Do you know the significant events and terms related to Cultural Development of India during 1300-1500 C.
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CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT IN INDIA ( 1300-1500)
The Turks used the arch and the dome on a wide scale. Neither the arch nor the dome was a Turkish or Muslim invention. The Arabs borrowed them from Rome.
The arch and the dome dispensed with the need for a large number of pillars to support the roof and enabled the construction of large halls with a clear view.
The arch and the dome were known to the Indians earlier, but they were not used on a large scale. Moreover, the correct scientific method of constructing the arch was rarely employed.
The Turkish rulers used both the dome and arch method as well as the slab and beam method in their buildings.
The Turks did not use human or animal figures in their architecture since it was considered un-Islamic to do so. Instead, they used scrolls of flowers and verses of the Quran which were intertwined in a very artistic manner. Thus, the Arabic script itself became a work of art. The combination of these decorative devices was called arabesque.
They also freely borrowed Hindu motifs such as the bell motif, swastika, lotus, etc.
The Turks also added colour to their buildings by using red sandstone. Yellow sandstone, or marble was used in these buildings for decoration and to show off the colour of the sandstone.
The most magnificent building constructed by the Turks in the 13th century was the Qutab Minar. It was begun by Aibak and completed by Iltutmish. Alauddin added an entrance door to the Qutab known as Alai Darwaza.
A striking feature of the Tughlaq architecture was the sloping walls. This is called ‘batter’ and gives the effect of strength and solidity to the building. However, we do not find any ‘batter’ in the buildings of Firuz Tughlaq.
As second feature of the Tughlaq architecture was the deliberate attempt to combine the principles of the arch, and the lintel and beam in their buildings. This is found in a marked manner in the buildings of Firuz Tughlaq.
The Tughlaqs did not generally use the costly red sandstone in their buildings but the cheaper and more easily available greystone. Since it was not easy to carve this type of stone, the Tughlaq buildings have a minimum of decoration. But the decorative device found in all the buildings of Firuz is the lotus.
An independent style of architecture had emerged in India during this period combining many of the new devices brought by the Turks with the indigenous forms.
The Lodis developed this tradition further. Both the arch, and lintel and beam were used in their buildings. Balconies, kiosks and eaves of the Rajasthani-Gujarati style are also used.
Another device used by the Lodis was placing their buildings, especially tombs, on a high platform, thus giving the building a feeling of size as well as a better skyline. Some of the tombs were placed in the midst of a gardens. The Lodi garden in Delhi is a fine example of this. Some of the tombs were octagonal in shape.
Islam was not stranger in India when the Turks established their empire in north India. Islam had been established in Sindh from the 8th century, and the Punjab form the 10th century, Arab travellers and Sufi saints travelled in different parts of India.
Al-Biruni’s book Kitab-ul-Hind and other writings had familiarised the learned sections in West Asia about Hindu ideas and beliefs.
While various rituals and practices, including yogic practices, were freely drawn upon from Hinduism by the early Sufis and assimilated into their system, their basic ideological structure remained Islamic.
The tenth century is important in Islamic history as it marks the end of the domination of the Mutazila or rationalist philosophy, and the rise of orthodox schools based on the Quran and Hadis and of the Sufi mystic orders.
The works of the traditionalists crystallized in four schools of the Islamic Law. Of these, the Hanafi school was the most liberal, was adopted by the eastern Turks who later came to India.
Mystics, who are called Sufis, had risen in Islam at a very early stage. Most of them were persons of deep devotion who were disgusted by the vulgur display of wealth and degeneration of morals following the establishment of the Islamic empire. Hence, these saints wanted to have nothing to do with the state.
The Sufis laid great emphasis on love as the bond between God and the individual soul.
Rabia was a woman Sufi mystic.
Due to their pantheistic approach, Sufis had conflict with the orthodox elements who had Mansur executed for heresy.
Sufis were organised into 12 orders or silsilahs.
A silsilah was led by a prominent mystic who lived in khanqah or hospice along with his disciples.
The link between the teacher or pir and his disciples or murids was a vital part of the Sufi system.
Every pir nominated a successor or wali to carry on his work.
The monastic organisation of the Sufis and some of their practices such as penance, fasting and holding the breath are traced to the Buddhist and Hindu yogic influence.
Buddhism was widely prevalent in Central Asia before the advent of Islam, and the legend of the Buddha as a siantly man had passed into the Islamic legend.
Yogis continued to visit West Asia even after the advent of Islam and the yogic book, Amrit-kund, had been translated into Persian from Sanskrit.
Thus, Hindu and Buddhist practices and rituals seem to have been absorbed and assimilated by the Sufis even before they came to India.
