Question : “The tenets of Hindu and Muslim mystics were similar enough that the ground was ripe for syncretic movements involving adherents of both the religions.” Elucidate.
(2007)
Answer : Religion played a predominant role in the Medieval Indian society, and something concrete in this specific domain was also needed to bridge the gulf between the tow communities at the socio-cultural levels. The saints and scholars of both the communities were conscious of this fact; and, before long, there emerged from among their ranks, Bhakti reformers and Sufi saints, who took up the cause of socio-religious reforms and preached the gospels of Equality of Mankind, Universal brotherhood and Hindu-Muslim Unity. In the local dialects and regional languages which could be easily understood by the Indian masses. Neither the Bhakti Movement nor Sufism owed their origin to medieval India; nor did either of two stand to propagate any extraordinary or new religious beliefs and dogmas to their followers. Instead, both of them carried on their campaigns well within the frameworks of their respective religious, Hinduism and Islam, with the two fold objectives: (a) to curb the exploitative and superstitions elements and factors in their religions and (b) to mould the social lives of their followers in conformity with the principles of ‘equality of Mankind’ and ‘Universal Brotherhood’ with emphasis on Hindu-Muslim Unity.
Mysticism constitutes but an indispensable part of every religion in the world; with the natural religions, based on the evolution of human culture and thought, such as Hinduism, if began with the beginning, whereas, in the case of created religions, such as Christianity and Islam, it emerged as a Schism against the institutionalized or dogmatic creeds. The Islamic mysticism, known as Tasawuf or Sufism, was as old as Islam itself; it was, no doubt, born in the bosom of Islam.
The dawn of consciousness about the existence of one supreme power, the almighty creator, called Allah in Islam, was enough to enchant the minds of the virtuous to seek personal communion with him through self-surrender, meditation and total dedication to the service of mankind, like the Indian mystics or Bhakti reformers. Sufism had no creed or organization or monastic order. It is said that it assumed the form of a regular movement in Persia in the 9th century as a reaction against the rigid formalism of Islam. It received a theosophical basis during the age of Abbasid Caliphs of Bagdad and the Sufi saints drew freely from the mystic concepts of other peoples and religion, including Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism.
It is now universally recognized that the prevalence’s of Bhakti movement exercised a profound impact on the Indian Sufism and vice versa. The Sufi doctrine show a striking similarity with Vedanta but it was not because of the instant impact of the Indian thought on the farmer in the medieval age. The Sufi philosophy nourished on the Persian soil which, in turn, had been permeated with Buddhism and Vedic philosophy long before the birth of Islam. It was thus the remote Indian cultural heritage of Sufism which provided it with religious fervor and modes of expression similar to those of Buddhism and Vedanta. Nevertheless, the Indian Sufis constituted a class by themselves quite distinct from their counterparts in other Muslim countries.
This later development of Sufism on the Indian soil owes much to the Indian thought and social environment. They felt at home in the company of Indian ascetics and strove to look like the ones. They adopted their garments, practices and the outward behaviour to wave off the suspicion of the lower orders of Hindus amongst whom they worked for the propagation of Islam. They freely imitated the ascetic practices of the Indian mystics and the Sadhus. Their Khanqahs were built in the fashion of the Buddhist monasteries and the Hindu Mathas where Indian customs and ceremonials were adopted wholesale. Like the Hindu ascetics, the Sufis also shaved the heads of the new entrants to their order and observed certain rituals which were totally unknown to their counterparts in other Muslim countries.
They received salutations from the native visitors, their prospective disciples, as per their indigenous customs and made those practices a part and parcel of their own organizational set up. Sufism was thus thoroughly Indianized and the Sufi saints enjoyed great respect among the people, Hindus and Muslim alike.
The Sufi doctrine of sulehkul or universal brotherhood had a great humanistic appeal behind it which crossed all religious barriers and developed fellow-feelings between Hindus and Muslims; the Bhakti reformers gave a helping hand to the Sufis in bringing about Hindu-Muslim unity. The Sufi saints and Bhakti reformers, in general, were revered by the Indian masses, Hindus and Muslims alike; thus Hindu saints respected by the Muslims and Muslim saints adored by the Hindus, became a popular phenomena of the medieval Indian social life.
The way some of Hindu intellectuals, without sacrificing their ancestral faith, developed a fondness for Sufi literature and shared their mystical experiences with the Muslim divines bespeaks highly of the broad-mindedness and catholicity of the socio-cultural leadership of both communities; it fostered the feelings of religious tolerance between the Hindus and Muslims and electrified the process of synthesis between their socio-cultural traits.
Question : The Bahamani Kingdom.
(2007)
Answer : In 1347 A.D. there occurred a serious revolt in Daultabad or Devgiri which proved quite successful, and the nobles raised Hassan Gangu, a powerful noble and capable soldier to the exalted post of the king. As Hussan Gangu claimed to have descended from king Bahman of Persia, he assumed the title of Ala-ud-Din Hassan Shah Bahman. There were 18 rulers of the Bahmani Kingdom who ruled for about 180 years (i.e. 1347 to 1526 A.D.) All these rulers are not, however, so important for the students of history. Some of these rulers were mere names who did nothing except spending their time in pleasure and wine-cups. But still there were some great rulers like Bahman Shah, Muhammad Shah I, Muhammad Shah II, Firoz Shah, Ahmad Shah, etc. under whom not only the boundaries of the Bahmani Empire extended with a great speed but also various arts and literature made a rapid progress.
Bahmani rulers has to spend much of their time in fighting offensive and defensive wars and consequently they had little time to look into the administration of their state. But they were fortunate enough in getting the services of some such wise ministers as Saif-ud-Din and Mahmud Gawan. The whole Bahmani Kingdom was divided into many provinces for better administration and greater efficiency. For the welfare of the peasants various steps were taken. Tanks and dams were constructed in order to improve irrigation. The share of the state was fixed and the corrupt officials were duly punished.
Bahmani rulers were great builders who decorated Gulbarga, Bidar and other important cities of their empire with beautiful buildings, grand palaces, strong forts and a large number of mosques. The Jama Masjid of Gulbarga-fort, the palace and fortress of Firozabad, the tombs of Firoz Shah and ‘Gesu Dara’ in Gulbarga are some of the most magnificent buildings of this dynasty. The Bahmani rulers were also great -patrons of education and learning. They established various schools and ‘Khankas’ for the spread of knowledge among the illiterates. Rich endowments were also made for the maintenance of the learned and pious men.Question : “The tenets of Hindu and Muslim mystics were similar enough that the ground was ripe for syncretic movements involving adherents of both religions”. Elucidate.
(2005)
Answer : In the beginning when in India the Muslims and Hindus came into contact with each other, they naturally became hostile to each other because of their different cultures and different ways of living. But with the passage of time and living side by side for a very long time they lost much of their differences and came nearer to each other day by day. They now began to live like good neighbours and consequently they influenced each other to a great extent. In this background we see the essence of mystic movements in both the religions— Hindu and Muslim. Reformers of these movements laid a great emphasis on the equality of all the religions and preached the principle of co-existence. As a result of their teachings much of the bitterness between the Hindus and the Muslims was removed. The Hindu began to worship Muslim saints and the Muslims began to show respect for the Hindu Gods.
Hindu society was suffering from many evils like caste-hatred or untouchability, idolatry or image worship and polytheism or worship of many gods etc. The Muslims were able to win over thousands of Hindus to their fold. Thus Hinduism found itself in a precarious condition. Bur fortunately for the Hindus a large number of reformers came to the forefront. They tried to remove all the evils in their religion and told the common masses that ‘Unity of Godhood and ‘brotherhood of man’ were not the exclusive possessions’ of Islam, but they were the main principles of the Vedanta religion. Thus very cleverly they saved Hinduism from extinction. The Bhakti cult was liberal as it laid stress on points like equality of all religions, unity of godhood, dignity of man’s actions. Simple devotion and protest against ritualism and priests. The Bhakti cult cut across distinctions of high and low birth, the learned and the unlettered and opened the gateway of spiritual realization to one and all. A large number of the mystics belonged to the traditional Saguna School which believed that God has many farms and attributes. God manifests in incarnations such as Rama and Krishna. But the others trod a new path and formed the Nirguna School, which believed in a God without form or attributes, but nevertheless merciful and responsive to human prayers. Its basic approach was by no means alien to Hindu Vedanta philosophy, but there is no doubt that Islamic thought gave it a new form and strength.
Nirguna was represented by Kabir who preached a religious system of monotheism. He taught the absolute abolition of caste and doubted the authority of the Vedas and other sacred books. The followers of this school were essentially heretics. Not believing in religious authority, Kabir sought to understand Islam and even to establish a syncretic system appropriate to the life of the people of India. Its doctrine was sufficiently wide to incorporate some of the basic principles of Islam. From Kabir sprang a galaxy of reformers who preached their ardent faith in a personal God and a moral law which rules the world. Dadu, Chaitanya, Mirabai, Tukaram and Surdas, though not directly connected with Kabir, were monotheists and preached the doctrine of Bhakti.
