Kabir

Kabir (c. 1398–1518) was a North Indian weaver and mystic poet of the Bhakti movement, whose verses challenged both Hindu and Muslim religious orthodoxy and ritual. Traditionally regarded as raised in a Muslim weaver family in Varanasi, he drew on Nath yogic, Sufi, and Vaishnava ideas to speak of a formless, inner divine. His poems, preserved in oral tradition and in later collections such as the Bijak, were composed in a vernacular mixing Hindi, Braj, and other dialects. His legacy is contested, and his teachings have been claimed by several religious communities, including the Kabir Panth.