrnir kings, was followed in the Sultanate period by a
second Rajatwanghi b Jonaraja who wrote the history of Kashmir kings from
p;
Jayasimha to2Sultan Z 'nu1 Abedin (1420- 1470). A third Rqiatarangini was
written by Srivara who p o k the history of Kashmir down to A.D. 1486. All these
works present eologistil: accounts of their patrons but they contain useful historical

+
material, too. In additjon to these historical kavyas, a large number of
semi-historical texts w d prabandhas were also written. 'Ihe prabandhas are
replete with legendary d hagiogaphi~almaterial but, some of them, such as
Merutunga's Oraban ha Chintamani and Rajashekhar's htbadmkosba
contain material of his rical significance. On the whole, however, it must be
pointed out that despite voluminous production, the Sanskrit literature of the
Sultanate period had lqst much of its original vitality and creativity, and the bulk of
this literature remained unaffected by the intellectual developments of the age.
i

33.3 ARABIC &ITERATURE

Arabic was the dominkt language of the Islamic World in the first few centuries
after the rise of Islam. !It was the language of the Prophet as well as that of the
Islamic religion and thwlogy. Although attention was paid to the cultivation of the
Arabic language in India after the establishment of the Delhi Sultanate, the Turkish
rulers were more influhced by the Persian language which had developed as the
dominant language in the Islamic kingdoms of Central Asia from the 10th century
onwards. As a consequence, the production of literary works in Arabic was
restricted to a small citcle of Islamic scholars and philosophers. During the reign of
Iltutmish several scholars sought reGge at Delhi after the sack of Bukhara by
 Changez Khan. Sultan Feroz Shah Tughluq (1351-1388) patronised many Arabic
scholars and it was under his patronage that the great Arabic dictionary -the
Qamus -by Majduddin Ferozabadi was produced. After the disintegration of the
Delhi Sultanate, the rulers of many provincial kingdoms also patronised Arabic
learning and many places came into prominence as centres of Arabic learning &ring
this period.

33.4 PERSIAN LITERATURE

Here we will discuss the early phase of the development of Persian language and
literature as well as the contribution of Amir Khusrau and o t h e r s p t s in the field of
Persian literature. The historical and suli works written in Persian as well as the
Persian translations of Sanskrit works have also been discussed in this section.

33.4.1 Early Phase

A new language -Persian -was introduced in India during the period of
Ghaznavi rule in the Punjab. There was remarkable growth in Persian literature in
Iran and Central'Asia from the tenth century onwards. Some of the~greatpoets of
Persian language such as Firdausi and S'adi, composed their works during this phase
bf-growth of Persian literature in Iran and Central Asia. Lahore -which was the
centre of Turkish political authority in India before the beginning of the 13th
century - attracted many Persian poets from the Islamic countries of Iran and
Central Asia. The works of only a few of the early writers of Persian literature in
India have survived. One of them was a poet Masud Sad Salman d. c. A.D. 1x31)
whose compositions reflect a sense of attachment for Lahore. However,hy and
large, the Persian literature written in India before the establishment of the Delhi
sultanate was derivative in character and adopted literary forms and imagery which
were prevalent in Iran.
'
It was after the establishment of the Delhi Sultanate that Indian influence began to
exert itself on Persian works written in India as is evident from the literary
compositions of Amir Khusrau.

33.4.2 Contribution of Amir Khusrau

The reign of the Khaljis was a glorious period from the viewpoint of growth of
Persian literature in India. According to Ziauddin Barani, the famous contemporary
historian, "there lived at Delhi scholars of such eminence and calibre as were not to
be found in Bukhara, Samarqand, Tabriz and Isfahan, and in their intellectual
accomplishments they equalled Razi and Ghazali. Under every stone lay hidden a
precious gem of literary excellence". The most outstanding af the Persian scholars
and poets of the period was Abul Hasan, usually known by this pseudonym of Amir
Khusrau. Later, in the Mughal period, the historian Badauni, and contempoqary of
Akbar praised Amir Khusrau's contribution to Persian literature. H e wrote "after
the appearance of-the cavalcade of the king of poets, the poetry of his predecessors
became bedimmed like stars at the rise of the sun". Amir Khusrau (1253-1325) was
one of those few Indian writers of Persian poetry whose works have been read and
admired beyond their own country. His works represent the beginning of a new
trend in Indian-based Persian literature - the trend of the growing familiarity with
1
I
Indian literature and influence of Indian literature on Persian writings in India.
Amir Khusrau was the Indian born son of a Turkish immigrant. He began his career
as a courtier and poet during the reign of Sultan Balban. He became a disciple of
! Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya, the famous sufi saint of the Chisti order. He was the
1 court-poet during the reigns of Jalaluddin Khalji and Alauddin Khalji. Later, Sultan

r Ghiyasuddin Tughluq also patronised him. He lived through the reigns of six Sultans
of Delhi and was connected with their courts.
Arnir Khusrau was a prolific and versatile writer and is said to have composed.half a
million verses and ninety-nine works on different themes. His poetry consisted of a
great variety of forms -lyric, ode, epic, and elegy. His poetry was essentially Indian
in sentiment though he followed Persian models in technique. Thus he created a new .
style of Persian which came to be known as sabaq-i Hindi or the Indian style. Someof
4- .
the works composediby Amir Khusrau have been lost. Five literary masterpieces
composed by him are kutla-ul Anwar, Shirin Khusrau, Laila Majnun, Ayina-i
Sikmdari and Hasht /Bihhpbt. He dkdicated all of them to Alauddin.Khalji. His five .r
diwans (collection od compositions called ghazals) include Tuhfat-us Sighar, ~ a s t - u l i '

Hayat, Ghurrat-ul K p a l , Baqiya Naqiya and Nihayat-ul Kamal. These

compositions show the great lyrical talent of his poetry. Amir Khusrau also wrote
historical masnavls ( m a t i v e poems) which have.great literary and historical value.
He was not a historidm in the actual sense of the term-but since he enjoyed the
patronage of successfire Sultans of Delhi and since he selected historical themes for
his mamavis, the hisiwical content of his writings is of great interest to the students
of the history of his'tfmes. In Qiran-us Sa'dain, Amir Khusrau describes the quarrel
and reconciliation W e e n Sultan Kaiqubad and his father Bughra Khan. Miftah-PI
Futob deals with thei military successes of Sultan Jalauddin Khalji. 'Ashiqa' is the
story of romantic lovb between Khizr Khan, the eldest son of sultan Alauddin Khalji
and Deval Rani, dau#hter of Rai Karan, the Raja of Gujarat. In Nab Siplv (Tbe
Nine Skies) he gives il poetical description of Sultan Qutbuddin Mubarak Khalji's
reign. This work alsa contains references to contemporary social and religious '
conditions. The Tugqluq Nama describes Ghiyasuddin Tughluq's rise to power. !
:
1
Anothsr historical w rk written by Amir Khusrau is K h d - u l Futuh in which he
gives an account of lauddin Khalji's conquests in the South. However, it must &
noted that Amir KhqLrau, being a court-poet, looked at events largely through
official eyes. , '
One remarkable asp& of Amir Khusrau's Persian poetry was his love for his
country. He says, "I have praised India for twolreasons. First, .because India is the
land of my birth and Qlurcountry. 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 barious fields. ...............................!' Amir Khusrau
composed verses in blndavi (a form of Hindi or Urdu) also and showed the way for
the future develophdht of the Urdu language.
,
. \
33.4.3 Other Per$lan Poets
ShaikMajmuddin a s a n (d. A.D. 1327), popularly known as Hasan Dehlawi was .
another famous Persitin poet during the Sultanate period. He was a friend of Amir
Khusrau. He was ond d the court pbets of Sultan Alauddin Khalji. The quality of .
his ghazals earned him the title of S'adi of Hindustan. Poetical writings in Persian
continued during the [reignsof the' Tughluq and h d i Sultans. The expansion of the
Delhi Sultanate led t61the extension of.the Persian literature to various parts of
4
India. The emergenct of provincid kingdoms following the disintegration of the ,
Delhi Sultanate also mntributed to this process. Withrhe foundation of the
Bahmani kingdom inifhe Deccan, many Persian poets and scholars migrated to ,,. I
Gulbarga where they were patronised by the Bahmani Sultans.
t

