• Bhagat Pipa was a Rajput prince born in Gagron, Jhalawar. He was a prince who renounced his throne in the search of spiritual solace and said that one should search within for God. He said that one’s inner self has a relation with God. Bhagat Pipa shared same views as Guru Nanak. Bhagat Pipa’s hymns are included in the Guru Granth Sahib. He settled in near Kutch, Gujarat.

• Ravi Das was a mystic saint poet during the 15th and 16th century. He came from a shudra family which worked with dead animals’ skins to produce leather products and very much known in India as untouchables. He was one of the disciples of bhakti saint poet Ramananda. His devotional songs are included in Guru Granth Sahib. Panch Vani text of Dadupanthi tradition also includes numerous poems of Ravidas. He was born and died in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh.

• Dadu Dayal was a poet saint from Gujarat, India. He later moved to Naraina, near Jaipur, Rajasthan, where he gathered around himself a group of followers, forming a sect became known as the Dadupanth. Dadu’s composition in Braj languages which were recorded by his disciple Rajjab and are known as the Dadu Anubhav Vani.

• Dadu believed that devotion to God should transcend religious or sectarian affiliation, and that devotees should become non-sectarian or “Nipakh”. He instructed additional 52 disciples to set up ashrams, ‘Thambas’ around the region to spread the Lord’s word. Five thambas are considered sacred by the followers; Naraiana, Bhairanaji, Sambhar, Amer, and Karadala (Kalyanpura). Followers at these thambas later set up other places of worship.