Music and Society

Introduction to Indian Musical

Dynasties
This page aim to provide a general introduction on the
traditional Indian musical institution called gharana.
Indian Classical music can be described a religion
whereby the music, knowledge and musical research
was traditionally passed down from guru to disciple by
word of mouth. In many old musical families the guru
or teacher, is the father and the disciple or student, the
son. A gharana, or musical dynasty is formed when
this process of teaching is passed down for five or six
generations. There are two types of gharana in India,
direct gharanas in which music has remained within a
family and indirect gharanas, where in the absence of
sons or musically talented sons, the teacher chooses to
pass on his knowledge to a talented student. In India
there are very few direct or true gharanas left. Students
will find here few articles written by renowned
specialists in the field of Indian classical music.

THE GHARANA
David Courtney, Ph.D.

The concept of gharana was peculiar to North Indian

music. The word "Gharana" literally means "house" and
it implies the house of the teacher. It was linked to the
very ancient concept of the Guru-Shishya-Parampara
(linage of teacher /disciple) but it had some interesting
twists. The names of the gharanas were almost always
derived from a geographical location. This was usually
the city, district or state that the founder lived in. Two
examples are the Gwalior Gharana (vocal) or the
Farukhabad Gharana (tabla). The gharana system as
we think of it today was not really very old. Most of the
gharanas began not more than 100-300 years old. The
modern gharanas were generally traceable to the
period when the Mogul empire collapsed. Gharanas
were found throughout the North in every field of
dance, vocal and instrumental music. They tend to be
distinct among themselves. That is to say that you
generally do not find tabla players saying that they are
from a vocal gharana or a vocalist claiming to come
from a kathak gharana. This is reasonable. One would
not expect an accountant to use his golf skills as and
endorsement of his abilities as an accountant. In the
professional sense a gharana had some of the
characteristics of a guild. It was always understood
that tracing ones linage to a major gharana was a
prerequisite for obtaining a position in the royal
courts. The gharanas were entrusted with the duty of
maintaining a certain standard of musicianship. In the
artistic sense the gharana was somewhat comparable
to a "style" or "school". Over the years poor
transportation and communication caused the various
gharanas to adopt their own particular approach to

presentation, technique and repertoire. In the 20th

century the gharana system had a negative impact on
the standard of musicianship. Improvements in
communications made it a professional imperative for
musicians to have as broad of a background as
possible. The secretive nature of the gharana system
coupled with the fact that gharanas tended to
specialize in only one technique or approach was
inconsistent with modern pedagogic and professional
requirements. In the end of the 20th century, musicians
who proclaim loudest that they were "such-and-such"
gharana often had the least rounded background. It is
for this reason that many of the aspects of this system
were abandoned by modern music colleges in India.
Today the gharana exists in its vestigial form. Although
musicians routinely declare that they are such and
such gharana, it usually has no practical meaning. The
loss of royal patronage coupled with the loss of artistic
identity have virtually destroyed the system. Gharana is
used in Hindi and Urdu to refer to the core component
in the organizational structure of North Indian (or
Hindustani) music and dance, in other words a family of
hereditary occupational specialists. Traditionally the
gharana is headed by an authoritative musicianteacher called the Khalifa, and comprises members
related by blood and/or musical knowledge (talim).
David Courtney, Ph.D. has been performing on the
tabla since 1972. He first studied pakhawaj (an ancient
barrel shaped drum) under the famous Zakir Hussain at
the Ali Akbar College of Music. He then moved to India
and spent a number of years learning tabla under the
late Ustad Shaik Dawood Khan of Hyderabad. He has

performed extensively on stage, TV, disk, and radio, in

India, Europe and the United States. Along with his
wife, he composed the theme music for Houston's
Indian TV program called "ASIANA" and recorded the
theme music for the radio program "INDIA FILE" which
aired in the Austin area. He has accompanied many
great musicians including Ashish Khan, Lakshmi
Shankar, and Pandit Jasraj He is well versed in the
academic side of music. During the 80s he received
great acclaim in academic circles for his pioneering
work in the application of computers to Indian
music. This work is found in his doctoral dissertation "A
Low Cost System for the Computerization of North
Indian Classical Music". He is the author of numerous
books and articles on the subject of Indian music
including, Introduction to Tabla, Elementary North
Indian Vocal, Learning the Tabla, Fundamentals of
Tabla, Advanced Theory of Tabla, Manufacture and
Repair of Tabla and Focus on the Kaidas of Tabla. His
articles have appeared in "Modern Drummer" and
"Percussive Notes". He is presently on the Board of
Directors
of
the
Texas
Institute
for
Indian
Studies. Recently along with his wife Chandra, he was
given an award of recognition for outstanding
contributions to the arts by the American Telugu
Association. He is very active today in musical
activities. He is an artist with Young Audiences. He is
also the percussionist in the fusion group Vani, and has
several CDs to his credit. Recently he composed and
performed some music for the film "Dancing in Twilight",
a film staring Erick Avari, Louise Fletcher, Mimi Rogers,
Kal Penn, Sheetal Shet.

Please visit his Web site at this address.

www.chandrakantha.com

Genealogical musings
A brief discussion of the Delhi tabla gharana
James Kippen
Delhi has been a locus for tabla playing since the early
to mid-eighteenth century. Many people argue it was
"invented" there, and that its inventor's lineage is the
oldest continuous tabla tradition. This is a brief outline of
the Delhi lineage, including genealogical information
and a little historical analysis/commentary. The
information comes largely from the gharana's khalifa,
or head, the late Ustad Inam Ali Khan and his uncle,
Ustad Munnu Khan. It was collected during the early
1980s, and recorded interviews with these gharana
members took place in Delhi in April 1984. I hope to
add further information about the repertoire as time
goes on.

QuickTime and a
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Ustad Munnu Khan

Caveat: I do not wish to get into a debate with my

friend Daniel Neuman (The Life of Music in North India.
New Delhi: Manohar, 1980) about the validity of the
term "gharana" for tabla lineages. He and others know
my views, and I am using the term here as those Delhi
informants used it when speaking directly with me in
the Urdu language. I am aware that the term came
into existence only around the end of the nineteenth
century, that it was used primarily by "soloists" (using
Neumans term), and that accompanists like tabla
players probably began using the term to validate their
knowledge, raise their music to the status of an art, and
to elevate their own social status.
As with all
genealogies, the one I give here is incomplete and
probably somewhat selective. In anthropology we call
this kind of selectivity "structural amnesia". I take the
view that history is a reconstruction of the past that
justifies the present. Notwithstanding, my primary source
was the genealogy I saw written in Urdu. I read and
speak Urdu, and I have therefore been able to verify
what Delhi gharana members believe to be true.
Whether the document reflects this knowledge, or the
knowledge has been crystallized because this version
of the family tree exists on paper, is worthy of a future
debate.
Origins
No documentary evidence yet exists for the "invention"
of tabla. Many scholars have tried to show either that
(1) tabla existed over 2,000 years ago (temple carvings
seem to indicate horizontally played drums, but alas
with no organological similarity), or that (2) tabla

resulted from the chopping in half of a pakhavaj. The

pakhavaj theory has some credibility because of the
similarity of the smaller head of that drum to the right
head of the tabla pair (dahina, dayan, or simply tabla).
As the excellent study of tabla by Rebecca Stewart has
suggested (The Tabla in Perspective. Unpublished
thesis, UCLA, 1974), tabla was most likely a hybrid drum
set resulting from experiments with and adaptations of
existing drums such as pakhavaj, dholak, and naqqara.
The origins of tabla repertoire and technique may be
found in all three, and in physical structure and playing
technique there are also elements of all three: for
example, the smaller pakhavaj head for the dahina,
the naqqara kettledrum for the bayan, and the flexible
use of the bass of the dholak. Tabla first appears in
writings and in miniatures from the 1740s on. We
therefore assume tabla to have first appeared
sometime in the early eighteenth century. The first tabla
players were undoubtedly also experts on other drums.
Socially these early tabla musicians were mainly from
the Dhari community (Mirasi "caste"). Some were Sunni
Muslims, but a large and significant group belonged to
(or at some stage had opted to convert from Hinduism
to) the Shia Muslim sect. One of these Shias was Sudhar
Khan Dhari. Sudhar Khan is the earliest tabla player we
know of through genealogical record, and many
believe he was responsible for creating this instrument.
Sudhar Khan is the forefather to whom members of the
Delhi tabla lineage trace their ancestry. It seems
natural, therefore, that Sudhar Khan would be
attributed with the tablas invention by default.
Genealogy