Whether, Buddhist philosophical ideas and Vedantist ideas had, in a significant manner , influenced Sufism is a matter of controvery. The Sufi saints and many modern thinkers trace the Sufi ideas to the Quran.
Irrespective of origin there were many similarities in the ideas of the Sufis and the Hindu yogis and mystics about the nature of God, and His relationship with the soul, and the material world.
The Sufi orders are broadly divided into two: Ba-shara, that is, those which followed the Islamic Law (shara} and be-shara, that is, those which were not bound by it. Both types of orders prevailed in India, the latter being followed more by wandering saints.
Of the ba-shara movements, only two acquired significant influence. These were the Chishti and Suharwardi
The Chishti order was established in India by Khwaja Muinuddin Chishti who came to India around 1192, shortly after the defeat and death of Prithvi Raj Chauhan.
His outlook was so broad and humane that some of his verses are later found quoted in the Adi-Granth of the Sikhs.
The most famous of the Chishti saints, however, were Nizamuddin Auliya and Nasiruddin Chiragh-i-Delhi.
These early Sufis mingled freely with people of the lower classes, including the Hindus. They led a simple, austere life, and conversed with people in Hindawi, their local dialect.
These Sufi saints made themselves popular by adopting musical recitations called sama, to create a mood of nearness to God. Moreover, they often chose Hindi verses for the purpose, since they could make a greater impact on their listeners.
Nizamuddin Auliya adopted yogic breathing exercises, so much so that the yogis called him a sidh or ‘perfect’.
After the death of Nasiruddin Chiragh-i-Delhi, the Chishtis did not have a commanding figure at Delhi. As a result, the Chishti saints dispersed, and extended their message to the eastern and southern parts of India.
The Suharwardi order entered India at about the same time as the Chishtis, but its activities were confined largely to the Punjab and Multan.
Unlike the Chishtis, the Suharwardi saints did not believe in leading a life of poverty. They accepted the service nf the state, and some of them held important posts in the ecclesiastical department. The Chishtis, on the other hand preferred to keep aloof from state politics and shunned the company of rulers and nobles.
The Bhakti movement, which stressed mystical union of the individual with God had been at work in India long before the arrival of the Turks.
Although the seeds of Bhakti can be found in the Vedas, it was not emphasized during the early period.
The idea of the adoration of a personal God seems to have developed with the growing popularity of Buddhism. During the early centuries of the Christian era, under Mahayana Buddhism, the Buddha began to be worshipped in his ‘gracious’ (avalokita) form. The worship of Vishnu developed more or less at the same time.
When many of the holy books, such as the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, were re-written during the Gupta times, Bhakti was accepted, along with jnana and karma, as one of the recognized roads to salvation.
The Saiva nayanars and the Vaishnavite alvars disregarded the austerities preached by the Jains and the Buddhists and preached personal devotion to God as a means of salvation. They disregarded the rigidities of the caste system and carried their message of love and personal devotion to God to various parts of south India by using the local languages.
Although there were many points of contact between south and north India, the transmission of the ideas of the Bhakti saints from south to north India was
The very reasons which made the nayanars and alvars popular in the south limited their appeal outside the area, viz., the fact that they preached and composed in the local languages. Sanskrit was still the vehicle of thought in the country.
The ideas of Bhakti were carried to the north by scholars as well as by saints. Among these, mention may be made of the Maharashtrian saint, Namadeva and Ramananda, the follower of Ramanuja.
Ramananda substituted the worship of Rama in place of Vishnu. He taught his doctrine of Bhakti to all the four varnas. He enrolled disciples from all castes, including the low castes. Among his disciples was Ravidas, who was a cobbler by caste; Kabir, who was a weaver; Sena, who was a barber; and Sadhana, who was a butcher.
The Brahmans had lost both I ·prestige and power following the defeat of the Rajput rulers and the establishment of the Turkish Sultanat. As a result, movements, such as the Nath Panthi movement challenging the caste system and the superiority of the Brahmans, had gained popularity.
People were no longer satisfied with a religion which only emphasized ceremonies and forms. They wanted a religion which could satisfy both their reason and emotions. It was due to these factors that the Bhakti movement became a popular movement in north India during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.
Kabir emphasised the unity of God whom he calls by several names, such as Rama, Hari, Govinda, Allah, Sain, Sahib, etc.
He strongly denounced idol-worship, pilgrimages, bathing in holy rivers or taking part in formal worship, including namaz. Nor did he consider it necessary to abandon the life of a householder for the sake of a saintly life. Though familiar with yogic practices, he considered neither asceticism nor book knowledge important for true knowledge.
However, he was not a social reformer, his emphasis being reform of the individual under the guidance of a true guru or teacher.
Guru Nanak composed hymns and sang them to the accompaniment of the rabab, a stringed instrument played by his faithful, attendant, Mardana.
