Medieval India — Composite Culture
ICSE Class 9 · History & Civics · Chapter 15
What this chapter covers
- Composite culture: meaning and setting
- Factors responsible for composite culture
- The Bhakti movement: origin and saints
- Principles of the Bhakti movement
- The Sufi movement: origin and orders
- Principles of the Sufi movement
- Impact of composite culture
- Impact of the Bhakti movement
- Impact of the Sufi movement
- Christian missionaries and their impact
Key points
- Composite culture is the shared culture that grew in medieval India as Hindu, Islamic and other traditions lived side by side and borrowed from each other.
- Factors behind it: permanent settlement of the Turks and Mughals, tolerant rulers such as Akbar (sulh-i-kul), Rajput marriage alliances, the Bhakti and Sufi saints, common languages, translation, shared trade and crafts, and royal patronage of art.
- The Bhakti movement began with the Alvars and Nayanars of the south and spread north through Ramananda, Kabir, Guru Nanak, Chaitanya, Mirabai, Tulsidas and others.
- Bhakti principles: one God, salvation through devotion, surrender to God, the need for a guru, rejection of ritual and caste, pure living, the people's languages and harmony between faiths.
- Saguna bhakti worships God with form, such as Rama or Krishna; nirguna bhakti worships a formless God.
- Sufism is the mystical side of Islam; its orders (silsilas) include the Chishti and Suhrawardi, led by pirs who taught murids in khanqahs.
- Sufi principles: love of one God, rejection of outward show, need for a pir, simple living, equality, service to humanity, sama and zikr, and tolerance.
- Impact of composite culture: Indo-Islamic architecture, Urdu and richer regional literatures, Hindustani music, Mughal and Rajput painting, shared dress, food and festivals, and mixed administration.
- The Bhakti movement simplified religion, challenged caste, raised the place of women saints, built Hindu-Muslim harmony, gave rise to Sikhism and enriched regional languages.
- The Sufi movement spread tolerance and social service, influenced rulers, enriched literature and Urdu, and gave India the qawwali.
- Christian missionaries brought the printing press (Goa, 1556), studied and printed Indian languages, opened schools and hospitals and pressed for social reform.
Questions answered
What is meant by "composite culture"? Give one example from medieval India.
Composite culture is the shared culture that grows when different traditions live together for a long time and borrow from each other until they form one way of life. Urdu, which grew from Hindavi with Persian, Arabic and Turkish words, is one example.
How did marriage alliances help the growth of a composite culture?
Marriages between Mughal princes and Rajput princesses, such as Akbar's marriage to the daughter of Raja Bharmal of Amber, brought the two ruling groups closer, made Hindu customs and festivals familiar at court and spread a shared courtly culture.
Name two works translated into Persian in the Mughal period, and the translators' patrons.
The Mahabharata was translated as the Razmnama under Akbar's patronage, and the Upanishads were translated into Persian by Dara Shikoh, the son of Shah Jahan.
Who were the Alvars and the Nayanars?
They were saints of South India between the sixth and ninth centuries who sang devotional hymns in Tamil, the Alvars to Vishnu and the Nayanars to Shiva.
Why did Kabir criticise both Hindus and Muslims?
Kabir believed that God lives in the human heart, so he mocked idol worship, pilgrimages and fasting among Hindus and empty rituals among Muslims as outward show without true devotion.
Give two teachings of Guru Nanak.
He taught the worship of one formless God and the remembering of God's name, and he taught honest work, sharing with others and the rejection of caste, shown in the langar where all eat together.
What is a silsila? Name two Sufi silsilas that became important in India.
A silsila is a Sufi order, a chain of teaching passed from master to disciple. The Chishti and Suhrawardi orders became important in India.
Distinguish between a khanqah and a dargah.
A khanqah is the hospice where a living Sufi master stayed with his disciples and served the poor; a dargah is the tomb of a Sufi saint, which becomes a place of pilgrimage.
Past board exam questions
ICSE 2019 sample paper · 3 marks
With reference to the Bhakti Movement, Sufism and Christianity, answer the following questions: Mention the teachings of Kabir as mentioned in the Bijak.
Show answer
1. God is one, formless and present everywhere; Ram and Rahim are names of the same God.
2. He condemned idol worship, rituals, pilgrimages and fasts, and opposed the caste system and hypocrisy of both Hindus and Muslims.
3. Salvation can be attained through true devotion (bhakti) to God, a pure heart and the guidance of a Guru; he preached Hindu-Muslim unity.
ICSE 2019 sample paper · 3 marks
With reference to the Bhakti Movement, Sufism and Christianity, answer the following questions: State the significance of Sufism on Indian Society.
Show answer
1. Sufi saints preached love, tolerance and brotherhood and helped bring Hindus and Muslims closer, promoting communal harmony.
2. They rejected the caste system and treated all people as equal, attracting the poor and lower castes.
3. Their khanqahs and dargahs became centres of social service, and their devotional music (qawwali, sama) and use of local languages enriched Indian culture and literature.
ICSE 2019 sample paper · 4 marks
With reference to the Bhakti Movement, Sufism and Christianity, answer the following questions: State any two contributions of St. Francis Xavier in the advancement of Christianity in India.
Show answer
1. He came to Goa in 1542 and preached Christianity among the common people, especially the poor fishermen (Paravas) on the Malabar and Coromandel coasts, converting thousands.
2. He set up churches and educational institutions (e.g. St. Paul's College, Goa), translated prayers into local languages, and served the sick and poor, which spread Christianity in India.