Themes in Indian History Part II: Bhakti - Sufi Traditions PDF

                        ...

                             We saw in Chapter 4 that by the mid-first millennium CE the landscape of the subcontinent was dotted with a variety of religious structures – stupas, monasteries, temples. If these typified certain religious beliefs and practices, others have been reconstructed from textual traditions, including the Puranas, many of which received their present shape around the same time, and yet others remain only faintly visible in textual and visual records. New textual sources available from this period include compositions attributed to poet-saints, most of whom expressed themselves orally in regional languages used by ordinary people. These compositions, which were often set to music, were compiled by disciples or devotees, generally after the death of the poet-saint. What is more, these traditions were fluid – generations of devotees tended to elaborate on the original message, and occasionally modified or even abandoned some of the ideas that appeared problematic or irrelevant in different political, social or cultural contexts. Using these sources thus poses a challenge to historians. Historians also draw on hagiographies or biographies of saints written by their followers (or members of their religious sect). These may not be literally accurate, but allow a glimpse into the ways in which devotees perceived the lives of these path- breaking women and men. As we will see, these sources provide us with insights into a scenario characterised by dynamism and diversity. Let us look at some elements of these more closely. Fig. 6.1 A twelfth-century bronze sculpture of Manikkavachakar, a devotee of Shiva who composed beautiful devotional songs in Tamil 2015-16(20/01/2015)          Perhaps the most striking feature of this phase is  the increasing visibility of a wide range of gods and      goddesses in sculpture as well as in texts. At one      level, this indicates the continued and even extended    worship of the major deities – Vishnu, Shiva and     the goddess – each of whom was visualised in a  variety of forms.      1.1 The integration of cults     Historians who have tried to understand these  developments suggest that there were at least two    processes at work. One was a process of disseminating      Brahmanical ideas. This is exemplified by the        composition, compilation and preservation of Puranic      texts in simple Sanskrit verse, explicitly meant to     be accessible to women and Shudras, who were     generally excluded from Vedic learning. At the same    time, there was a second process at work – that of      the Brahmanas accepting and reworking the beliefs      and practices of these and other social categories. In  fact, many beliefs and practices were shaped through      a continuous dialogue between what sociologists have     described as “great” Sanskritic Puranic traditions  and “little” traditions throughout the land.  One of the most striking examples of this process      is evident at Puri, Orissa, where the principal deity     was identified, by the twelfth century, as Jagannatha     (literally, the lord of the world), a form of Vishnu.              Fig. 6.2 Jagannatha (extreme right) with his sister Subhadra (centre) and his brother Balarama (left) 2015-16(20/01/2015)      If you compare Fig. 6.2 with Fig. 4.26 (Chapter 4) you will notice that the deity is represented in a very different way. In this instance, a local deity, whose image was and continues to be made of wood by local tribal specialists, was recognised as a form of Vishnu. At the same time, Vishnu was visualised in a way that was very different from that in other parts of the country. Such instances of integration are evident amongst goddess cults as well. Worship of the goddess, often simply in the form of a stone smeared with ochre, was evidently widespread. These local deities were often incorporated within the Puranic framework by providing them with an identity as a wife of the principal male deities – sometimes they were equated with Lakshmi, the wife of Vishnu, in other instances, with Parvati, the wife of Shiva. Fig. 6.3 Sculpture of a Buddhist goddess, 1.2 Difference and conflict Marichi (c. tenth century, Bihar), Often associated with the goddess were forms an example of the process of of worship that were classified as Tantric. Tantric integration of different religious practices were widespread in several parts of the beliefs and practices subcontinent – they were open to women and men, and practitioners often ignored differences of caste and class within the ritual context. Many of these ideas influenced Shaivism as well as Buddhism, especially in the eastern, northern and southern parts of the subcontinent. All of these somewhat divergent and even disparate beliefs and practices would come to be classified as Hindu over the course of the next millennium. The divergence is perhaps most stark if we compare Vedic and Puranic traditions. The principal