Chapter 8: Cultural Currents: 13th to 17th Centuries (History)

The bhakti mārga, the path of devotion. It was one of several paths to mokṣha (release from the cycle of birth and death). It needed no elaborate rituals or priests: only sincere love and devotion to God, expressed through songs, music, dance and simple living.

Saints composed verses in local languages, preaching love, compassion, the oneness of God and the equality of all. People from every section of society could take part. In troubled times, it gave people spiritual strength and kept the culture alive.

The bhakti mārga, the path of devotion: love for God expressed through songs in local languages, without rituals or priests, open to all and teaching equality.

E.g. Kabir (north: one God, against empty rituals), Mirabai (Rajasthan: love for Krishna beyond social barriers) and Purandaradasa (Karnataka: devotion through music); also Tukaram, Chaitanya and Ravidas.

The doha: when wheat is ground into flour, the differences between individual grains disappear and they become one substance. In the same way, when one realises the divine, the differences between Ram and Rahim dissolve.

Why an everyday example:

• Grinding wheat was a task everyone did daily: farmers, weavers, women at home, Hindus and Muslims alike. So the idea was instantly understood by ordinary people, who had no learning in scriptures.
• A simple, concrete image makes a deep spiritual idea (the oneness of God) easy to remember and sing.
• It shows that spiritual truth lies in ordinary life, not only in temples, mosques or books.
• It gently teaches that religious divisions are man-made, just like seeing separate grains when, in the end, all is one flour.

Because grinding wheat was familiar to everyone; a simple, concrete image made the deep idea of the oneness of God easy for common people to grasp and remember, and showed that religious divisions are man-made.

• Spread out: they were in thousands of villages and temples. Destroying one did not end learning, unlike a single giant university.
• Small and simple: they needed little money or buildings. A teacher's house or a temple maṇḍapa was enough.
• Supported by communities: villages, temples, merchants and guilds funded them, not just kings. When rulers changed, support continued.
• Linked to daily life and livelihood: apprenticeships in weaving, metalwork and building passed on skills within families and jātis and śhreṇis, so they continued as long as the work did.
• Flexible: they could move or adapt as needed. Teachers and students could carry knowledge orally.
• Less of a target: small schools drew less attention from invaders than famous centres of learning.

Being many, small, cheap and spread across villages and temples, funded by communities and guilds and tied to livelihoods, they kept knowledge alive even when big centres were destroyed or rulers changed.

• Exposure to invasions and warfare: in north India, which faced repeated invasions, women and children were captured and sold as slaves, and some committed jauhar. To protect them, women's public appearance declined, and purdah or the ghūnghaṭ spread there.
• The customs of the ruling class: the Muslim aristocracy practised purdah, and some imitated it as a mark of nobility, mainly in the north.
• The continuity of local traditions: in south India, such as Vijayanagara, older social norms continued. Women stayed active in public life as writers, accountants, wrestlers, musicians and poets (such as Tirumalamba), and they made grants to temples. Veiling was rare there.
• Status and wealth: elite women in many regions exercised power, issued grants, and built wells and halls. Royal women like Razia Sultan and Nur Jahan took part in governance despite the general seclusion.
• Individual rulers' attitudes, and the economic roles women played in each region.

The degree of invasion and danger (the north saw more, so more seclusion and purdah), the influence of ruling-class customs, the survival of older local norms (the south kept women active in public life), and women's status and wealth.

• Copying blindly can replace one's own culture, so its identity would slowly be lost.
• Rejecting everything can make a culture rigid and isolated. It may miss useful ideas and lose people's interest as times change.
• Adapting keeps the core (values, themes, traditions) while taking in useful new elements, so the culture stays alive, fresh and relevant. People accept it easily because it feels familiar.

Examples from the chapter:

• The Persian sambūseh became the Indian samosa, filled with potatoes and peas.
• Zalabiyeh became jalebi.
• Tansen absorbed Sufi influence while composing in praise of Krishna and Shiva.
• Mughal gardens were adapted at Amer.
• The angrakha was made in Indian fabrics.