33.4.4 Histcrrical Works in Persian

One of the important~contributionsof Persian literatur%uring the Sultanate period
(and later during the Mughal period) was in the sphere of history writing. Many
historians wrote the *tory of the period in Persian language. For the history of
- the.
Sultanate, we have to depend largely on the accounts provided by the court L . I>
chroniclers of this pe$od. There are many methodological and chronological flaws ,
in the historical writhgs of these chroniclers and most of them are not free fmm 'i
personal and ideolog3lal prejudibs. Nevertheless, they ard of indispensable valus
for the study of the hiktory of the Sultanate period. The most important of these .
4,
a

historians were Mindrus Siraj (author of the Tabsqat-i Nasiri), Isami (author of thk !
Futuh-us Salatin), Shams Siraj Afif (author of the Tarikb-i Feroz Shah). Among .
the Sultans. Feroz S y h Tughluq wrote the Futuhat-i Ferozshahi. But the greatest
historian of this p e r i d was Ziauddin Barani. His Tarikhdi Ferozshahi is the most '
valuable work of histery written during-thegeriod. Parani completed this work in
1357 when he was s ~ ~ ~ ~n e book:is
~ ~ named
o after
l Feroz
d Shah.
~u~hluqr~;lriiii;-dedh to write this work at m age when his mernorl hag starter '
C
 fading and consequently he mgde many chronological errors. Moreover, his
personal, ideological, social and sectarian prejudices ohen colour his interpretation.
I gf various historical events. These shortcomings of his-work notwithstanding,
Barani's contribution to the writing of history was unparakled during the period.
He broke new grounds in history writing and did not confine himself to rulers, courts
J and campaigns..He described and analysed administrative matters and economic
phenomena. He provides an analytical study of co&cts between various social
,groups during his period. Barani wrote dnother book, Fatwa-i Jahandari which
.deals with political theory.
i

c33.4.5 Sufi Literature in Pewian

During the period under review, large amount of religious and philosophical
.
literature was produced in Persian. The sufi literature written in Persian is of great
value both from religious anmd literary points of view. A distinctive genre of Persian
literature emerged in the form of malfuzat (conversations or discourses of the leading
sufi masters of the period). The malfuzat also iontained didactic poetry and
anecdotes. Amir Hasan Sijzi wrote the malfuzat'of the famous Chishti sufi master,
haikh Nizamuddin Auliya. The work is known as Fawaid-ul Fu'ad. Several
f
abricated malfuzat were also produced as a result of the increasing popular demand

4 or the details regarding the life, teachings and miracles of the various sufii. Mir
hwurd's Siyaru-ul Auliya is the earliest known biographical dictionary of sufis
written in India. m e Khair-uLMiajah's is the malfuzat of Shaikh Nasiruddin
Mahmud (Chiragh Delhi). These works often reflect social and economic realities of
.&
the times, apart from spiritual matters.

2 33.4.6 Sanskrit Translations in Persian

-
The pioneering experiments of Amir Khusrau laid the foundation of literary and
cultural synthesis in the contemporary Indian society. There was a growing
interchange bet;ween Persian and Sanskrit. Many Sanskrit works began to be
translated into Arabic and Persian. The first scholar to translate Sanskrit stories into
Persian was Zia Nakhshabid (d. 1350). His Tuti Nama is based on a Sanskrit work.
Many Sanskrit works were translated into Persian during the reigns of Feroz Shah
Tughluq and Sikandar Lodi, Zain-ul Abedin, the famous ruler of Kashmir during
the 15th century, got the Mahabharata and Kalahan's Rgjatarangini translated into
Persian from Sanskrit. Thus it appears that by the end of the Sultanate period such
literary exercises must have given rise to a set of people who were familiar with both -,.",
Sanskrit and Persian and who had the knowledge of the religious ideas of Hinduism I.,
ahd Islam. However, little attempt was made by the Sanskrit kn,~wingnon-Muslim
scholar to translate works of Persian and Arabic fiterature into2anskrit. Such an
1
absenc of reciprocity on the part of the Brahmanical elitd indicated its insular ,
outlook which was earlier highlighted by Alberuni in the 11th century. The lack of
receptivityt o ideas from other cultures and languiges may partly explain the
decadence of the Sanskrit literature during this period.
It is thus clear that Persian occupied an important place among the languages of the
period. It became the official language and the language of the'sultanate ruling
elite. .It brought with it many new and refreshing social and religious ideas. Its
.
introduction in India led to the widening of the intellectual horizon of the Indian
poets, thinkers and social reformers. Above all, it introduced newditerary forms and
styles.

B
Check Your Progress 1
1) Discuss the contribution of Amir Khusrau to the growth of Persian
literature in India.
SOQL).~-: I~~LCIS(L 2) Mark or x against the statements given below:
=?'-
a) The great ~ r i b i dictionary,
c the Qamus was produced by Sultan
Feroz Tughlq.
b) Kalhan's Raj&ranglni gives an accoupt of the history of Kashmir
kings.
c) Barani's Fad&-i-Jahandari is an autobiographical account.
. d)Zih NakhshaUl was the first scholar to translate Sanskrit stories into Persian.

33.5 LITERAIURE IN REGIONAL LANGUAGES

One of the important features of the literary history of this period is the
development of IiteratMre in regional languages in various parts of India. Regional
languages which grew papidly during this period in northern India included Hindi,
Punjabi, Bengali, Assamese, Oriya, Marathi and Gujarati.
Each one of these lan&ages originated from a corresponding Indo-Aryan Prakrit in
its apabhramsa stage. @his origin can be traced back tothe seventh-eighth
centuries. The three Sbuth Indian languages -Tamil, ~ a n n a d and a Telugu -have
a longer literary histoq than that of the North Indian regional languages. The
literary history of the Tamil language goes back to the beginning of the Christian
era. Kannada and Tel* also have older literary traditions than the North 1ndiad
regional languages. MMayalam is the youngest among the South Indian languages
and it was not before the fourteenth century that it developed as an indqpendent
literary form.

33.6 SOCIAL #BACKGROUNDOF THE

.DEVELOPMENTOF REGIONAL LANGUAGES
Important factors whidh contributed to the development of the literature in the
regional languages du*g our period are as follows :
i) During the post-diupta period, the growth of 'feudal' society, economy and
polity led to the $mergence of regional entities and cultures roughly from the
seventh-eighth cehturies. One consequence of the growth of regionalism was
the emergence ofl the earliest forms of the regional languages from the
Apabhramsa.
ii) As has been mentioned above, the decline in the quality of Sanskrit literature
had set in much qkfore the establishment of the Delhi sultanate. Much of the
Sanskrit literaturb which appeared from the 10th-11th centuries lacked
spontaneity and did not appeal to the masses. Its appeal was confined to a very
'

#
small Brahmanic circle. T'he replacement of Sanskrit by Persian as the official
language during e Sultanate period further intensified the process of the
decline of the ~aqbkritliterature. Once it lost the official patronage it had
enjoyed at the cetltre, many kingdoms during the Sultanate period promoted
the use of regiondl languages since Persian was an unfamiliar language in many
parts of the wuniry. ~egion'allanguages were used, in addition to Sanskrit, for
administrative punrpose in many kingdoms even during the pre-Turkish period.
Jn the territories under the rule of the Sultans of Delhi, there are references to
Hindtlrmwing r&enue officials at the local level.
iii) ThcTnrrkish con4pest of Northern India during the 13th century led to the end
of the Rajput-BrBihman alliance and consequently the influence of the
Brahmans dimini*ed in the society. Once the upper caste domination
diminished, the firimacy of Sanskrit received a setback, and regional
languages which Were spoken at the popular level, came to the fore.

iv) The growth of n L-Brahmanical and non-conformist oathpanthi movement and

later that of varii hs bhakti movements -both conformist and radical
monotheistic -dlayed an important role in the rapid growth of regional
 literature. We have already discussed the historical background of these
movements in the chapter on the bhakti movement. Before the rise of the
nathpanthi, much of the literature of their predecessors -the Buddhist
siddhas -was written in regional languages including Hindi. The nathpanthi
movement, which was the first beneficiary of the diminished influence of
Brahmanism and which reached its culmination during the 13th and 14th
centuries, promoted the cause of regional popular languages. The growth of
the bhakti movements in Noflh India from 15th century onwards played the
, most crucial role in the development of the regional languages and contributed
?-I
to the rapid development of a great corpus of literature in these lan@ages. The
bhakti saints composed their verses in the languages understood by the people
who were attracted towards them. They made use of popular idioms, popular
legends and folk tales. The bhakti movements contributed to the growth of
popular regional languages in yet another way. Thk bhakti saints, in particular
those who belonged to the conventional stream of the bhakti movement.
translated or adapted epics, Puranas and the Bhagavad Gita from Sanskrit into
regional languages in order to make their contents accessible to the people. In
this way, the bhakti poets popularized bhakti episodes drawn from various
Sanskrit texts. The contents of these texts were not only translated in the
languages in which people could understand them but they were also presented in
simple terms before the people.

