![]() Sufism is an old religious sect and it had penetrated into India prior to the advent of the Delhi Sultanate. Once the Muslims firmly established themselves in India, Sufism gained prominence. A large number of Sufi saints came into India and settled themselves in different parts of the country. Sufism was influenced by the religious views prevalent among the Indians. Love towards god, non violence, practice of self discipline etc. was common values among the Hindus, Buddhist and Jains in India. The philosophy of Sufism believes in one god and regards every individual and everything else as part of him. The Sufis were devout Muslims who moved within the Shariat and believed it as the true way to attain salvation. ![]() The Bhakti movement in Hinduism was a remarkable feature during the period f Delhi Sultanate. Hindu saints emphasised on Bhakti as a means to attain salvation and that resulted in the Bhakti movement. Hinduism had to face the challenge of Islam in the medieval period which gave birth to the Bhakti movement. The saints of the Bhakti movement believed in god who could be called by different names such as Lord Rama, Lord Krishna, Lord Shiva or Allah. They were against the caste system or image worship and laid stress on Bhakti as the only means to attain salvation. The Bhakti saints believed that a devotee needed a Guru who could help and guide him to attain salvation, though that could be achieved only by the grace of God while the grace of god itself could be achieved only by one's own effort. The saints propagated these ideas among the people by means of their teachings in simple languages, poems and prayers. But the most effective way of preaching their thoughts was their personal dedicated lives to God. The saints preached their ideas not in Sanskrit but in other Indian regional languages of the people. The pioneers of the Bhakti movements were Ramanuja, Nimbakara and Madhavacharya. Bhakti movement rose to popularity through Ramananda who flourished in the fourteenth century. Other Bhakti saints like Kabir, Guru Nanak and Chaitanyacontributed a lot in the expansion and popularity of Bhakti movement. |