It is not easy to visualize a family tree from a linear

description such as the one I provide below. There is a
graphic representation on page 68 my book, The Tabla
of Lucknow, Cambridge University Press, 1988. However,
it can be quite useful and instructive if readers map out
the relationships for themselves on a sheet of paper.
Sudhar Khan Dhari had two sons: Chote Khan and
Husain Khan. Let us deal with the younger son first,
Husain Khan. On the Delhi genealogical chart I saw
noted that Husain Khan had four sons, only one of
whom was named: Chajju Khan. Both Delhi and
Lucknow lore tell of two brothers from Delhi leaving to
seek patronage in Lucknow. One of these brothers
might well have been the founder of the Lucknow
tabla gharana, Miyan Bakhshu Khan Dhari. There is a
professed clan linkage between Delhi and Lucknow,
and they are both Shia. However, somewhat
confusingly, Lucknow lore tells of Bakhshu Khan arriving
in Lucknow from Qasur in the Panjab (now in Pakistan,
just south of Lahore). Chote Khan had three sons:
Bugara Khan, Chand Khan, and Lalle Masit Khan.
Bugara Khan had two sons: Shitab Ali Khan and Gulab
Ali Khan. Chand Khan had no sons. Lalle Masit Khan
had one son, Nanne Khan, who in turn had no sons.
Shitab Ali Khan had two sons: Muhammad Khan and
Nazar Ali Khan. Gulab Ali Khan had no sons.
Muhammad Khan had one son: Chote Khan. Nazar Ali
Khan had no sons. Chote Khan had two sons: Gamay
Khan (1883-1958) and Munnu Khan (?1900-90?), who
was one of my informants. Gamay Khan had one son:
Inam Ali Khan (1924-90), who was my other informant.
Inam Ali has several sons, but the only one who plays

tabla is Ghulam Haider Khan (though reports suggest

he is not particularly accomplished). There is another
twist in the genealogy. Remember Bugara Khan had
two sons? He also had a daughter (her name not
recorded) who was married to one Makkhu Khan.
Makkhu Khan had a son, Bare Kale Khan. Bare Kale
Khan had a son, Wali Bakhsh Khan (? some uncertainty
about the name). Wali Bakhsh Khan had a son, Natthu
Khan. Natthu Khan (1875-1940) was one of the great
players of his age. Wali Bakhsh Khan also had a
daughter who married Gamay Khan. Now perhaps you
see what I mean about structural amnesia. Everything
in this lineage explains the evolution of Ustad Inam Ali
Khan and his links to the two Delhi greats of recent
times: Gamay Khan and Natthu Khan. Whether all
these other ancestors actually had no sons is
debatable. Also, women do not figure in the
genealogical tree unless they justify the existence of
certain male figures. Many of these female links could
indeed be important, specially since there is in Indian
Muslim society a pattern of endogamous (i.e. within the
clan) marriage. Nevertheless, there is likely to be a high
degree of accuracy in the names and relationships
that are mentioned, even if it is selective. And as for
dates, no one is very clear about this but it seems
reasonable to suggest that Sudhar Khan Dhari was born
in the early 1700s. By adding 30 years (as an average)
for each generation thereafter one obtains a
reasonable diachronic mapping of generations to the
present day. There has been no mention so far of Latif
Ahmed Khan (1941-90), arguably one of the greatest
tabla players of the 20th century, though in later years
he suffered greatly from alcohol abuse and died an

untimely death. A Sunni Muslim, he was a disciple of

both Gamay Khan and Inam Ali, though relationships
with Inam Ali soured in later years. My assessment is that
this tabla tradition died with Inam Ali and Latif Ahmed.
They in turn left a number of disciples in India and
Europe, but none that I know of has the range of
knowledge or the technique to project that knowledge
as a living performance tradition into the future.
James Kippen teaches a range of ethnomusicology courses at the
University of Toronto. He studied Social Anthropology and
Ethnomusicology under John Blacking and John Baily at Queen's
University, Belfast. His doctoral research in Lucknow, India, dealt with tabla
drumming in its socio-cultural context, particularly as interpreted by his
teacher, the hereditary master Afaq Hussain Khan; the study was later
published as The Tabla of Lucknow: A Cultural Analysis of a Musical
Tradition (Cambridge University Press, 1988). He held two post-doctoral
fellowships for computer-assisted musical analysis, and taught
Anthropology and Ethnomusicology courses at Queens before joining the
University of Toronto in January 1990. Since then he has been awarded
two major research grants from the Social Science and Humanities
Research Council of Canada to pursue an investigation of cultural
concepts of time in Indian music and society, and the changing theory
and practice of rhythm and metre in Hindustani music. He continues to
study and practise both tabla and pakhavaj drums.
James Kippen has published in a variety of scholarly journals such as
Anthropological Quarterly, Music Perception, Computers and the
Humanities, Minds and Machines, World of Music, Journal of the Indian
Musicological Society, Asian Music etc., and has contributed a key article
on North Indian metric theory and drumming to the Garland
Encyclopedia of World Music. His most recent book, Gurudevs Drumming
Legacy: Music, Theory and Nationalism in the Mrdang aur Tabla
Vadanpaddhati of Gurudev Patwardhan, translates, transcribes and
analyses an early reformist text on Indian drumming, and places the work
in rich historical and socio-cultural contexts. It is soon to be published late
in 2005 by Ashgate as part of its School of Oriental and African Studies
Musicology Series.
Please visit his Web site at this address.
http://www.kippen.org/

The Gwalior Gharana: Music Profiles

Susheela Mishra
In the history of Hindustani classical music Gwalior
stands out as prominently as, if not more than Delhi,
Luck now, Rampur, Jaipur and Deccan-Hyderabad.
The traditions of this music are inextricably associated
with Gwalior. Our sources of information about the
modes of Indian music prior to the Muslim period are
scanty and so our notions on them are rather hazy. The
"Bharatha Natya Sastra" of Bharat Muni, the "Brihaddesi"
by Matanga and "Sangeetaratnakara" are the earliest
treatises we have. It was during the Muslim period that
the music that we now call Hindustani music
blossomed, thanks to unforgettable names like Amir
Khusro, who not only invented and introduced new
ragas, tolas and instruments, but effectively blended
Persian touches into Indian music. "Art being a living
organism, it is bound to expand" and music being preeminently an Art, it is of an extremely changing nature.
Musical fashions, like all other fashions, have always
undergone change after change and have been
molded and remolded to suit changed tastes and
trends through every era. In this process, Hindustani
music, as it is to-day stands inseparably associated with,
and deeply indebted to Gwalior.
Dhrupad: The inception of music all over the world has
been from Religion. In today's classical music, the

'Dhrupad" occupies the most exalted place, and this

originated from the old "Temple-music". It has,
therefore, had a long and checkered history. Its themes
are sometimes devotional, sometimes didactic,
sometimes descriptive (of the beauties of creation),
sometimes heroic (recital of heroic actions); they may
also pertain to Puranic stories or Divine Romances. But
these Dhrupads having originated from the ancient
Prabandhas (in Sanskrit and other provincial
languages), and being sung in temples, we do not
know how far these old Dhrupads afforded scope for
the display of musical skill. To Raja Man Singh Tomar of
Gwalior goes the credit for making them part of
classical music and thus popularising them. Rajah Man
is remembered to this day as one of the greatest
patrons, scholars, and lovers of music we have ever
had. Memorials to his patronage of music are still visible
in Gwalior. Once, he summoned a great conference of
artists and musicians) and the essence of the valuable
discussions held there has been compiled by him into a
book, "Wanakutuhal." It throws valuable light on the
condition of music in the early Muhammadan period,
and is still available for reference in certain State
libraries. The Dhrupad-style of singing was a great
contribution of the Gwalior school to Hindustani
'ragdari' (Classical) music. This brings us to the eve of
the brightest period in the history of Hindustani music the era of Tansen and his illustrious descendants.