33.7 LITERATURE IN THE REGIONAL

LANGUAGES OF NORTH INDIA
In this section we will deal with the literary works produced in the iegional
languages of North India.

33.7.1 The Development of Hindi Literature

What is today known as Hindi developed in various forms in the medieval period.
The dialects of Hindi included Brajbhasha, Awadhi, Rajasthani, Maithili, Bhojpuri,
Malwi, etc. In our period the literature of Hindi language developed in these
dialects. In addition to these dialects, a mixed form of Hindi, known as Khari Boli
(originally meaning a rough, crude and raw speech) was also developing.

First Phase
S c h o l a ~have placed the origin of the Hindi language between 7th and 10th
centuries -it was in this period that Hindi was evolving out of Apabhramsa. The
period between 7th-8th centuries and 14th century (before the rise of the bhakti
poetry) is characterised as 'Veergatha Kala' (age of Heroic Poetry)'by scholars.
Another name used for describing this period is Adi Kala (early period). Much
poetry of this period was composed by bards who were patronised by various Rajput
rulers. The bards glorified such virtues of their patrons as chivalry and bravery.
They also highlighted the element of romance in their poetical narratives. In its
essence, this literature symbolises the values and attitudes of the Rajput ruling
classes. The bards who composed this literature were not concerned with the
aspirations of the common people. Most of the bardic poetical narratives were
composed in the Rajasthani dialect of Hindi. The most famous of them is the
Prithviraja Raso which is attributed to Chand Bardai, the court ministerial of
Prithviraja; the last Rajput king of Delhi. Other heroic poetical narratives includdd
Visaldeva Raso, Hammir Raso, Khumana Raso, etc. The authenticity of most of
these raso narratives in their existing forms is open to grave doubts and it seems that
their contents were expanded during the later centuries. Thus for instance, it is only
the nucleus of the Prithviraja Raso which was written during this period (12th
century), and interpolations were made later in the original draft.
Not all the Hindi literature of the period between 7th-8th centuries and 14th century
belonged to the genre of bardic poetry. The Buddhist siddhas and later the
nathpenthi yogis composed religious poetry in an archaic form of Hindi. In Westem
India, the Jain scholars also composed religious poetry in Rajasthani highlighting
various aspects of religious and social life of the people. The contribution of Amir
Khusrau to Persian literature has already been mentioned. But he also composed
 - - - -

%-.ad
.*
a- :13h'ta 15th poems in mixed form of Hindi which ultimately developed into Khan Boli or ..
Hindustani. He callefl this language hindavi. Some of his Hindi verses are found in
. :
@

his Khaliq Bad whicai is often ascribed to him but which in all likelihood was written
q .
much later.
. . '
%~ g of
e the Bhsliti Poetry
I

The second phase in b e growth of Hindi literature began in the 14th-15th centuries. '
'
Various streams of tde bhakti movement exercised profound influence on the Hindi
literature of this phas&.This phase of Hindi literature has been characterised a'
Bhakti Kala (Age of bevotion) and it continued till the Mughal period. This phase ,
:
whia began yith Kabir marked the richest flowering of Hindi literature. Thebhakti
poets of the period were two-fold: the saguna poets (who believed in god with
human form and attr&utes) k d nirguna poets (who believed in non-incarnate
Absolllte God). Kabit was the leader of the nirguna bhakti poets most of whom
belonged to lower cages of the society and were poop and illiterate. Kabir's own
mother-tongue was Bhojpuri but he composed in a mixed dialect which could be
understood by peoplel in various parts of North India. Kabir's language is
charaderise4 by what has been termed 'rough rhetoric'. The non-conformist and
unorthodox'ideas of h b i r and other nirguna saints have already been discussed in
the chapter on the bhakti movement. What is important from literary point of view
is Kabir's use of a laneage which combines bluntness of style with potency and
*I
eloquence. He used his strong and rough verses to present a powerful denunciation
of varioys rituals. Another important characteristic of pabir's short poetical J+
utterances is the use d ulatbasi or 'upside-down language' which consisted of a
series of paradoxes a d enigmas. It has been pointed out that Kabir inherited the r
ulatbasi tridition'fronl the nathpanthis and adapted it for an effective rhetorical and
teaching deyice. Kabit and other "low-caste" monotheistic poets (Sen, Pipa, , -
Dhanna, Raidas, etc.):expressed themselTes in oral style. The poetry they
composed forms a part of oral literature. Their vers s were compiled much later -
&
earliest instance of their written compositions'are m the Adi Granth in 1604.
Being illiterate, they had nqdirect access to th$~anskrii literature. They expressed .
themselves in the loial languages of the people. ~hkqiterarygenre in which they
composed most of theif; short but effectiye utterancesvwasboha (3 short rhymed
poem). In short, the *try of Kabir and other nhyjtiira saints of the 15th century
played the most importtint role'in transforming the Hindi vernaculars into a 'literarj"
language. a

The poets belonging to the conventional vaishnava bhakti movement in North India
were mostly Brahmans and were familiar with Brahmanical scriptures and Sansk?it
texts. The vaishnava p e t s believed in the concept of devotion to a personal God
'
and, accordingly, ma to be divided as devotees of Rama and Krishna. The Rama . ..
bhadcti poetry in Hindi flourished mainly during the Mughal period. Its greatest t,:,\i
exponent and perhaps the greatest poet of Hindi literature was Tulsidas (A.D. k. :I.
1532-1623) who wrote {he famous Ram Charit Manas in the Awadhi dialect of "':
Hindi. Among the Kri*na bhakti poets, Vidyapati composed verses about the lo&
of Radha and Krisha iniMaithiliHindi. The influence of his lyrical poetry was felt in ,,
Bengal and some Bengsili poets imitated his songs. Vrindavan near Mathura
emerged as a centre of Craishnava bhakti p o e t j b y the end of the Sultanate period.
These poets .were devotees of Krishna and composedtheir verses in Braj bhasha.
The greatest of these poets was Surdas (c. 1483-1563). Another great name in the
Vaishnava bhakti poetty was that of Mira Bai (c. 1498-1543):She was a'Krishna
devotee ajld composed her songstin Rajasthani but many of these songs were later
incorporated in other Yindi dialects and also in Gujarati.
. .
Sufi Contribution to ~bdi
Literature .
Sufi saints and other scholars of this period contributed substantially to the gmwth
.
of Hindi literature. The Chikhti sut3s made use of Hindi devotional songs i i q m a !
(ecstatic singing and da&ing) sessions. Sufi mystical and allegorical meanings were
given to various Hindi tgrms such as "Gopis", "Raslila", etc. The sufi poets 4
combined Islamic mysti$ism with imaginative use of Indian love tales, popular ; I

