Learn saint–tradition–text–place pairs. Avoid reducing Bhakti or Sufism to one doctrine: distinguish saguna and nirguna strands, and know a Sufi silsila (order) from a khanqah (centre/lodge).
Bhakti anchors
Person/group
Safe clue
Alvars
Tamil Vaishnava devotional saints.
Nayanars
Tamil Shaiva devotional saints.
Ramanuja
Vishishtadvaita; Vaishnava tradition.
Madhva
Dvaita philosophy.
Kabir
Nirguna devotional strand.
Chaitanya
Krishna devotion; active in Bengal and Odisha.
Tulsidas
Ramcharitmanas in Awadhi.
Sufi anchors
Order/person
Safe clue
Chishti
Muin al-Din Chishti at Ajmer; Nizamuddin Auliya at Delhi.
Suhrawardi
Baha al-Din Zakariya at Multan.
Khanqah
Sufi lodge or centre of communal activity.
Silsila
Spiritual lineage/order.
Amir Khusrau
Disciple of Nizamuddin Auliya; Persian poet and musician.