8. Cultural Currents: 13th to 17th Centuries

The message is that God is one. Ram and Rahim, Kaaba and Kashi are only different names and places for the same divine. Just as grains lose their differences when ground into flour, all religious differences disappear when one realises God. So people should live in unity and not fight over religion.

• Songs in the local language were easy for common people to understand and remember.
• Music and dance did not need literacy, rituals or priests.
• People of all castes and classes could sing and dance together, which spread equality.
• Music touches the heart and expresses love and devotion directly.
• Bhajans spread quickly from place to place through singing gatherings.

Example — Maharashtra:

• Kirtan — stories of saints and gods told with music.
• Powada — ballads about the bravery of heroes like Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.
• Bharud — Sant Eknath’s songs that teach through humour and drama.
• Chitrakathi — stories told with painted pictures and puppets (Pinguli, Sindhudurg).
• Gondhal — devotional storytelling with music in praise of the goddess.

Similarities: Bright colours, fine lines, detailed borders and small size; plants, animals and people shown in great detail.

Differences: Rajput paintings show Hindu themes — Kṛiṣhṇa, Rāma, festivals like Holi — with flat backgrounds and large eyes. Mughal paintings show court scenes, portraits, hunting and landscapes with more realistic faces and depth.

Changed: Rajput paintings began to include gardens, court and hunting scenes; Mughal paintings illustrated Indian epics like the Mahābhārata.

Retained: Traditional Hindu themes and the bright Indian colour style continued.

Example — Paithani weaving (Paithan and Yeola, Maharashtra): It is still continued. Skills are passed within weaver families from parents to children, and through apprenticeship with master weavers. Today, training centres and government schemes also help.

• Rani Durgavati — fought Akbar’s army to protect her kingdom.
• Tarabai — led Maratha armies against the Mughals to preserve independence.
• Ahilyabai Holkar — ruled wisely for 30 years and rebuilt temples, out of devotion and care for people.
• Rani Abbakka — resisted the Portuguese to protect Ullal.
• Rani Lakshmibai — fought the British to save Jhansi.
• Savitribai Phule — started schools for girls to give them education.

Their motivation was love for their land and people, courage, justice and a wish to bring change.

• Wrestlers
• Astrologers and soothsayers
• Accountants who wrote all the accounts of expenses
• Writers who recorded the affairs of the kingdom and checked them against other records
• Musicians who played instruments and sang

These women owned property and had control over wealth, so they had a strong economic position. They were respected, took part in public life and contributed to society and religion. This shows they had a high social status.

• Girls going to school and college in large numbers.
• Women working as doctors, pilots, scientists, soldiers, athletes and leaders.
• Laws for equality, safety and reservation for women in panchayats and legislatures.
• Continuing challenges — the double burden of job and housework, safety and unequal pay in some places.
• Changes in clothing, use of technology and participation in sports and the arts.

• Thousands of manuscripts and books were lost forever.
• Learned teachers and students were killed or scattered.
• Higher learning in subjects like philosophy, medicine and astronomy suffered a big setback.
• Students from China, Tibet and Southeast Asia lost a great centre of learning, so the world lost too.

However, learning survived in smaller centres like gurukulas, temple schools and maṭhas.

Marathi words with Persian roots: kāgad (paper), darwājā (door), jamīn (land), bājār (market), dukān (shop), sarkār (government), roj (daily), shahar (city), hajār (thousand), gulāb (rose), bāg (garden), daftar (office), kharedī (purchase), hushār (clever).

• Vada pav — the potato and the pav (bread) both came with the Portuguese.
• Samosa — from the Persian sambūseh.
• Jalebi — from the Persian zalabiyeh.
• Sabudana khichdi — sago comes from tapioca, a plant from South America; khichri is an old Indian dish.
• Puran poli — a traditional Indian sweet.

Continuity: Sarees, dhotis, kurtas, salwar-kameez, turbans and traditional dress on festivals and weddings continue.

Change: Jeans, T-shirts, shirts and trousers are common; sports and office wear have become popular.

Reasons: Comfort and convenience, school and office uniforms, influence of films, television and the internet, and global trade making clothes cheaper and easily available.

The bhakti mārga — the path of devotion. It did not require rituals or priests, and was expressed through songs, music and dance in local languages.

• Kabir (north India) — there is one God; he criticised the empty rituals of both Hinduism and Islam.
• Sant Tukaram (west India, Maharashtra) — pure devotion to Vitthal and equality of all; against hypocrisy.
• Purandaradasa (south India) — devotion to Kṛiṣhṇa through music; he is called the father of Carnatic music.
• Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (east India) — loving devotion to Kṛiṣhṇa through singing and dancing.

Grinding wheat into flour was something every household did daily. So common people could easily understand the idea. A simple, familiar example made a deep spiritual message clear to everyone, even those who could not read.

• They were small and spread across many villages, so they could not all be destroyed at once.
• They did not depend on big buildings or royal funds; local communities supported them.
• Teachers and families passed on knowledge orally and through practice.
• Apprenticeships within families and guilds continued regardless of who ruled.
• They could easily move or restart in another place.

• In north India, invasions and military campaigns made women unsafe, so purdah and the ghūnghaṭ spread.
• The Muslim aristocracy practised purdah, and some saw it as a symbol of nobility.
• In south India, there were fewer invasions, and old social norms continued, so elite women stayed active in public life.
• The attitude of the ruler and local customs also mattered.

Copying blindly would make a culture lose its own identity. Rejecting everything would make it rigid and unable to grow. Adaptation takes the best of new ideas and blends them with local traditions. So the culture remains rooted and yet keeps growing richer — for example, the samosa, the sitar and the tabla, and qawwālī.

• Qawwālī — Amir Khusro blended Indian, Persian and Arabic music.
• Sitar and tabla — evolved from experiments by musicians of various backgrounds.
• Mughal miniature painting — Persian style blended with Indian themes.
• Mughal gardens — Persian charbagh design blended with Indian gardens.
• Urdu — Hindavi mixed with Persian and Arabic words.
• Banarasi brocade — Gujarati weaving skills with Mughal zari work.
• Indo-Islamic architecture — domes and arches with Indian craftsmanship.

Example — Food in Maharashtra:

Remained the same: Bhakri, varan-bhat, puran poli and festival sweets are still made at home.

Changed: Pav, samosa, jalebi, pizza and noodles are now popular; potatoes, chillies and tomatoes are used in most dishes.

Why: Traditional foods continue because they are linked to festivals, health and family customs. Others changed due to trade, contact with other cultures, migration and the need for quick, cheap food.