Impact of the Bhakti Movement on Medieval India

Impact of Bhakti Movement 

1. Bhakti movement could uplift the position of women and members of the lower strata of the society. It could also provide them an inclusive path to spiritual salvation, which was otherwise considered attainable only by people of the first three orders in the social hierarchy. 

2. Since various preachers of Bhakti Movement spoke and wrote in the regional languages, it provided an impetus for the development of regional languages such as Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, Kannada, etc.

3. The Bhakti movement provided a simple religion to the people, which was without complicated rituals or dogmas. It helped in the development of a new philosophy of a life of charity and service to fellow human beings.

4. The synthesis of Bhakti tradition and Sufism also helped in fostering of unity among the two communities, Hindu and Muslims. Also, with the mutual influence and interaction of Sufism and Bhakti traditions even the masses got an opportunity to understand each other's religious traditions and practices, which not only resulted in appreciation for each other traditions but also developed a feeling of mutual respect among each other. In fact, a best example of this interaction and synthesis was the emergence of Urdu as a new language.