legends and stories. M Q ~Daud's

I~ Chandayan (written in c. 1379) is the ear
such poetical works. Kdbban's Mrigavati (w%itten in 1501) is another example f Of. $'
mystical romantic poetr composed in Hindi.-Malik Muhammad Jayasi's Padmavat :
K
written in 1540' in Awad i Hindi is the best,qample<ofdlegoriaal narrative,The.. ,#
 . ~~ -~
~ ~~
- ~~~

literary compositions of the sufi poets also contrjl$t.ed

c: Arabic ,r,\
go tht; hcorporation of many
,,..' . r \

culFural and 1iterarj;-mtdesis. ,

n t o literature&i@~hud.$layed
and ~ e r s i ~ w o ~ d s iHindi
",:\,,
an important role in
't

, .f .! ' .,<;. . '

i 33':1,2 The Origin and Growth of Urdu ~ a h g u a ~ e

* . $

Scbl&s have advanced various theories to explain the origin of the Urdu language
) inihe period following the establishment of the Dehi Syltanate. Various opinions
have been expressed on the identity of the dialect of Hindi on which the Persian '
element was grafted resulting in the growth of a new language. The dialects that
have been mentioned are Braj bhasha, Haryanvi"and other dialects spoken in the
neighbourhood of Delhi, and the Punjabi language. All these dialects have

I,
influencedthe Urdu language in its formative stage and it is difficult to pinpoint the
exact dialect which combined with Persian to give rise to Urdu. However, it is an
established fact that by the end of the 14th century, Urdu was emerging as an
independent language. Like Hindi, the basic structure of Urdu consisted of Khari
Boli -a mixture of varids dialects spoken in Delhi and surrounding regions. Delhi,
during this period, was ideally situated for the growth of a synthetic language since,
on the one hand it was surrounded.by people speaking different dialects apd, on the
other hand, it had a Persian speaking ruling elite. Thus, Urdu adopted Persian script
and Persian literary tradition but by incorporating the basic structure of Hindi
dialects evolved an individuality of its own.
I The w o d Urdu is of Turkish origin and means an army or camp. In its initial form,
Urdu appears to have been devised as an improvised speech to enable the Persian
speaking Turkish ruling class and soldiers to communicate with the local people
'. including Mpslim converts. However, it had not yet acquired a literary form. This
new common language tqok a century to acquire a concrete shape and came to be
called "Hindavi" by Amir Khusrau. Hindavi thus forms the,basis of both Hindi and
Urdu. Amir Khusrau composed verses in Hindavi (using Persian script) and thus laid
the foundation of Urdu literature. However, it was in the Deccan that Urdu first
acquired a standardized literary form and came to be known as Dakhini during the
15th century. It developed first under the Bahmani rule and flourished in the
Bijapur and Golkunda kingdoms. Gesu Daraz's Mlraj-ul hhiqin is the earliest work
in Dakhini Urdu. Till the 18th century, Urdu was called by various names such as
"Hindavi" , "Dakhini" , "Hindustani" or "Rekhta" (which means mingling several
things to produce something new). In its developed form, Dakhini Urdu travelled
.* back to the north and soon became popular during ihe Mughal period, It was dbring
the period of the disintegration of the Mughal empire in the 18th century that the
Urdu literature reached great heights.

~33.7.3W a b i Literature
'TWO distinct trends developed in the history of the Punjabi literature during the
period between the beginning of the 13th century and beginnirig of the sixteenth
century. On the one hand, this period was marked by the growth of s&i and bhakti
poetry and, on the other, by Heroic ballads qnd folk literature. Sufi poetical ,

compositions attributed to the famous Chisti sufi master Baba Farid (Shaikh
Fariduddin Ganj Shakar (c. 1173-1265) are regarded as pioneering contribution to
poetry in the Punjabi language. The hymns composed by Guru Nanak in the
sixteenth century imparted a proper literary form to the language. The second Sikh
Guru Angad gave the Punjabi language a distinct script called Gurumukhi. The
hymns composed by Guru Nanak were later incorporated in the Adi G ~ a n t hby the
fifth Sikh Guru A j b n in 1604. His poetry is characterised by chastity of sentiment
and by variety in his style and poetic diction.

33.7.4 Bengali Literature

. ,
Folk s p n g c a l l e d ~ h a r ~ a -
. ~ acothposed
d~ between the 10th and 12th century are . , '

the earliest specimens of Bengali language'. The Turkish conquest of Bengal by the : ..
,' middle of 13th c e n t u j contributed-tothe decline of Sanskrit and the importanceof ' . -, '
~-~

U folk themes and forms asmediaof literary expression began to increase. By .-

the . -
d
fifteenth, century, three rnain.trends developed in the Bengali literature :.
(i) ~aishnaobhakti poetry; [ii) translations and free adaptations of the epics, and ,
(iii) m ~ g a l kavya.
a ~@e~&~!e-at~va$hnavabhakti poet inBengal was Chan@icim-,..
. , .:.
. -
(1512-32) patronised Bengali literature.' TWO Bengali poets Kavindra and
Srikaranandi translqted the Mahabharpta into Bengali verse during their reigns. In
the early years of tlle fifteenth century, Kritivasa Ojha produced a Bengali poetical
contemporary of Cnandidas, Vidyapathi comp~sedhis devotional songs in Mithili
dialect but many of his songs were later absorbed-into Bengali under the influence of
the vaishnava movement. Chaitanya and his movement'gave further impetus to the
growth of the v a u a v a literature in Bengali. Many vaishnava poets were inspired
by Chaitanya in his time and after his death. Among the vaishnava poets, some
were Muslims. The \Second major trend in the history of Bengali literature which .
began from the ear& fifteenth century drew inspiration from the epics and other 4

Sanskrit scriptures. 68ltan Husain Shah (1493-1519) and his successor Nusrat
Shah (1514-32) patfinised Bengali literature. Two Bengali poets Kavindra and
Srikaranandi renderbd the Mahabharata into Bengali verse during their reigns. In the
early years of the fi'fteenth century, Kritivasa Ojha produced a Bengali poetical
adaptation of ~alrnlki'sSanskrit R a m a y e . Maladhar Basu adapted v a i b a v a
Sanskrit work the Bliagavata Purana into Bengali during the later 15th century and
it came to be known hs Srikrishnavijaya. Another, and the most popular Bengali
rendering of the ~ a b a b h a r a t awas
, produced by Kasirama. These Bengali

4
translations and ada tations played an important role in influencing the cultural and
religious life of the ople in medieval Bengal. The third trend in the Bengali
literature consisted f the emergence of Mangala kavya. These are sectarian'
poktical narratives q d focus on.the conflicts and rivalries among gods and
goddesses. But they 'do contain humanistic elements, too, since they highlight
popular aspirations and sufferings. Manika Datta and Mukundrama were two
notable poets of Mqgala kavya during the later 15th and 16th centuries. '

33.7.5 Assamese [Literature

'Hema Sarasvati was ithe first poet of Assamese language. She composed
Prahladacharita and1Hara-Cauri Samvada during the later part of the 13th century.
Her contemporary pdet was Harihara Vipra who chose episodes from the
Ramayana and the Mahabharata for his poetry. From the 14th century, Kamata and
Cachar became centres for the development of Assamese literature. Madhava
Kundali, who populdtized the Ramayana srory in Assam by rendering it into the

L!
language and idiom the common people, was the most important Assamese poet
of the 14th century. 's language was less Sanskritized thah that of Hema Sarasvati
and Harihara Kipra hnd was closer to the language of the common people. The.
growth of vaishnava!bhakti movement under Sankaradeva in the second part of the-
fifteenth century mahe considerable contribution to the Assamese literature. i
Kirtana ghosa is regirded as the most important vaishnava religious text written in 'j
Assamese language. It is an anthology of devotional songs, most of which werk
composed by Sankardeva but other poets also made their contributions.
Sankaradeva also wrDte many dramas (Ankiya Nat)jwhich were based on the Purana
episodes. He also composed a new type of devotional poetry called Bargit (Bragita).
Sankaradeva's disciple Madhavadeva (A.D. 1489-1596) also composed maniliterary
works and further e+iched the Bargit form of poetry. ,.
I

E 8. .'
33.7.6 Oriya Literature
It was during the 13th-14th centuries that the Oriya language assumed literary
character. Saraladasl (14th century) was the first great poet of Orissa. He composed
the Oriya Mahabhanlta which is regarded as a great epic by the people of Orissa.
Oriya literature begah to enter into a new phase from the beginning of the 16th -
century when the ~&hnavabhakti movement grew there under Chaitanya's
influence. Many of C$haitanya'sdisciples translated or adapted Sanskrit works on

ad
bhakti into the Oriy language. One of the close associates of Chaitanya was
Jagannath Das who ecame the greatest Oriya literary figure of his time. His Oriya
translation of the Bhqgavata Purana became popular among the people. %

33.7.7 Marathi aterature

Literature in verse fdfm began to emerge in the Marathi language from the later

4
part of the 13th cent Iy. .Early Marathi literatux was dominated by saiva
nathpanthis. Two ea liest Maralhi texts - Viveka darpana and the Gorakhagita -
belonged to. the nalhbnthi tradition. The most important poet of this phase was
 Mukundaraj who belonged to the nathpanthi tradition and who wrote his Vivek
Sindhu in chaste popular language. Another dominant influence on the Marathi
literature during its formative stage was exercised by the poets belonging to the
