The Mughals, Bhakti and Sufi Movements

Mughal rulers – one line each

Mansabdari in one minute

Every officer held a mansab (rank) with two numbers: zat (personal rank and pay) and sawar (the number of cavalrymen to maintain). They were usually paid through jagirs (revenue assignments) that were transferable, not hereditary.

The Bhakti movement – devotion to a personal god

• Started with the Alvars (devotees of Vishnu) and Nayanars (devotees of Shiva) in Tamil Nadu, from around the 6th century CE.
• Kabir – against rituals and caste; his dohas appear in the Guru Granth Sahib.
• Guru Nanak – founder of Sikhism; equality, langar (community kitchen).
• Mirabai – Krishna bhakti from Rajasthan.
• Tulsidas – Ramcharitmanas (Awadhi); Chaitanya – Bengal Vaishnavism.
• Maharashtra saints: Jnaneshwar, Namdev, Tukaram.

The Sufi movement – Islamic mysticism

• Orders were called silsilas. The Chishti order was the most popular in India.
• Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti – Ajmer; Nizamuddin Auliya – Delhi; Amir Khusrau was his disciple (poetry and music, qawwali).
• Shared values with Bhakti: love of God, equality, and use of local languages.

Background: how the Mughals came and stayed

Babur, a Timurid prince from Ferghana, defeated Ibrahim Lodi at the First Battle of Panipat (1526) using field artillery and the Tulughma (flanking) tactic. He then defeated Rana Sanga at Khanwa (1527). His son Humayun lost the empire to Sher Shah Suri (battles of Chausa 1539 and Kannauj/Bilgram 1540) and regained it only in 1555. The real empire-builder was Akbar (1556–1605). After the Second Battle of Panipat (1556) against Hemu, Akbar spent fifty years building institutions that lasted about 150 years.

Sher Shah's contributions – the bridge between Sultanate and Mughal

• Land measurement and fixed revenue from crop rates (the rai). He issued pattas (title deeds) and took qabuliyats (agreements) from farmers.
• The silver rupiya coin (178 grains), the ancestor of the rupee.
• Roads and sarais – he restored the route from Sonargaon to Peshawar (later the Grand Trunk Road), with sarais that also served as dak (postal) chowkis.

Akbar's minister Todar Mal built on these ideas.

How Akbar's state worked

Religious policy, in order: abolition of the pilgrim tax (1563) and jizya (1564); the Ibadat Khana debates at Fatehpur Sikri (1575); the Mahzar (1579), giving Akbar the final word among conflicting interpretations of Islamic law; and Din-i-Ilahi/Tauhid-i-Ilahi (1582), a small discipleship – not a new state religion. Rajput alliances through marriage and high mansabs (Man Singh) made Rajputs partners in the empire.

The later Mughals and the causes of decline

• Jahangir – the chain of justice; Nur Jahan's influence; the English envoy Sir Thomas Roe (1615).
• Shah Jahan – the age of grand architecture (the Taj Mahal, Red Fort, Jama Masjid), but costly and with heavy revenue pressure.
• Aurangzeb – the reimposition of jizya (1679); the long Deccan wars (1681–1707) against Bijapur, Golconda and the Marathas.

Why the empire declined after 1707: a jagirdari crisis (too many mansabdars, too little good land – "be-jagiri"); wars of succession; the Deccan drain; revolts of the Jats, Satnamis, Sikhs and Marathas; weak successors; and the invasions of Nadir Shah (1739) and Ahmad Shah Abdali (Third Battle of Panipat, 1761). Regional states then emerged – Hyderabad, Bengal, Awadh, the Marathas, Punjab under Ranjit Singh.

Bhakti and Sufi – a message of love and equality

Nirguna vs saguna bhakti: nirguna saints (Kabir, Nanak, Dadu) worshipped a formless God. Saguna saints (Tulsidas, Surdas, Mirabai, Chaitanya) worshipped God with form (Rama, Krishna).

Effects: growth of regional languages and literature (Awadhi Ramcharitmanas, Marathi abhangas, Punjabi Guru Granth Sahib); a composite culture (Amir Khusrau – qawwali, Hindavi); and the foundation of Sikhism (the Adi Granth compiled by Guru Arjan Dev in 1604).

Case study: Kabir – a voice for social reform

Kabir, a weaver of Varanasi, mocked idol worship as well as empty namaz, and caste pride as well as religious hypocrisy. His dohas are short, rhythmic and easy to remember. He shows how ordinary working people shaped India's moral thinking. GS4 answers use him to show compassion, tolerance and the critique of formalism.

Common misconceptions

• "Din-i-Ilahi was a religion Akbar forced on people." – It had fewer than twenty known members, and no one was compelled to join.
• "Sufis were all against orthodoxy." – The Naqshbandis (Sheikh Ahmad Sirhindi) supported orthodox Islam and criticised Akbar's policy.
• "The Mughal decline started with the British." – It began with internal crises after 1707; the British exploited them later.

How UPSC asks it

Prelims asks about terms (zat, sawar, dahsala, sulh-i-kul), saints and their regions and teachings, Sufi orders, and the works of Mughal-era authors. Mains themes include the Bhakti–Sufi contribution to composite culture and the Mughal administrative legacy.

Mains answer framework

Q-type: "The Bhakti and Sufi movements gave a new direction to Indian society. Discuss."

• Introduction: both are devotional, rooted in love and equality; time frame.
• Body: religious (personal devotion, rejection of ritual) – social (caste, women) – literary (regional languages) – cultural (music, syncretism) – political (a climate of tolerance; influence on Akbar).
• Limits: caste did not disappear; later institutionalisation.
• Conclusion: the roots of India's pluralism, quoted by Gandhi and Tagore.

Mansabdari system

Akbar organised the nobility through mansabs (ranks). Each officer held a zat rank (personal status and pay) and a sawar rank (number of cavalrymen to maintain). Salaries were paid in cash or by assigning revenue from a jagir, which was transferable to prevent officers from building local power bases.

Mains practice question

Q. How did the Bhakti and Sufi movements contribute to a composite culture? Outline: emphasis on personal devotion over ritual; criticism of caste and orthodoxy (Kabir, Ravidas, Nanak); use of regional languages; Sufi khanqahs open to all, sama (music) shared with local traditions; mutual influence seen in poetry and music; their legacy in the ideas of tolerance used later by reformers and the freedom movement.