The tradition of tolerance, non-violence and respect for plurality that was initiated in Ancient
India continued to flourish in medieval times as well. In fact this tradition developed further and
was enriched by contributions both from the rulers and also at the popular level. Some of the
Islamic rulers, Akbar in particular, were notable in extending a symmetrical treatment to the
population without making any discrimination on the grounds of religion. They also made a
contribution to the development of a syncretic culture which has a tremendous relevance for a
pluralist country like ours. Let us briefly scrutinise some of the features of medieval India which
should inspire a human rights activist today.
Some of the rulers of medieval India were despotic and intolerant, some others liberal and
enlightened. Among all the rulers Akbar really stands out for his contribution towards religious
tolerance and for promoting brotherhood of all men. Immediately after assuming office he quite
generously remitted pilgrim-tax amounting to crores of rupees on Hindus at Mathura and other
places. He also forbade the enslavement of wives and children of rebellious villagers. He
abolished jasiya, tax that was levied only on Hindus. He completely banned the sale and purchase
of slaves. Akbar also extended freedom to all the religions. Those who had been forcibly
converted to one religion were allowed to convert back to their original religion. No restrictions
were placed on the building of Hindu temples, Christian churches or Jewish synagogues. Given
the spirit of the times these were magnanimous steps. Akbar also transformed the educational
syllabus by introducing, contrary to the prevailing norms, secular subjects like Mathematics,
Agriculture, Geometry, Astronomy, Logic, History etc. Perhaps Akbar's greatest contribution lay
in building an institution called Ibadat Khana (literally hall of prayers), at Fatehpur sikri in 1575,
as a place for conducting religious debates. These debates convinced Akbar that all religions
contained elements of truth. From this he evolved his universalist ideas on religion contained in
the concept of Sulh-i-kul or peace between all religions. It is this spirit of religious universalism
and unitly of all men during medieval times that should be of interest to a human rights activist
today. However, it is important to keep in mind that the initiative for unity of all religions and
syncretism was not just confined to the kings but had powerful roots in the society. Bhakti and
Sufi, two powerful social movements did more than anybody else to promote and spread these
ideas in the society,Let us now look at the tenets of some of the Bhakti and Sufi saints.
There are many folk religions and sects which came into prominence in the medieval period.
Well-known among them are Bhakti and Sufi movements, They are remarkable for their
simplicity, directness, and for preaching and practising tolerance, love and friendliness. Bhakti,
the path of devotion, implies a belief in the Supreme Person, not a supreme abstraction. It is,
therefore, a very straightforward and unsophisticated belief. It was opposed by the Brahmins for a
long time because of its utter disregard for caste divisions, religious rituals and ceremonies. But,
later they treated Bhakti with respect. The tradition of Bhakti played an important role among the
Tamils as mentioned in the works of the Alvar saints, most of whom came from low castes. In the
beginning, the movement was restricted to the lower strata of society who were the chief victims of the Brahrnanical tradition. At a later stage, Vaishnavas of even higher castes hailed their
literature. Ode Alvar saint, Andal belonged to a lower caste; she was accepted as a religious
leader by the society in general. This is an indication of the popularity of the Bhakti movement.
The great scholar, Ramanuja, the best known exponent of this movement, was influenced and
inspired by the "works of the Alvars", which were collected by the disciples of Ramanuja at his
special request, and from which Ramanuja himself drew much inspiration and food for this
system of thought. The devotional Bhakti and the Sufi traditions (the first Sufi teacher, Khwaja
Moinuddin Chishti came to India in 1 193 ) had much in common.
In medieval north India, mysticism was the product of both the Bhakti movement and the
tradition of Sufis. One important aspect of this mysticism was its complete independence from
orthodox scriptures. These teachers practised and taught tolerance. The interaction of Bhakti and
Islam, specially the Sufi idea, gave rise to a number of progressive movements with the core
philosophy of tolerance. Human Rights educationists should give utmost importance to this
aspect. It is regrettable that it has, with some notable exceptions, been generally studied in
isolation. It should, therefore, be emphasised in our text books that relations between Islam and
the religions of India were marked by mutual understanding and tolerance. This spirit of mutual
understanding, tolerance and cooperation were, to large extent, promoted by the rise and spread of
Sufi and Bhakti ideas. Namdeva and Tukaram from Maharastra, the former a tailor and the latter a
peasant, made the Bhakti movement increasingly acceptable to the people. Namdeva spread the
virtues of simplicity and argued forcefully against rituals and superstitions. He said: "The stone
image speaks not, see the lord within, the Tirthas (holy pilgrimage) cannot wash away sins, clean
your hearts instead. Fasting and other observance are futile unless your being is purified. What
can ceremonies do if love awake not in your heart?' In Bengal, the well-known Vaishnava poets
Jaidev, Vidyapati and Chandidas, as also Chaitnaya popularised the Bhakti movement. It spread
to almost all parts of India. Though the movement did not succeed-in completely breaking
through caste barriers, the very fact that many of its leaders belonged to lower castes, and also
that it believed in the equality of men, must be taken note of by human right educationists. . In the
fourteenth-fifteenth century, Ramananda (1 370- 1440) challenged caste divisions, revolted
against traditional religious rituals and started preaching in local dialects, and not Sanskrit which
was the preserve of the upper castes.
The most famous disciple of Ramananda was Kabir, who combined in his writings the essence of
Sufi and Bhakti traditions. He struck at the roots of ritualism and superstition. " 0 God, Whether
Allah or Rarna, I live by thy name.", sang Kabir. Since Kabir composed songs for the common
people he chose his own ianguage which was a combination of many local dialects .He practised
and preached the gospel of universal tolerance and was one of the exponents or the idea of India
with full religious freedom for all. Kabir gave utmost importance to human equality and
denounced inequality based on- caste, religion and wealth.
The founder of the great Sikh religion, Guru Nanak, was greatly influenced by Bhakti and Sufi
ideas. Both Kabir and Guru Nanak found a common link between Hinduism and Islam. The
Supreme significance of Nanak was that he was the harbinger of Hindu - Muslim unity.
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