Reconstructing Histories of Religious Traditions

Historians reconstructing the history of religious traditions rely on a wide variety of sources. These include sculpture, architecture, stories about religious preceptors, and compositions attributed to both men and women who sought to understand the nature of the Divine. As earlier chapters (1 and 4) have shown, sculpture and architecture can only be interpreted if we understand the context — the ideas, beliefs, and practices of the people who produced and used these images and buildings.

The textual traditions concerning religious beliefs are equally diverse. The sources in this chapter range from the apparently simple, direct language of Basavanna’s vachanas to the ornate Persian of Mughal imperial farmans. Understanding each type of text requires different skills. Apart from knowing several languages, the historian must be aware of the subtle variations in style that characterise each genre.

Shankaradeva and Vaishnavism in Assam

In the late fifteenth century, Shankaradeva emerged as a leading proponent of Vaishnavism in Assam. His teachings, often called the Bhagavati dharma because they were based on the Bhagavad Gita and the Bhagavata Purana, focused on absolute surrender to the supreme deity, Vishnu. He emphasised the need for naam kirtan — the recitation of the lord’s names in sat sanga, or congregations of pious devotees. He also encouraged the establishment of satra (monasteries) for transmitting spiritual knowledge, and naam ghar (prayer halls). Many of these institutions and practices continue to flourish in the region. His major compositions include the Kirtana-ghosha.

Varieties of Sources Used to Reconstruct the History of Sufi Traditions

A wide range of texts were produced in and around Sufi khanqahs. These can be classified into four main genres:

1. Treatises or Manuals: These deal with Sufi thought and practices. An example is The Kashf-ul-Mahjub of Ali bin Usman Hujwiri (died c. 1071). This genre helps historians see how traditions from outside the subcontinent influenced Sufi thought in India.

2. Malfuzat (literally, “utterances”): These are conversations of Sufi saints. An early text is the Fawa’id-al-Fu’ad, a collection of conversations of Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya, compiled by the noted Persian poet Amir Hasan Sijzi Dehlavi. Malfuzats were compiled by different Sufi silsilas with the permission of the shaikhs and had obvious didactic purposes. Several examples have been found from different parts of the subcontinent, including the Deccan, and they were compiled over several centuries.

3. Maktubat (literally, “written”; collections of letters): These are letters written by Sufi masters to their disciples and associates. They tell us about the shaikh’s experience of religious truth that he wanted to share. They also reflect the life conditions of the recipients and are responses to their aspirations and difficulties, both spiritual and mundane. The letters of the noted seventeenth-century Naqshbandi Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi (d. 1624), known as Maktubat-i Imam Rabbani, are among those most frequently discussed by scholars. His ideology is often contrasted with the liberal and non-sectarian views of Akbar.

4. Tazkiras (literally, “to mention and memorialise”; biographical accounts of saints): The fourteenth-century Siyar-ul-Auliya of Mir Khwurd Kirmani was the first Sufi tazkira written in India. It dealt principally with the Chishti saints. The most famous tazkira is the Akhbar-ul-Akhyar of Abdul Haqq Muhaddis Dehlavi (d. 1642). The authors of tazkiras often sought to establish the precedence of their own orders and glorify their spiritual genealogies. Many details are often implausible and full of fantastic elements. Still, they are of great value for historians and help them understand the nature of the tradition more fully.

The Challenge of Studying Living Traditions …