The medieval period is considered an age of great cultural combination in India.

• The combination of different cultures gave birth to new philosophical and religious traditions like Sufism and Bhakti, new religion like Sikhism, growth of Urdu and Persian Languages and literature.

Important Points

The Bhakti Saints offered a liberal approach of Hinduism, which was largely targeted to the lower castes. Two schools of Bhakti Thoughts are as follows:​

From the above, we can say that Kabir is the Nirguna Saint. 

Additional Information

Kabir (AD 1440-1510):

• He opposed caste, creed, image worship, and propagated Hindu-Muslim unity.
• He wrote- Sabad, Bijak, Doha, Rekhtal.
• The verses of Kabir, Namdev, Raidas, Dhanna, Pipa etc were included in Adi Granth.
• He propagated Ram Bhakti.

The correct answer is Southern.

• Andal was a woman saint of South India.
  • She is one of the twelve Alvar saints.
  • She is called 'Mira of the South'.
  • She was born in Vikram No. 770.

Additional Information

• ​Andal has composed two texts- Tiruppavai, Nachiyar Tirumoli
  • She also has a famous name 'Kaude'.

• The Sufi movement started in India in and around the 11th century A.D. 
• The Bhakti movement popularized the concept of devotional surrender to a supreme God. The Bhakti movement reached its climax in the 10th century A.D.
• A major practice devised by the Sufis for stimulating religious emotion was listening to music and song or sama. These songs are capable of sending one into a trance.
• The subject of the songs was love, which was often erotic. One could not clearly distinguish whether the love, being talked about here was human love or the love for the deity.
• This is similar to the love in the bhakti tradition between the bhakta and the God as was expressed for Krishna by the Gopis. 
• What Sufis taught was very similar to the bhakti teaching of concentrating upon a God and the significance of sacred music and song. 
• In the field of music, the qawwali style developed. Amir Khusrau is credited for this and also for the development of many modern ragas like aiman, gora and sanam.
• New textual sources available during that period include compositions attributed to poet-saints who express themselves orally in regional languages.
• Some of the prominent literature produced during this period are the “Fawa’id-al-Fu’ad”, a collection of conversations of Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya. “Siyar-ul-Auliya” written by Mir Khwurd Kirmani and “Akhbar-ul-Akhyar” written by Abdul Haqq Muhaddis Dehlavi. 
• At certain places in India, the bhakti movement drew its inspiration from texts like the Bhagavata purana.
• The Nalayira Divyaprabandham or Four Thousand Sacred Compositions compositions compiled by Alvars.  

The correct answer is Tamil Veda.

Key Points

• The Nalayira Divyaprabandham was frequently described as the Tamil Veda, thus claiming that the text was as significant as the four Vedas in Sanskrit that were cherished by the Brahmanas.
• It is the major anthologies of compositions by the Alvars.
• 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 traveled from place to place singing hymns in Tamil in praise of their gods.
• 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 as the Vedas.
    • For instance, one of the major anthologies of compositions by the Alvars, the Nalayira Divyaprabandham, was frequently described as the Tamil Veda, thus claiming that the text was as significant as the four Vedas in Sanskrit that was cherished by the Brahmanas.
• Women devotees:
  • Andal - a woman Alvar
  • Karaikkal Ammaiyar - a devotee of Shiva

The correct answer is Option 3.

• At a different level, historians of religion often classify bhakti traditions into two broad categories: Saguna (with attributes) and Nirguna (without attributes).
• Saguna Bhakti 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 conceptualized in anthropomorphic forms.
• Nirguna bhakti, on the other hand, was the worship of an abstract form of god.

Source - Theme Six, Class XII NCERT

The correct answer is Raidas.

Key Points

• Mira Bai was a Rajput princess, the only child of Ratan Singh, younger brother of the ruler of Merta.
• Her royal education included music and religion as well as instruction in politics and government. 
• An image of Krishna given to her during childhood by a holy man began a lifetime of devotion to Krishna, whom she worshipped as her Divine Lover.
• Mira Bai was married in 1516 to Bhoj Raj, crown prince of Mewar. 
• Guru Raidas, a low caste leather worker was the preceptor of Mirabai.

