NCERT Solutions for Class 12 History Chapter 6: Bhakti-Sufi Traditions
These Class 12 History Chapter 6 solutions cover Bhakti-Sufi Traditions – Changes in Religious Beliefs and Devotional Texts (c. eighth to eighteenth century) from Themes in Indian History – Part II, updated for the 2026–27 session. The chapter traces how devotional movements reshaped religious life across the subcontinent — the integration of cults, the Alvars and Nayanars of Tamil Nadu, the Virashaiva tradition, the coming of Islam and the growth of Sufism, the Chishti silsila, and the new devotional paths of Kabir, Baba Guru Nanak and Mirabai. Below you get step-by-step answers to every NCERT exercise question, clear notes on key terms, extra practice, MCQs, Assertion–Reason questions and FAQs.
Class: 12Subject: HistoryBook: Themes in Indian History – Part IIChapter: 6 (Theme Six)Topic: Bhakti-Sufi TraditionsSession: 2026–27
Chapter 6, Bhakti-Sufi Traditions, studies how religious beliefs and devotional texts changed between the eighth and eighteenth centuries. Historians reconstruct this story from sculpture, architecture, hagiographies and the compositions of poet-saints. The chapter opens with a mosaic of beliefs — the integration of local cults (such as Jagannatha at Puri) into the Puranic framework through a dialogue between “great” Sanskritic and “little” local traditions. It then traces early bhakti through the Alvars (devotees of Vishnu) and Nayanars (devotees of Shiva) of Tamil Nadu, the Virashaiva (Lingayat) movement of Basavanna in Karnataka, and religious ferment in north India. With the coming of Islam, the chapter explains the shari‘a, zimmi status, the popular practice of Islam, and the growth of Sufism — khanqahs, silsilas, the Chishtis, ziyarat and qawwali. It closes with the new devotional paths of Kabir, Baba Guru Nanak and Mirabai, and reflects on how historians reconstruct religious histories.
Key Concepts & Terms
Bhakti: devotion to a personal god expressed through love, song and surrender. Historians classify it as saguna (worship of deities with attributes — Shiva, Vishnu, the goddess) and nirguna (worship of an abstract, formless god).
“Great” and “little” traditions: terms coined by sociologist Robert Redfield. The “great” tradition is the Sanskritic, Puranic, priestly culture; the “little” tradition is local practice. Their continuous dialogue shaped Indian religion — the integration of cults.
Alvars and Nayanars: Tamil poet-saints (c. sixth century onwards) devoted to Vishnu (Alvars) and Shiva (Nayanars). They sang hymns in Tamil, drew bhaktas from all castes, and included women like Andal and Karaikkal Ammaiyar.
Virashaivas / Lingayats: followers of Basavanna (1106–68) in Karnataka who worship Shiva as a linga, reject caste and pollution, question rebirth, allow widow remarriage and post-puberty marriage, and bury (not cremate) their dead. Their ideas survive in vachanas in Kannada.
Shari‘a: the law governing the Muslim community, based on the Qur’an, hadis, qiyas (reasoning by analogy) and ijma (consensus). The ulama were scholars who interpreted it.
Zimmi: “protected” people who followed revealed scriptures (Jews, Christians, and in India also Hindus); they paid a tax (jizya) and gained protection under Muslim rule.
Sufism (tasawwuf): a mystical movement that sought salvation through intense love and devotion to God rather than dogmatic theology. Sufis organised around the khanqah (hospice) led by a shaikh/pir, forming silsilas (spiritual chains).
Chishtis: the most influential sufi order in India (from the late twelfth century), known for adapting to local traditions. Major teachers: Shaikh Muinuddin Sijzi (Ajmer, “Gharib Nawaz”), Bakhtiyar Kaki, Baba Farid, Nizamuddin Auliya and Nasiruddin Chiragh-i Dehli.
Ziyarat and qawwali:ziyarat is pilgrimage to a sufi tomb (dargah) to seek the saint’s grace (barakat); qawwali is mystical music (sama‘) sung by qawwals to evoke divine ecstasy, given form by Amir Khusrau.
Be-shari‘a and ba-shari‘a:ba-shari‘a sufis complied with Islamic law; be-shari‘a mystics (Qalandars, Madaris, Malangs, Haidaris) defied the shari‘a, took to mendicancy and extreme asceticism.