QuickTime and a
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Tansen
In the history of Indian Music, who has not heard the
immortal name of Tansen? He was justly idolised in his
time, and today we worship him almost as a saint. He
was the greatest of all Dhrupadiyas (a Kalawant) and
was a product or the Gwalior school of music. Originally
he was a Gaud Brahmin and his name was Tanna Misra
(son of Makarand Pande). He became the disciple of
Swami Haridas Dagur of Brindaban. Still later, he came
under the influence of a great Muslim Saint or Pir,
Mohammad Ghaus of Gwalior under whose guidance,
Tansen achieved unprecedented fame. His fame
spread so far and wide. that Emperor Akbar personally
fetched him to his Court and kept him in the highest
esteem. Tansen and his descendants were strict
Dhrupadiyas and have been the leaders of, and
authorities on, Hindustani classical music.
Adarang and Sadarang
Nyamathkhan and Naubatkhati who later on adorned
the court of Mohmad Shah of Delhi, were Tansen's

descendants and naturally Dhrupadiyas. But Dhrupadsinging, as it existed then, was bound down by strict
and scientific rules which left very little scope for the
singer to show his flights of fancy. Moreover, the
particular type of voice necessary for Dhrupad singing
is very difficult to cultivate. Hence the Khayals. The slow
Khayals were patterned very much like the Dhrupads
but in such a way as to afford plenty of scope for alapsinging, tanas, and other niceties along with the
composition. Khayals, as such, existed long before
Adarang and Sadarang. The fast Khayals were based
on the Qawwal style and were thus the contribution of
the Qawwal Bani. But the credit for composing
hundreds of Khayals and popularising thumri forever
goes to Sadarang and Adarang. Nyamat and Naubat
assumed the pseudonyms Adarang and Sadarang
while composing their Khayals, and it is by these
pseudonyms, rather than by their real names, that they
are known today. In many khayals, they have
mentioned the name of their patron Mohammed Shah.
They composed hundreds of khayals and taught them
to their disciples. These khayals have come down to us,
and to-day, not a day goes without our hearing- their
immortal names in some khayal or other. 01' the three
kinds of khayals, the slow (vilambit) khayals were
modeled after the Dhrupads, whereas the medium
(Madhyalaya) and fast (drut) ones were couched in
the Qawwal Vani The originator of Qawwalis was Amir
Khusru,
the
versatile
poet-cum-musician-cumstatesman. As Islam forbade music strictly, these
Qawwalis or Muslim Bhajans were composed for purely
devotional recitations are the model of the Hindu
Bhajans that existed already. Gradually, however, there

arose a class of professionals who earned their

livelihood by Qawwali-singing. These singers known as
"Qawwals"-began to make free use of "tans" and
"paltas" in the course of Qawwal-singing. Out of these
"Qawwals", Adarang, Sadarang and Manarang
composed their beautiful rnadhyalaya and drut
khayals. What Amir Khusro and his followers contributed
to Indian music arc probably the modes of expression,
the style, the broad open-mouthed voice-production,
tanas, liquid pronunciation of words and so forth which
have certainly made the music quite effective.
Bye and bye, however, these. khayals became so
popular as to oust the Dhrupads! To-day one notes with
immense regret that Dhrupad-singing is almost
becoming extinct. The day the Dhrupads regain their
old popularity will be an auspicious day for our Music.
For, training in Dhrupad-singing alone can make the
voice at once steady, strong, full-throated and sweet.
Lately, however, quite a few seem to have been
attracted by the sublime words and meanings of
Dhrupads. This is a healthy and hopeful augury. The
names of Bade Muhammad Khan; Haddu, Hassu,
Nathu and Wazirkhans, Tanaraskhan, Mahmud Ali, Ali
Bux, Miyajan, etc., are unforgettable. Of these, Haddu,
Hassu and Bade Muhammad Khan were courtmusicians of Gwalior. This last was the son of Shakkar
Khan and considered peerless in the matter of tansinging-. He was employed as court-musician (on a
four-digit salary) by Daulat Rao Scindia ! He sang
khayals in the Qawwali style, i.e., with various delicacies
and dexterity. In the same durbar were Kadir Bux's 3
sons, Haddu, Hassu and Nathu who won precocious

mastery in music at very early ages. They were

Khayalists of the elaborate Kalavant style. Later on,
they evolved a beautiful and exquisite combination of
the Kalavant and Qawwali styles of Khayal-singing. It isinteresting to note that this unique combination too
should have been evolved in Tansen's birth place ! Is it
then, any wonder that Khayal singers have looked
upon Gwalior as a sort of sacred-spot? It was the birthplace of the Dhrupad and the Khayal as well as of all
the eminent Dhrupadiyas and Khayalists. Nearly all the
reputed musicians of Akbar's court were from Gwalior.
It gave us Tansen.
Maharashtrian Musicians at Gwalior:The popularization of classical music in Maharashtra
began through Gwalior. The Maharashtrian-Brahmin
singers of Gwalior were greatly benefited by the
current Gwalior school of music. Many of the pupils of
Hassu and Haddu were Maharashtrian Brahmins
among whom were eminent singers like Babasabib
Dixit, Vasudeva Rou Joshi, and Balasoheb Curuji. Their
disciples have preserved classical traditions to a great
extent. We also owe a lot to the Maharashtrian
disciples of Nissar Hussain (of Hassu-Haddu family). The
late reputed musician Shanker.Rao Pandit was a
favourite pupil of his. Music-lovers still recall Shanker
Pandit's name with great love and respect. His son
Krishna Rao Shanker Pandit is today a court musician of
Gwalior, and is running a Music school in his father's
name-"Shanker Gandbarv Vidyalaya". Raja Bhaiyya
Poonchwale:-the Principal of the "Madho Sangeet
Mahavidyalaya" is another reputed disciple of Shanker

Pandit. He had the privilege of learning a large number

of Dhrupads from the great Dhrupadiya, Wamanbuva
Deshpande ; and later on, Khayals from Shanker
Pandit. What was more, since the opening of the
Pandit music school, he was fox- a long time able to
avail himself of Bhatkhand ji's valuable association and
Guidance -thanks to which today raja Bhaiya is
regarded as a skilled singer and a learned scholar in
the art of music. Chaturpandit Bhatkhandeji:-The
Madho Sangeet Mahavidyalaya is the triumphant fruit
of Guruvarya Bhatkhandeji's selfless endeavours and a
proof of Madhav Rao Mahara 's lofty musical tastes
and patronage of music. This and similar schools of
music have contributed in no small measure to the
revival of interest in classical music which had cooled
down to a deplorable level. Among the long array of
Maharashtrian musicians who went to Gwalior and
achieved -commendable mastery over the Gwaliorstyle of ragdari sangeet, comes the name of
Balkrishnabuva-a pupil of Vasudevrau Joshi (Hassu's
[pupil)- After under going a prolonged training, he
returned to his native town and devoted the rest of his
life rekindling musical tastes among his people. The
most eminent of his pupils of course was Vishnu
Diagambar Paluskar whose name is familiar to all. We
all know how ceaselessly lie strove to popularise music
by establishing music schools at various places. But his
training and efforts were not comprehensive. The
limitation may have been due to the queer
circumstances of those days when musicians selfishly
concealed their art. Anyway Digambar did revive
interest in one aspect of our music-namely, the
devotional aspect of it (Bhajans) and for this we shall