deities of the Vedic pantheon, Agni, Indra and Soma, become marginal figures, rarely visible in textual or visual representations. And while we can catch a glimpse of Vishnu, Shiva and the goddess in Vedic mantras, these have little in common with the elaborate Puranic mythologies. However, in spite of these obvious discrepancies, the Vedas continued to be revered as authoritative. Not surprisingly, there were sometimes conflicts as well – those who valued the Vedic tradition often condemned practices that went beyond the closely regulated contact with the divine through the performance of sacrifices or precisely chanted mantras. On the other hand those engaged in Tantric practices 2015-16(20/01/2015)       frequently ignored the authority of the Vedas. Also, devotees often tended to project their chosen deity, either Vishnu or Shiva, as supreme. Relations with other traditions, such as Buddhism or Jainism, were also often fraught with tension if not open conflict. The traditions of devotion or bhakti need to be located within this context. Devotional worship had a long history of almost a thousand years before  Discuss... the period we are considering. During this time, Find out about gods and expressions of devotion ranged from the routine goddesses worshipped in your worship of deities within temples to ecstatic town or village, noting their adoration where devotees attained a trance-like names and the ways in which state. The singing and chanting of devotional they are depicted. Describe compositions was often a part of such modes of the rituals that are worship. This was particularly true of the Vaishnava performed. and Shaiva sects.      In the course of the evolution of these forms of worship, in many instances, poet-saints emerged as leaders around whom there developed a community of devotees. Further, while Brahmanas remained important intermediaries between gods and devotees in several forms of bhakti, these traditions also accommodated and acknowledged women and the “lower castes”, categories considered ineligible for liberation within the orthodox Brahmanical framework. What also characterised traditions of bhakti was a remarkable diversity. At a different level, historians of religion often classify bhakti traditions into two broad categories: saguna (with attributes) and nirguna (without attributes). The former included traditions that focused on the worship of specific deities such as Shiva, Vishnu and his avatars (incarnations) and forms of the goddess or Devi, all often conceptualised in anthropomorphic forms. Nirguna bhakti on the other hand was worship of an abstract form of god. 2.1 The Alvars and Nayanars of Tamil Nadu Some of the earliest bhakti movements (c. sixth century) were led by the Alvars (literally, those who are “immersed” in devotion to Vishnu) and Nayanars (literally, leaders who were devotees of Shiva). They travelled from place to place singing hymns in Tamil in praise of their gods. 2015-16(20/01/2015)      Source 1 During their travels the Alvars and Nayanars  identified certain shrines as abodes of their chosen  deities. Very often large temples were later built at  these sacred places. These developed as centres of pilgrimage. Singing compositions of these poet-saints       became part of temple rituals in these shrines, as  did worship of the saints’ images.     2.2 Attitudes towards caste  Some historians suggest that the Alvars and  Nayanars initiated a movement of protest against     the caste system and the dominance of Brahmanas  or at least attempted to reform the system. To some      extent this is corroborated by the fact that bhaktas  hailed from diverse social backgrounds ranging from     Brahmanas to artisans and cultivators and even    from castes considered “untouchable”.  The importance of the traditions of the Alvars and Nayanars was sometimes indicated by the claim that their compositions were as important  Do you think as the Vedas. For instance, one of the major Tondaradippodi was opposed to the caste anthologies of compositions by the Alvars, the Nalayira system? Divyaprabandham, was frequently described as the T amil Veda, thus claiming that the text was as significant as the four Vedas in Sanskrit that were cherished by the Brahmanas. 2.3 Women devotees Source 2 Perhaps one of the most striking features of these    traditions was the presence of women. For instance, the compositions of Andal, a woman Alvar, were       widely sung (and continue to be sung to date). Andal  saw herself as the beloved of Vishnu; her verses express her love for the deity. Another woman,       Karaikkal Ammaiyar, a devotee of Shiva, adopted  the path of extreme asceticism in order to attain              Are there any         similarities or differences  in the attitudes of  Tondaradippodi and Appar  towards Brahmanas?  