History

There are several similarities (if we exclude the popular monotheistic movements of Kabir,
Nanak and other "low" caste saints) between the old bhakti tradition of South India and various
bhakti movements that engulfed the Sultanate and Mughal periods.
The vaishnava bhakti movements of North and Eastern India and Maharashtra, like the South
Indian bhakti movement, displayed egalitarian tendencies in the religious circle. But the caste
system, the supremacy of the Brahmanic scriptures and the Brahmanic privileges were never
rejected as such..
Most of the vaishnava movements of the later period, including the South Indian bhakti, were
eventually integrated into the Brahmanic faith, while the latter itself sailed through several
changes in the process of communication. The Bhakti movement never was a single movement,
except for a movement that stressed bhakti and religious freedom in the large doctrinal sense.
In many important respects, the bhakti movements of mediaeval India varied from the older
tradition of South Indian bhakti. Even among the bhakti movements which prevailed in
mediaeval India, heterogeneity could be found. They each had a regional identity and socio-
historical and cultural background of their own. The non-conformist movements focused on
common monotheistic bhakti thus contained characteristics that were fundamentally different
from various movements of vaishnava bhakti. The definition of bhakti by Kabir was not the same
as that of mediaeval Vaisnava saints like Chaitanya or Mirabai.
The historical background of Maharashtra bhakti within the Vaishnava movement was different
from that of the Ramanand, Vallavha, Surdas and Tulsidas Bengal Vaishnavisn or North Indian
Bhakti movement. There were frequent conflicts between them further on, when the vaishnava
bhakti movement crystallised into sects, which sometimes even led to violence. The famous
monotheistic movements of Kabir, Nanak, Raidas and other lower caste saints stood out
significantly among all the bhakti movements of the time between the 14th and 17th centuries.1
1
https://www.britannica.com/topic/bhakti\
FACTORS LEADING TO THE EMERGENCE OF BHAKTI
MOVEMENT IN NORTH INDIA
A. POLITICAL FACTORS
It was figured out that before the Turkish invasion, since the socio-religious milieu was governed
by the Rajput-Brahman coalition that was hostile to any heterodox movement, the common
bhakti movement could not gain a foothold in Northern India. The Turkish conquests brought
this coalition 's supremacy to an end. With the Turkish conquest, the rise of Islam also caused a
setback to the strength and prestige that the Brahmans commanded. Thus, with anti-caste and
anti-Brahmanical ideology, the way was paved for the rise of non-conformist movements.
The Brahmans had always made people believe that the photos and idols in the temples were not
just God's representations, but were gods themselves who had divine power and who (i.e. the
Brahmans) could control them. The Brahmans were stripped of their temple riches and state
support by the Turks. Thus, materially and ideologically, the Brahmans suffered both. Maybe the
first to prosper from the diminishing influence of the Rajput-Brahman alliance was the non-
conformist sect of the Nathpanthis. At the beginning of the Sultanate era, this sect seemed to
have reached its height. The Brahmans' loss of power and influence and the new political
situation eventually produced circumstances for the emergence of Northern India 's common
monotheistic movements and several other bhakti movements.
B. SOCIO-ECONOMIC FACTORS
It has been claimed that mediaeval India's bhakti movements reflected the common people's
feelings against feudal exploitation. In the poetry of the bhakti saints, ranging from Kabir and
Nanak to Chaitanya and Tulsidas, elements of progressive resistance to feudalism can be found
from this point of view. In this context, the mediaeval bhakti movements are often sometimes
viewed as the Indian equivalent to Europe's Protestant Reformation. There is nothing, however,
to indicate in the poetry of the bhakti saints that they served the peasantry's class self-interests
against the excessive-extracting feudal state..
Only to the degree that they believed in bhakti and religious freedom did the Vaishnava bhakti
saints break away from the traditional Brahmanical order. They continued to adhere to certain
core values of orthodox Brahmanism in general. The more extreme monotheistic saints fully
rejected the orthodox Brahmanic faith, but they did not even call for the abolition of the state and
the ruling class. For this reason, it is not possible to consider the bhakti revolutions as the Indian
version of the European Protestant Reformation, which was a much greater social upheaval
linked to the fall of feudalism and the emergence of capitalism. However, this does not mean that
the bhakti saints were oblivious to people's living conditions. They used pictures of everyday life
and often sought to associate themselves with the miseries of common people in one way or
another.

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There are several similarities (if we exclude the popular monotheistic movements of Kabir,

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