be always grateful to him. Balakrishnabuva's son

Annabuva was a good musician but he died
prematurely. The former's disciples Anantbuva Joshi of
Oundh and Mirasibuva of Poona are two of our
contemporaries. They have tried to Preserve the
musical traditions of their schools. Another pupil is
Gunduhiiva whose son is still the court musician of
Ichalkaran"
Classical
music
penetrated
into
Maharashtra from Gwalior, but since its penetration
there, it has undergone numerous changes, under
various influences. For instance, good musicians of
Aera, Delhi, Jaipur etc., migrated into the big cities of
India (Bombay, Calcutta and Madras ) when they
ceased to get royal patronage ; and in these big cities
they were forced to earn their livelihood by giving
music performances. The names of Tanaraskhan,
Haider Khan, Nath ti Khan, Mahmud Khan, Miyajan,
etc., are familiar in this connection. They have
influenced music in Maharashtra to a great extent.
Though the original G Gwalior-style is rarely to be heard
in its pristine purity today, the traditions have been
preserved to some extent luckily. Characteristics of the
Gwalior style:-Some of the requisites of good Khayalsinging are:-a clear-cut presentation of "Asthai" and
"Antara" (the 2 portions of the songs) with proper
pauses, a skillfully slow pace, and proper combinations
of Swaras (notes) and Sahitya (words). Those who have
luckily had training in the Gwalior-style of Khayal singing
are very particular about the niffat presentation of the
"asthayi" and "antara" at the very outset. Inability to do
this, is rightly considered disgraceful by them, and so
they pay special attention to the neat presentation of
the song with correct pronunciation of the words.

"Alap" at the outset is usually done in "akar" (without

words) but consistent with the tempo of the song. After
finishing slow alaps, the speed is slowly increased, and
what is known as Bol-alaps (words of the song deftly
presented in various combinations of notes) are started.
Cleverly the Bol-tans (words woven into quick
combinations of notes) and plain tans are introduced.
When the tempo and pace have been somewhat
quickened, the skilled musician harmoniously passes on
to a quicker song (drut) or a fast "tarana" in the same
raga. In the fast Khayal also, the parts of the song are
legibly presented at first, after which the singer begins
his extempore elaborations, rapid tans and various
other beautiful intricacies and delicate embellishments
which afford plenty of scope for the display of personal
skill, or industry. The tans of the Gwalior school are justly
famous and admired. 'The tans are straight, clear, fullthroated and varied. Effective little "running passages
of notes" are interwoven into the Khayals. On the
whole, there is something extremely dignified and
impressive about the Gwalior-style of classical music.
"Musical Gwalior" that was! - There had been a time
when Gwalior used to be so intensely music-mad that
"the very leaves would not tremble but to the sounds of
music,". Music-festivals used to be part of the daily
routine in the durbars. The Princes and the people were
alike absorbed in the ecstatic enjoyment and
appreciation of music day and night. Even half-clad
street-urchins would try to hum tans "Will that idyllic
state of affairs ever come back to be" one
wonders........ Bye and bye the zeal for khayal-singing
and for classical music began to flag and ebb to a very
low level, because good musicians (like Nisar Hussain

Khan, Rahmat Khan, and other Brahmin singers) began

to become thorough stay-at-homes, teaching only
those who went to them in their seclusion. Under such
circumstances, one cannot guess what would have
become of the Gwalior -style of classical music, had
not Pandit Bhatkhandeji dedicated his life to the revival
of classical music and succeeded in opening the
Classical Music colleges at Gwalior and Lucknow
whose branches have sprouted up in numerous other
cities now, like Bombay, Calcutta and so on.

The Sarod Gharanas of India

S. P. Bhattacharyya
In this article we discuss, informally, the evolution of the
Sarode and the art of Sarode playing as developed by
some outstanding musicians and Gharanas (musical
families) of the North Indian classical music tradition,
over the last four hundred years.
GHARANAS OR STYLES
Khayal music is represented by a number of more or
less stylistically different schools called Gharanas. These
schools have their basis in the traditional mode of
musical training and education. Every Gharana has a
few discernible features, which allow us to distinguish
between schools and
also enable us to identify
different approaches to interpretation of the ragas. The

main areas where differences arise, relate to the raga

repertoire adopted by the Gharana, the manner in
which the notes are sung, particularly the relative
emphasis given in the Gharana philosophy to swara
and laya, the role and importance of the Bandish in
the aesthetic viewpoint of the Gharana, the manner in
which the raga is presented, and the type of Tans
employed.
Gwalior: This is the oldest among all the Khayal Gayaki
(vocal) styles. The distinctive feature of this style of
singing has been noted as its lucidity and simplicity. This
gayaki is also characterized by serious mien and slow
singing pace. This Gharana involves presenting familiar
and well known ragas such as Alakya Bilawal, Yaman,
Bhairav, Sarang, Multani, Sri, Bhoop, Kamod, Hamir,
Basant, etc. It also pays great attention to singing
Khayals using traditional Bandishes. This Gharana is also
noted for its straight and simple Tans, while stressing on
the use of Meendh and Gamak in its Dhrupad-style
khayals. The best known artistes of this Gharana were
Balkrishna BaIchal Karanjikar (1849 - 1927) and his
student Vishnu Digambar Paluskar (1872 - 1931), Pandit
Omkarnath Thakur (1897 - 1967) and in recent times,
Veena Sahasrabuddhe and Malini Rajurkar.
Kirana: This Gharana derives its name from the
birthplace of Abdul Kharim Khan (1872 - 1937), Kirana
near Kurukshetra. This style of singing was influenced by
the distinctive style of playing music on the Bin (Vina),
with emphasis on the resonance of
notes and
maintaining note continuity through Meendh and

Gamak. Importance was also given to Alap and

Vilambit laya in the course of performance. This style
also stresses on the role of individual notes and their
study (swar-sadhana). In the Kirana style of singing, the
swara is used to create an emotional mood by means
of elongation and use of Kana-s. This effect is further
heightened by tuning the Tanpura (a drone instrument)
for certain ragas to the seventh note, the Nishad,
rather than Pancham. In this Gharana, the practice of
rendering the Alap as Bol-Alap using the bols of the
Bandish and not in Akar is to enable the Alap to be
developed gradually. The Gharana repertoire consists
mainly of
ragas like Shuddha Kalyan, Darbari,
Malkauns, Bhimplasi, Todi etc. Many Carnatic ragas
feature in this Gharana. Another aspect of the Kirana
Gharana is that it is one of the few Gharanas of Khayal
Gayaki that includes Thumri singing as a part of its
performances. The important singers in this Gharana
are Abdul Karim Khan, Hirabhai Barodekar, Begum
Akhtar, and in recent times, Bhimsen Joshi, Gangubai
Hangal and Prabha Atre.