2015-16(20/01/2015)       her goal. Her compositions were preserved within the Nayanar tradition. These women renounced their social obligations, but did not join an alternative order or become nuns. Their very existence and their compositions posed a challenge to patriarchal norms. Source 3                  List the ways in which Karaikkal Ammaiyar depicts herself as presenting a contrast to Fig. 6.4 traditional notions of feminine beauty. A twelfth-century bronze image of Karaikkal Ammaiyar 2.4 Relations with the state We saw in Chapter 2 that there were several important chiefdoms in the Tamil region in the early first millennium CE. From the second half of the first millennium there is evidence for states, including those of the Pallavas and Pandyas (c. sixth to ninth centuries CE). While Buddhism and Jainism had been prevalent in this region for several centuries, drawing support from merchant and artisan communities, these religious traditions received occasional royal patronage. Interestingly, one of the major themes in Tamil bhakti hymns is the poets’ opposition to Buddhism and Jainism. This is particularly marked in the 2015-16(20/01/2015)      compositions of the Nayanars. Historians have attempted to explain this hostility by suggesting that it was due to competition between members of other religious traditions for royal patronage. What is evident is that the powerful Chola rulers (ninth to thirteenth centuries) supported Brahmanical and bhakti traditions, making land grants and constructing temples for Vishnu and Shiva. In fact, some of the most magnificent Shiva temples, including those at Chidambaram, Thanjavur and Gangaikondacholapuram, were constructed under the patronage of Chola rulers. This was also the period when some of the most spectacular representations of Shiva in bronze sculpture were produced. Clearly, the visions of the Nayanars inspired artists. Both Nayanars and Alvars were revered by the Vellala peasants. Not surprisingly, rulers tried to win their support as well. The Chola kings, for Fig. 6.5 instance, often attempted to claim divine support An image of Shiva as Nataraja and proclaim their own power and status by building splendid temples that were adorned with stone and metal sculpture to recreate the visions of these popular saints who sang in the language of the people. These kings also introduced the singing of Tamil Shaiva hymns in the temples under royal patronage, taking the initiative to collect and organise them into a text (Tevaram). Further, inscriptional evidence from around 945 suggests that the Chola ruler Parantaka I had consecrated metal images of Appar, Sambandar and Sundarar in a Shiva temple. These were carried in processions during the festivals of these saints.  Discuss... Why do you think kings were interested in proclaiming their connections with bhaktas? 2015-16(20/01/2015)          The twelfth century witnessed the emergence of a new movement in Karnataka, led by a Brahmana named Basavanna (1106-68) who was initially a Jaina and a minister in the court of a Chalukya Source 4 king. His followers were known as Virashaivas    (heroes of Shiva) or Lingayats (wearers of the linga). Lingayats continue to be an important community   in the region to date. They worship Shiva in his manifestation as a linga, and men usually wear a      small linga in a silver case on a loop strung over the  left shoulder. Those who are revered include the      jangama or wandering monks. Lingayats believe      that on death the devotee will be united with Shiva  and will not return to this world. Therefore they do  not practise funerary rites such as cremation,  prescribed in the Dharmashastras. Instead, they  ceremonially bury their dead.  The Lingayats challenged the idea of caste and  the “pollution” attributed to certain groups by  Brahmanas. They also questioned the theory of      rebirth. These won them followers amongst those  who were marginalised within the Brahmanical social order. The Lingayats also encouraged certain  Describe Basavanna’s practices disapproved in the Dharmashastras, attitude towards rituals. such as post-puberty marriage and the remarriage How does he attempt to of widows. Our understanding of the Virashaiva convince the listener? tradition is derived from vachanas (literally, sayings) composed in Kannada by women and men who joined the movement.                         2015-16(20/01/2015)        During the same period, in north India deities such as Vishnu and Shiva were worshipped in temples, often built with the support of rulers. However, historians have not found evidence of anything resembling the compositions of the Alvars and Nayanars till the fourteenth century. How do we account for this difference? Some historians point out that in north India this was the period when several Rajput states emerged. In most of these states Brahmanas occupied positions of importance, performing a range of secular and ritual functions. There seems to have been little or no attempt to challenge their position directly. At the same time other religious leaders, who did not function within the orthodox Brahmanical framework, were gaining ground. These included the Naths, Jogis and Siddhas. Many of them came from