( Mahanubhava cult which emerged in the 13th century.

The Mahanubhava saint-poets were among the architects of the early Marathi
devotional literature and made important contribution to Marathi lexicography,
l
commentaries, rhetoric, grammar, prosody, etc.
The Varkari bhakti saint-poet; of Maharashtra further developed the bhakti
literature in the Marathi language. First among them was Jnanadeva (13th century).
He wrote a commentary on the Bhagavad Gita. It was named Bhavartha dipika and
popularly came to be known as Jnanasvari. It is the fundamental text of the
Maharashtra vaishnava bhakti saints belonging to the varkari tradition. Another
saint-poet belonging to the varkari tradition was Namdev (1270-1350). He
, composed large number of Abhangas (short lyrical poems) in Marathi. H e travelled
to the north and later his verses were included in the Sikh scripture, the Adi Granth.
Twd other great saint-poets of'medieval Maharashtra, Eknath (1548-1600) and
Tukaram (1598-1649) belong to the Mughal period: they also made substantial
contribution to the growth of the Marathi literature.

33.7.8 Gujarati Literature

'.
Both Rajasthani and Gujarati languages emerged from old Western Rajasthahi. The
first phase in the development of the Gujarati literature lasted till the middle o'f the
fifteenthxentury. During this phase, two main literary forms developed in the
'Gujarati literature - the prabhanda or the narrative poem and the muktaka Qr the
short poem. The first category included heroic romances, poetic romances and
rasas or long poems. The subject-matter of these poems consisted of historical
themes interspersed with,fiction, popular legends and Jain mythology. The second
categoq of muktaka-orshort poem adopted various forms such as phagu,
baramasi and the chapo. Phagu means a short lyrical poem stressing on the element
of viraha or separation. The second phase in the history of the Gujarati literature
began in the late fifteenth century with the spread of the Vaishnava bhakti poetry.
Narasimha Mehta (1414-1480) was a great Gujarati bhakti poet. He made use of his
poetry to popularize Vaishnava bhakti in Gujarat.

33.8 LITERATURE IN THE LANGUAGES OF

SOUTH INDIA
This section takes into.actount the progress made in the literature written in the
* South Indian languages.

33.8.1 Tamil Literature

The great age of the Tamil literature came to an end with the decline of the Chola
Empire. Writers and poets, however, continued to make contribution to the Tamil
literature. Villiputtutar who probably lived in the thirteenth century was an
important literaq figure of the period. He rendered the Tamil version of the
Mahabharata which is called Bharatam and which became popular among the
.Tamil-speaking people. He introduced the tradition of using ~anskritwords and
literary expressions in Tamil poetry. Another great poet and a contemporary of
Villiputturar was Amnaginnatha. He composed Tiruppagal - a lyrical and .
devotional Gork in praise of god Murugan. The period is also known'for elaborate
commentaries written by vaishnava scholars. Commentaries were also written on
1 such literary works of the Sangam age as the Tokappiyam and the Kurai. These
,commentaries are a model of medieval Tamil prose and are known for their clarity
, and brevity. Another great author, Kachiappa Sivachariar composed
' Kanda-puranam in praise of god Subramanya.

I
'33.8.2 Telugu Literature
1 Literature in the Telugu language made great progress from 13th century onwards.
d During the 13th and 14th centuries, Telugu translations and adaptations of Sanskrit
 -4%;
*
Wbl?
-

',%- works were produced.! ?he most important Telugu poet in the first half of the 14th
' ' Cdmy ,,

* ,.
i
century was Erraprag da. He popularized the Champu genre of literary writing
(mixed form of yerse bd prose). He composed the Ramayana in this genre. He
,translated a part of thd Mahabharata and anothel Vaishnava Sanskrit Work,
Harivamsa into Telu ,.Srinatha (1365-1440) was another great Telugu writer. ~e

3
translated Sriharsha's aishadha Kavya into Telugu. He also composed verses on'
the theme of historica romance and this laid the foundation for the age of classical
prabandbas in the T e l literature.
~ His contemporary, Potana, was a great poet :
who translated the BhSgavata P u m a into Telugu. The Telugu literature achieved '
its highest position in tile sitteenth century during the reign of the Vijaynagar king,
Krishnadeva Raya, wH6 himself was a poet in both Sanskrit and Telugu and who,
wrote Amukta ~ a l ~ ain&Telugu. He patronised many Telugu poets, most famous
of whom was Peddanai~Peddanawrote Manu Charita in .Tklugu. One important
characteristic of the Tdlugu literature of this period was the increasing influence of
Sanskrit on the Telugu language.

33.8.3 Kannada Literature

The early phase of the Kannada literature (upto 12th century) was dominated by
Jain writers. From the middle of the 12th century, Virasaivism -a popular religious
movement -began to bfluence of the people and literature of the Kannada speaking
region. The religious literary work of Basava (known as Vachanas), the founder of
the Vhsaiva moveme t and those of his followers constitute an important
k
contribution to the me Leva1 Kannada literature. A late 14th century Virasaiva poet,
Bhima Kavi composed *e Basava Purana. Before him, two other Virasaiva poets of
the 13th century, Haris~araand Raghavanka, composed their works in new
Kannada styles which later became popular. The later Hoysala rulers patron'ised
many Kannada ppets a ~ writers.
d One of them, Rudra Bhatta wrote
Jagannathavijaya in chjbrpu genre. This work was an adaptation from the Sanskrit
work Vishnu Purana. n e ~ r i o between
d 14th and 16th centuries saw further
growth of the ~ a n n a d dPterature under the pattonage of the Vijaynagar kings and
their feudatories. One c)f the greatest poets of this period was Kumara Vyasa who
c m osed the ~annadatversionof Mahabbarata in the middle of the 15th century. .-,
.9 I

33.8.4 Malayalam iiterature

Malayalam is the yo'uh$?st of the South Indian languages&driginated as a dialect
of Tamil in the Malabat region. ~ r a d u a l l it~ ,spa3ated itself from Tamil and
acquired an iidependerlt status in the fburteenth centufl. Political isolation of t E '

Malabar region fr6m ~dmilnaduand the introduction of new linguistic forms by

foreigners contribute$ tp the development of Malayalam as an indepeqdent' .
language. The earliest liirature was in oral form consisting of songs and ballads. \ -.
'
:

The earliest literary codposition was the Rama Charitam, produced in the 14th ,

, century. From sixteenth century onwards, Malayalam began to come under the
dominant influence of Sbnskrit and borrowed a great deal from the latter.'
z
- . .=
I, " &eck your Rogresp: 2 ;,
\r
1) Biscusi the social b4ckground of the rise of regional languages.
. . . .
6
......................................................................................................

........................*............................................
; ..............................
. .
......................+.........................................................................
~f
.r
. :

2) ~ x ~ l athe
i n orikin ahd growth of ~ i d language.
u ' ,

,.'Ir
..........,.............j; .....................:... ......;..........................
,
. , , I . .
:.../...;...........
3) Mark or x against the statements given below:
a) The second phase of growh of Hindi Literature is characterised as
Bhakti kala
b) Kabir was a saguna poet who believed in a God with human form
and attributes.
c) Krishnadgvaraya wrote Amukta Malyada in Telugu.
d) The religious-literary works of Basava in Kannada are known as
Vachanas.

33.9 LET US SUM UP

In this Unit we have traced the growth of language and literature during the
Sultanate period. The decline in the quality of Sanskrit works produced in this
period has been emphasized. The Unit takes into account the growth of Persian
language and literature during the Sultanate period. The factors responsible for the
growth of regional languages and literature have been stressed. The nature of
Sanskrit, Persian and regional literature produced during this period has been
analysed. This analysis points to the cultural synthesis which was achieved as a result
of interchange between Sanskrit and Persian that was evident from the origin and
growth of Urdu during this period.

33.10 KEY WORDS

Allegorical : style ot writing in which the characters and events extoll virtues
such as
Hagiographic.1 : a biographical account which is full of praise for the subject with
which it deals
IJ'l%er~ : use of figurative language & a literary form .
Prosody : science of verse and poetical form

33.11 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

EXERCISES
8

Check Your Progress 1

1) See Sub-sec. 33.4.2.
2) a) x ) c) x d) V
Check Your Progress 2
1) See Section 33.6
2) See Sub-sec. 33.7.2
3) a) V b) x c) V d) V
UNIT CIFESTYLE AND POPULAR

Structure
34.0 Objectives '
34.1 Introduction I
34.2 Life Prior to l$OO
34.3 The New Ruling Classes
34.3.1 Ideologidrll Composition of the New Ruling Classes
34.3.2 Royal Pdtern of Consumption
34.4 The Religious Aristocracy
34.5 The Political Atistocracy
34.6 Lifestyle of the Masses
34.7 Position of Women
34.8 Slaves and Serkints
34.9 Urban Life
34.10 Rural Life 1
34.10.1 Peasants 1 I
34.10.2 The ~ w e ( & n gofs the Peasants
34.11 Games and Arlmusements
34.12 Let Us Sum Up
34.13 Key Words
34.14 Answers to Check Your Progress Exercises

After reading this Unk, you will know about the:

social stratification! during the Sultanate period,