Atrauli - Jaipur: Another of the important ones, this

Gharana is associated with Alladiya Khan (1855 -

1943), the great singer of the late 19th and early 20th
century. This style has great complexities because of its
use
of
melodic
phrases
having
Vakra
(twisted/crooked) turns. The most distinctive feature of
the Jaipur Gharana can be best described as its
complex and lilting melodic form which arises out of
the involuted and undulating phrases that constitute
the piece. The Badhat is very clear and is done in short
sequences, each lasting for an Avartan and the Tans
are very intricate. As a consequence the term filigreelike workmanship is often used in the context of the
Jaipur Gharana singing. This impression is created by
the linking of successive notes through a particular
manner of delivery without blurring their individual
characteristics or shapes, while continuously varying
the swara-patterns to avoid repetition. This is done
through a slow tempo, which continues uncharged
from the beginning to the end with the duration of its
cycle being kept constant. The Gharana, in
its
repertoire, has a dominance of rare and compound
ragas such as Sampoorna-Malkauns, Basant Kedar,
Basant-Bahar, Kaunsi-Kanada and Nat-Kamod. This
Gharana tends to use the traditional Bandishes and
shuns the creation of new compositions. The Badhat is
sung using the bols of the Bandish instead of the Akar.
The Tans are also full of spiral shaped fast passages or
Vakra passages. The important vocalists of this tradition
are Alladiya Khan, Mallikarjun Mansur, Kesarbhai Kerkar
and in recent times, Kishori Amonkar, Shruti Sadolikar,
Padma Talwalkar and Ashwini Bhide Deshpande.

Faiyaz khan
Agra: This style of Khayal gayaki is usually associated
with Faiyaz khan (1886 - 1950). The founders of the
Agra gharana were originally singers of Dhrupad.
Dhamar and Khayal singing came to be adopted in
the Gharana. It was Ustad Faiyaz Khan who
transformed the traditional and austere Agra style and
left his colourful imprint on the Gharana. The Agra
Gharana places great importance on developing
forcefulness and deepness in the voice so that the
notes are powerful and resonant. This Gharana pays
special
attention to ragas like Megh and
Darbarikanada. In the Alap, the shape of the raga is
broadly outlined through key phrases and structures,
rather than in a note by note manner. The Bandish
plays a very important role. The purity of the Bandish is
stressed and the entire Bandish forms the central point
of the performance. The use of the Meendh in order to
make the presentation effective is stressed. The Agra
Gharana maintains this aspect of Dhrupad by the

frequent use of Meendh and Gamaks for Alapchari

and shuns the use of ornaments such as Murkis. One of
the most notable features of the Agra Gayaki is its
Layakari and the manifestation of rhythm in all the
aspects of the khayal presentation. The important
singers of this Gharana are C R Vyas, S N Ratanjankar
and of late, Jitendra Abhisheki, Vijay Kitchlu and
Sumati Mutatkar.
Patiala: This Gharana is regarded as an offshoot of the
Delhi Gharana and the famous duo Allu-Fattu, [Ali
Baksh (1850 - 1920) and Fateh Ali Khan (1850 - 1909)],
are usually acclaimed as the originators of this style. It
was Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan (1901 - 1969), who
popularized this style of singing and brought this
Gharana to
the public notice. This style was
influenced, to a large extent, by the qualities of Bade
Ghulam Alis voice and its wide span of three octaves.
While the Patiala Gharana gives pride of place to
speed in execution of Tans, the Patiala Gharana
repertoire also includes slow Tans, which are akin to the
Gamak. Thus, the Patiala Gharana is characterized by
the use of greater rhythm play and by Layakari with the
abundant use of Bols, particularly Bol-tans. As part of its
aesthetic approach, this style focusses more
on
emotion and sensuality. This style was criticised for
neglecting musical form and organization and also
lacking in aesthetic balance. The ragas preferred by
this Gharana are Malkauns, Bhoopali, Gunakali, Megh
Malhar, etc. Ek-tal and Teen-tal are usually chosen by
this Gharana. This is another Gharana, which considers
Thumri singing as its forte. The major singers in this style
Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Ajoy Chakravarti, Parveen

Sultana and others.

Rampur-Sahaswan: The Rampur-Sahaswan Gharana
can be said to have been established by Ustad Inayat
Hussain Khan (1849 - 1919). There is a stress on the
clarity of swara in this style and the development and
elaboration of the raga is done through a stepwise
progression. The characteristic features of the RampurSahaswan Gayaki are that the development of the
Alap adheres closely to the structure of the Bandish
that is being sung and is not sung as a free exposition
before the Bandish. It is presented in the form of a Bolalap. The stress in the Alap is on developing the Bhava
(mood) and the rasa (emotion) of the raga. Singing in
Akar is given great importance in training and also the
use of natural voice. The preferred tempo is Madhya
laya (medium tempo) and the use of a very slow
tempo is discouraged. This Gharana lays stress on the
literary content of the Bandish. The speciality of the
Rampur school lies in its Tans, which cover a much
larger range and are marked by their speed of
execution. These Tans, which are noticeable for their
boldness and clarity, are employed to bring out the
Layakari. This style is also marked by a wide variety of
Tans and its repertoire consists of ragas like Bhupali-Todi,
Bahaduri-Todi, Gaudsarang, Yaman, Kedar, Chhaya
Nat, Bihag, etc. The main representatives
of this
Gharana are Ghulam Mustafa Khan, Ustad Nissar
Hussain Khan and in recent times, Ustad Rashid Khan.

Mewati: The founder of Mewati Gharana was Ghagge

Nazir Khan. This Gharana adopts the Sapat Tan and

Merkhand in its ornamentation. This style gives
importance to developing the mood of the raga
through the notes forming it and its style is Bhava
Pradhan. It also gives equal importance to the
meaning of the text. The Gayaki regards words as
important and does not believe in stretching words to
make the text and rhythm synchronize. It resorts to Tans
and Sargams in case the words fall short. This Gayaki
also adopts Meendh as a prominent ornament. This
Gharana presents semi-classical music in the form of
Bhajans and there is a strong Vaishnavite influence in
their style. The current exponents of this style are
Sanjeev Abhyankar and Rattan Sharma, both students
of Pandit Jasraj.

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Pandit Jasraj.
Bhundi Bazar Gharana: This Gharana is less known in
comparison to others. The most distinctive feature of
this Gharana is that their presentations of Khayals are
open voice, using Akar. There is a stress on breathcontrol and singing of long passages in one breath is

highly regarded in this Gharana. Another feature is the

intricate method of Sargam singing in which
permutations and combinations of a given set of notes
are made to give rise to complex note and Tan
patterns This Gayaki makes use of this method for the
raga Badhat in order to have an extended Alap. This
method also permits play with rhythms. In addition, this
Gharana stresses clear note intonation and word
articulation. Ornaments such as Sapat-tans, Gamaktans are given precedence along with the use of
Meendh. The important singers are Ustad Aman Ali
Khan and Anjanibai Malpekar.

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Anjanibai Malpekar
1. The Evolution of Sarod
The Sarod is one of the most exotic musical instruments
in the world today. Its tonal quality, emotional range
and dynamics are unmatched by any other instrument.
The present form of the Sarode was developed about
200-250 years ago in India. Since then the art of Sarode
playing has undergone continuous improvement in the
hands of some exceptional and dedicated geniuses

and it has now reached a level that seems difficult to

improve upon. It is believed that the predecessor of the
modern Sarode is the Rabab, an instrument that
originated in the Middle East. The Rabab has a wooden
ngerboard and strings of catgut and was used mainly
as an instrument to accompany military marching
bands. The Rabab was already in use in India in the
16th century during the reign of Akbar, and the AkbarNama of the 16th century traveler Abul Fazl mentions
several Rabab players in Akbars court.
The Sarod, however is believed to have been
developed initially by the Rababiyas of Afghanistan
after their migration to India. Ghulam Bandegi Khan of
Bangash, Afghanistan, who was a Rabab player, soldier
and horse trader, migrated to India about 300 years
ago. He was commissioned as a soldier in the army of
Raja Vishwanath Singh of Rewa. Bandegi Khan trained
his son Haider Khan and grandson Ghulam Ali Khan in
the art of Rabab playing. Ghulam Ali also received
musical training from Pyar Khan and Jaffar Khan, who
were distinguished Rabab players and direct
descendents of Tansen. Raja Vishwanath Singh also
gave him instruction in Dhrupad singing, the slow,
ornate and dignied style of vocal music, that was
prevalent then.
Ghulam Ali later became a court musician in Gwalior,
the most important musical center for North Indian
music at that time. His exposure to the Gayaki (vocal
music) style of Gwalior as well as the Dhrupad style of
the Seni Gharana (Tansens musical family) must have
inuenced him to improve the relatively unsonorous