artisanal groups, including weavers, who were becoming increasingly important with the development of organised craft production. Demand for such production grew with the emergence of new urban centres, and long-distance trade with Central Asia and West Asia. Many of these new religious leaders questioned the Fig. 6.6 authority of the Vedas, and Fragment of a page from the expressed themselves in languages spoken by ordinary Qur’an, belonging to a people, which developed over centuries into the ones manuscript dating to the used today. However, in spite of their popularity these eighth or ninth century religious leaders were not in a position to win the support of the ruling elites. A new element in this situation was the coming of the Turks which culminated in the establishment of the Delhi Sultanate (thirteenth century). This undermined the power of many of the Rajput states and the Brahmanas who were associated with these kingdoms. This was accompanied by marked changes in the realm of culture and religion. The coming of the sufis (Section 6) was a significant part of these developments. 2015-16(20/01/2015)          Just as the regions within the subcontinent were not isolated from one another, so too, contact with lands beyond the seas and mountains had existed for millennia. Arab merchants, for instance, frequented ports along the western coast in the first millennium CE, while Central Asian people settled in the north-western parts of the subcontinent during the same period. From the seventh century, with the advent of Islam, these regions became part of what is often termed the Islamic world. 5.1 Faiths of rulers and subjects One axis of understanding the significance of these Ulama (plural of alim, or one connections that is frequently adopted is to focus on who knows) are scholars of the religions of ruling elites. In 711 an Arab general Islamic studies. As preservers of named Muhammad Qasim conquered Sind, which this tradition they perform became part of the Caliph’s domain. Later (c. thirteenth various religious, juridical and century) the Turks and Afghans established the teaching functions. Delhi Sultanate. This was followed by the formation of Sultanates in the Deccan and other parts of the subcontinent; Islam was an acknowledged religion of rulers in several areas. This continued with the establishment of the Mughal Empire in the sixteenth century as well as in many of the regional states that emerged in the eighteenth century. Theoretically, Muslim rulers were to be guided by the ulama, who were expected to ensure that they ruled according to the shari‘a. Clearly, the situation  was complicated in the subcontinent, where there were populations that did not subscribe to Islam.        It is in this context that the category of the zimmi,       meaning protected (derived from the Arabic word  zimma, protection) developed for people who followed      revealed scriptures, such as the Jews and Christians,  and lived under Muslim rulership. They paid a tax  called jizya and gained the right to be protected by      Muslims. In India this status was extended to Hindus  as well. As you will see (Chapter 9), rulers such as  the Mughals came to regard themselves as emperors      of not just Muslims but of all peoples.  In effect, rulers often adopted a fairly flexible policy  towards their subjects. For instance, several rulers  gave land endowments and granted tax exemptions      to Hindu, Jaina, Zoroastrian, Christian and Jewish   religious institutions and also expressed respect and 2015-16(20/01/2015)      devotion towards non-Muslim religious leaders. These grants were made by several Mughal rulers, including Akbar and Aurangzeb. Source 5     Fig. 6.7  A Mughal painting depicting  Emperor Jahangir with a Jogi                      Who were the people from whom Akbar anticipated opposition to his order? Source 6                       Identify the deity worshipped by the Jogi. Describe the attitude of the emperor towards the Jogi. 2015-16(20/01/2015)       5.2 The popular practice of Islam The developments that followed the coming of Islam were not confined to ruling elites; in fact they permeated far and wide, through the subcontinent, amongst different social strata – peasants, artisans, warriors, merchants, to name a few. All those who adopted Islam accepted, in principle, the five “pillars” of the faith: that there is one God, Allah, and Prophet Muhammad is his messenger (shahada); offering prayers five times a day (namaz/salat ); giving alms (zakat ); fasting during the month of Ramzan (sawm ); and performing the pilgrimage to Mecca (hajj ). However, these universal features were often overlaid with diversities in practice derived from sectarian affiliations (Sunni, Shi‘a), and the influence of local customary practices of converts from different social milieus. For example, the Khojahs, a branch Fig. 6.8 of the Ismailis (a Shi‘a sect), developed new modes A Khojaki manuscript of communication, disseminating ideas derived from The ginan were transmitted the