Development of bhakti movement in medieval India:

(i) The origin of the bhakti movement is traced to the Brahmanical and Buddhist traditions of ancient India. It was in south India that it grew from a religious tradition into a popular movement based on religious equality and broad based social participation.

(ii) The movement laid by popular saints reached its climax in the 10th century AD.

(iii) The bhakti movement attempted to break away from orthodox Brahmanism. The movement gathered momentum in the early mediaeval period.

(iv) Some scholars associate the origin of the bhakti movement in India with the advent of Islam and spread of Sufism. These scholars argue that the Turkish conquest paved the way for a reaction against the conformist Rajput-Brahman domination.

(v) Some scholars believe that the bhakti movement rose as a reaction against feudal oppression. The antifeudal tone in the poetry of saints like Kabir, Nanak, Chaitanya and Tulsidas are seen as an illustration of this point.

(vi) There is no single opinion about the origin of the bhakti movement that can be sustained. From the poetry and the philosophy of the bhakti saint it is clear that they broke away from orthodox Brahmanism. They believed in religious equality nand identified themselves with the sufferings of the common people.

(vii) Some scholars suggest that the socio- economic changes in the early mediaeval period provide the necessary backdrop to understand the emergence of the bhakti movement.

(viii) The demand for manufactured goods, luxuries and other artisanal goods during the 13th and 14th centuries, increased leading to a movement of artisans into the cities.

(ix) The artisans were attracted to bhakti because of its ideas of equality. These groups were dissatisfied with the low status accorded to them by the Brahmanical system. The movement gained support from these classes of society.