Answer:
(i) During the thirteenth century, a new wave of the bhakti movement began in North India. This was an age when Islam, Brahmanical Hinduism, Sufism, various strands of bhakti, and the Nathpanths, Siddhas and Yogis influenced one another. Ordinary people like craftspersons, peasants, traders and labourers spread their ideas.
(ii) Kabir and Baba Guru Nanak rejected all orthodox religions. Others like Tulsidas and Surdas accepted existing beliefs and practices but wanted to make these accessible to all. Tulsidas conceived God in the form of Rama. His unique creation Ramcharitmanas, written in Awadhi is an example.
(iii) Surdas was an ardent devotee of Krishna. His compositions, compiled in the Sursagara, Surasaravali and Sahitya Lahari, express his devotion.
(iv) Saints like Dadu Dayal, Ravidas and Mirabai are worth mentioning here. Mirabai was a Rajput princess who married into the royal family of Mewar in the sixteenth century. She became a disciple of Ravidas, a saint from a caste considered ?untouchable?. She was devoted to Krishna and composed innumerable bhajans expressing her intense devotion.
(v) A unique feature of most of the saints is that their works were composed in regional languages and could be sung.
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