Qur’an through indigenous literary genres. These orally before being recorded in the Khojaki script that was derived included the ginan (derived from the Sanskrit jnana, from the local landa (“clipped” meaning “knowledge”), devotional poems in Punjabi, mercantile script) used by the Multani, Sindhi, Kachchi, Hindi and Gujarati, sung linguistically diverse community in special ragas during daily prayer meetings. of Khojahs in the Punjab, Sind Elsewhere, Arab Muslim traders who settled and Gujarat. along the Malabar coast (Kerala) adopted the local language, Malayalam. They also adopted Matrilocal residence is a local customs such as matriliny (Chapter 3) and practice where women after matrilocal residence. marriage remain in their natal The complex blend of a universal faith with local home with their children and traditions is perhaps best exemplified in the the husbands may come to stay architecture of mosques. Some architectural features with them. Fig. 6.9 A mosque in Kerala, c. thirteenth century Note the shikhara-like roof. 2015-16(20/01/2015)      of mosques are universal – such as their orientation towards Mecca, evident in the placement of the mihrab (prayer niche) and the minbar (pulpit). However, there are several features that show variations – such as roofs and building materials (see Figs. 6.9, 6.10 and 6.11). 5.3 Names for communities We often take the terms Hindu and Muslim for granted, as labels for religious communities. Yet, these terms did not gain currency for a very Fig. 6.10 long time. Historians who have studied Atiya mosque, Mymensingh district, Sanskrit texts and inscriptions dating Bangladesh, built with brick, 1609 between the eighth and fourteenth centuries point out that the term musalman or Muslim was virtually never used. Instead, people were occasionally identified in terms of the region from which they came. So, the Turkish rulers were designated as Turushka, Tajika were people from Tajikistan and Parashika were people from Persia. Sometimes, terms used for other peoples were applied to the new migrants. For instance, the Turks and Afghans were referred to as Shakas (Chapters 2 and 3) and Yavanas (a term used for Greeks). Fig. 6.11 A more general term for these migrant The Shah Hamadan mosque in communities was mlechchha, indicating that they did Srinagar, on the banks of the not observe the norms of caste society and spoke Jhelum, is often regarded as the languages that were not derived from Sanskrit. Such “jewel in the crown” of all the terms sometimes had a derogatory connotation, but they existing mosques of Kashmir. rarely denoted a distinct religious community of Muslims Built in 1395, it is one of the best examples of Kashmiri wooden in opposition to Hindus. And as we saw (Chapter 5), architecture. Notice the spire and the term “Hindu” was used in a variety of ways, not the beautifully carved eaves. It is necessarily restricted to a religious connotation. decorated with papier mache.  Discuss... Find out more about the architecture of mosques in your village or town. What are the materials used to build mosques? Are these locally available? Are there any distinctive architectural features? 2015-16(20/01/2015)        In the early centuries of Islam a group of religious-  minded people called sufis turned to asceticism and      mysticism in protest against the growing materialism     of the Caliphate as a religious and political institution.  They were critical of the dogmatic definitions and      scholastic methods of interpreting the Qur’an and sunna     (traditions of the Prophet) adopted by theologians.     Instead, they laid emphasis on seeking salvation     through intense devotion and love for God by following  His commands, and by following the example of the     Prophet Muhammad whom they regarded as a perfect     human being. The sufis thus sought an interpretation     of the Qur’an on the basis of their personal experience.   6.1 Khanqahs and silsilas  By the eleventh century Sufism evolved into a well-     developed movement with a body of literature on    Quranic studies and sufi practices. Institutionally,      the sufis began to organise communities around the  hospice or khanqah (Persian) controlled by a teaching  master known as shaikh (in Arabic), pir or murshid (in Persian). He enrolled disciples (murids) and appointed a successor (khalifa). He established rules for spiritual conduct and interaction between inmates as well as between laypersons and the master. Sufi silsilas began to crystallise in different parts of the Islamic world around the twelfth century. The word silsila literally means a chain, signifying a continuous link between master and disciple, stretching as an unbroken spiritual genealogy to the Prophet Muhammad. It was through this channel that spiritual power and blessings were transmitted to devotees. Special rituals of initiation were developed in which initiates took an oath of allegiance, wore a patched garment, and shaved  their hair. When the shaikh died, his tomb-shrine (dargah, a         Persian term meaning court) became the centre of     devotion for his followers. This encouraged the practice     of pilgrimage or ziyarat to his grave, particularly on     his death anniversary or urs (or marriage, signifying     the union of his soul with God). This was because           people believed that in death saints were united with      God, and were thus closer to Him than when living.       