✅ Bhakti movement: 7th–17th CE; personal devotion; anti-caste; vernacular languages
✅ Alvars: 12 saints; Vaishnavite; Tamil; Nalayira Divya Prabandham; Andal = only woman
✅ Nayanmars: 63 saints; Shaivite; Tamil; Tevaram (Appar, Sambandar, Sundarar)
✅ Ramanuja: Vishishtadvaita; opened temples to all castes; Sri Vaishnava tradition
✅ Madhva: Dvaita; Udupi tradition
✅ Basavanna: Lingayat movement; Karnataka; Vachanas; Anubhava Mantapa
✅ Ramananda: First to preach Bhakti in Hindi; disciples = Kabir, Ravidas, Sena, Dhanna
✅ Kabir: Weaver; Nirguna; rejected Hindu AND Muslim orthodoxy; Bijak; Kabir Panthis
✅ Mirabai: Rajput princess; Krishna devotee; bhajans
✅ Tulsidas: Ramcharitmanas + Hanuman Chalisa; Rama devotee
✅ Surdas: Blind poet; Sur Sagar; Krishna’s childhood; Vallabhacharya’s disciple
✅ Chaitanya: Bengal; Gaudiya Vaishnavism; kirtan; ISKCON roots
✅ Tukaram: Maharashtra; Abhangas; Warkari tradition; Vitthal devotee
✅ Guru Nanak: Founded Sikhism; Nirguna; Adi Granth; 1469–1539
✅ Chishti order: Most popular in India; music allowed; rejected state patronage
✅ Moinuddin Chishti: Ajmer; “Garib Nawaz”; Akbar visited on foot
✅ Nizamuddin Auliya: Delhi; “Mehboob-e-Ilahi”; refused to meet sultans
✅ Amir Khusrau: “Parrot of India”; sitar + tabla; khayal music; disciple of Nizamuddin
✅ Naqshbandi: Most orthodox; Sheikh Ahmad Sirhindi = “Mujaddid Alf Sani”
✅ Impact: Challenged caste; promoted vernacular languages; composite culture (Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb)