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by Dr Ananya Barua
Śrimanta Śankaradeva and Hazrat Ājān Pir Fakir breathed new life into the vulnerable religion frontline emulating from the mutual milieu of the chronicled past. Streamlining the practiced observations, added with the inclusion of the local dialect to paraphrase the revered texts, paved the way for bringing in the much-celebrated Bhakti movement in Assam, India. Both these religious reformers constructed new kinds of meaning as the horizon of the text or the tradition, which they sought to creatively re-interpret, creating new literary canons and poetics to legitimize the emergence of new literary genres.
It is significant that the Bhagavata, the main source of inspiration for the medieval Bhakti Saints, could open new possibilities for creative interpretation. Both these diverse religious traditions gave special emphasis on bringing the lower strata, the Sudra (the most innumerable component of India) and stree (women), into the forefront of religio-cultural practice through mass community participation.
Till the British brought in the communal factor in its colonial administrative ethos, Bhakti, and Sufism flourished with benign influence on each other in pre- colonial religious but secular Bharatavarsha.
Mahapurusha Śrimanta Śankaradeva and Bhakti Renaissance in Medieval Assam:
In this conflict-torn historical situation, religion appears to act as a strong ally to the forces of divisiveness and violence rather than a force for unity and peace. In pre-colonial Medieval India, spiritual and cultural renaissance ushered in by the Bhakti movement paved the way for meaningful influence of the Vaishnavism of Śrimanta Śankaradeva on the vernacularised Islam influenced by one of the most revered Islamic preachers in Assam, Ājān Pir. Both Śrimanta Śankaradeva and Ājān Pir sought to restore the human face of religion, drawing inspiration from the historically affected consciousnesses.
Inter-Religious influence in Medieval Assam, India
The relation one has with the text is essential to provide meaning and colors to our understanding. It invites us to come together as people, not as belief systems. If in the medieval ages, we see more religious tolerance than in the colonial and post-colonial society. This is because the distinctive horizons of the political man differ from the wider horizon of a man of faith who is a bhakta at heart, one who knows the secret of true love that alone can transform the impersonal ‘it’ to a passionate ‘Thou’. To do this, the Vaishnavite saint Śrimanta Śankaradeva and a Sufi Saint Ajan Fakir (or Ajan Pir) opted for the Bhaktic interpretation of the text. The spiritual-cultural renaissance ushered in by the Bhakti movement in Medieval India acted as a cementing force that could spiritually bind Assam and its neighboring states to that cultural land of the Bharata. Thus, one can say it is the politicization of religion, which is the real problem rather than religion per se.
Socio-cultural and Linguistic Implications of the Bhakti Movement:
In the Medieval India the mediators sought to re-interpret the authoritative texts, unveiling the infinite potentiality of the textual content in terms of the historical and cultural horizons. In its effort to safeguard the voices, the Bhakti Movement made a special effort to identify the following:
(a) The right type of text: There was a relationship between authoritative texts like the Gita and the Bhagavata, as these texts could open up new possibilities and could become the source of several religious movements, each different from the other. There are numerous commentaries of these texts and Śrimanta Śankaradeva himself used the commentary Bhagavata Bhabartha Dipika. In this manner, this bhakti-centric concrete dimension of meaning has added a distinct flavor to the notion of textual authority.
The Gurus or the interpreters of the texts were sensitive to the types of devotees for whose sake the text needs specific re-interpretation time and again, taking into account their role in this whole meaning-discovering process. It is equally significant that Nanak, Tukaram, Namdev, and Śrimanta Śankaradeva were all non-Brahmin by birth, which could give new impetus to Bhasa.
Noted historian, H. K. Barpujari points out that “the neo-Vaishnavite movement in Assam was backed by a strong literary upsurge which found expression in the translation of the epics and the Puranas, the adaptation of the Puranic episodes in the form of independent Kavyas, devotional works explaining the types and modes of devotion, lyrics (barges), dramas and biographies of Vaishnava saints”. In its practical sense, the text could now open up to a community of readers with sole emphasis on Sravana and Kirana. The holy books in Sanskrit could now be easily accessible to the Sudras and women in their vernacular language.
(b) The right medium: The story of Śrimanta Śankaradeva or Ajan Pir is also “a story of the development of languages, giving centrality to the language of the people to that of the power elite”. (Murdoch, 1987) Śrimanta Śankaradeva used Brajawali, the colloquial form of the prevailing literary language of Assam, which was similar to North-Indian vernaculars, for his dramas and his Borgeet (devotional songs) to benefit the greater masses.