People sought their blessings to attain material and      spiritual benefits. Thus evolved the cult of the shaikh  revered as wali. 2015-16(20/01/2015)      Wali (plural auliya) or friend of 6.2 Outside the khanqah God was a sufi who claimed Some mystics initiated movements based on a proximity to Allah, acquiring radical interpretation of sufi ideals. Many scorned His Grace (barakat) to perform the khanqah and took to mendicancy and observed miracles (karamat). celibacy. They ignored rituals and observed extreme forms of asceticism. They were known by different names – Qalandars, Madaris, Malangs, Haidaris, etc. Because of their deliberate defiance of the shari‘a  Discuss... they were often referred to as be-shari‘a , in contrast Are there any khanqahs or to the ba-shari‘a sufis who complied with it. dargahs in your town or village? Find out when these were built, and what are the  activities associated with  them. Are there other places Of the groups of sufis who migrated to India in where religious men and the late twelfth century, the Chishtis were the women meet or live? most influential. This was because they adapted successfully to the local environment and adopted several features of Indian devotional traditions. 7.1 Life in the Chishti khanqah The khanqah was the centre of social life. We know about Shaikh Nizamuddin’s hospice (c. fourteenth century) on the banks of the river Yamuna in Ghiyaspur, on the outskirts of what was then the city of Delhi. It comprised several small rooms and a big hall ( jama’at khana) where the inmates and visitors lived and prayed. The inmates included family members of the Shaikh, his attendants and disciples. The Shaikh lived in a small room on the roof of the hall where he met visitors in the morning and evening. A veranda surrounded the courtyard, and a boundary wall ran around the complex. On one occasion, fearing a Mongol invasion, people from the neighbouring areas flocked into the khanqah to seek refuge. MAJOR TEACHERS OF THE CHISHTI SILSILA SUFI TEACHERS YEAR OF DEATH LOCATION OF DARGAH Shaikh Muinuddin Sijzi 1235 Ajmer (Rajasthan) Khwaja Qutbuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki 1235 Delhi Shaikh Fariduddin Ganj-i Shakar 1265 Ajodhan (Pakistan) Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya 1325 Delhi Shaikh Nasiruddin Chiragh-i Dehli 1356 Delhi 2015-16(20/01/2015)       There was an open kitchen (langar), run on futuh (unasked-for charity). From morning till late night  people from all walks of life – soldiers, slaves,  singers, merchants, poets, travellers, rich and poor, Hindu jogis (yogi) and qalandars – came  seeking discipleship, amulets for healing, and the  intercession of the Shaikh in various matters. Other      visitors included poets such as Amir Hasan Sijzi  and Amir Khusrau and the court historian Ziyauddin      Barani, all of whom wrote about the Shaikh.        Practices that were adopted, including bowing before      the Shaikh, offering water to visitors, shaving the  heads of initiates, and yogic exercises, represented      attempts to assimilate local traditions.  Shaikh Nizamuddin appointed several spiritual  successors and deputed them to set up hospices in  various parts of the subcontinent. As a result the      teachings, practices and organisation of the Chishtis      as well as the fame of the Shaikh spread rapidly.     This in turn drew pilgrims to his shrine, and also to  the shrines of his spiritual ancestors.       7.2 Chishti devotionalism: ziyarat and qawwali  Pilgrimage, called ziyarat, to tombs of sufi saints is  prevalent all over the Muslim world. This practice  is an occasion for seeking the sufi’s spiritual grace     (barakat). For more than seven centuries people of  various creeds, classes and social backgrounds have expressed their devotion at the dargahs of the five great Chishti saints (see chart on p.154). Amongst these, the most revered shrine is that of Khwaja Muinuddin, popularly known as “Gharib Nawaz” (comforter of the poor). The earliest textual references to Khwaja Muinuddin’s dargah date to the fourteenth century. It was evidently popular because of the austerity and piety of its Shaikh, the greatness of his spiritual successors, and the patronage of royal visitors. Muhammad bin Tughlaq (ruled, 1324-51) was the Fig. 6.12 A seventeenth-century painting of Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya and his disciple Amir Khusrau  Describe how the artist differentiates between the Shaikh and his disciple. 