The sants: nirguna poet-saints such as Kabir (drew on Islamic, Vedantic and yogic ideas; verses in the Bijak, Granthavali and Adi Granth Sahib), Baba Guru Nanak (advocated nirguna bhakti and remembrance of the Divine Name; founded a community) and Mirabai (Rajput princess devoted to Krishna who defied caste and patriarchal norms).
Sources for sufi history:treatises (Kashf-ul-Mahjub), malfuzat (conversations — Fawa’id-al-Fu’ad), maktubat (letters) and tazkiras (biographies — Siyar-ul-Auliya, Akhbar-ul-Akhyar).
NCERT Exercise — Full Solutions
All questions below are reproduced verbatim from the NCERT textbook’s end-of-chapter exercise (“Answer in 100–150 words”, “Write a short essay”, Map work and Projects). Answers are original, written in exam-ready style.
Answer in 100–150 words
1. Explain with examples what historians mean by the integration of cults.
ANSWERBy the “integration of cults” historians mean the process by which local deities, beliefs and practices were absorbed into the wider Brahmanical or Puranic framework, while Brahmanas in turn accepted and reworked popular cults. Two parallel processes were at work.First, Brahmanical ideas were disseminated through Puranic texts composed in simple Sanskrit verse, made accessible even to women and Shudras who were excluded from Vedic learning. Second, the Brahmanas accepted and reshaped the beliefs of these and other social groups, so that religion grew out of a continuous dialogue between the “great” Sanskritic tradition and the “little” local ones.Examples: at Puri (Orissa), the local tribal deity — whose image is still made of wood by local specialists — was identified by the twelfth century as Jagannatha, a form of Vishnu. Similarly, local goddesses worshipped as a stone smeared with ochre were absorbed by being made wives of major male deities, equated with Lakshmi (wife of Vishnu) or Parvati (wife of Shiva).
2. To what extent do you think the architecture of mosques in the subcontinent reflects a combination of universal ideals and local traditions?
ANSWERThe architecture of mosques in the subcontinent reflects a striking blend of a universal faith with regional traditions. Certain features are universal because they follow the requirements of Islamic worship everywhere — the orientation of the mosque towards Mecca, shown in the placement of the mihrab (prayer niche) and the minbar (pulpit).At the same time, many features show local variations in roofs and building materials, adapting to the climate, available materials and craft traditions of each region. A thirteenth-century mosque in Kerala has a shikhara-like roof; the Atiya mosque in Bangladesh (1609) was built with brick; and the Shah Hamadan mosque in Srinagar (1395) is a fine example of Kashmiri wooden architecture, with a spire, carved eaves and papier-mache decoration.Thus mosque architecture combines universal Islamic ideals with strong local traditions, just as the popular practice of Islam blended the five “pillars” of the faith with local customs — making the integration both functional and cultural.
3. What were the similarities and differences between the be-shari‘a and ba-shari‘a sufi traditions?
ANSWERSimilarities: both the be-shari‘a and ba-shari‘a were sufi traditions that shared the core sufi goal of seeking nearness to God through love, devotion and mysticism rather than mere ritual. Both rejected pure materialism and emphasised an inner, experiential path to the Divine.Differences: the ba-shari‘a sufis complied with the shari‘a (Islamic law). They generally lived in khanqahs, accepted the institutional life of the silsila under a shaikh, and observed the outward duties of the faith.The be-shari‘a sufis, by contrast, deliberately defied the shari‘a. Following a radical interpretation of sufi ideals, they scorned the khanqah, took to mendicancy and celibacy, ignored rituals and practised extreme asceticism. They were known by names such as Qalandars, Madaris, Malangs and Haidaris. In short, both were mystics, but they differed sharply over obedience to Islamic law and the institutional, ritual life of the order.
4. Discuss the ways in which the Alvars, Nayanars and Virashaivas expressed critiques of the caste system.
ANSWERThe Alvars (devotees of Vishnu) and Nayanars (devotees of Shiva) of Tamil Nadu drew bhaktas from diverse social backgrounds — from Brahmanas to artisans, cultivators and even those considered “untouchable”. Some historians see this as a movement of protest against caste and Brahmana dominance, or at least an attempt to reform it. The claim that their compositions were as important as the Vedas — the Alvar anthology Nalayira Divyaprabandham was called the “Tamil Veda” — challenged Brahmanical exclusiveness. Verses like that of Tondaradippodi praising god’s “servants” even if born outcastes, and Appar’s ridicule of gotra and kula, expressed this critique.The Virashaivas (Lingayats), led by Basavanna in twelfth-century Karnataka, went further. They directly challenged the idea of caste and the “pollution” attached to certain groups by Brahmanas, and questioned the theory of rebirth. They won followers among the marginalised and encouraged practices the Dharmashastras disapproved, such as post-puberty marriage and widow remarriage. Their vachanas in Kannada gave voice to this radical critique.