As Gandhi put it: let the cultures of all lands blow through the house, but "refuse to be blown off my feet by any".

Copying loses identity and rejection makes a culture rigid; adapting keeps the core while absorbing useful new ideas, so the culture stays alive and familiar (samosa, jalebi, Tansen's music, Mughal-style gardens at Amer).

• Qawwālī: Amir Khusrau fused Indian, Persian and Arabic singing traditions into Sufi devotional song.
• Hindustani classical music: dhrupad at Gwalior, Tansen's compositions, and instruments like the sitar and tabla, which evolved from older Indian instruments such as the pakhāwaj.
• Miniature painting: Mughal court painting, shaped by Persian styles, exchanged techniques, colours and themes with Rajput painting. Painters moved to Bikaner, and illustrated Persian translations such as the Razmnama (Mahābhārata) and the Rāmāyaṇa were produced.
• Architecture and gardens: Indo-Islamic buildings and charbagh gardens, with Indian versions such as at Amer Fort.
• Language and literature: Urdu and Dakhini, from Hindavi mixed with Persian and Arabic words; Persian translations of the Upaniṣhads (by Dara Shikoh), the Līlāvatī and the Rājataraṅgiṇī.
• Textiles: Banarasi brocade with zari, and paisley (buteh) designs on pashmina.
• Food and clothing: samosa, jalebi, naan; the jama, angrakha and dupatta.

Qawwālī (Amir Khusrau), Hindustani music with the sitar and tabla, Mughal–Rajput miniature painting, Indo-Islamic architecture and gardens, Urdu and Dakhini, Banarasi brocade and paisley shawls, and new foods and clothes (samosa, jalebi, angrakha).

A sample on Kabir:

(a) The poem: a well-known doha, in translation:

"Reading books, the whole world died, and none became learned.
Whoever reads just two and a half letters of 'love' (prem) becomes truly wise."

(b) Message: real wisdom does not come from reading many holy books or performing rituals, but from love, for God and for all beings. A loving heart matters more than learning, caste or religion.

(c) Why it appealed to common people:

• It was in simple Hindavi, the language of ordinary people, short and easy to sing and remember.
• Most people could not read the scriptures, and this told them they did not need to: love was enough.
• It criticised the pride of priests and scholars, and was open to everyone: weavers, peasants, Hindus and Muslims.

(d) Relevance today: yes. In a world of exams, degrees and divisions, it reminds us that kindness, empathy and love for others make a person truly educated. It also speaks against hatred between communities.

(For a Sufi saint, you could present a qawwālī associated with Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti or Nizamuddin Auliya, on love and unity.)

Present a translated poem (e.g. Kabir: "whoever reads the two and a half letters of 'love' becomes wise"), explain its message (love over rituals and learning), why it appealed (simple language, open to all), and its relevance (kindness and unity today).

A sample outline on food:

Step 1, collect: list popular local dishes and festival foods. Interview grandparents, cooks and shopkeepers. Find out which ingredients are local and which came from elsewhere (chillies, potatoes and tomatoes from the Americas; samosa and jalebi from Persian dishes; naan from Persian ovens).

Step 2, what has stayed the same:

• basic staples (rice or wheat, dal, local vegetables);
• spices like turmeric, pepper and cardamom;
• festival sweets and traditional ways of cooking;
• eating together on festivals.

Step 3, what has changed:

• new dishes and fusion foods, and fast food;
• packaged and processed items;
• pressure cookers and gas stoves instead of clay ovens and wood fires;
• eating out more often.

Step 4, why:

• Things that fit the climate, local crops, health and festivals, and that carry cultural or religious meaning, have continued.
• Changes came from trade, new rulers and settlers, urban life, technology, the shortage of time, advertising and travel.

Step 5, present it as an illustrated recipe book, a food map of the region, a photo essay or a digital presentation, with a "then and now" chart.

You can follow the same steps for clothing, music, architecture, education or gardens.

Collect information on your chosen aspect (e.g. food), compare what has continued (staples, spices, festival dishes) with what has changed (new dishes, tools, fast food), explain why (meaning and local fit against trade, technology and lifestyle), and present it creatively.