2015-16(20/01/2015)      first Sultan to visit the shrine, but the earliest construction to house the tomb was funded in the late fifteenth century by Sultan Ghiyasuddin Khalji of Malwa. Since the shrine was located on the trade route linking Delhi and Gujarat, it attracted a lot of travellers. By the sixteenth century the shrine had become very popular; in fact it was the spirited singing of pilgrims bound for Ajmer that inspired Akbar to visit the tomb. He went there fourteen times, sometimes two or three times a year, to seek blessings for new conquests, fulfilment of vows, and the birth of sons. He maintained this tradition until 1580. Each of these visits was celebrated by generous gifts, which were recorded in imperial documents. For example, in 1568 he offered a huge cauldron (degh) to facilitate cooking for pilgrims. He also had a mosque constructed within the compound of the dargah. Fig. 6.13 Shaikhs greeting the Mughal emperor Jahangir on his pilgrimage to Ajmer, painting by an artist named Manohar, c. 1615  Find his signature on the painting. 2015-16(20/01/2015)       Source 7                                                                                                                                                                        What are the gestures that Jahanara records to indicate her devotion to the Shaikh? How does she suggest that the dargah was a special place? Also part of ziyarat is the use of music and dance including mystical chants performed by specially trained musicians or qawwals to evoke divine ecstasy. The sufis remember God either by reciting the zikr (the Divine Names) or evoking His Presence through sama‘ (literally, “audition”) or performance of mystical music. Sama‘ was integral to the Chishtis, and exemplified interaction with indigenous devotional traditions. 2015-16(20/01/2015)      7.3 Languages and communication It was not just in sama‘ that the Chishtis adopted  local languages. In Delhi, those associated with  the Chishti silsila conversed in Hindavi, the language     of the people. Other sufis such as Baba Farid  composed verses in the local language, which were     incorporated in the Guru Granth Sahib. Yet others  composed long poems or masnavis to express ideas      of divine love using human love as an allegory. For  example, the prem-akhyan (love story) Padmavat        composed by Malik Muhammad Jayasi revolved       around the romance of Padmini and Ratansen, the  king of Chittor. Their trials were symbolic of the soul’s  journey to the divine. Such poetic compositions were       often recited in hospices, usually during sama‘.    A different genre of sufi poetry was composed in  and around the town of Bijapur, Karnataka. These       were short poems in Dakhani (a variant of Urdu)      attributed to Chishti sufis who lived in this region  during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. These poems were probably sung by women while performing household chores like grinding grain and spinning. Other compositions were in the form of lurinama or lullabies and shadinama or wedding songs. It is likely that the sufis of this region were inspired by the pre-existing bhakti tradition of the Kannada vachanas of the Lingayats and the Marathi abhangs of the sants of Pandharpur. It is through this medium that Islam gradually gained a place in the villages of the Deccan. Source 8  Fig. 6.14 Qawwali at the dargah of Nizamuddin Auliya         In what ways are the ideas  and modes of expression used  in this song similar to or  different from those used by  Jahanara to describe her  ziyarat (Source 7)?   2015-16(20/01/2015)       7.4 Sufis and the state A major feature of the Chishti tradition was austerity, including maintaining a distance from worldly power. However, this was by no means a situation of absolute isolation from political power. The sufis accepted unsolicited grants and donations from the political elites. The Sultans in turn set up charitable trusts (auqaf ) as endowments for hospices and granted tax-free land (inam). The Chishtis accepted donations in cash and kind. Rather than accumulate donations, they preferred to use these fully on immediate requirements such as food, clothes, living quarters and ritual necessities (such as sama‘ ). All this enhanced the moral authority of the shaikhs, which in turn attracted people from all walks of life. Further, their piety and scholarship, and people’s belief in their miraculous powers made sufis popular among the masses, whose support kings wished to secure. Kings did not simply need to demonstrate their association with sufis; they also required legitimation from them. When the Turks set up the Delhi Sultanate, they resisted the insistence of the ulama on imposing shari‘a as state law because they anticipated opposition from their subjects, the majority of whom were non-Muslims. The Sultans then sought out the sufis – who derived their authority directly from God – and did not depend on jurists to interpret the shari‘a. Besides, it was believed that the auliya could intercede with God in order to improve the material  and spiritual conditions of ordinary human beings. This explains why kings often wanted their tombs to      be in the vicinity of sufi shrines and hospices.         