Introductory - Global Sikh Studies

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lower castes atleast, to the social aspirations of the people. Among
the masses, it aroused great hopes of delivery from the religious and
social oppression of the Brahmanical order; because the movement
condemned in unequivocal language the Brahmanical social values
and the props on which the caste order rest. Prof. Habib implies that
the conversion to Islam of the lower caste people was, by and large,
voluntary. 6 As such, the flocking of the poor around the standard of
revolt raised against the Brahmanical ideology and the social order by
the Radical Bhaktas, may be regarded as a parallel movement whose
genesis is more or less the same as that of conversions to Islam. Those
who were suppressed and degraded by the caste system saw an
opportunity for gaining social justice. The urge of the down-trodden
from securing liberation has often found expression under religious
garbs. The rapid spread of Islam outside India was largely due to the
emphasis it placed on the principle of human equality. This expansion
was no primarily due to emotional factors. For, the intense religious
emotionalism of the Sufis was introduced later and at a time when the
peak of Islam’s expansionist phase had passed over. Buddhism also
had its appeal in its democratic spirit. Bhagvatism became more
popular than the old Brahmanical religion because, although it
remained rooted to the Varna Ashrama Dharma, it partly opened its
gates for the religious participation by the masses. Therefore, it is no
surprise that the Radical Bhakti ideology caught the imagination of
the masses, because its gospel was directed against the Brahmanical
order which enslaved them.
Although the medieval Bhakti ideology, in its purely religious
aspect, continues, as Grierson says, to inspire people even to the
present day, it remained, from the social angle, a mere ideological
declaration. It may be conceded that it met, and continues to meet,
certain types of emotional needs of some people. But, mass
movements seeking social change cannot be made out of the stuff of
sentiments alone. In order to transform the ardour of the people into
sustained social action or movements, it is essential that their emotions
should be related to their social aspirations and requirements. There
is no evidence to suggest that the medieval Bhaktas, or their followers,
attempted even to move in this direction. Their message aroused the