Like Hinduism, Islam also experienced mystic movement and new philosophical interpretations inform of Sufism. The Sufis believed in the equality of all human beings, whether Muslims, Hindus or followers of any other creed. They were against orthodoxy of any kind and regarded free thought as the primary condition to spiritual advancement. The principles of Sufism resemble very much with those of the Bhakti cult and it appears as if the Vedantic philosophy had greatly affected it. Sufism laid emphasis on the principle that individual souls are manifestations of the supreme soul in which they are finally immersed.
Sufism was essentially a faith, or rather an intellectual and emotional reserve for philosophers, authors, and mystics free from bigotry. It rapidly spread and developed from the time of Akbar, under whose fostering care Hindu and Muslim thought formed a close union, with help from many Persian immigrants of liberal views. He held Sheikh Mubarak and his two sons Abul Fazl and Faizi in great esteem because they were all Sufis and held liberal views. It was they who exerted a powerful influence on Akbar’s mind and saved him from orthodox group. They also encouraged Akbar to find Din-e-Ilahi. These Sufis continued to flourish up to the reign of Shah Jahan.
Dara Shikoh openly declared that he had found the fullest pantheism-tauhid- in the vedanta only and prepared a persian translation of fifty of the Upanishads and another work bearing the significant title of Majmua-ul-baharain or ‘the mingling of the two oceans’ which explains the technical terms of Hindu pantheism, with their parallels in Sufi phraseology for Persian readers, in order to facilitate the study of the subject by members of both creeds. In short the Sufi philosophy tended to bring the ruling race and the subject people closer together.
It is not surprising, therefore, that the Sufi pirs were as much revered by the Hindus as were the Hindu gurus and ascetics, all of them being regarded by the Hindus in general as being of the same mould. It led to the popularity of the Bhakti movement, because many principles of Sufism were similar to those of the Bhakti cult. It had a great liberalising effect on the state policy of many Indian rulers. The Hindus began to venerate the Muslim saints and the Muslims on ‘’ their part began to show respect to the Hindu Gods. As a result of syncretic movements, India experienced cultural and other effects during medieval period. The popular languages of the Muslim invaders were Persian and Arabic but the popular language of the Hindus was Sanskrit. But both the sides felt the need of some common language and as a result of these efforts a common language known as ‘Urdu’ was developed. The reformers adopted the common language of the people and in this way a great impetus was given to the development of the Varnaculars. Sheikh Ahmed Khattu adopted Gujarati, Qutuban, Manjhan and Jaisi wrote in Avadhi and Braja while Baba Farid and others preached in Punjabi. What was true of literature was also true of painting, music, dancing and what not.
Question : Chaitanyadeva and Vaishnavism.
(2005)
Answer : Chaitanya was a contemporary of Vallabha Swami who preached the Bhakti cult in Bengal. He was born in Nadia in 1485 A.D. At an early age of 25 he left his home and became a ‘Sanyasi’. He was an ardent devotee of Krishna and preached the worship of Krishna among the people. Chaitanya was a revivalist. At the mention of the name of Krishna he went into ecstasy or swooned. He ultimately settled in Puri near the Jagannath temple. He was also influenced by Krishna-Radha poetry of Jaideva and Vidyapati and Baru Chandidas. He denounced caste and preached the universal brotherhood of mankind. Everyone whether a Brahman or a Sudra, high or low, listened to him with great devotion. He taught his followers to give up pride and learn humanity. There are many people in Bengal and outside who worship Chaitanya as an incarnation of Krishna and call him ‘Maha Prabhu’.
The simple and emotional nature of Chaitanya’s teachings made a profound appeal to the oppressed and even Brahmins and Muslims were converted. The movement spread rapidly in Bengal, Eastern India and Assam. It grew at the expanse of Shaktism and through the conversion of disorganized remnants of Buddhism. Chaitanya favoured marriage, vegetarianism and teetotalism. In his theology the sensual and the voracious could not attain salvation. Chaitanya toured Southern and Eastern India preaching and demonstrating his ecstatic worship, swaying, dancing and gesticulating. He sang hymns or gave theatrical performances. The essence of his teaching was that God is love and must be approached through devotion and surrender.
