A research student compares the religious records of south and north India from about the sixth century onwards. In the south she finds Tamil hymns sung by poet-saints who moved from one temple to another. In the north she finds that Vishnu and Shiva were also worshipped in temples, many of them built with the support of rulers. Yet for a long time she cannot find any body of devotional songs like the Tamil hymns. She now turns to the political history of the north to explain this gap.
Up to which century have historians found no evidence in north India of compositions resembling those of the Alvars and Nayanars?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → The fourteenth century
Option (1) The twelfth century — Incorrect. By the twelfth century there was still no such evidence in the north, so this stops too early.
Option (2) The fourteenth century — Correct. Temple worship of Vishnu and Shiva went on in the north, but nothing like the hymns of the Alvars and Nayanars is found till the fourteenth century.
Option (3) The tenth century — Incorrect. The tenth century falls well inside the long gap, so it is too early.
Option (4) The sixteenth century — Incorrect. The sixteenth century is too late. The gap ends with the fourteenth century.
NCERT (2026-27): “4. Religious Ferment in North India |