lifestyles of the rota1 household, ulema, aristocracy, merchants, landed
aristocracy, peasant* and slaves,
Hindu social orddr,
positibn of women!in the Hindu society,
nature and compo$ition of the slaves,
urban life, and '
pastime and entehrtainment.

The lifestyle of a people indicates their specificsituation in a hierarchical society. In

early medieval India, social formations were structured upon the ensuing
contradictions that existed between a centralised State and its subject peasantry. In a
principally agrarian economy, the social surplus produced by the peasants was
extracted and distributed by a small ruling class among themselves. This led to their
lavishly luxurious lifestyle that stands out in sharp contrast to that of the artisans and
the urban poor.
t
I
I
18

34.2 LIFE PR1IG)R TO 1200

During this period, laqdholding had become the chief basis of social and politiyl
status. The agriculturd surplus taken from the peasantry w& utilised to maintain
military vassals and re#gious grant holders whose terms generally survived chdnge
of overlords. By the ldth century, the consolidation of the power of smaller
 kingdoms and chieftains led to the intensification of the social process termed
samanta system (or "Indian feudalism").

I The princes and members of the court lived in great splendour. The wealth of the
great religious establishments was visible during the festivals and elaborate
performance of daily rituals. Considerable amount of artisan and peasant labour
was consumed in the construction and maintenance of the palaces and temples.
Thus, the lifestyle of the pre-Islamic ruling classes in India differed from their
I successors only in matters of detail. The caste structure which continued to stratify
, Hindasociety was protected bqthe Muslim rulers from outside. The new ruling class
(though foreigners) soon realisid that, in the dominant economic form of petty
production, caste system was of great value. Moreover, the dominant ideology that
maintained the caste structure heavily laid down the norm of serving the rulers
whether they belonged to the caste structure or not.

I 34.3 THE NEW RULING CLASSES

I1
A distinct phase in India's economic evolution.began with the end of a long period of
political fragmentation and the successful creation of a centralised power which was
sustained by the regular extraction of resources from an extensive territory.

-34.3.1 Ideological Composition of the New Ruling Classes

I
The head of the new ruling class was the Sultan. He was considered to be
synonymous with the State. From the very.beginning of their rule in India, theTurkish
Sultans considered themselves to be politically independent but culturally a part of
the Islamic world.
I
1 The lifestyle of the new ruling class was comparable to the highest standard of
luxurious living in the entire Islamic world. This was consciously adopted mainly to
I
I
maintain a distance between themselves and the common people whose surplus they
appropriated.

I
II
I
34.3.2 Royal Pattern of Consumption
The Sultans of Delhi wanted to own huge palaces. Almost every-ruler built a new
palace for himself. Later rulers, like Feroz Shah Tughluq, were known to have
increased the number of palaces they considered necessary. A typical description of
I the lavish display that took place in the Sultan's palace has been given by the

I traveller Ibn Battuta during the reign of Muhammad Tughluq. Ibn Battuta wrote
that if a person wanted to visit the Sultan, he had to pass through three lofty gates

1I
which were heavily guarded. He then entered the 'Court of thousand pillars' which.
was a huge hall supported by polished wooden pillars and was decorated with all
kinds of costly materials and furnishing. This was the place where the Sultan held his
public court.
The royal umbrella and the sceptre known as 'chhatra' and 'danda' respectively
' were used by the Hindu rulers and were continued by the Muslims. Muhammad
Tughluq is known to have used a black umbrella following the Abbasids. No one
other than the rulers were allowed to use this umbrella and the sceptre. Even if
given royal permission, the umbrellas of the nobles were of different colours and its
use was strictly confined to the members of the royal family. The Hindu rulers added
the chowri (fly-whisk) to these symbols signifying royal authority.
During processions and other social functions, the Sultan was accompanied by a
standard bearer to be followed by a band of musicians. The Hindu kings had a
tradition of having instrumentalists who carried trumpet and flutes. This musical
band played in the palace everyday. Except for the rulers, no one was allowed to be
either accompanied by these musicians nor were they allowed to play in any other
part of the city except the royal palaie.
The darbar (i.e. the court) was the actual space where the authority of the king was
manifest through a number of rituals. Special assemblies were held there to receive
foreign envoys, or on special occasions like corortation, victory in war and religious
festivals. In royal functions like marriages of the Sultan's sons and daughters there
was a ereat dis~lavof wealth. In annual celebrations of ,the coronation day, the
 nobles donned new lothes and placed nazr (presents) before the Sultan and took
fresh oaths of allegi
The Harem :Almost every Sultan had a 'harem', a special space where wbmen had.
their quarters. The 8bltan's mother, his queens and all female servants and slaves
lived here. Separate!accommodations were provided for the women according to
their ranks. The hoqdehold karkhanas catered to their needs.
The huge householdi along with the general expenditure that went to maintain it
was a part of the ostbntatious lifestyle of the Sultans. But this conspicuous
consumption patte indirectly helped domestic manufactures and generated
%
employment within e country. Mmbers of the aristocracy who together with the
S u l h enjoyed the qghest economic and social benefits formed the w r e of the
ruling class. In the ~bltanatepeiiod, they were grouped in two.sectors - the secular
'omnh' and the reqgioy 'dema'.

The Sultanate admiiistration accorded a special place to the ufema. Those among
them who were assdoiated with the administration of justice and religious law were
known as 'dastarbahdan' sihce they were distinguished by a special cap. I

The dema helped t& rule? in theologicd matters. They had to undertake a special
training and follow definite wurse of study which consisted of islamic theory, law,
f
logic, Arabic and r ligious texts such as tafsir, Radis, Qunr'n, etc.
These men, along with a few others, formed the intellectual elite group known as abl
qalam. Their social roles were determined by the needs of the centralised state and
an autocratic emperqr. These men profided moral support to the imperial rule.

34.5 THE P~LITICALARISTOCRACY

The highest dignity pas reserved for men who were granted the title of 'Khan7.
Below them were tk-maliks and the third in rank were amirs. Since most of these
titles signified a milibmy rank; the sipahsalar and sarkbel formed the lowest rank
among the nobility. h e word amir meaning a noble was, however, applied to both
civil and military petkons.
Apart from the o u t v r d manifestations of splendour, the Sultanate nobility
emulated the lifestyle of the Soltans. Almost every nobleman had huge palaces, .
1
harems, slaves and busehold karkhanas to cater to their needs. They also had
enough money for t e maintenance of their household.
' Apart from attend& the darbar and going to war, the nobles hunted, attended and
hosted feasts, and a140 spent their time in being entertained by musician and dancing
girls. Quite often, tppy also maintained large libraries.
The relation of the Bultanate ruling class with the Sultans depended upon their
narrow perception 6f self-interest which resulted in each noble tying to reach the
imperial throne. B4ban and Alauddin Khalji sternly repressed the nobles, but their
splendid mode of litk revived under his successors. In the reign of Muhammad
Tughluq, his wazir &joyed an income as large as that derived from the province of
Iraq. The other midisters yearly received 20,000 to 40,000 tank- with the chief sadr
getting the fabuloug sum of 160,000tankas as his sole income for a year. During the
Tughluq period, a umber of nobles left large fortunes for their sohs. Thus, Bqhir,
who was ariz-i mun)blik under Feroz Tughluq, left 13 crores at his death, which
Feroz confiscated oil the ground that Bashir was his slave. But this was an exception
and mostly the nobles were allowed to leave their property bamng the iqta to their
sons. I
M e of the Aristochts
Nobels live in (havelis). Each haveli had several rooms, baths,
and harem. Inside was decorated with expensive
were finely white-washed. Their houses and rich
. . . . . ... .
with silk, gold and silver. They.used silk
a - -- LA-. --As-
 Check Your Progress 1
+ 1) Comment on the following :

ii) Saiyyids....................................................................................

2) Write a note on the power and position of the ulema in the Sultanate
society?
............................................,................................&............................

3) Discuss the lifestyle of the Sultanate nobility.

34.6 LIFESTYLE OF THE MASSES

I
.As mentioned earlier there were hardly any changes in the structure of the Hindu
society during this period.
Domestic Life
Family formed the 'core' of the Indian village society. The family norms in the
'Hindu' society were different from what the Muslims had brought, but still
