Ramananda is indeed the correct answer. He was a 14th-century Vaishnava devotional poet-saint, who was the first Bhakti saint to use the Hindi language for the propagation of his spiritual messages, which aimed to achieve moksha (liberation by communion with god). Despite being a South Indian by birth, he preached in Hindi in North India and is credited with the framework of popularizing the Bhakti movement in North India.

Option 1, `Dadu`, like Ramananda, propagated his message through Hindi, but he was not the first.

Option 2, `Kabir`, though a notable Bhakti saint and poet, was the student of Ramananda. Therefore, Ramananda preceded him in using Hindi for propagation of his message.

Option 4, `Tulsidas`, while very influential in Hindi literature, was a contemporary of Kabir and came after both Ramananda and Dadu. Hence, the claim of being the first to use Hindi for propagation does not apply to him.