Brajawali was never an elitist language. It was people’s language. The Assamese language has turned out to be a perfect medium for conveying this catholic spirit of bhakti that could provide a platform for the fusion of horizons. The various tribal dialects and languages of the state, such as Bodo, Karbi, Dimasa, Mishing, Rabha, etc have enriched this language. Arabic and Persian words are another noteworthy addition to the Assamese language. Both Śrimanta Śankaradeva and Ajan Fakir were particularly sensitive to spreading the message of bhakti through the medium of art, language, dance, drama, and music.
Unlike in some other places, pre-colonial Assam has witnessed the peaceful co-existence of different religions, and religious fanaticism was unheard of. The categories ‘Hindu’ and ‘Muslim’ emerged in the context of Medieval India simply because identities were predominantly related to caste (jati), sect (panth), and regional traditions, but these were never identified as separate categories. There was the possibility of caste mobility or panth mobility even within this hierarchy. Ajan Fakir’s is a radial deviation from the model that has dominated the understanding of orthodox Islam, which destroys the image of people as passive beneficiaries of an elite religious order. He became the voice of a dissident sub-alternity committed to telling a ‘different’ story. Muslims have a history of more than seven centuries in Assam as early as 1203 CE. Islam in Assam is open, accommodative, inclusive, and adaptive in its local specificity. It is different from that in North and Western India. The core area of Islamic civilization in India and the social practices of the ‘Asamiya Muslims’ may be inconsistent with the laws of any Islamic schools.
The systematic propagation of Islam as an organized religion started only in the early part of the 17th century by a wandering Muslim mystic Shah Milan (1630 CE). Shah Milan and his brother Shah Nabi found that the Muslims of Assam did not follow any aspect of traditional Islam. They had assimilated into the medieval Assamese society and gained acceptance as one of its inseparable components. Shah Milan received the name “Ajan Fakir” or Ajan Pir (Saint) because he was the one who taught the Assamese Muslims to recite “Azan” as a part of the Muslim ritual. He introduced the Muslims of Assam to the Namaz, the contents of the Quran, the Hadiths, and other Islamic literature with which they were barely acquainted, through a regime of folk songs, instrumental music, and dances.
Śrimanta Śankaradeva was the pioneer in this regard taking courageous steps like opening doors of bhakti to one and all, including the Muslim devotees like Chand Sai. The local Muslims used to take part in the community singing of Kirtana songs for community prayer composed by Śrimanta Śankaradeva to propagate Vaishnavism. The Muslims also took mah-prasad (uncooked eatables generally consisting of gram, sugarcane, coconut, ginger, and fruits) distributed at the end of the Kirtana. These background beliefs formed the common horizon of meaning for both these distinct religious communities. Later, Ajan Pir introduced the custom of distributing sinni (considered food prepared out of rice) at the end of the Kirtana. Ajan Fakir composed one hundred and sixty Zikirs in Assamese. Zikirs are devotional songs. Ajan Pir and his disciples contributed significantly to educating the majority of local Muslims through unorthodox methods, including ‘un-Islamic’ scriptural standards. Ajan Fakir and his disciples, popularly known as “Bhakat” in Assamese, performed Zikir, dancing and singing with hand clapping, folk performances such as Diha Nam, Husori, etc.
While spreading the religious principles of Islam, Ajan Pir had always been sensitive to the sentiments of Assamese society. Chief objective of him appears to have been the reorganization of Muslim society in Assam by regenerating Islam in such a way that there was no discord in the age-old harmonious relations with their Hindu and other non-Hindu neighbors. A sense of respect for all other castes, creeds, and religions is present in Zikir and Zari songs.
Conclusion
The meaning of the text is obtained through the interaction of the reader and the text itself. Interestingly, people from two different communities could overcome man-made artificial barriers under the spiritual leadership of Śrimanta Śankaradeva and Ajan Pir at a time when there was space for intimate and interpersonal dialogue across boundaries. Assamese culture and literature witnessed a revolutionary change with the advent of these two great saints – Śrimanta Śankaradeva and Ajan Pir. They both influenced Assamese culture, and society and changed the narrow-minded attitude of the people. Today, under a changed perspective, when the political man is valued only as a number in the political vote banks, people look for contracts and political accords that, they feel, should address the fears and apprehensions of minorities or majorities. Thus, the Assamese people find themselves in a political situation in which they are required to propose a definition to mark their identity. The political man and his tug of war between Indian nationalism and Assamese nationalism is a modern manifestation, it usually reflects the agony of a historically effected consciousness that looks for some socio-political solutions to some of his existential problems. Ajan Pir was a symbol of unity, social harmony, and non-violence like Śrimanta Śankaradeva. Empathy, patience, and the greatness of human society were reflected in his writings: “In my mind, Oh Allah! I have no different thoughts. Hindus and Muslims are bound by the same act of divine rules of Allah.” The truth is simple and bold: ‘Hinduk puribo Mominak garibo.’ The act of cremating a Hindu and the entombing of a Muslim only signifies one end - death for all.
