Religious Movements in Medieval Period Questions & Answers

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Religious Movements in Medieval Period Questions & Answers

Question 1: What did Basavanna fight against?

Answer: Basavanna fought against the caste system, rituals in Hinduism and idol worship.

Question 2: Who were the Dadu Panthis?

Answer: The followers of Dadu Dayal were known as Dadu Panthis.

Question 3: What were the teachings of Ramanuja?

Answer: According to Ramanuja, Bhakti is more important than knowledge to attain salvation.

Question 4: Where did Shankaracharya establish his four maths?

Answer: He established his four maths or peeths (monastic centres) at Sringeri in Karnataka, Dwarka in Gujarat, Puri in Odisha and Joshimath in Uttarakhand.

Question 5: What were the teachings of Shankaracharya?

Answer: He advocated that Brahman is the Ultimate Reality and the universe is an illusion.

Question 6: What did the Sufi saints preach?

Answer: Sufi saints preached Islamic ideas of equality and brotherhood.

Question 7: What did the Marathi saints preached?

Answer: The Marathi bhakti saints preached the doctrines of devotion to God and equality of all men before him without any social differences based on caste.

Religious Movements in Medieval Period Questions & Answers

Question 8: How did the Bhakti movement spread so far and wide?

Answer: The preachers of the Bhakti movement travelled from one place to another praising and preaching.

Question 9: Name the other religious cults during the Medieval Period.

Answer: Nathpanthis, Siddhacharas and Yogis are the other religious cults that arose during the medieval period.

Question 10: What was the Sufi movement?

Answer: The Sufi movement was a mystical movement which started against the increasing materialism in Islam.

Question 11: What were the teachings of Ramanada?

Answer: Ramanada taught perfect love for God and human brotherhood and disregarded the ban on people of different castes by cooking and sharing their meals together.

Question 12: What did Dadu Dayal reject?

Answer: Dadu Dayal rejected the authority of the Vedas, caste distinction, and external formalities of worship by visiting temples and pilgrimages. Instead, he emphasized on japa meaning chanting of the name of God.

Question 13: What were the beliefs of Chaitanya? Whom were his teachings meant for?

Answer: Chaitanya believed that the personal presence of God could be realised through love, devotion, singing and dancing. His teachings were meant for all irrespective of their caste and creed and had a profound impact on the masses.

Question 14: Give the names of Bhakti saints in Maharashtra.

Answer: The Bhakti saints in Maharashtra were Dnyaneshvara, Namdev, Eknath, Tuikaram, Sakhu, Janabai and Chokhamela.

Question 15: What did Madhvacharya preach?

Answer: Madhvacharya preached Dvaita or dualism which emphasis a strict distinction between the God (the Supreme soul) and the individual souls.

Religious Movements in Medieval Period Questions & Answers

Question 16: Kabir preached the religion of love. Give reasons.

Answer: Kabir preached the religion of love which would promote unity among all the classes and creed. He laid emphasis on the unity of God whom he addressed by variable names such as Ram, Hari, Govinda, Allah, Sahib, etc.

Question 17: Write a note on Nayanars and Alvars.

Answer:

• From the 7^th to the 9^th century, the Bhakti Movement of South India was led by popular saints called Nayanars (devotees of Shiva or Shaivites) and Alvars (devotees of Vishnu or Vaishnavites).
• They came from different castes.
• They travelled widely singing hymns, composing beautiful poems in praise of their deities.
• They spread their message in local languages such Tamil, Kannada and Telugu and not in Sanskrit.
• They were sharply critical of the Buddhists and the Jains, and preached extreme dedication and devotion to God as the path to salvation.
• Their teachings were simple and the common people cold understand the principles and the compositions were in local languages that made the Bhakti movement popular among masses.

Question 18: How did the Chishti Silsilah differ from the Suharwardi Silsilah?

Answer:

Question 19: What were the factors responsible for the rise of the Bhakti movement?

Answer: The rise of Bhakti movement was due to many factors:

• People were no longer satisfied with their religion as it became too ritualistic and dogmatic.
• The caste system became more rigid and alienated the lower castes from the social order.
• With the advent of Islam in India, Sufi saints preached Islamic ideas of equality and brotherhood.
• People were on a look out for a religion that could satisfy their reason and emotions.

Question 20: Discuss the teachings of Guru Nanak.

Answer:

• Guru Nanak was a great preacher of the medieval period. His teachings form a bedrock of a new religion, Sikhism founded by him. He was born in a Khatri family at Talwandi (now known as Nankana).
• He believed in universal toleration and devoted his whole life preaching the same doctrine.
• He laid great emphasis on the worship of one God. One could attain salvation by repeating his name with love and devotion irrespective of one’s caste, creed or sect.
• He opposed idol worship, pilgrimages, several other formal observances of various faiths and preached equality.
• He also insisted on the purity of character, conduct and the need of a guru or a teacher to guide.
• He started the practice of eating together without any distinction between castes, creeds and genders in a common kitchen called langar.
• He wanted his followers not to give up the duties of the householder and earn their livelihood through productive and useful occupation.

Religious Movements in Medieval Period Questions & Answers

Question 21: Muslim mystic saints laid great importance on personal love and devotion to God. Give reasons.

Answer: The Sufis were mystic saints who laid great importance on personal love and devotion to God by rejecting outward religiosity, the elaborated rituals and the codes of behaviour demanded by the Muslim religious scholars. They emphasised on being compassionate towards all human beings. They also interacted with the Bhakti saints and adopted many ideas and practices of each other.

Question 22: What made the Bhakti movement popular among the masses?

Answer:

• The teachings of the bhakti saints were simple, the common people could understand the principles as the compositions were in local languages.
• This made the bhakti movement popular among the masses.

Question 23: The khanqahs played an important role in spread of Sufi movement? Explain.

Answer: Devotees of all religion and belonging to different classes used to pay visits to these khanqahs, where they sought blessings of the saints, discussed spiritual matters or simply attended the dance and music sessions called sama.

Question 24: Write short notes on:

(a) Vallabhacharya

Answer:

• He was a Telugu Brahmin and was an exponent of the Krishna cult.
• He advocated renunciation of the world.
• He propounded that the universe and the soul are real and pure essence of the Supreme Spirit.

(b) Namdev

Answer:

• Namdev was born in a low caste family.
• He composed a number of abhangas (hymns) in Marathi and some of his verses are incorporated in the Adi Granth (first volume), the sacred scriptures of the Sikhs.

Question 25: State any three features of the Chishti Silsilah in India.

Answer:

• The Chishti Silsilah was founded by Khwaja Muinuddin Chishti.
• The other well-known Chishti saints were Nizamuddin Auliya, Nasiruddin-Chiragh-i-Delhi, Baba Farid, etc.
• They worked amongst the people of lower classes and also mingled with the Hindus.
• The Chishtis led a simple and austere life and believed in the service of mankind.

Question 26: What were the teachings of saint Kabir?

Answer:

• Kabir preached the religion of love which would promote unity among all the classes and creed.
• He laid emphasis on the unity of God whom he addressed by variable names such as Ram, Hari, Govinda, Allah, Sahib, etc.
• Kabir vehemently rejected idol worship, caste system, practices such as untouchability, going on pilgrimages, participation in formal worship and condemned all sort of discrimination.
• He did not favour the idea of renunciation of the life of a householder for leading a saintly life. To him the true path of salvation was through devotional worship known as bhajans.
• He believed that the reform of the individual can be achieved under the guidance of a guru or teacher.

So, these were Religious Movements in Medieval Period Questions & Answers.