When the popularity of the bhakti movement in south India reached its peak, the doctrine of bhakti was expounded at the philosophical level by a series of Vaishnava scholars and saints. Ramanujar expounded the philosophy known as Vishistadvaita, or qualified monism. His teaching qualified Adi Sankara’s emphasis on absolute monism or the oneness of the ‘supreme’ and the ‘souls’. If the Bhakti movement flourished in the Tamil country from the seventh century, it was only from the fifteenth century that there was an extraordinary outburst of devotional poetry in north India. The society had degenerated into a caste-ridden community with practice of segregation, polytheism and idolatry. The religious minded saints raised their voice of protest against rites and ceremonies, superstitions, and unwanted formalisms. A popular monotheistic movement along with Vaishnava Bhakti movement came to be launched. The monotheists followed a path which was independent of dominant religions of the time, Hinduism and Islam. They denied their allegiance to either of them and criticized superstitious and orthodox elements of both the religions. The advent of Islam with the Turkish conquest posed a challenge to Vedic scholars and priests. By the end of the fourteenth century Islam had spread to large parts of India. A considerable section of the Indian population had taken to Islam. Combined with state power, the universal message of Islam with emphasis on equality attracted the lower sections of society. The new political and social situation created conditions for the growth of non-conformist movements with anti-caste, anti-vedic and antipuranic traditions. The resultant changes in the cultural sphere were: development of regional languages, the evolution of Hindustani, and of Indo-Muslim music and architecture. The Hindu response to Muslim political power was complex. While there was considerable hostility to the new religion there was also a tendency to internal reform to strengthen Hinduism so as to face the challenge. An important outcome of the encounter was the rise of syncretic sects and major poets and Saints such as Kabir, Guru Nanak, and Ravidas.
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மறுமலர்ச்சி மற்றும் சீர்த்திருத்த நடவடிக்கைகளுடன் அடிப்படைப் பொருளாதார மாற்றங்களும் நிகழ்ந்தன. இந்த தொடர் பொருளாதாரமாற்றங்களின் விளைவாக இடைக்காலத்தின் பிற்பகுதியில் இருந்த ஓரளவு நிலையான, உள்ளூர் நிலையிலான, இலாப நோக்கற்ற பொருளாதாரம், பதினான்காம் நூற்றாண்டு மற்றும் அதனை அடுத்து வந்த நூற்றாண்டுகளில் உலகளாவிய வலுவான முதலாளித்துவ நிலைக்கு மாற்றம் பெற்றது. வர்த்தகப் புரட்சி என்று அழைக்கப்பட்ட இது திடீரென நிகழ்ந்துவிடவில்லை படிப்படியாகவே நிகழ்ந்தது. புரட்சியின் தொடக்கத்துக்கான காரணங்கள் (அ) மத்தியதரைக்கடல் வர்த்தகம் இத்தாலிய நகரங்களால் கைப்பற்றப்பட்டது.(ஆ) இத்தாலிய நகரங்கள் […]