1
The philosophy of Advaita (non-dualism) was taught by:
Correct answer: C. Adi Shankaracharya
Shankaracharya (8th century) taught that the individual soul and Brahman are one; he set up four mathas in the four corners of India.
Read detailseasy
Bhakti, Sufi and Sikh Movements MCQs
Solved medieval Indian history MCQs on the Bhakti saints and philosophers, the Alvars and Nayanars, Sufi orders in India, and the Sikh Gurus, for SSC and state exams.
20 MCQsUpdated 27 October 2026
These MCQs cover the philosophers and saints of the Bhakti movement, the Lingayat tradition, Sufi orders such as the Chishtis and their founders in India, and the Sikh Gurus and the compilation of the Adi Granth.
Learn each saint with their region, the deity or idea they taught and their main work. Many wrong options are saints from the same century but a different region.
- 2
Vishishtadvaita (qualified non-dualism) was taught by:
Correct answer: D. Ramanuja
Ramanuja (11th–12th century) gave a philosophical base to devotion (bhakti) to Vishnu.
medium - 3
The Dvaita (dualism) school of philosophy was founded by:
Correct answer: A. Madhvacharya
Madhvacharya of Udupi (13th century) taught that God and the individual soul are separate.
medium - 4
The Alvars of South India were devotees of:
Correct answer: D. Vishnu
The twelve Alvars sang in Tamil in praise of Vishnu; the sixty-three Nayanars were devotees of Shiva.
easy - 5
The Lingayat (Virashaiva) movement in Karnataka was started by:
Correct answer: B. Basavanna
Basavanna (12th century), a minister at Kalyani, opposed caste and ritual and promoted devotion to Shiva.
medium - 6
Kabir is traditionally said to have been a disciple of:
Correct answer: D. Ramananda
Ramananda brought Ram bhakti to North India and accepted disciples from all castes, including Kabir and Ravidas.
medium - 7
Surdas, the poet of Krishna bhakti, was a disciple of:
Correct answer: B. Vallabhacharya
Surdas belonged to Vallabhacharya's Pushti Marg and was one of the Ashtachhap poets.
medium - 8
Tulsidas wrote the Ramcharitmanas in which language?
Correct answer: C. Awadhi
The Ramcharitmanas (16th century) retells the Ramayana in Awadhi; Surdas wrote in Braj Bhasha.
easy - 9
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu spread devotion to Krishna through kirtan mainly in:
Correct answer: D. Bengal and Odisha
Chaitanya (1486–1534) popularised group singing (sankirtan) in Bengal and lived his later years in Puri.
easy - 10
Srimanta Sankardeva, who founded the Ekasarana Dharma and the sattras, belonged to:
Correct answer: C. Assam
Sankardeva (15th–16th century) shaped Assamese culture through the sattras, the Sattriya dance and Bhaona plays.
medium - 11
The Jnaneshwari, a Marathi commentary on the Bhagavad Gita, was written by:
Correct answer: A. Jnaneshwar
Sant Jnaneshwar wrote it in the 13th century; the Varkari saints of Maharashtra worship Vithoba of Pandharpur.
medium - 12
The abhangas (devotional songs) to Vithoba of Pandharpur are especially linked with the saint:
Correct answer: B. Tukaram
Tukaram (17th century) is one of the best-loved Varkari poets of Maharashtra.
medium - 13
The Chishti Sufi order was established in India by:
Correct answer: C. Moinuddin Chishti
Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti settled in Ajmer in the late 12th century; his dargah there is a major pilgrimage centre.
easy - 14
The dargah of the Chishti saint Nizamuddin Auliya is in:
Correct answer: A. Delhi
Nizamuddin Auliya lived in Delhi; his disciple Amir Khusrau is buried near him.
easy - 15
The Suhrawardi Sufi order in India is associated with:
Correct answer: D. Bahauddin Zakariya of Multan
Unlike the Chishtis, the Suhrawardis accepted grants and posts from the Sultans.
hard - 16
Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, was born in 1469 at:
Correct answer: A. Talwandi (now Nankana Sahib)
Talwandi is now in Pakistan; Guru Nanak spent his last years at Kartarpur.
easy - 17
The Adi Granth was compiled in 1604 by:
Correct answer: C. Guru Arjan Dev
Guru Arjan Dev compiled the hymns of the Gurus and of saints such as Kabir and Baba Farid; it was installed in the Harmandir Sahib.
Read detailsmedium - 18
The Khalsa was founded in 1699 at Anandpur Sahib by:
Correct answer: B. Guru Gobind Singh
Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Guru, founded the Khalsa and declared the Guru Granth Sahib the eternal Guru.
easy - 19
The Gurmukhi script is traditionally said to have been developed by:
Correct answer: A. Guru Angad
Guru Angad, the second Guru, is credited with standardising Gurmukhi for writing the Gurus' hymns.
hard - 20
Who was the first Tirthankara of Jainism?
Correct answer: B. Rishabhanatha
Jain tradition names Rishabhanatha (Adinath) as the first of 24 Tirthankaras; Parshvanatha was the 23rd and Mahavira the 24th.
Read detailsmedium