However, there were instances of conflict between  the Sultans and the sufis. To assert their authority,     both expected that certain rituals be performed such      as prostration and kissing of the feet. Occasionally  the sufi shaikh was addressed with high-sounding       titles. For example, the disciples of Nizamuddin     Auliya addressed him as sultan-ul-mashaikh (literally,  Sultan amongst shaikhs). 2015-16(20/01/2015)      Source 9  Discuss...     What are the potential sources of conflict in the  relationship between religious  and political leaders?                       What aspects of the          relationship between the sufis  and the state do you think are  best illustrated in this account?  What does the account tell us  about the modes of         communication between the          Shaikh and his disciples?    Fig. 6.15 The dargah of Shaikh Salim Chishti           (a direct descendant of Baba Farid)  constructed in Fatehpur Sikri,  Akbar’s capital, symbolised the  bond between the Chishtis and the  Mughal state. 2015-16(20/01/2015)        Source 10          Many poet-saints engaged in explicit and implicit  dialogue with these new social situations, ideas and  institutions. Let us now see how this dialogue found      expression. We focus here on three of the most  influential figures of the time.       8.1 Weaving a divine fabric: Kabir  Kabir (c. fourteenth-fifteenth centuries) is perhaps  one of the most outstanding examples of a poet-saint  who emerged within this context. Historians have painstakingly tried to reconstruct his life and times   through a study of compositions attributed to him as well as later hagiographies. Such exercises have      proved to be challenging on a number of counts.  Verses ascribed to Kabir have been compiled in  three distinct but overlapping traditions. The Kabir     Bijak is preserved by the Kabirpanth (the path or  sect of Kabir) in Varanasi and elsewhere in Uttar      Pradesh; the Kabir Granthavali is associated with  the Dadupanth in Rajasthan, and many of his      compositions are found in the Adi Granth Sahib (see  Section 8.2). All these manuscript compilations  were made long after the death of Kabir. By the      nineteenth century, anthologies of verses attributed  to him circulated in print in regions as far apart as Bengal, Gujarat and Maharashtra. Kabir’s poems have survived in several languages  What is Kabir’s and dialects; and some are composed in the special argument against the language of nirguna poets, the sant bhasha. Others, distinction made known as ulatbansi (upside-down sayings), are between gods of different communities? written in a form in which everyday meanings are inverted. These hint at the difficulties of capturing the nature of the Ultimate Reality in words: expressions such as “the lotus which blooms without flower” or the “fire raging in the ocean” convey a sense of Kabir’s mystical experiences. Also striking is the range of traditions Kabir drew on to describe the Ultimate Reality. These include Islam: he described the Ultimate Reality as Allah, Khuda, Hazrat and Pir. He also used terms drawn from Vedantic traditions, alakh (the unseen), nirakar (formless), Brahman, Atman, etc. Other terms with mystical connotations such as shabda (sound) or shunya (emptiness) were drawn from yogic traditions. 2015-16(20/01/2015)      Diverse and sometimes conflicting ideas are expressed in these poems. Some poems draw on Islamic ideas and use monotheism and iconoclasm to attack Hindu polytheism and idol worship; others use the sufi concept of zikr and ishq (love) to express the Hindu practice of nam-simaran (remembrance of God’s name). Were all these composed by Kabir? We may never be able to tell with certainty, although scholars have tried to analyse the language, style and content to establish which verses could be Kabir’s. What this Fig. 6.16 rich corpus of verses also signifies is that Kabir was Roadside musicians, a seventeenth- and is to the present a source of inspiration for century Mughal painting It is likely that the compositions those who questioned entrenched religious and of the sants were sung by social institutions, ideas and practices in their such musicians. search for the Divine. Just as Kabir’s ideas probably crystallised through dialogue and debate (explicit or implicit) with the traditions of sufis and yogis in the region of Awadh (part of present-day Uttar Pradesh), his legacy was claimed by several groups, who remembered him and continue to do so. This is most evident in later debates about whether he was a Hindu or a Muslim by birth, debates that are reflected in hagiographies. Many of these were composed from the seventeenth century onwards, about 200 years after Kabir’s lifetime. Hagiographies within the Vaishnava tradition attempted to suggest that he was born a Hindu, Kabirdas (Kabir itself is an Arabic word meaning “great”), but was raised by a poor