5. Describe the major teachings of either Kabir or Baba Guru Nanak, and the ways in which these have been transmitted.
ANSWERBaba Guru Nanak (1469–1539): born in a Hindu merchant family at Nankana Sahib near the Ravi in Punjab, he advocated a form of nirguna bhakti. He firmly rejected the external practices of all the religions he saw around him — sacrifices, ritual baths, image worship, austerities and the scriptures of both Hindus and Muslims. For him, the Absolute or rab had no gender or form.He proposed a simple way to connect with the Divine: remembering and repeating the Divine Name. He expressed his ideas through hymns called shabad in Punjabi, singing them in various ragas while his companion Mardana played the rabab. He organised his followers into a community with rules for congregational worship (sangat) and collective recitation, and appointed Angad as his successor (guru).Transmission: his hymns were preserved and sung by the community. The fifth Guru, Arjan, compiled Nanak’s hymns with those of his successors and other saints like Baba Farid, Ravidas and Kabir in the Adi Granth Sahib. Guru Gobind Singh later added Guru Tegh Bahadur’s compositions, producing the Guru Granth Sahib, through which his teachings live on.
Write a short essay (about 250–300 words) on the following:
6. Discuss the major beliefs and practices that characterised Sufism.
ANSWERSufism (in Islamic texts, tasawwuf) was a mystical strand within Islam that emerged in the early centuries of the faith. Its central belief was that salvation comes not through dogmatic theology or scholastic interpretation of the Qur’an, but through intense devotion and love for God, obedience to His commands, and following the example of the Prophet Muhammad as a perfect human being. Sufis sought a personal, experiential understanding of the Qur’an. They turned to asceticism and mysticism, partly in protest against the growing materialism of the Caliphate.Institutionally, by the eleventh century Sufism became a well-developed movement. Sufis organised around the khanqah (hospice), controlled by a teaching master — the shaikh, pir or murshid — who enrolled disciples (murids) and named a successor (khalifa). From the twelfth century, silsilas (spiritual chains) crystallised, linking master and disciple in an unbroken genealogy back to the Prophet, through which spiritual power and blessings flowed.Key practices included initiation rituals (an oath of allegiance, a patched garment, shaving the head). After a shaikh’s death, his tomb-shrine (dargah) became a centre of devotion; pilgrimage (ziyarat), especially on the death anniversary (urs), let devotees seek the saint’s grace (barakat). Sufis remembered God by reciting the zikr (Divine Names) and by sama‘ — mystical music and dance performed by qawwals to evoke ecstasy, of which qawwali is the best-known form. Some radicals, the be-shari‘a sufis, rejected even these institutions for mendicancy and asceticism. Thus Sufism combined a belief in love-centred mysticism with rich devotional practices.
7. Examine how and why rulers tried to establish connections with the traditions of the Nayanars and the sufis.
ANSWERRulers across the subcontinent sought to connect themselves with popular religious figures because such bonds brought legitimacy, divine sanction and the support of the masses who revered these saints.The Nayanars: both the Nayanars and Alvars were revered by the Vellala peasants, so rulers tried to win their support. The powerful Chola kings (ninth–thirteenth centuries) patronised Brahmanical and bhakti traditions, making land grants and building magnificent Shiva temples at Chidambaram, Thanjavur and Gangaikondacholapuram. They claimed divine support and proclaimed their own status by adorning these temples with stone and bronze sculpture that recreated the saints’ visions. They introduced the singing of Tamil Shaiva hymns and organised them into the Tevaram. Around 945, the Chola ruler Parantaka I even consecrated metal images of Appar, Sambandar and Sundarar in a Shiva temple, carried in procession during festivals.The sufis: the sufis derived their authority directly from God, and people believed the auliya could intercede with God for human welfare. When the Turks set up the Delhi Sultanate, they resisted the ulama’s demand to impose shari‘a as state law, since most subjects were non-Muslims, and instead sought legitimation from the sufis. Sultans set up charitable trusts (auqaf) and gave tax-free land (inam) to hospices. Muhammad bin Tughlaq was the first Sultan to visit Muinuddin Chishti’s shrine; Akbar visited Ajmer fourteen times, offered a huge cauldron (degh) and built a mosque there. Kings even wished their tombs to lie near sufi shrines. Both connections thus served the political need for legitimacy and popular support.
