The Adi Granth is a religious book of the Sufis.

1. The Idea of a Supreme God:

(i) According to different religious texts and rebirth and birth theory, executing good actions and bad deeds has bad outcomes idea was propagated through religion.

(ii) Buddha or the Jains showed a path, through which it was possible to overcome the existing caste system and differences.

(iii) Bhagavad-Gita advised that the Supreme God is one who could free humans from all deeds and bondages if one prays with devotion.

(iv) Puranas states that, devotees could get the grace of God irrespective of caste status.

2. Nayanars and Alvars: South India Bhakti Saints

(i) The Nayanars (saints devoted to Shiva) and Alvars (saints devoted to Vishnu) came from distinct communities.

(ii) They worshipped Shiva or Vishnu, and saw them as supreme God.

(iii) The ideals of love and heroism were depicted by them, as found in the Sangam literature, and fused them with the core values of bhakti.

(iv) They composed poems and went to different places to impart the religious feelings and devotion.

(v) The popular Nayanars were Appar, Sambandar, Sundarar, and Manikkavasagar.

(vi) The most known Alvars were Periyalvar, and his daughter Andal she was only female Alvar saint. Tondaradippodi Alvar, and Nammalvar were other popular devotees.

(vii) Hagiographies are religious biographies of the saints who were Alvars or Nayanars.

3. Philosophy and Bhakti:

(i) Shankara, holds very significant post between the philosophers of India, his native place is in Kerala.

(ii) The theory about illusion or Maya is given by him.

(iii) Shankara insisted on renunciation of the world and acceptance of the path of knowledge.

(iv) In the eleventh century, in Tamil Nadu Ramanuja was born.

(v) He believed in attaining salvation through intense devotion to Vishnu.

4. Basavanna’s Virashaivism:

(i) Virashaiva movement was started by Basavanna in Karnataka his companions also joined this later. Allama Prabhu and Akkamahadevi were active participants of this movement.

(ii) Virashaivas were against all forms of ritual and idol worship.

5. The Saints of Maharashtra:

(i) Some of the famous saints who wrote poems too are Dnyaneshwar also known as Gyaneshwar, Namdev, Eknath, and Tukaram.

(ii) Saint poets rejected the idea of renunciation and ritualism and emphasised serving fellow human beings in need.

(iii) Narsi Mehta was a famous Gujrati saint.

6. Nathpanthis, Siddhas and Yogis:

(i) They advocated renunciation of the world and followed the path to salvation through meditation. They practised meditation through yogasanas.

7. Islam and Sufism:

(i) Islam propagated strict monotheism.

(ii) Sufis were Muslim mystics. They rejected outward religion and emphasised love and devotion to God.

(iii) They developed zikr which is chanting of a name or sacred formula, contemplation, sama which is singing, raqs as dancing, discussion of parables, breath control, etc.

(iv) Khwaja Muinuddin Chishti, Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki, Baba Farid, Khwaja Nizamuddin Auliya, and Bandanawaz Gisudaraz were all Sufi teachers.

(v) The khanqahs or hospices were places for Sufi assemblies.

8. New Religious Developments in North India:

(i) Kabir and Baba Guru Nanak were not supporting or encouraging any orthodox religion.

(ii) Chaitanyadeva saint from Bengal preached selfless devotion to Krishna-Radha.

(iii) Tulsidas conceived God in the form of Rama. He composed the Ramcharitmanas.

(iv) Surdas was a devotee of Krishna. He composed the Sursagara, Surasaravali and Sahitya Lahari.

(v) Shankaradeva of Assam emphasised devotion to Vishnu.

(vi) Mirabai was a Rajput princess, who became a disciple of saint Ravidas. She was a devotee of Krishna.

9. Kabir:

(i) He lived in the fifteenth-sixteenth century and is considered one of the most influential saints.

(ii) He had a vast collection of verses called sakhis.

(iii) He disregarded all forms of external worship of both Brahmanical Hinduism and Islam.

(iv) He believed in a formless Supreme God and according to him the only path to salvation was through bhakti and devotion.

10. Baba Guru Nanak:

(i) The sacred place created by Baba Guru Nanak was known as Dharamshala or Gurdwara.

(ii) Guru Granth Sahib is the holy scripture of the Sikhs.

(iii) Ramdaspur now Amritsar developed around the central Gurdwara called Harmandar Sahib also known as Golden Temple.

(iv) Baba Guru Nanak propagated the worship of one God. He considered caste, creed, and gender, irrelevant to the attainment of the goal.

11. Martin Luther and Reformation:

(i) Martin Luther was one of the most important leaders of the changes that took place within Christianity in the sixteenth century.

(ii) Luther felt that several practices in the Roman Catholic Church went against the teachings of the Bible.

(iii) He encouraged the use of the language of ordinary people.

(iv) Luther was strongly opposed to the practice of “indulgences” or making donations to the Church to gain forgiveness from sins.