Additional Information

• Dadu was a Hindu-Muslim saint who inspired the formation of a sect called Dadu Panth.
• Dadu became a religious wanderer and preacher, settling for periods of time at Sembhar, at Amber, and finally at Naraina, near Jaipur.
• Ramananda, also called Ramanand or Ramadatta, was north Indian Brahman (priest), and fifth in succession in the lineage of the philosopher-mystic Ramanuja. 
• Surdas was a 16^th century blind Hindu devotional poet and singer.
• He was known for his lyrics written in praise of Krishna.
• They are usually written in Braj Bhasha, one of the two literary dialects of Hindi.

The correct answer is Guru Nanak.

Key Points

• Guru Nanak Dev
  • His ideas were very similar to those of Kabir’s (1469-1539).
  • However, his teachings led to the emergence of a new mass religion, that of Sikhism.
  • Almighty was through the recitation of hymns or shabads. Baba Guru Nanak would sing these compositions in various ragas while his attendant Mardana played the rabab.
  • He set up rules for congregational worship (Sangat) involving the collective recitation of verses. Hence, Option 1 is correct.
  • He appointed one of his disciples, Angad, to succeed him and the practice was followed for nearly 200 years.
  • It appears that Guru Nanak did not wish to establish a new religion, but after his death, his followers consolidated their practices and distinguished themselves from both Hindus and Muslims.
  • The fifth preceptor, Guru Arjan, compiled Baba Guru Nanak’s hymns along with those of his four successors and other religious poets like Baba Farid, Ravidas (also known as Raidas) and Kabir in the Adi Granth Sahib.
  • These hymns, called Gurbani are composed in various languages. In the late seventeenth century the tenth preceptor, Guru Gobind Singh, included the compositions of the ninth guru, Guru Tegh Bahadur, and this scripture was called the Guru Granth Sahib.
  • Guru Nanak Dev Jayanti is observed to celebrate the birth of Guru Nanak Dev (1469-1539), who is the first of the 10 Sikh Gurus and the founder of Sikhism.

• Sheikh Nizamuddin Auliya was contemporary of Gaiyasuddin Tughlaq.
• Sheikh Nizamuddin Auliya is popularly known as Hazrat Nizamuddin.
• He was the Sufi saint of Chishti order.
• Sheikh Nizamuddin Auliya and Gaiyasuddin Tughlaq did not have a good relationship with each other.

The correct answer is Different orders within Sufism.

Important Points

• Silsila is an Arabic word meaning chain, link.
• It may be depicted as “(religious) order where one Sufi saint transfers his khilafat to his spiritual descendant.

Key Points

• Sufi movement in India 
  • Sufism gained prominence in the 10th and 11th centuries during the reign of the Delhi Sultanate.​
  • In India, Sufism adopted many native Indian concepts such as yogic postures, music and dance.
  • During the medieval period, the Sufis played an important role in interpreting and elaborating on Islamic theological concepts.
  • They also encouraged the development of practices like Ziyarat.
  • There were two broad Sufi orders:
    • Bashara –Obeyed Islamic laws
    • Beshara –More liberal in ideology
  • There were twelve silsilas or orders under the Bashara.
  • The most important ones were Chisti, Suhrwardi, etc.
  • The Beshara was also called ‘mast kalandar’. 

Additional Information

• Important Sufi Terms

• Most important silsilas  
• Chishti Order
  • Originated in Persia and Central Asia.
  • The first saint was Abu Ishaq Shami.
  • The most important saint was Moinuddin Chishti, who died in Ajmer. His resting place is in Ajmer has known as Sharif Dargah in Ajmer.
  • Another important saint of this order was Nizamuddin Auliya.
• Suhrwardi Order
  • Founded by Abdul-Wahid Abu.
• Other important orders are:
  • Kubrawiya,
  • Naqshbandi,
  • Mawlawiyya,
  • Qadiri

The correct answer is Vishnu.

• Alvars: One who is “immersed” in devotion to Vishnu.

Key Points

• Some of the earliest bhakti movements (6^th 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.
• 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.

Additional Information

• 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.
• 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”.
• Alvars and Nayanars claimed that their compositions were as important as the Vedas. For instance, one of the major anthologies of compositions by the Alvars, the Nalayira Divyaprabandham, was frequently described as the Tamil Veda.
• The most striking feature of the Alvar and Nayanar traditions was the presence of women.