Page 101 - SST Class 07

which included both Hindus and Muslims came name and fame spread far and wide before his
to be known as Kabir Panthis. death in 1539. Nanak laid great emphasis on
Guru Nanak purity of character and conduct as the first
condition for approaching God. Guru Nanak
Guru Nanak, from whose teachings the Sikh
expressed his ideas through hymns called
religion is derived, was born in the village of
“Shabad” in Punjabi – the language of the
Talwandi (Now called Nankana) on the bank of
region. Guru Nanak would sing these hymns
river Ravi in 1469.
while his attendant Mardana played the musical
Guru Nanak also spoke of
instrument rabab. Like Kabir, he also rejected
one God and believed
idol worship, pilgrimage and rituals. He also
that God can be reached
rejected distinctions, based on caste, wealth,
through selfless love and
creed and gender. Nanak allowed women to
devotion. It is said that
attend, his ideas led to the rise of a new faith
Nanak toured all over
called Sikhism. Guru Nanak was the 1st Guru of
India and even beyond to
Sikhs. The nine descendants of Guru Nanak
Sri Lanka in the south
are— Guru Angad, Guru Amar Das, Guru Ram
and Mecca and Medina in
Das, Guru Arjan Dev, Guru Har Govind, Guru
the west. He attracted a
Har Rai, Guru Har Kishan, Guru Tegh Bahadur
large number of people
Guru Nanak and Guru Gobind Singh.
towards him and his

THE SUFI MOVEMENT In these Khanqahs, there were open kitchens or
The counterpart of Bhakti Movement was the langars. Khanqahs were open to all. When the
Sufi Movement in Islam. The Sufi saints too, pir or the Sufi saint who was the head of the
believed in reaching God through love and Khanqah died, his grave would become a
devotion and in being kind and compassionate Dargah and a centre of pilgrimage. Sufi saints
towards all the people. The sufis were disgusted developed elaborate methods of training using
by the vulgar display of wealth and loss of moral Zikr hanting of the name or scared formula
values among the rich Muslims. They, like the contemplation, sama (singing), ragas (dancing)
Bhakti saints, spoke of a simple society free from and discussion of parables.
greed and materialism. Like the Bhakti-poets, the
Sufis too composed poems expressing their
unconditional love towards God and humanity.
Gradually, the Sufis were organised into 12
orders of Silsilahs. The chief among them were
the Suhrawardi and Chishti Silsilah. The Silsilah
was led by a Sufi saint who lived in their abodes
or hospices, called Khanqah along with their
disciples. Devotees of all classes from the ordi-
nary people to the upper-class nobility and even
royalty regularly came to these Khanqahs.
Khwaja Nizamuddin

Social Science-7 101