History · Ch 6 — Bhakti–Sufi Traditions — Changes in Religious Beliefs and Devotional Texts
The popular practice of Islam
The popular practice of Islam
The five pillars of Islam — the shahada (declaration of faith), namaz/salat (prayer five times daily), zakat (alms-giving), sawm (fasting during Ramzan), and hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca) — were accepted in principle by all who adopted the faith. But the actual practice of Islam across the subcontinent was far from uniform. These universal features were overlaid with diversities arising from two main sources: sectarian affiliations (Sunni, Shi‘a) and the influence of local customary practices among converts from different social backgrounds.
The book illustrates this with two vivid examples.
The Khojahs, a branch of the Ismailis (a Shi‘a sect), developed new modes of communication. They disseminated ideas from the Qur’an through indigenous literary genres, most notably the ginan — a term derived from the Sanskrit jnana, meaning “knowledge”. These were devotional poems composed in Punjabi, Multani, Sindhi, Kachchi, Hindi and Gujarati, and were sung in special ragas during daily prayer meetings. The ginan were transmitted orally before being recorded in the Khojaki script, which itself was derived from the local landa (“clipped” mercantile script) used by the linguistically diverse Khojah community in Punjab, Sindh and Gujarat.
A second example comes from the Malabar coast (Kerala). Arab Muslim traders who settled there adopted the local language, Malayalam. They also adopted local customs such as matriliny and matrilocal residence — a practice where women after marriage remain in their natal home with their children, and husbands may come to stay with them. …
Figure 6.8 shows a Khojaki manuscript — a physical page from a handwritten book, covered in dense lines of text in the Khojaki script. The script itself is the key detail: it was derived from the landa (“clipped”) mercantile script used by traders in Punjab, Sindh, and Gujarat. This was not a formal, courtly script but a practical, everyday one used by merchants. The Khojah community adapted it to write down their devotional poems, the ginan.
The manuscript is not illustrated with paintings or diagrams; its importance lies entirely in the script and the content it records. The ginan (from Sanskrit jnana, “knowledge”) were originally composed and sung orally in languages like Punjabi, Sindhi, Gujarati, and Multani, set to specific ragas for daily prayer. Only later were they written down in this script. So the manuscript represents a crucial transition from oral tradition to written text. …
The figure shows a photograph of a mosque built in Kerala around the thirteenth century. The most striking feature is its roof: instead of the dome typical of many mosques elsewhere, this one has a steep, tiered, sloping roof that resembles a shikhara — the spire found on Hindu temples in the region. The building is constructed of local materials, likely laterite stone and timber, and its overall form blends into the architectural landscape of the Malabar coast.
The caption draws attention to the shikhara-like roof, and the textbook text places this image in a discussion of how universal Islamic practices were overlaid with local traditions. The mosque’s orientation toward Mecca (visible in the placement of the mihrab and minbar inside) is a universal feature. But the roof and building materials are local — a direct result of Arab Muslim traders settling along the Malabar coast, adopting Malayalam, and even following local customs like matriliny.
What this figure teaches is that the spread of Islam was not a simple imposition of a single, uniform architectural style. Instead, it was a process of accommodation and blending. The mosque remains a mosque in function — it is oriented toward Mecca, it has a prayer niche — but its form is shaped by the climate, available materials, and existing building traditions of Kerala. The shikhara-like roof is not a Hindu symbol; it is a practical and aesthetic choice that makes the building suited to heavy monsoon rains while also reflecting the regional visual vocabulary. …
The Atiya mosque in Mymensingh district, Bangladesh, was built in 1609. Its most striking feature is the material and style: it is constructed entirely in brick, and the brickwork is decorated in the local Bengali tradition. This is not a mosque imported wholesale from a distant Islamic heartland; it is a mosque that speaks the architectural language of its region.
The caption places it alongside two other mosques in the textbook (Figures 6.9 and 6.11) to make a single point: the architecture of mosques in India was a blend of universal Islamic requirements and local building traditions. The universal requirements are invisible in a photograph — the mosque must face Mecca, so the mihrab (prayer niche) and minbar (pulpit) are oriented accordingly. What you see in Figure 6.10 is the local element: the brick, the decorative patterns, the roof form — all drawn from Bengali construction practices. …
The Shah Hamadan mosque in Srinagar, built in 1395, is a striking example of how a universal faith like Islam was adapted to local building traditions. The mosque is made entirely of wood, a material abundant in the Kashmir valley, and sits on the banks of the Jhelum river. Its most prominent feature is a tall spire, which rises above the prayer hall, and the eaves (the overhanging edges of the roof) are deeply carved and decorated with papier-mâché — a craft for which Kashmir is famous.
This mosque is not built in the style of the great stone mosques of Delhi or the Arab world. Instead, it follows the traditional Kashmiri wooden architecture, with a multi-tiered roof and a spire that resembles the shikhara of a Hindu temple. The placement of the mihrab (the niche indicating the direction of Mecca) and the minbar (the pulpit) inside the mosque follows universal Islamic practice. But the building materials and the overall form are thoroughly local. …