8. Analyse, with illustrations, why bhakti and sufi thinkers adopted a variety of languages in which to express their opinions.
ANSWERBhakti and sufi thinkers adopted a variety of languages mainly because they wished to reach ordinary people directly, in the languages they spoke and understood, rather than confining their message to learned Sanskrit or Persian. This reflected their inclusive, devotional spirit and their dialogue with local cultures.Bhakti illustrations: the Alvars and Nayanars sang in Tamil; the Virashaivas composed vachanas in Kannada; the sants of Pandharpur composed Marathi abhangs. Kabir’s verses survive in several languages and dialects, including the special sant bhasha of nirguna poets and the riddle-like ulatbansi (upside-down sayings). Baba Guru Nanak expressed his ideas in shabad in Punjabi.Sufi illustrations: the Chishtis used local idiom — in Delhi they conversed in Hindavi, the language of the people. Baba Farid composed verses in the local language, later included in the Guru Granth Sahib. Long masnavis used human love as an allegory of divine love, as in Malik Muhammad Jayasi’s Padmavat (in Awadhi). Around Bijapur, Chishti sufis composed short poems in Dakhani — lullabies (lurinama) and wedding songs (shadinama) sung by women at household chores. The Khojahs spread Quranic ideas through ginan in Punjabi, Multani, Sindhi, Kachchi, Hindi and Gujarati, while Arab settlers on the Malabar coast adopted Malayalam. By using these many tongues, bhakti and sufi thinkers made the quest for the Divine a shared, popular experience and helped their ideas strike deep roots.
9. Read any five of the sources included in this chapter and discuss the social and religious ideas that are expressed in them.
ANSWERFive sources from the chapter reveal a wide range of social and religious ideas.Source 1 (Tondaradippodi, an Alvar): declares that Vishnu favours his “servants” who love his feet, even if born outcastes, more than the Chaturvedins who lack devotion — expressing the idea that devotion matters more than caste or Vedic learning.Source 4 (Basavanna’s vachana): mocks people who pour milk on a stone serpent but kill a real one, and feed a stone image rather than a hungry servant of god — a sharp critique of empty ritual and hypocrisy, urging genuine compassion.Source 5 (Akbar’s farman, 1598): permits the Jesuit padris to build a church at Khambat — illustrating the Mughal policy of religious tolerance and protection of non-Muslim worship.Source 7 (Jahanara’s pilgrimage, 1643): the Mughal princess records walking barefoot, kissing the ground and circling the tomb of Muinuddin Chishti — showing the depth of sufi devotion (ziyarat) and the dargah’s sacred status, cutting across rank.Source 10 (Kabir’s composition): argues that there cannot be two lords of the world — Allah, Ram, Karim and Keshav are names for one God, like gold shaped into different ornaments — expressing monotheism and the unity of the Divine beyond sectarian quarrels. Together these sources show devotion above caste, criticism of hollow ritual, royal tolerance, intense pilgrim devotion, and the oneness of God.
Map work
10. On an outline map of India, plot three major sufi shrines, and three places associated with temples (one each of a form of Vishnu, Shiva and the goddess).
ANSWERThis is a map-based question, answered here in words since no image is used; mark the following on an outline map of India.Three major sufi shrines (dargahs): (i) Ajmer (Rajasthan) — dargah of Shaikh Muinuddin Chishti; (ii) Delhi — dargah of Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya (also of Bakhtiyar Kaki and Nasiruddin Chiragh-i Dehli); (iii) Ajodhan / Pakpattan (Punjab, now in Pakistan) — dargah of Shaikh Fariduddin Ganj-i Shakar (Baba Farid).Three temple places (one each of Vishnu, Shiva and the goddess): (i) a form of Vishnu — Puri (Orissa), the Jagannatha temple; (ii) a form of Shiva — Chidambaram (Tamil Nadu), Nataraja temple (Thanjavur and Gangaikondacholapuram are alternatives); (iii) a form of the goddess — a major Devi shrine such as Kamakhya (Assam) or another goddess temple in your region. Place each label accurately according to its state.