Nanak undertook wide tours all over India and, even beyond it, to Sri Lanka in the south and Mecca and Medina in the West.
Like Kabir, Nanak laid emphasis on the one God, by repeating whose name and dwelling on it with love and devotion one could get salvation without distinction of caste, creed or sect. However, Nanak laid great emphasis on the purity of character and conduct as the first condition of approaching God, and the need of a guru for guidance.
Like Kabir, he strongly denounced idol-worship, pilgrimages and other formal observances of the various faiths. He advocated a middle path in which spiritual life could be combined with the duties of the householder.
Nanak had no intention of founding a new religion. His catholic approach aimed at bridging distinctions between the Hindus and the Muslims, in order to create an atmosphere of peace, goodwill and mutual give and take. This was also the aim of Kabir.
In course of time, the ideas of Nanak gave birth to a new creed, Sikhism, while the followers of Kabir shrank into a sect, the Kabir Panthis.
The religious ideas and policies of Akbar reflected in a remarkable manner the fundamental teachings of these two great saints.
Like the early Sufis, Chaitanya popularised musical gathering or kirtan as a special form of mystic experience in which the outside world disappeared by dwelling on God’s name. According to Chaitanya, worship consisted of love and devotion and song and dance which produced a state of ecstasy in which the presence of God, whom he called Hari, could be realised. Such a worship could be carried out by all, irrespective of caste or creed.
All the saint- poets mentioned above remained within the broad framework of Hinduism. Their philosophic beliefs were a brand of Vedantic monism which emphasized the fundamental unity of God and the created world. The Vedantist philosophy had been propounded by a number of thinkers, but the one who probably influenced the saint-poets the most was Vallabha.
During the fifteenth century, the monistic ideas of the great Arab philosopher, lbn-i-Arabi, became popular among broad sections in India.
Arabi’ s doctrine of Unity of Being is known as Tauhid-i-Wajudi (unity of being). This doctrine kept gaining popularity in India and became the main basis of the Sufi thought before the time of Akbar.
The Indian Sufis started taking more interest in. Sanskrit and Hindi and a few of them, including Malik Muhammad Jaisi, composed their works in Hindi.
The Bhakti songs of the Vaishnavite saints written in Hindi and other languages touched the hearts of the Sufis more than Persian poetry did.
Thus, during the fifteenth and the early part of the sixteenth century, the Bhakti and the Sufi saints had worked out in a remarkable manner a common platform on which people belonging to various sects and creeds could meet and understand each other.This was the essential background to the ideas of Akbar and his concept of tauhid or unity of all religions.
Mitakshara forms one of the two principal Hindu schools of law.
The Jains, too, contributed to the growth of Sanskrit. Hemachandra Suri was the most eminent of these.
Fatawa-i-Alamgiri, or the Digest of Laws was prepared by a group of jurists in the reign of Aurangzeb.
With the arrival of the Turks in India during the tenth century, a new language, Persian, was introduced in the country.
Some of the greatest poets of the Persian language were Firdausi and Sadi.
The most notable Persian writer of the period was Amir Khusrau.
Khusrau wrote a large number of poetical works, including historical romances. He experimented with all the poetical forms and created a new style of Persian which came to be called the sabaq-i-hindi or the style of India.
He was also an accomplished musician and took part in religious musical gatherings (sama) organised by the famous Sufi saint, Nizamuddin Auliya.
Khusrau gave up his life the day after he learnt ofthe death of his pir, Nizamuddin Auliya. He was buried in the same compound.
In course of time, Persian became not only the language of administration and diplomacy, but also the language of the upper classes and their dependents, at first in north India and later of the entire country with the expansion of the Delhi Sultanat to the south and the establishment of Muslim kingdoms in different parts of the country.
Thus, Sanskrit and Persian functioned as link languages in the country in politics, religion and philosophy, as well as being means of literary productions.
Zia Nakhshabi was the first to translate into Persian Sanskrit stories which were related by a parrot to a woman whose husband had gone on a journey. This book Tuti Nama (Book of the Parrot), written in the time of Muhammad Tughlaq, proved very popular and was translated from Persian into Turkish and into many European languages as well.
When the Turks came to India, they inherited the rich Arab tradition of music which had been further developed in Iran and Central Asia. They brought with them a number of new musical instruments, such as the rabab and
Khusrau, who was given the title of nayak or master of both the theory and practice of music, introduced many Perso-Arabic airs (ragas), such as alman, ghora, sanam, etc.
Khusrau is credited with having invented the sitar. The tabla is also attributed to him.
Raja Man Singh of Gwaliyar was a great music lover. The work Man Kautahal in which all the new musical modes introduced by the Muslims were included was prepared under his aegis.
