INDIAN SOCIETY: SYNCRETIC CULTURE, MIXED HERITAGE

Syncretic Culture
Indian society has a rich diversity. Starting from the arrival of the Aryans, there was
an interaction with conflict, cooperation and synthesis of different cultural/religious
streams. While Brahminism imposed an exclusionist caste hierarchy on society, other
streams like Jainism, Buddhism, Kabir, Nanak and multiple local sects like Jotiba,
Khandoba, Tukaram, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Tantra, etc. contributed to the synthesising
of local cultures. While kings, zamindars and upper castes exploited, irrespective of
their religion, the lower castes intermingled and led to the development of syncretic
traditions.

Myth
Indian culture is a Hindu culture. There has been an invasion of
foreign cultures like Islam and Christianity, which have 'attacked'
our culture.
Fact
On the contrary, Indian culture is a plural one, encompassing
the diversity of the country, incorporating and drawing heavily
from all those people who came and settled here. Even amongst
Hindus there are multiple sects and culture is not uniform. Only the culture of elite is
being projected as 'the' Hindu culture to the exclusion of the culture of downtrodden.
We see that there was extensive trade between the Malabar coast and the Arabs. As a
matter of fact Islam first came to India through Arab traders. Many coastal kings had
erected mosques for worship by these traders and the local Muslim community, evolving
through interaction with Arabs.

The arrival of the Mughals on the political arena was marked by multiple changes.
Like any other rulers the Mughals were ruthless exploiters and applied coercion as well
as ideological manoeuvres to rule. The impact of Islam and the culture of the Mughals
led to development of a synthesis - Hindustani culture,
in all fields - music, sculpture, architecture, literature,
fine arts and so on. At the religious level Islam and
local Hindu traditions interacted and strengthened
Sufi saints and Bhakti cults, both of which were very
popular and had a large subaltern following.
Sufis were more tilted towards the spiritual side
of Islam. They had to oppose the orthodox Ulema of
Islam (learned in Islamic theology) who were close to
the elite and power centres of the society.

 These Sufiswere close to Christians and Jew mystics and the
spirituality of some Hindu sects. Moinuddin Ibn Arabifounded the doctrine of Wahadat-Al-Wajud (Unity of being); this doctrine promoted
spiritual universalism and demolished the barriers of caste and creed. Baba Farid of Punjab
wrote his poetry in Punjabi and his verses were quoted in the
Granth Saheb by Gurunanak.
Mir Miyan, another Sufi saint, was requested to lay the
foundation stone of Harmandir in the Golden Remple. Sayyid
Waris Shah wrote Hir Ranzha, the greatest classic of medieval
Punjabi literature. Nizamuddin Awliya, another major Sufi saint
said that there are as many ways of worshipping God as there
are particles of sand. He was fond of bhajans and qawwalis.
One day he was passing along the bank of Jamuna in Delhi,
accompanied by his celebrated disciple and noted poet, Khusrau.
They saw some Hindu women bathing in the Jamuna and offering
prayers to the sun. Hazrat said 'O Khusrau, these women are
also praying to Allah. They have their own way of praying.'
Sheikh Moinuddin Chishti was a great Sufi saint with a large
following. While Ulemas and Brahmins looked down upon other
people's modes of worship, Sufi and Bhakti saints modified
and integrated these modes into a new synthetic stream. They
respected other people's spiritual practices, and kept away from
power centers. Dara Shikoh was a great scholar and he wrote a
book called Majama-ul-Baharayn (meeting of two great oceans, Hinduism and Islam).

Indian literature is the contribution of Hindus alone.

This notion has nothing to do with the truth. Literature also

witnessed syncretic trends. Baba Farid wrote in Punjabi, and was

amongst the founders of Punjabi poetry. Shaikh Mohammed wrote

Marathi poetry. Guru Ramdas was all praise for Sheikh Mohhamed,

about whom he wrote, 'Glory to Shaikh Mohammad, You alone

unfold the mystery of the universe in such diction that baffles the reason and logic of

ordinary mortals. You have truly perceived the fundamental unity and identity of the

entire universe.'

Malik Mohamad Jaysi was a great poet of Avadhi and wrote the classic Padmavat.