Projects (choose one)
11. Choose any two of the religious teachers/thinkers/saints mentioned in this chapter, and find out more about their lives and teachings. Prepare a report about the area and the times in which they lived, their major ideas, how we know about them, and why you think they are important.
ANSWERThis is a project; here is a model framework you can build into a full report by choosing any two saints — for example Kabir and Mirabai.Kabir (c. fourteenth–fifteenth centuries, Awadh/Varanasi region): a nirguna poet-saint who lived in a period of dialogue between sufis, yogis and bhaktas. Major ideas: the oneness of God beyond Hindu–Muslim labels, rejection of idol worship and ritual, and emphasis on inner devotion; he drew on Islamic, Vedantic and yogic vocabulary. How we know about him: verses compiled in the Kabir Bijak, Kabir Granthavali and Adi Granth Sahib, and later hagiographies. Importance: he remains a source of inspiration for those questioning entrenched religious and social institutions.Mirabai (c. fifteenth–sixteenth centuries, Rajasthan): a Rajput princess of Merta married into the Sisodia clan of Mewar. Major ideas: total devotion to Krishna as her lover, rejection of the roles of wife and mother, and defiance of caste (her preceptor is said to be Raidas) and patriarchy. How we know about her: chiefly the bhajans attributed to her, transmitted orally for centuries. Importance: she is the best-known woman bhakti poet and an enduring source of inspiration, especially for the poor and the “low caste” in Gujarat and Rajasthan. Conclude with why their challenge to convention still matters today.
12. Find out more about practices of pilgrimage associated with the shrines mentioned in this chapter. Are these pilgrimages still undertaken? When are these shrines visited? Who visits these shrines? Why do they do so? What are the activities associated with these pilgrimages?
ANSWERThis is a project; here is a model answer based on the chapter that you can expand with local enquiry.Are they still undertaken & when: yes — pilgrimage (ziyarat) to sufi dargahs has continued for more than seven centuries. Shrines are visited throughout the year but especially during the saint’s death anniversary or urs, which draws the largest crowds; the chapter notes that people thronged Nasiruddin Chiragh-i Dehli’s shrine particularly on Sundays and during Diwali.Who visits & why: people of all creeds, classes and backgrounds — the chapter records that “Muslims and Hindus pay visits in the same spirit.” They come to seek the saint’s spiritual grace (barakat), to ask for cures, the fulfilment of vows, the birth of children or success in their affairs — just as Akbar sought blessings for conquests and sons at Ajmer.Activities: offering flowers, a chadar (sheet) and itar (perfume) at the tomb, circumambulating it, lighting lamps, taking ritual baths for cures, listening to qawwali (sama‘) sung by qawwals, distributing food from the langar, and staying in tents around the shrine during festivals. The five great Chishti shrines (Ajmer, Delhi, Ajodhan) remain the most revered, with Ajmer’s “Gharib Nawaz” the most popular.
Extra Practice Questions
Short Answer Type Questions
Q1. Who were the Alvars and the Nayanars?
ANSWERThe Alvars were Tamil poet-saints “immersed” in devotion to Vishnu, and the Nayanars were devotees of Shiva. From about the sixth century they travelled from place to place singing hymns in Tamil in praise of their gods. They drew followers from all castes and identified shrines that later became great temples and pilgrimage centres.
Q2. Distinguish between saguna and nirguna bhakti.
ANSWERSaguna bhakti is the worship of specific deities — Shiva, Vishnu and his avatars, and forms of the goddess — conceived in human (anthropomorphic) forms. Nirguna bhakti is the worship of an abstract, formless god without attributes, as in the teachings of Kabir and Baba Guru Nanak.
Q3. What was a khanqah and who controlled it?
ANSWERA khanqah was the sufi hospice where the community of mystics lived, prayed and met visitors. It was controlled by a teaching master — the shaikh (Arabic), or pir/murshid (Persian) — who enrolled disciples (murids), appointed a successor (khalifa), and set rules for spiritual conduct. The khanqah was the centre of social life, with an open kitchen (langar).
Q4. Why were the Chishtis the most influential sufi order in India?
