CLASS 7 · NCERT HISTORY · CH 6: DEVOTIONAL PATHS TO THE DIVINE (NCERT CLASS 7 — OUR PASTS II)
Bhakti & Sufi Movements 🕉️
NCERT-aligned Class 7 History topic from Our Pasts II. Every item is anchored to a real location on India's map — built for boards (CBSE, ICSE, state) and UPSC aspirants.
📚 NCERT TEXTBOOK ALIGNMENT
Class
7 History —
Our Pasts II — Chapter:
Ch 6: Devotional Paths to the Divine (NCERT Class 7 — Our Pasts II).
12LOCATIONS
83QUESTIONS
CLASS 7NCERT LEVEL
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Key locations covered (12)
- Alvars & Nayanars — Tamil Bhakti (6-9 c.) — Tamil Nadu
- Lingayats / Virashaivas — Karnataka — Karnataka
- Nathpanthis, Siddhas & Yogis (Hatha Yoga) — Gorakhpur · Gorakhnath math, Nathpanthi headquarters
- Sufi Orders — Chishti Silsila — India
- Kabir (1398-1518) — Banaras — Uttar Pradesh
- Guru Nanak & the Sikh Tradition (1469-1539) — Punjab
- Mirabai (Rajasthan/Vrindavan) — Rajasthan / UP
- Tukaram + Varkari Tradition — Maharashtra — Maharashtra
- Pandharpur — Varkari Movement Centre — Maharashtra
- Ajmer Sharif — Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti — Rajasthan
- Nizamuddin Auliya Dargah — Delhi — Delhi
- Tirupati Venkateswara — South Indian Vaishnava Centre — Andhra Pradesh
Sample questions (12 of 83)
Who were the Alvars and the Nayanars?
ALVARS = 12 Tamil saints devoted to VISHNU; NAYANARS = 63 Tamil saints devoted to SHIVA; flourished 6th-9th centuries CE. Composed devotional songs in Tamil, sung at temples; rejected caste and gender hierarchy in DEVOTION.
Famous women among the Alvars/Nayanars?
ANDAL (Alvar, ~9th c.) — only female Alvar; "Tiruppavai" + "Nachiyar Tirumozhi" hymns. KARAIKKAL AMMAIYAR (Nayanar) — famous for renouncing beauty/family for Shiva.
How did their poems reach posterity?
Compiled in the 10th c. by NATHAMUNI (Alvar hymns = NALAYIRA DIVYA PRABANDHAM) and around the same time the Nayanar hymns were collected as TEVARAM and TIRUVACAKAM (Manikkavacakar).
Alvars were devotees of?
Vishnu (12 in number)
Nayanars were devotees of?
Shiva (63 in number)
Who founded the Lingayat tradition?
BASAVANNA (1106-67) and his colleagues ALLAMA PRABHU + AKKA MAHADEVI in 12th c. Karnataka. Basava was prime minister of Kalachuri king Bijjala II at KALYANI (Basavakalyan).
Lingayat distinctive practices?
Worshipped Shiva as a LINGA worn on the body (ishtalinga); REJECTED caste, brahmanic ritual, idol worship, the doctrine of rebirth, untouchability; allowed widow remarriage; permitted post-puberty marriage. Buried their dead instead of cremating.
Vachana literature?
Brief, intense Kannada free-verse poems composed by Basava, Allama, Akka Mahadevi and ~300 other "vachanakaras" (including many low-caste and women authors). Pioneered Kannada literary expression.
Lingayats / Virashaivas of Karnataka were founded by:
Basavanna (Basaveshwara, 12th c.) — emphasised monotheistic devotion to Shiva (linga) and challenged caste hierarchy.
'Vachanas' are short prose-poems associated with which Bhakti movement?
Lingayat / Virashaiva tradition of Karnataka — Basavanna, Akka Mahadevi, Allama Prabhu etc.
Akka Mahadevi (12th c.) was a:
Lingayat (Virashaiva) Vachana poet of Karnataka — devotee of Chenna Mallikarjuna (Shiva); challenged gender and caste norms.
Basavanna's anubhava mantapa was:
An 'experience hall' (12th c. Kalyana) — assembly of Sharanas (Lingayat saint-devotees) from all castes and genders, foundational to the Lingayat movement.
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About this topic
This topic is part of the NCERT Class 7 History syllabus, specifically the textbook Our Pasts II, drawn from the chapter Ch 6: Devotional Paths to the Divine (NCERT Class 7 — Our Pasts II). Content is cross-referenced against the latest NCERT textbook editions + standard reference works (Bipan Chandra, R.S. Sharma, Romila Thapar, Satish Chandra for history; G.C. Leong, Savindra Singh for geography; the UPSC Civil Services prelims + mains syllabus).
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