Abdur Rahim Khan-e-Khana was a Hindi poet in the court of Akbar. In one of his poems

Rahim says, 'I have transformed my soul into a bird (chakor) who keeps looking at Lord

Krishna out of devotion. In this world we should meet all the people with love, you

never know in whose form you we come across Narayan (god).'

Ras Khan made great contributions to Hindi poetry and wrote songs in praise of Lord

Krishna.

Mazhar Jan-i-Jana said that the Vedas were the revealed book of God, and Ram and

Krishna must have been prophets of God. Ramanand founded the Bhakti movement,

propounded devotion to Ram and threw open the doors of his circle to all low-caste men

and women and also to Muslims. Tulsidas was an ardent Ram bhakta, in fact the greatest

Ram bhakta of all the times. He wrote his literature not in Sanskrit but in popular Avadhi

language, so that it could be accessible to all the people. Because of this, he was not well

accepted amongst his peers. He used to live in Ayodhya in a Mosque.

Hindus and Muslims kept aloof and were hostile to each other

This is contrary to the truth. It is true that the elite of the

communities for their vested interests looked down upon other

communities and other religions. But the poor of both the

communities flocked to the holy seers irrespective of their

religion.

Our Mixed Heritage

The most prominent element of the heritage of a nation is its culture. The culture of a

nation finds expression in two ways: the visible elements are dresses worn by the people,

the food they eat, music, dance and architecture. The invisible elements are the way

people think, the values they hold dear, and their ideas and beliefs.

Culture is not something that has been there from time immemorial; it is also not

something that is frozen in time. Culture is in fact something that is dynamic and

constantly changing - it absorbs new influences and modifies them to suit local

requirements. It constantly appropriates from other traditions and also gives to them in

equal measure. It has always been so and will continue to be so as long as human beings

live.

Almost everything that we see, taste, hear, smell and touch, the buildings we have

built, the tools we use, the clothes we wear, the languages we speak and even the ideas

that we have are products of processes, discoveries, inventions and developments that

occurred at places far and near, in the distant and not-so-distant past, and have reached

us through very complex and roundabout routes.

Let us look at some of the more mundane elements of our daily lives that we do not

normally consider as part of our culture but are as important as our classical traditions in

Dance and Music. We refer here to our attire. This may come as a shock, but nothing that

is stitched is Indian - there was no use of stitched cloth in India in earlier times. The shirt,

the trouser, the coat and the waistcoat are all of European origin.

What about the pyjama? The word is of Persian origin - it means a garment worn over

the legs. The kurta is probably from the same region or from Afghanistan. The shalwarkameez

came to us probably from Afghanistan, but it is possible that the kameez is

Portuguese/Turkish in its origin. The chemise, an undergarment worn by women, is of

French origin, the blouse is English and so is the petticoat. There is no word for the last

three in any Indian language. In fact, as recently as the late 19th century, when the

Brahmo-Samaj in Bengal started a campaign in Bengal that women should cover the

upper part of their body by wearing a blouse, there were vociferous protests from

organizations of Bengali Brahmins lamenting the fact that the blouse was part of a

European conspiracy against our traditions and culture.

A piece of cloth that had been cut with scissors was considered un-whole - kshit as

opposed to akshit, and therefore impure. In fact most rituals related to birth, death andUpanayan among the Hindus and even among the Jains and Buddhists are performed in

unstitched garments. Even today a very large majority of our population primarily dresses

in unstitched garments: dhoti, lungi, mundu, saree. We had no stitched garments before

the Kushanas, and it was probably the Greeks who brought the scissors to us.

The Taj Mahal's soaring facades are an example of the subtle blending of Islamic and

Hindu ideas. White marble, rather than the red sandstone used by former Muslim rulers

for their palaces and forts, was chosen as the material by Shah Jahan, who had been

impressed by the beauty of the white marble buildings he had seen in Delhi and Rajasthan.

Pointed arches of Muslim inspiration frame windows and doors, in which are set perforated

marble grilles of the type often found in Hindu temples. The arabesques and chevrons on

the outside are Muslim patterns, but here they take the form of semi-precious stones

inlaid in the marble, a technique imported from Italy and mastered by Hindu artisans.