ANSWERThe Chishtis, who migrated to India in the late twelfth century, were the most influential because they adapted successfully to the local environment and adopted several features of Indian devotional traditions — using local languages, sama‘ (music), and practices like bowing before the shaikh and yogic exercises. Their austerity and accessibility drew people from all walks of life.
Q5. What was the significance of the Adi Granth Sahib?
ANSWERThe Adi Granth Sahib was compiled by the fifth Sikh preceptor, Guru Arjan, who gathered the hymns of Baba Guru Nanak and his four successors along with those of saints like Baba Farid, Ravidas and Kabir. These hymns (gurbani) are in various languages. It preserved and transmitted nirguna bhakti teachings and later, with additions by Guru Gobind Singh, became the Guru Granth Sahib.
Long Answer Type Questions
Q1. Describe the main features of the Virashaiva (Lingayat) tradition of Karnataka.
ANSWERThe Virashaiva movement emerged in twelfth-century Karnataka, led by a Brahmana named Basavanna (1106–68), a minister at a Kalachuri court. His followers were called Virashaivas (“heroes of Shiva”) or Lingayats (“wearers of the linga”), and remain an important community in the region. They worship Shiva in the form of a linga, which men usually wear in a small silver case strung over the left shoulder, and revere wandering monks (jangama). Lingayats believe that on death the devotee is united with Shiva and does not return to the world, so they do not cremate but ceremonially bury their dead, rejecting the funerary rites of the Dharmashastras. They challenged the idea of caste and the notion of “pollution,” questioned the theory of rebirth, and won followers among those marginalised by the Brahmanical order. They encouraged practices the Dharmashastras disapproved — post-puberty marriage and widow remarriage. Our knowledge of the tradition comes from vachanas (sayings) composed in Kannada by the women and men who joined the movement.
Q2. Explain how the popular practice of Islam in the subcontinent blended universal features with local traditions.
ANSWERWhen Islam spread through the subcontinent, it reached not just rulers but peasants, artisans, warriors and merchants. All who adopted Islam accepted, in principle, the five “pillars” of the faith: belief in one God, Allah, with Muhammad as his messenger (shahada); prayers five times a day (namaz/salat); alms (zakat); fasting in Ramzan (sawm); and the pilgrimage to Mecca (hajj). These were universal features. However, they were overlaid with diversity drawn from sectarian affiliations (Sunni, Shi‘a) and local customs of converts. For example, the Khojahs, a branch of the Ismailis, spread Quranic ideas through ginan — devotional poems in Punjabi, Multani, Sindhi, Kachchi, Hindi and Gujarati, sung in ragas. Arab traders on the Malabar coast adopted Malayalam and local customs such as matriliny and matrilocal residence. The blend is best seen in mosque architecture, which is universal in its orientation to Mecca (mihrab, minbar) but local in roofs and materials — brick in Bengal, wood in Kashmir, a shikhara-like roof in Kerala. Thus Islam in India was a complex blend of a universal faith with rich local traditions.
Q3. What kinds of textual sources do historians use to reconstruct the history of sufi traditions?
ANSWERA wide range of texts were produced in and around sufi khanqahs, and historians draw on four main genres. First, treatises or manuals on sufi thought and practice — the Kashf-ul-Mahjub of Ali bin Usman Hujwiri (d. c. 1071) is an example, showing how traditions outside the subcontinent influenced Indian Sufism. Second, malfuzat (“uttered”; conversations of sufi saints) — an early text is the Fawa’id-al-Fu’ad, the conversations of Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya compiled by Amir Hasan Sijzi; these had didactic purposes. Third, maktubat (“written”; collections of letters) written by sufi masters to their disciples, such as the Maktubat-i Imam Rabbani of the Naqshbandi Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi (d. 1624), which reveal both the shaikh’s spiritual concerns and the recipients’ conditions. Fourth, tazkiras (“to memorialise”; biographies of saints) — the Siyar-ul-Auliya of Mir Khwurd Kirmani was the first sufi tazkira in India, and the most famous is the Akhbar-ul-Akhyar of Abdul Haqq Muhaddis Dehlavi (d. 1642). Although tazkira authors glorified their own orders and added fantastic details, these sources are of great value for understanding the tradition. Together with sculpture, architecture and paintings, they let historians reconstruct sufi history with care.