sharing some features in common. Both the societies accepted male dominance
- preference of son over a daughter.
Rituals and Ceremonies
In both the Hindu and the Muslim families, ceremonies started from the birth of the
child itself, the more respectable the family, theomore elaborate was the ritual.
Among the Hindus upanayana samskara marks the entrance of child into the fold of
education. Among the Muslims after the completion of 4 years 4 months and 4 days
Bismillah Khani (sending the child to the maktab) ceremony was performed. Among
the Muslims circumcision ceremony (usually in the 7th year) was celebrated with
great pomp and show while among the Hindus upanayana (dvua ceremony) vras held,
The next important ceremony'was marriage. Both, the Muslims as well as Hindus,
preferred not only great pomp and show but observed many rituals. The girl used to
bring huge dowry with hem. Among the Hindus, mamage within the sub-c.h t e were -
allowed but intermarriage with other varna was forbidden. As for the Muslims,
there was complete freedom in choosing wife o r a husbahd. But importance was
given to the 'status' (kafu) of the respective social groups.
Death ceremony was accompdnied by many superstitious rites. Among the Hindus,
ceremonies continued for one year terminating finally by performing sraddha.
Among the Muslims, siyum (the ceremony of the third day) was held.
Caste was still the dominant category in markirlg social differences. The smriti texts
I
4 continued to emphasize that punishing the wicked and upholding the chatarmim
I (four-fold caste) social order by the force of arms was the duty of the Kshatriya. In
t
~ d ~ : l 3 t h t o l S t h actuality, the memberb of the earlier ruling class, the sons of the ranas, ranakas, etc.
c v
li
now constituted the ral aristocracy and administrative wing without whose help
the state could not fu @ion. A kind of tacit sharing of power between the Hindu '
aristocracy and the citb-based administrator was thus a factor of crucial importance
for the Delhi Sultanate.
The duty of the Shudrp was still one of service to the higher castes. The ban on the
Sbudras reciting the w a s still held good, though they were now allowed to listen to
the recitation of the Nranas. Smriti writers continued to ban the Shudras from
sharing their food and!participating in the ritual feasts of the upper castes and
severest restrictions were placed on mingling with the Chandalas and other
outcastes. 1

The usual'religious prwtices of daily worship and ceremonies were followed. The
old forms of mamage@ontinued.Inter-caste mamage among the upper castes were
forbidden in the Kali dge. This made the caste division more rigid. However, as the
smriti writers discuss qt length the social position of children born of inter-caste
marriages such marriages must have continued. It seems that the rich and powerful
could choose their wi\n&s.fromall castes and sections with only some restrictions
in spite of the prevailing norms of marriage within one's own caste. '

34.7 POSITIObi OF WOMEN

There was almost no dhange in the lifestyle of the upper caste Hindu women during
this period. Women &re subordinate to men in every walk of life - as daughter,
wife and even after h a husband's death (under her eldest son's care). Birth sf a
daughter was looked down ubon, since they were considered as symbol of dishonour
for the father. Their ntain duty was to produce progeny, especially the male child.
They were strictly c o d n e d in the 'antahpura' (inner sanctum). The ancient rules
enjoining early marriages for girls and the wife's duties to her husband and his kula
(lineage) were contindously stressed.

Annulment of maniades took place in special circumstances such as desertion,

disease or mental disddder. Even then all Hindu theologians do not agree to this.
Position of Muslim wdtnen was also very much similar to their Hindu counterpart.
As for female educatim, the women of poor classes did not have a chance for
education, but the higher strata women seem to have received education and

c
training. We do hear mes of Dewalrani, Rupamati, Padmavati, etc. The example
of Raziya shows that uslim aristocracy did impart education to their daughters as
well. Regarding both,jpidow remamage and sati, there are a number of
controversies. A number of travellers, specially Ibn Battuta, mention with horror of
a woman burning herdelf on the funeral pyre of her husband..He mentions,
however, that pfior pqrmission for one wanting to be a sati had to be taken from the
Sultan. But with the akailable eyidence, it is unlikely that the Rajputs or even other
Hindus would have cdhplied with this injunction. At any rate, the practice of sati
was confined to the ul)per strata of the society. The degraded position of widow
seems to be the most inportant factor that encouraged sati. Among the Rajputs, .
practice of jauhar wad Blso prevalent. In the event of an imminent defeat their
women were set on fih.
I

The commentators upHold the widow's right to the property of a sonless husband,
provided the property was not commonly held. The widow was not merely the
guardian of this p o p e b y but had the full right to dispose it off. Though in the face of
these commentaries, it seems that property rights of women improved in the Hindu
society, but this couldihave hardly applied in a uniform manner all over the country.
An interesting misconception that persists today is regarding the evolution of the
'purdah system'. Custom of purdah was not the novelty of the Muslims, as it is
generally considered. !he, customs prevailed even much before. However, the

I!
present 'elaborate' an institutionalized form of purdah can certainly be credited to
the Muslim rule. At a 9 rate, purdah became a privilege of upper classes. Both
Hindu and Muslim ahtocracy guarded their women by keeping them hidden within
the walled space of thh antahpura and the harem while the poor (Muslim) women
used burqa to h v e r their body. Malik Muhammad Jayasi and Vidyapati do refer to
 purdah. But till Muhammad Tughluq's reign no attempt was made by the state to
impose any restriction in this direction.

34.8 SCAVES AND SERVANTS

!
n e master-slave relation formed a category by which the authority in the Sultanate
society expressed itself. Most noblemen referred to themselves as the slave of the
Sultan.
The slaves in India can be graded into two groups :
i) Those who were bought in an open salve market.
ii) Those who were first prisoners of war and then made slaves.
The position of these different types of slaves have also been discussed in the
Hindu shastras. Both the Indians and the Turks had a lorg tradition of
maintaining slaves. Open slave-markets for men and women existed in West
Asia as well as Irdia.
Slaves were generally bought for domestic service cr for their spe:ial skills. Feroz
Shah Tughluq who had a special penchant for slaves collected about 180,000of ithem.
Many of them were employed in handicrafts. The rest formed the personal
bodyguards of the Sultz n
A special type of male slaves who were castrated in childhood were trained to be the
guards of the harem.These were known as khwajasara (eunuchs). In the 13th
century, Bengal was a flourishing centre for the buying and selling of eunuchs in
particular. Women slaves were. generally graded into two groups : (i) for domestic
service and (ii) for entertainment and pleasure. The first were generally ordinary '
women while the second group was composed of beautiful women who could sing,
dance and carry on conversation.
I
I Not only nobles, but any prosperous householder found it impossible to run house
without slaves. Thus, keeping slaves became a special mark of prosperity, and
nobles vied with each other over the possession of a comely boy or a girl slave.
It is now an accepted fact that slaves in the Sultanate India were treated better thcln
servants :,the master by taking on the obligation of owning a slave usually looked
after their material comfort.
Check Your F'rogress 2
I
1) Write in 60 words the changes brought in the Hindu castesystem
I during the Sultanate period.
i

I ....................................................................................................
....................................................................................................
2) Discuss the role played by the slave household in the Sultanate
socio-economic order.
....................................................................................................
............................................................................ ......................
...................................................................................................
...................................................................................................
...................................................................................................
.
34.9 URBAN LIFE
During the 13th-14th centuries, a number of towns and ports flourished in North
India. Broach, Cambap, Lakhnauti, Sonargaon and Multan flourished as trading
 mhlstb centres. Ibn Battuta #ives a detailed description of ~ e l h ; .It was one of the largest
CIlbn
cities in the Islamic wprld with a mixed population of merchants from India as well
as Iran, ~fghanistan,lctc.It is said that overland trade with West Asia was in the
hands of ~ultanis,'wpbowere mostly Hindus. The Gujarati and Marwari merchants.
were extremely wealthy and some of them, particularly the Jains, spent large sums

1
in the construction o temples. They also had large residential buildings. Their
houses were surroun ed by orchards and fruit gardens which had many tanks.