and staccato sounding Rabab into one capable of

executing the Meends (glides) and curves necessary in
the Gayaki style. He is generally credited with the idea
of modifying the Rabab by adding a metal ngerboard
and metallic strings and also with the addition of the
Chikari (Jhala) and Tarab (sympathetic) strings. Thus the
Sarode was born. Further embellishments to the Sarode
were made by Ustad Allauddin Khan in this century,
and the modern Sarode has 15 Tarab strings, 6 Chikari
strings and 4 main strings.
The name Sarode is linked to the Arabic Sahrood or
Persian Sarood meaning music, as well as the Sanskrit
Sho-rode (good noise). It is important to mention
that Ustad Ali Akbar Khan has stated in recent times
that the Sarode was known in ancient India as it has
been found depicted in the 2000 year old Champa
temple in Madhya Pradesh.
2. The Rababiya Gharanas
The early Sarode players were the descendents of the
Afghan Rababiyas. There were three such families but
the most important such Gharana was the one
founded by Ghulam Ali Khan (see the accompanying
chart). Ghulam Ali Khan had three sons, Hossain Ali
(eldest), Murad Ali and Nanhe Khan (youngest) who
were all Sarode players. Nanhe Khans son was the
Late Ustad Haz Ali Khan (1988-1972) one of the
outstanding Sarode players of the last generation. Haz
Ali Khans musical education was completed by his
training under the Late UstadWazir Khan of Rampur
who was the leading representative of the Seni

Beenkar Gharana in the last century. Haz Alis son

Amjad Ali Khan is one of the most accomplished
Sarode players of the present day.
Murad Ali Khan was childless, and on a certain
occasion, when taunted about this, decided to leave
home, vowing to adopt a son and give him such a
Taleem (musical training) that he would rob the
brothers of their sleep. He moved to Shahjahanpur
and adopted an orphan boy, Abdullah Khan, who
under his training became an outstanding Sarode
player. Murad Ali Khan passed away in 1932, but his
musical line continued with Abdullah Khan, whose
disciple Mohammed Amir Khan was the Guru of the
Late Radhika Mohan Moitra (1917-1981) a brilliant
Sarodiya of the last generation. Pandit Buddhadev Das
Gupta is the foremost disciples of Radhika Mohan
Moitra and is one of three most outstanding Sarode
players of India today. His playing reects the beauty of
his Gurus melodic style which is a perfect blend of the
Rababiya and Beenkar traditions.
3. The Seni Beenkar Gharana
To complete our story we need to establish a most
important link, namely the connection between the
great Sarode players of the last generation and the
Seni Beenkar Gharana. For this let us go back to
Emperor Akbars court in the 16th century. The
brightest sun in Akbars court was Tansen (1520-1589), a
musical genius from Gwalior whom the Emperor had
brought and installed as one of the Nine Jewels of his
court. Tansen composed many new Ragas, such as

Miya-ki-Malhar, Darbari Kanhra and Miya-ki-Todi, and

laid down the foundations of North Indian classical
music through 300 Dhrupad compositions. Although
Akbar had a policy to convert talented people to Islam
his reverence for Tansen was such that he never forced
him to convert, but tactfully gave him the title Miya
Tansen.
Tansen had a Hindu wife as well as a Muslim wife,
called Mehrunissa. From the latter he got a son Bilas
Khan (composer of the Raga Bilaskhani Todi) and from
the Hindu wife he had three children; Tan-Taranga,
Suratsen and Saraswati Devi. Suratsen later founded
the Jaipur Sitar Gharana. Saraswati was a famous
Dhrupad singer who married Raja Misar Singh, a noted
Beenkar (Veena player) of Rajasthan. Misar Singh
eventually became a state musician in Akbars court
and was converted to Islam and renamed Naubat
Khan.
The descendants of Saraswati and Misar Singh were
Beenkars as well Dhrupadiyas and they continued and
developed the traditions of Sitar, Sursringar and Rabab
playing as well as vocal music. They established what is
now known as the Seni Beenkar Gharana, the most
important musical family in North Indian music.
Although they officially had Muslim names, they also
had dual Hindu names; thusWazir Khan, for example
was also called Chhatrapal Singh. These descendents
include Niyamat Khan (vocalist, also known as
Sadarang in many Khayal compositions), Amritsen
(Jaipur Sitar Gharana, 1814-1894) , Omrao Khan (Vina,
Surbahar, Sarode), Gholam Mohammed Khan

(Lucknow Sitar Gharana), Bahadur Hussain

(inventor of Tarana) and Ustad Wazir Khan.

Khan

Ustad Wazir Khan was a brilliant teacher, performer and

composer and the leader of the Seni Gharana in the
last century. His family line could be traced back
directly to Tansen and his musical knowledge included
many of Tansens original Dhrupad compositions.
Perhaps the most important occurence in the history of
Sarode playing is the fact that two of the foremost
Sarodiyas of the last generation Allauddin Khan and
Haz Ali Khan came to be Wazir Khans disciples. Thus
the full power and accumulated musical knowledge of
the Seni Gharana was incorporated into the Sarode art
of these two outstanding musicians. The result was that
a style of Sarode playing developed in which the vocal
traditions of Dhrupad and Khyal and the instrumental
traditions of Veena (slides and glides) and Rabab
(rhythmic, staccato and plucked) came to be blended
beautifully and aesthetically into this one majestic
instrument. This is why todays Sarode playing has such
a wide dynamic range from the most tender Meends
to thunderous Jhalas and lightning speed Taans
(musical sentences).
Ustad Baba Allauddin Khan (1862-1972) as we know is a
legendary gure in Indian music. He was born in Tripura,
East Bengal and from a very young age developed a
thirst for music and musical knowledge that eventually
led to one of the most incredible musical journeys of
this century. He mastered many instruments including
Tabla, violin, Sursringar and Surbahar but nally turned
to the Sarode and became a student of the Sarode

wizard Ahmed Ali Khan. After six years of living with

Ahmed Ali, Baba had learnt everything that Ahmed Ali
had to offer and the teacher recommended that Baba
should seek training from his Guru the great Wazir Khan
of Rampur. Baba had to confront many difficulties in
becoming Wazir Khans disciple, but eventually Wazir
Khan opened up his treasure house of musical
compositions and taught Baba for 12 years after his
eldest son, who was being trained to succeed him,
died suddenly.
Baba Allauddin lived only to serve the cause of music.
He was a lifelong devotee of the Goddess Kali and
later as a court musician in Maihar worshipped Sharda
Devi, also known as Maihar Devi, and a form of
Goddess Kali. He avoided fame and wealth, pursued
music as a path to spiritual salvation and offered his
creations at the feet of Sharda Devi. In later years
Babas salary was paid from the earnings of the Sharda
temple. He was regarded throughout India as a
musical saint and many students journeyed to Maihar
to learn from him. He himself remained a student of
music till the age of 70 completely mastering the
Dhrupad and instrumental compositions of the Seni
Gharana and adding innumerable new compositions
and many new Ragas, such as Hemant, Shobhavati
and Durgeshwari. His eventual contributions are so
outstanding that today this Gharana is known as the
Seni Allauddin Gharana.
Baba openly and generously transferred the vast
wealth of his musical knowledge to a large number of
disciples. Of these the most famous are his son the

supreme Sarodist Ustad Ali Akbar Khan and the Sitar

Maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar. The dazzling virtuosity,
musical depth and brilliance of these two musicians
and their extensive touring over the last 40 years have
exposed audiences all over the world to the treasures
of the Seni Gharana, the art and magic of Sitar and
Sarode, and the exquisite beauty, creativity and
sophistication of North Indian classical music.
With such a fantastic heritage the future of
instrumental music and the Sarode in particular is bright
indeed!
(Portions of this article are based on conversations with
Pandit Buddhadev DasGupta.)
S.P. Bhattacharyya is Professor of Electrical Engineering
and a faculty adviser to SPICMACAY at Texas A&M
University. He is also a disciple of Sarod maestro Ustad
Ali Akbar Khan and a performing concert artist
The Kirana Gharana
The origin of the Kirana gharana is shrouded in an air of
mystery and, to some extent, controversy. It is generally
believed that Gopal Nayak, a contemporary of Amir
Khusru, is the fountainhead of the gharana. He lived on
the banks of the Jumna in a town called Dutai. Later,
when Dutai was ravaged by floods he moved inland 10
Kirana, a small town in the Muzaffarnagar district. He is
believed to have embraced Islam. Four different
offshoots of the Kirana dynasty are claimed to have
descended from him. One of the branches boasts of
great names like Ustad Azim Baksh, Maula Baksh and