MCQs & Assertion–Reason
1. The terms “great” and “little” traditions were coined by the sociologist:
(a) Max Weber (b) Robert Redfield (c) Emile Durkheim (d) M. N. Srinivas
2. The Alvars were devotees of:
(a) Shiva (b) the goddess (c) Vishnu (d) Surya
3. The anthology of compositions of the twelve Alvars is the:
(a) Tevaram (b) Nalayira Divyaprabandham (c) Kirtana-ghosha (d) Adi Granth Sahib
4. The Virashaiva (Lingayat) movement in Karnataka was led by:
For each Assertion–Reason question, choose: (A) Both true and the Reason correctly explains the Assertion; (B) Both true but the Reason is not the correct explanation; (C) Assertion true, Reason false; (D) Assertion false, Reason true.
A-R 1. Assertion: The local deity at Puri was identified by the twelfth century as Jagannatha, a form of Vishnu.
Reason: Local cults were often integrated into the Puranic framework through a dialogue between “great” and “little” traditions.
A-R 2. Assertion: The Lingayats cremate their dead according to the Dharmashastras.
Reason: Lingayats believe that on death the devotee is united with Shiva and will not return to this world.
A-R 3. Assertion: The Turks who set up the Delhi Sultanate sought legitimation from the sufis.
Reason: Sufis derived their authority directly from God and did not depend on jurists to interpret the shari‘a.
A-R 4. Assertion: Kabir’s verses are preserved in only a single tradition.
Reason: Verses ascribed to Kabir were compiled in three distinct but overlapping traditions — the Bijak, the Granthavali and the Adi Granth Sahib.
A-R 5. Assertion: Bhakti and sufi thinkers often composed in regional languages.
Reason: They wished to reach ordinary people directly in the languages they spoke and understood.
Answer key: 1-(A), 2-(D), 3-(A), 4-(D), 5-(A).
Exam Tips & Common Mistakes
How to score full marks in this chapter
Be precise with names, dates and places — Basavanna (1106–68), Baba Guru Nanak (1469–1539), the five Chishti dargahs (Ajmer, Delhi, Ajodhan), and the Alvar/Nayanar texts (Nalayira Divyaprabandham, Tevaram). For the “integration of cults”, always give the Puri/Jagannatha and goddess examples. For comparison questions (be-shari‘a vs ba-shari‘a, saguna vs nirguna), use a clear two-sided structure. In source-based answers, quote the idea, not just the name of the source. For map work, label states accurately. Define technical terms — shari‘a, zimmi, jizya, khanqah, silsila, ziyarat, urs, barakat, sama‘, qawwali — in one crisp line to earn marks.
Common mistakes to avoid
Confusing the Alvars (Vishnu) with the Nayanars (Shiva).
Mixing up saguna (with attributes) and nirguna (without attributes) bhakti.
Saying Lingayats cremate their dead — in fact they bury them.
Confusing ba-shari‘a (followed Islamic law) with be-shari‘a (defied it) sufis.
Forgetting that the “great”/“little” terms were coined by Robert Redfield, with quotation marks to avoid a hierarchy.
Leaving map and project questions blank — answer them in words with specific places and saints.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Chapter 6 of Class 12 History about?
Chapter 6, Bhakti-Sufi Traditions, studies changes in religious beliefs and devotional texts between the eighth and eighteenth centuries — the integration of cults, the Alvars and Nayanars, the Virashaivas, the coming of Islam and the growth of Sufism (especially the Chishtis), and the new devotional paths of Kabir, Baba Guru Nanak and Mirabai.
What is the difference between bhakti and Sufism?
Bhakti is a devotional movement within Indian religious traditions, expressed as saguna (worship of deities with attributes) or nirguna (worship of a formless god). Sufism (tasawwuf) is the mystical strand of Islam that seeks nearness to God through love and devotion, organised around khanqahs and silsilas. Both emphasised intense personal devotion and reached ordinary people through local languages and music.
Who were the major teachers of the Chishti silsila?
The major Chishti teachers were Shaikh Muinuddin Sijzi (dargah at Ajmer), Khwaja Qutbuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki (Delhi), Shaikh Fariduddin Ganj-i Shakar or Baba Farid (Ajodhan), Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya (Delhi) and Shaikh Nasiruddin Chiragh-i Dehli (Delhi). The Chishtis were the most influential sufi order in India because they adapted to local traditions.