Cambay was a fine pdrt-city where there was an agglomeration of wealthy ,
merchants. Not only did they live in fine houses, they consumed good food and wore
fine clothes. Men dreked themselves in cotton and silk garments, anointed
themselves with sandblwood paste and wore rings, gold-earrings studded with
precious stones and gplden girdles. women wore long flowing cloth (sari) and silken
blouses. Wom,en's je$ellery were made of gold and silver metals. They wore
earrings, anklets and lenty of rings on fingers and toes.
!@
The Muslim mercha* who usually came from Central Asia dressed themselves in '
embroidered garment$ covered with gold and silver works. They also wore thick
boots coming up to their knees.
Many of these towns *ere also centres of craft production. The.towns of Bengal and
Gujarat were famousifor the production of fine clothes. Cambay was also famous for
1
gold and silver works1 There were many other luxury crafts such as leather works, *
metal work, carpet wpaving, etc. Many of these were exported to the Red Sea,
Persian Gulf and So* East Asian Countries.
A s for , Ziauddin Barani mentions the Multanis and Sahas of Delhi,
deal of wealth from the resources of maliks and amirs who
or draft over their iqta.'
Another mercantile s o u p was that of the brokers (dallals) who first make their
appearance in the coQnmercia1 history of the Delhi Sultanate. They operated
between merchants apd customers raising prices when they could. Alauddin Khalji
was specially harsh 04 them but since theywere needed in any large market, they
could never be dispebsed with entirety. Sarrafs or money changers constituted yet
,another mercantile g ) ~ u pwho were quite prosperous.
Apart from these dis inct groups, there were a large number of smaller artisans,
1,
shopkeepers and ven ors who lived in the cities. Except for the regional songs and
folk tales, very little historical details can be gleaned about their daily lives.

34.10 RURAL LIFE

The towns needed tolbe fed and supplied with finished and raw materials from the
countryside. The high level of taxation and the cash-nexus in combination ensured'
that the peasants woqld have to sell much of their produce in order to pay land
revenue. Barani infoms us how the high pitch of demand under Alauddin Khalji
forced thepeasants of the Doab to sell grainby the side of the fields to the karwanis
who took it to Delhi for sale.
The towns, on the 0 t h hand, had little to send back to their villages since the
taxation system assuded all the time a heavy balance of payments in favour of the
towns, which were thb headquarters of the Sultan and members of the ruling classes.

34.10.1 peasane
A vast majority lived'in villages. Cultivation was based on individual peasant.
farming and the size (xf land cultivated by them varied greatly from the large holding
of the 'khots' or en to the small plots of 'balahars' or village menials. Below
have existed a group of landless menial castes but little is
known a b u t them id this period.
Peasants generally ?+ed a pair of oxen and the plough. Land was abundant. Wells
were probably the mqjor source of artificial irrigation. Muhammad Tughluq
advanced loans to pe ants for improving agri-mlture. The peasants raised water by
various means from t wells (see Unit 22). Since peasants owned implements
 needed for cultivation and sold their crop for payment of revenue in cash, there Lllclt).kdPopllrC*
must have been differentiation among the peasantry. Barani designates men of the.
highest stratum among the peasants as khots and muqaddams (for details, see 'Blocks
5 and 6). Before Alauddin Khalji adopted the measures, the kho& are alleged to
have been exempted from three major taxes. Furthermore, they levied a cess of
I
their. own on the villagers (qismat-i khoti). When Alauddin prohitited them from
levy ng the cess, they became quite poor and their wives worked as maidservants in

i
the houses of Muslims. The khots and muqaddams were peasants, but peasants
who stood on the borderland of the rural aristocracy. When prosperous, they
imitated the ways of-higher chiefs, i.e., rode horsed, wore fine clothes and chewed
betel-leaves. In the reign of Feroz Shah Tughluq, a chronicler describes the general
prosperity of the kh-. Everyone had large amount of gold and silver and countless
goods; and none of the women of the peasantry remained without ornaments. In
every peasant's house there were clean bed-sheets, excellent bed-cots and many
other articles.

, 34.10.2 The Dwelling of the Peasants

The ordinary peasants lived in mud huts supported by bamboos or tree trunks with
thatched roof. The floor was plastered with cowdung. Only the meanest :

requirements for shelter from winter, monsoon or the heat of summer were met ih
their dwellings. Very little furnjture was used : men, women and children lived in
small rooms huddle together. They usually slept on the floor on mats or cottun
quilts. Only the prosperous peasants used metal vessels; the ordinary people used
earthern pots. There was no separate place for bathing except the wells or ponds.
No sense of privacy existed.
The houses of the more prosperous peasants had more land around the main
structure. They usually had more than one room with verandah, a courtyard and
chabutara (platform) and even sometimes second story and the walls were plac:kr?.'
with cowdung and decorated with drawings, Often there was a small vegetat-lr
garden around their dwellings.

t
In terms of food, the ordinary peasant ate bread made out of rice; they also use
lintel, onion and chillies and as luxury they had some little ghee. They used to take
meal twice a day.

I
Geherally, the Hindu peasants went bareheaded and barefooted. They usually wore
a single dhotitcloth. In Gujarat and Rajasthan, they wore a red handkerchief around
their head. Woinen usually wore two kinds of dresses: a sheet of cloth to cover
themselves and a blouse. The second dress consisted of a lehanga or long sk~rta
blouse and dupatta w a big scarf. The latter dress was more popular In i tlr. 17. $1-

I
area.

- -
34.11 GAMES AND AMUSEMENTS -- -- - --

Wrestling was very popular even among villagers. Apart from these, fencing. spear
throwing, horse racing were popular an4ong the aristocracy. Polo (chaugan) was an
aristocratic game.
Religious festivals and fairs offered an opportunity to the ordinary people to enjoy
themselves. These, along with visiting holy places for pilgrimage, were t h e major
diversions in the otherwise drab life of the common people.

The bhakti movement and the works of popular preachers like Kabir, Dadu and
others inspired popular poets and their songs acted as cementing bond between
people of different religious sects. These falklores and songsalso spontaneously
reflected the experience of the people whose lives have in general remained
u1mt:ntioned in the official accounts and rulinr class discc~ursc.
r*qra:u.m
W'
r CbecicYmrRogaq,
1) Write a note on t w lifestyle of the merchant class during the Sultanate
period. I &

I'

...................... jl-:..........................................................................
I!
2) Write short notei/bn the following : .
a) Rural ~rist*cy ............................,... ..........................................
I!

b) Peasants ....1.................................................................................

c) Games and h u s e m e n t s
( 3
................................................................

34.12 LET U ~SUM

I UP

!
We have seen how wit the coming of the Turks a new ruling class came into existine
replacing the old one. his change did not bring much of a difference in their lifestyle.
Like their predecessorSI they too led a luxurious life. The ulema were also not behind
in copying their ways jn their own limited-ways. The lifestyle of the nobles was also'
similar to that qf the Sultan but on a low level. They used high-sounding titles, lived

k
in luxurious houses, or nised dinner parties, maintained large nurhber of horses and
elephants as symbol of eir prestige. The Hindu society was divided on the basis of
castes. But with the coltling of the Turks, slight improvement in the positions of the
shudras and outcastes as visible. The Hindu woman enjoyed some property rights,
but the custom of pur
$-
was prevalent during this period. The Delhi Sultans
maintained large num br of slaves who were employed in the royal karlrhanas and
bodyguards as well. Mdrchants, too, enjoyed favourable status and lived comfortably.
But the peasants' concfition was not good.

34.13 KEY WORDS

Adz-i Mumalik : See I)Bock 5
Hadis : sayinbs.and actions of Prophet Muhammad
Samskara : cerevnies. There are broadly 16 such ceremonies which a Hindu is
suppqsed to perform during his life time.
Upllaayana : one the Hindu samskara. In its early phase upanayaaa saqmskap
the entry of a child into learning/education. But during later
was related more to the dvija (thread) ceremony

i
34.14 ANSW-S TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS
I

Cheek Your h.ogress 1 [

1 SeeSec.34.4 I
2 See
- Sec. 34.4
-.* I
! Check Your Progress 2
I .-
1 See Sec. 34.6 - C

i 2 See Sec. 34.8

Check Your Progress 3 I

1 See Sec. 34.9

2 a) See Sub-sec. 34.10.1
b) See Sub-sec. 34.10.1
I c) See Sec. 34.11

SOME USEFUL BOOKS FOR THIS BLOCK

Percy Brown, Indian Architecture :Ialnmif P ew Indian pdatiqp.
R. Nath, HisCory of Sultanate Archi&.
Prof. K.A. N W , ReMgbua and Polltics d m the 13tb cemtury.
A.L. Basham (ed.), CnltrvPl &&age of In&.
K;M; Ashraf, Life Pnd Conditions of the People of Hladnetan.
Yusuf Husain Khan, GUmpees of Medieval IadiPn Culture.
Tara Chand, Influence of Islam on Indian Culture.