Abdul Ghani Khan. The second branch is studded with

names like Ustad Bande Ali Khan, Nanne Khan, Kale
Khan and the legendary Ustad Abdul Karim Khan. Yet
another offshoot includes in its Kirana lineage the
names of Gafoor Khan, Abdul Wahid Khan, Shakoor
Khan, Mashkoor Ali and Mubarak Ali. Finally, the
distinguished family tradition of Mehboob Baksh,
Rehman Khan, Abdul Majid Khan, Abdul Hamid Khan,
Abdul Bashir Khan, followed by his sons Niaz Ahmed
and Fayyaz Ahmed Khan, express their allegiance to
the Kirana tradition. The precise roots of the gharana
are lost in antiquity and shrouded with controversy.
There are some who believe that Ustad Abdul Karim
Khan is the true fountainhead of Gandharva,
Roshanara Begum, Balkhshnabuva Kapileshwari,
Behrebuva, Sureshbabu Mane and Hirabai Barodekar.
From this mainstream of Ustad Abdul Karim Khan, in
turn, came Pandit Sawai Gandharva whose centenary
was recently celebrated with great 6clat in Bombay,
and the ranks of the gharana have swelled,
majestically. The leading lights include Gangubai
Hangal, Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, Pandit Feroze Dastoor, Dr
Prabha Atre and Pandit Sangame-shwar Gaurav.
Among their disciples, Krishna Hangal Shrikant
Deshpande, Madhav Gudi, Narayanrao Deshpande,
Ramkrishna Patwardhan, Milind Chittal and Alka
Joglekar have already made their mark and ensured
the continued popularity of the gharana. This
phenomenal popularity has been achieved through
the characteristic expansive alapchari which unfolds
the raga note by note with tantalising languor. The
induction of sargams was another alankar which Abdul
Karim Khan inducted into Hindustani music with a

Carnatic flair Admittedly, the gharana has undergone

a vigorous transformation with the vibrant personality of
Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, who has brought into play his
own stylistic nuances. It is obvious that the Kirana
gharana is riding the wave of popularity. the gharana
and the lineage that emanates from him is the main
stream of the gharana, while the rest are tributaries. Be
that as it may, it is an incontrovertible fact that the
Kirana gharana remains the most popular and prolific
in the sheer number of its practitioners on the
contemporary scene.Ustad Abdul Karim Khan ushered
in a new era of romanticism in the rendition of
Hindustani classical music which was captivating
because it was at once sweet, soothing, serene and
sensuous. Although the ustad's own singing seemed to
lack fullbodied masculine sonorousness, his romanticism
won for the Kirana gharana a strong following which
included names that have become legends like Sawai
The Agra Gharana
The Agra gharana derived from the dhrupad tradition
of the Nauhar Bani and was founded by Saras Khuda
during the reign of Emperor Aurangzeb. Thereafter, his
grandson Ghagge Khudabaksh received rigorous
training from Natthan Khan of the Gwalior gharana in
khayal gayaki and thus developed a happy synthesis of
the majestic dhrupad tradition and the melodious
khayal gayaki. Apart from this, a series of alliances
between the houses(gharanas)of the original Agra
gharana and the Atrauli gharana have further brought
together these two great tradition and it would be
more correct to describe the gharana as the Agra-

Atrauli gharana. It is significant that the gharana now

has within its fold no less than three. Banis: the
Gobarhar Bani or the Gwalior gharana as derived from
Mehboob Khan alias Daas Piya the Dagur Bani of the
original Atrauli Dhrupad gharana which underwent a
transformation when Ustad Alladiya Khan took to
khayal gayaki from Mubarak Ali of Jaipur (since then
called Jaipur-Atrauli gharana) and finally the inflow of
the Nauhar Bani of the third Atrauli offshoot as derived
through Puttan Khan, maternal uncle of Ustad Mushtaq
Husain of the Rampur Sahaswan gharana. Probably this
is what accounts for the manysplendoured appeal of
this 'Rangeeli' gayaki as it came to be known,
particularly since the advent of Aftab-e-mousiqi Ustad
Faiyaz Khan whom many regard as the fountainhead
of Agra-Atrauli gharana.

Great artists of India

Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan

1902-1968

Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan can be described as an

artiste who has had the maximum impact on the 20th
Century Hindustani Classical Music scenario. Born in
1902 into a great musical lineage from Kasur in the
Western Punjab, this great savant amalgamated the
best of four traditions; his own Patiala - Kasur style,
sculpturesque Behram Khani elements of Dhrupad, the
intricate gyrations of Jaipur and finally the robust
behlavas (embellishments) of Gwaiior. But what
actually characterised Bade Ghulam Ali Khan was an
effervescent melodic quality which was concertised in
a masterly flow of ideas which were delivered with a
unique sense of alacrity, aided by one of the most
pliable and dextrous voices ever heard in living
memory in this land. Bade Ghulam Ali Khan had a
relatively short career span. He blazed the trails of
Calcutta in 1938 and in the 1944 All India Music
Conference in Bombay, was virtually anointed Lord of
all he surveyed in the field of Indian Music. But 24 years
later, he was dead, prematurely at 66, having given the
World less of himself than it would have wished to have.
The maestro's approach to khyal was essentially
traditional - as seen in the medium pace of his vilambit
Khayal presentation and his style of straightforward
sthaibharana avoiding permutations. The character of
his Gayaki was derived from an inclination towards
looking beyond the traditional method of intoning a
Swara to discover unchartered facets of beauteous
melody, often achieved by very subtle inflexions of
notes. This approach was bom of a mind which always
strove to find that beauty in Indian Music which went

beyond the Raga itself. For Bade Ghulam Ali Khan,

'Taleem' was but a means to a greater end where
sheer melody and freedom of movement became
unified His music was the joyous expression of an
unfettered musical psyche. In 'Thumri', Bade Gliulam Ali
Khan looked beyond the tradition of bol-banav where
verbal and musical expressions are unified. He saw in
Thumri an avenue for playing with notes with even
greater abandon than was possible in the ragarestrained Khayal. From this perspective was born the
now well-established Punjab-ang of Thumri.

Pt. Pannalal Ghosh

31 July, 1911 - 20 April, 1960

Born in Barisal, East Bengal (now Bangladesh) on July

31, 1911, Amulya Jyoti (nicknamed Pannalal) Ghosh
was a child prodigy. He inherited his love of music and
the bamboo flute (bansuri) from his grandfather, Hari
Kumar Ghosh who played sitar,tabla,and pakhawaj
and learned sitar from his father, Akshay Kumar Ghosh.

