A Genealogy of Devotion: Bhakti, Tantra, Yoga, and Sufism in North India

In this book, Patton E. Burchett offers a path-breaking genealogical study of devotional (bhakti) Hinduism that traces its understudied historical relationships with tantra, yoga, and Sufism. Beginning in India's early medieval "Tantric Age" and reaching to the present day, Burchett focuses his analysis on the crucial shifts of the early modern period, when the rise of bhakti communities in North India transformed the religious landscape in ways that would profoundly affect the shape of modern-day Hinduism. A Genealogy of Devotion illuminates the complex historical factors at play in the growth of bhakti in Sultanate and Mughal India through its pivotal interactions with Indic and Persianate traditions of asceticism, monasticism, politics, and literature. Shedding new light on the importance of Persian culture and popular Sufism in the history of devotional Hinduism, Burchett's work explores the cultural encounters that reshaped early modern North Indian communities. Focusing on the Rāmānandī bhakti community and the tantric Nāth yogīs, Burchett describes the emergence of a new and Sufi-inflected devotional sensibility-an ethical, emotional, and aesthetic disposition-that was often critical of tantric and yogic religiosity. Early modern North Indian devotional critiques of tantric religiosity, he shows, prefigured colonial-era Orientalist depictions of bhakti as "religion" and tantra as "magic." Providing a broad historical view of bhakti, tantra, and yoga while simultaneously challenging dominant scholarly conceptions of them, A Genealogy of Devotion offers a bold new narrative of the history of religion in India.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments Notes on Transliteration and Translation Introduction: Tantra, Yoga, and Sufism in the Historiography of Bhakti Part I: From Medieval Tantra to Early Modern Bhakti 1. The Tantric Age: Tantra and Bhakti in Medieval India 2. Sultans, Saints, and Songs: Persianate Culture, Sufism, and Bhakti in Sultanate India 3. Akbar’s New World: Mughals and Rajputs in the Rise of Vaiṣṇava Bhakti Part II: Yogīs , Poets, and a New Bhakti Sensibility in Mughal India 4. Between Bhakti and Śakti: Religious Sensibilities Among the Rāmānandīs of Galta 5. Nāth Yogīs and Rāmānandī Bhaktas: Styles of Yoga and Asceticism in North India 6. Agradās and the Circulation of Mughal Bhakti: Formations of Bhakti Community Part III: The Devotee Versus the Tāntrika 7. Yogīs and Tantra-Mantra in the Poetry of the Bhakti Saints 8. The Triumphs of Devotion: The Sufi Inflection of Early Modern Bhakti Conclusion: Bhakti Religion and Tantric Magic Appendix: List of Manuscripts Containing Compositions by Agradās Notes Bibliography Index

About the Author :
Patton E. Burchett is assistant professor of religious studies at the College of William and Mary.

Review :
Vibrant, lyrical, and elegantly crafted, A Genealogy of Devotion is a scholarly opera on the history of bhakti (devotion) in India. Burchett fundamentally changes the way we think about bhakti, leaving readers with a book that is truly inspired. So wide-ranging in importance and so carefully and broadly researched, this is a book people will turn to for many, many years to come—both for its own special contribution and for a basic orientation to the field. Kudos to Patton E. Burchett for this rich, fine-grained historical analysis of the multifaceted relationships between the human agents of bhakti, tantra, yoga, and Sufism in Sultanate and Mughal India. Religious nationalists and other simpletons will find little comfort here. Burchett's provocative study adeptly traces the transformation of popular religion in early modern North India from an age dominated by Śaiva, tantric, and yogic traditions to one permeated by Vaiṣṇava bhakti piety. His well-argued thesis is that a crucial element in this shift was the interaction with and influence of Persianate and Sufi religiosity and cultural practices. By situating Vaiṣṇava bhakti traditions within larger religious and political contexts, this ambitious and innovative work offers a refreshingly broad perspective on North Indian culture, along with a better appreciation of bhakti's message and appeal in the early modern era. Changing trends in religious patronage, the impact of Sufism, the varieties of religious practice, how bhakti poets disparaged tantra and yoga—these are among the fascinating historical issues explored in Burchett's path-breaking study. Path-breaking. Provides a thorough analysis of the political, social, and cultural developments taking place in India before and during [1450 to 1750 CE] . . . Recommended. A well-documented and written work which courageously confronts many different topics and tries to provide a wider perspective. His ambitious new book is an impressive feat, the result of over a decade of work. A must-read for anyone interested in medieval and early modern South Asian religion. An incisive and necessary contribution to the fields of Tantric and Bhakti studies. His work is thoroughly grounded in cutting-edge research and showcases a fearless mastery of Indian history.