During the medieval period, two great devotional movements swept across India — the Bhakti Movement among Hindus and the Sufi Movement within Islam. Both stressed love, devotion, equality and brotherhood over rituals and caste, and both brought ordinary people closer to God in their own languages. These notes cover the origin, streams and major saints of the Bhakti Movement, and the chief terms, orders (silsilas) and saints of the Sufi Movement.
The Bhakti Movement was a devotional reform movement that promoted love and surrender to a personal God as the path to salvation.
Where did the Bhakti Movement begin?
What was the ultimate aim of Bhakti (devotional worship)?
The Bhakti Movement began in South India in the century.
The movement opposed the caste system and empty .
The earliest Bhakti saints were the Alvars and Nayanars of the Tamil region, who popularised devotion in South India.
The Alvars were devotees of which deity?
How many Nayanar (Shaivite) saints were there?
The Nayanars were devotees of (Shaivites).
The hymns of these saints were collected in the , called the Tamil Veda.
Bhakti was divided into two great streams based on the nature of God worshipped — formless or with form.
The two branches of Bhakti based on the nature of God are Nirguna and:
Which saints belonged to the Nirguna school?
Nirguna refers to God without .
Saguna saints such as Tulsidas and Surdas believed in worship.
When Bhakti spread to the north, a chain of teacher-disciple saints carried it across the Hindi belt.
Who was the first great Bhakti saint of North India?
To which occupational family did Kabir belong?
Kabir's teachings are collected in the .
Raidas (Ravidas) was a by occupation.
Guru Nanak, founder of Sikhism, is also remembered as a great Nirguna Bhakti saint (the Sikh Gurus have a separate chapter).
Where was Guru Nanak born?
To which school of Bhakti did both Kabir and Nanak belong?
Guru Nanak was born at Sahib.
Both Kabir and Nanak preached devotion to one God.
The Saguna saints worshipped God with form — chiefly Ram and Krishna — and produced India's best-loved devotional poetry.
Who wrote the Ramcharitmanas?
Mirabai was a Rajput princess of which place?
Surdas wrote Sur Sarawali, Sahitya Ratna and .
Mahaprabhu was the most prominent Vaishnava saint of Bengal.
Maharashtra produced a powerful Bhakti tradition (the Varkari sect), alongside major Vaishnava philosophers.
Who was the pioneer Bhakti saint of Maharashtra?
Ramdas, who wrote the Dasabodha, was the Guru of whom?
Tukaram founded the sect and composed Abhangas.
In Assam, introduced Bhakti through the Mahapurushiya Dharma.
This high-yield table matches each saint to his/her region, deity and famous work — a frequent exam target.
| Saint | Region / Time | Devoted to / Known for |
|---|---|---|
| Ramananda | North India | First great Bhakti saint of the north; guru of Kabir & Raidas |
| Kabir (1440–1518) | Banaras | Nirguna; Bijak, dohas; weaver; Kabirpanthi sect |
| Guru Nanak (1469–1539) | Nankana Sahib | Nirguna; founder of Sikhism |
| Raidas (Ravidas) | North India | Nirguna; tanner; disciple of Ramananda |
| Tulsidas | North India | Saguna; Ramcharitmanas (devotion to Ram) |
| Surdas | North India (Braj) | Saguna; Sursagar (Krishna devotion) |
| Mirabai | Merta, Rajasthan | Saguna; Padavali (Krishna devotion) |
| Chaitanya (1486–1533) | Bengal | Saguna; popularised Krishna Bhakti |
| Jnaneshwar (1275–1296) | Maharashtra | Jnaneshwari (Gita commentary) |
| Namdev (1270–1350) | Maharashtra | Tailor; verses in Adi Granth; Varkari |
| Tukaram | Maharashtra | Founded Varkari sect; Abhangas |
| Ramdas | Maharashtra | Dasabodha; Guru of Shivaji |
Which saint wrote the Jnaneshwari, a commentary on the Bhagavad Gita?
Which Bhakti saint was associated with the work Padavali on Krishna devotion?
Namdev of Maharashtra was a by caste whose verses are in the Adi Granth.
Tulsidas was a Saguna saint from North India known for the .
The Bhakti movement also rested on great Acharyas who founded distinct philosophical schools (sampradayas).
| Sect | Founder | Philosophy | Period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smarta / Smriti | Shankaracharya | Advaitavada | 9th century AD |
| Shri Sampradaya | Ramanuja | Vishishtadvaita | 12th century AD |
| Sanak (Sanakadi) | Nimbarka | Dvaitadvaita | 12th century AD |
| Brahma | Madhvacharya | Dvaitavada | 13th century AD |
| Rudra (Pushti) | Vishnuswami / Vallabhacharya | Shuddhadvaita | 15th century AD |
Ramanuja advocated which philosophy?
Who founded the Dvaita (dualism) philosophy?
Vallabhacharya was the founder of the Marga (path of grace).
founded the Lingayat (Virashaiva) sect.
The Sufi Movement was the mystical, devotional side of Islam, stressing love of God and tolerance.
The earliest Sufi saint to settle in India was:
What is the Sufi term for the hospice or lodge where Sufis lived?
In Sufism, the spiritual teacher is the Pir and his disciple is the .
refers to devotional music valued by the Chishti mystics.
Sufis were organised into orders called silsilas; four are the most important for exams.
Who founded the Chishti order in India?
The Naqshbandi order was introduced in India by:
The Suhrawardi order in India was founded by Bahauddin Zakaria of .
The Qadiri order was followed by the Mughal prince Shikoh.
The Chishti order produced India's most famous Sufi saints, who lived simply and spread love and tolerance.
The dargah of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti is located at:
Nizamuddin Auliya was the chief disciple of which saint?
The Qutub Minar is named after the Chishti saint Qutbuddin Bakhtiyar .
Nasiruddin Chiragh-i-Delhi succeeded Auliya.
This table links each major Sufi saint to his order and a key fact — exactly how it is asked in exams.
| Saint | Order / Silsila | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti | Chishti | Founded order in India; dargah at Ajmer |
| Qutbuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki | Chishti | Qutub Minar named after him |
| Baba Farid (Ganj-i-Shakar) | Chishti | Centre at Ajodhan, Punjab |
| Nizamuddin Auliya | Chishti | Chief disciple of Baba Farid |
| Nasiruddin Chiragh-i-Delhi | Chishti | Successor of Nizamuddin Auliya |
| Bahauddin Zakaria | Suhrawardi | Founded order in India (Multan) |
| Shaikh Abdul Qadir Jilani | Qadiri | Order followed by Dara Shikoh |
| Khwaja Baqi Billah | Naqshbandi | Introduced order in India |
The Qutub Minar is named after which Chishti saint?
Shaikh Abdul Qadir Jilani is associated with which order?
Baba Farid, known as Ganj-i-Shakar, had his centre at in Punjab.
Bahauddin Zakaria founded the order in India at Multan.
Sufism enriched Indian culture, language and music — above all through Amir Khusrau, the disciple of Nizamuddin Auliya.
Amir Khusrau, disciple of Nizamuddin Auliya, is called the:
Amir Khusrau is regarded as the father of which poetry?
Amir Khusrau was the disciple of Auliya.
Mullah Daud wrote the in Hindi (Awadhi).
Take 5 questions at a time — tap an option to check. After each round, revise the notes above and take the retest for 5 fresh questions, until you've mastered the whole chapter.