He also learned music from his maternal uncle,

Bhavaranjan Mazumdar who was a vocalist. The family
first lived in the village of Amarnathganj and later
moved to the town of Fatehpur.
Two apocryphal incidents happened to young
Pannalal which had an influential bearing on his later
life. First, at age 9 while looking for a stick, Pannalal
found a flute floating in the river. He retrieved the
instrument and so began his lifelong relationship with
the bansuri. Two years later at age 11 Pannalal met a
sadhu who held both a conch and a flute. The sadhu
asked Pannalal if he could play the flute, and young
Pannalal obliged. The sadhu gave him the flute and
told the boy that music would be his salvation.There
was a political unrest in 1928, and every youth was
possessed with the freedom movement. Pannalal also
joined this freedom movement. He enrolled in a
gymnasium where he learned martial arts, boxing, and
stick fighting and practiced physical culture. Pannalal
was very fond of physical culture. He became the best
student and champion of this gymnasium. He became
more involved in the freedom movement and the British
Government started keeping a watch on his
movements. So at the age of seventeen Pannalal left
Barisal and went to Calcutta in search of livelihood. In
the teeming metropolis he found himself without any
credentials except that he was a boxing champion
and had won the All Bengal competition in boxing.
With his skill as a boxer and martial art expert he landed
a job as a coach in an athletic club. One year later, at
the age of 18, Pannnalal lost his father.

At this time Pannalal, who was already playing sitar,

began to focus his attention on bansuri. Economic
necessity drove him into performing music for the silent
films in Calcutta. At an All India music competition he
met music director and composer Anil Biswas and
began to play in his musical productions. It was during
one such production when Anil Biswas was directing
music for a dramatization of a work by the renowned
poet Kazi Nazrul Islam that Pannalal decided that he
needed a bigger flute who's pitch and sonority would
be more appropriate for both classical and light music.
He met an old Muslim toy vendor who was also
proficient in making flutes. With his help Pannalal
experimented with various materials including metal
and other types of wood, but decided bamboo was
still the most suitable medium for a larger instrument. He
finally settled on a bansuri which was thirty two inches
long, with a sa (tonic) at kali doe (the second black key
on the old harmonium scale). As a flute of this size was
hitherto unknown, a rumor arose that Pannalal had had
surgery to cut the webbing between his fingers to
facilitate the large span required to cover the finger
holes of the instrument. Of course, he had no such
surgery, but through dedicated riyaz (practice),
Pannalal invented and perfected the technique to
play the large instrument. At this time he would get his
bamboo to make flutes from discarded packing
materials found at Diamond Harbor, the large port of
Calcutta. Deforestation had not yet consumed the
forest around Calcutta, and the bamboo was believed
to have grown close to the city itself. He practiced hard
and perfected the technique of vocal music on flute.
At this time he realized the need for meend from

madhyama swar to nishad or dhaivat shrutis in ragas

like Bihag, Yaman, Bageshree and many others. He
experimented and invented the seventh hole of
madhyama.
He became famous for his flute playing and started
getting performances at the major music conferences.
At this time he came in close contact with great
maestros like Ustad Inayat Khan (sitar), Ustad Dabir
Khan (Been), Ustad Amir Khan (sarod), Ustad Badal
khan (sarangi), and vocalists such as Ustad Faiyaz
Khan, Ustad Abdul Karim Khan, Ustad Majid Khan, Pt.
Tarapoda Chkraborty, Pt. Bhismadev Chattopadhyay
and many others. His quest for knowledge and purity of
tradition made him acquire intricacies of music from
these erudite musicians. In 1936 Pannalal began
working with Raichandra Boral, music director of the
well known 'New Theater' and one year later he met his
first guru, Kushi Mohammed Khan - the 'Harmonium
Wizard'. In 1938 as music director of the dance troupe
of the princely kingdom of Seraikella State, Panna Babu
(as he was affectionately known) was one of the first
classical musicians to visit and perform in Europe, which
he found rather agitating and unsettling. Soon after his
return to India his guru expired. Thereafter he
underwent training from Girija Shankar Chakravarti. In
1940, Pannalal moved to Bombay on the advice of his
first disciple Haripada Choudhary (who had himself
recently moved to Bombay). There he joined the
Bombay Talkies film studio and gave music to quite a
few films including 'Basant.' Panna Babu's wife, Parul
Biswas, (sister of Anil Biswas), was a graceful singer of
kirtans who became one of the first well known

playback singers for the new 'talking' films. Pannalal first

met the legendary Ustad Allaudin Khansahib,
(reverentialy known as 'Baba') in 1946, when Baba
came to Bombay with his disciple, Pandit Ravi Shankar.
Initially, when Pannalal asked Baba to teach him
Khansaheb replied, "You are already great, you don't
need to study more." Pannalal implored Baba to please
teach him so that he could learn "authentic music and
sur." In 1947, Pannalal's lifelong yearning to learn music
from a true guru was fulfilled when Allaudin Khansaheb
, convinced of Pannalal's sincerity to learn, accepted
Pannalal as his disciple. Pannalal then accompanied
Baba to his home in Maihar, where he received
intensive taalim (training) from Khansaheb for the next
six months. Under Baba's firm yet understanding
tutelage, he blossomed into the wizard of the bamboo
reed. Panna Babu earned fame through his regular
broadcasts on AIR (All India Radio) and his many live
performances at music festivals throughout India. The
eminent vocalists Ustad Fayaz Khan and Pandit
Omkarnath Thakur appreciated his music very much
and requested Pannalal to accompany their vocal
recitals on bansuri. He was praised for his adaptation
and rendering on the bansuri of the khayal-ang- gayaki
(the classical vocal style), particularly influenced by the
great master of the Kirana gharana, Ustad Abdul Karim
Khan. Pannalal also incorporated alap, dhrupad-anggayaki, tantrakari, jhala, thumri, dadra and folk music
into his performance style on bansuri. Well versed in
tabla and rhythm, he would perform in such difficult tals
as jhoomra and tilwara. His music was steeped in
devotion and had an intangible ethereal element,
immense emotional depth and was infused with

spiritual profundity. In addition to introducing the larger

instrument, Pannalal Ghosh is credited with inventing
the bass bansuri and introducing the six-stringed
tanpura, high-pitched tanpuri and the surpeti or sruti
box into Hindustani music. He created and popularized
several
new
ragas
including
Deepawali,
Pushpachandrika,
Hansanarayani,
Chandramauli,
Panchavati and Nupurdwani, as well as multitudinous
vilambit and drut compositions in many well known
ragas. Panna Babu practiced daily meditation and
observed maun by not speaking on Thursdays. He took
the vows of Ramakrishna and put his faith in music. He
took Mantra Diksha from Swami Birjanandji Maharaj
who was a direct disciple of Swami Vivekananda.
Because of his intense spiritual practice he started
loosing interest in day to day life and decided to take
Sanyasa. When he expressed his desire to Swamiji, his
Guru, he was told that he would attain Moksha through
music only. He should practice music as religiously as his
spiritual practice. His music showed total spirituality,
simplicity and purity. Pannalal continued composing
and recording music for films, but began to find film
work distasteful. Panna Babu's impressive rendition of
Raga Darbari Kannada in his 1956 National Programme
broadcast from AIR Delhi fetched him further acclaim
and at this time B.B Keskar, director of AIR, awarded
him the meritorious post of composer-conductor of the
Indian National Orchestra and producer for AIR Delhi.
He held the post and maintained his devotion to the
interpretation of classical music on the bamboo flute
until his untimely and sudden death due to heart
attack at the age of 49 on April 20, 1960 in New Delhi.
He left his musical legacy in the capable hands of his

principal disciples: the late Haripada Choudary,

Devendra Murdeshwar, V.G. Karnad and Nityanand
Haldipur .
References
Raga Shree: vilambit (slow) Tilwara Tal (16 beats) and
fast Teen Tal (16 beats) This is the entire original HMV
Recording - 19 minutes. It was the first LP recording of
bansuri, with Rag Yaman on the A side.