|
 |
Music continued to flourish in
medieval India in spite of the acquisition of political power by
the Turks, Afghans and Mughals. It was patronized and thrived at
the imperial courts of Muslim kings in Delhi and Agra and at the
centers of provincial kingdoms like the Sharqui kingdom of Jaunpur,
the Khilji kingdom of Malwa and the Bahmani kingdom of Bijapur and
Golcunda.
In his memoirs Babur, the founder of the Mughal dynasty, has named
several leading musicians of his time including Sheikh Ghuran,
Sheikh Adhan, Khawaja Abdullah Marwareed, Sheikh Nai, Sheikh Quli,
Ghulam Saadi, Meer Anju and many others. It is believed that the
renowned musician Baiju Bawra was among the musicians in Humayun’s
court.
In the reign of Akbar there were many immortal musicians like Mian
Tansen, Sujan Khan, Tantarang Khan, Bilas Khan, Baaz Bahadur, and
Pirzada Khurasan. During this period some well known ragas such as
Darbari Kanhra, Jogia, Mian-ki-Malhar, Mian-ki-Todi,
Mian-ki-Sarang were introduced by Tansen. Similarly Nayak Bakshoo,
a musician of the court of Raja Mansingh of Gwalior created many
ragas like Bahaduri Todi, Nayaki Kanhra, Nayaki Kalyan, etc.
The Sufis from the countries of Central Asia who started coming to
India with the establishment of the Muslim rule in North India in
the eleventh century made a major contribution to the growth of
musical institutions in India. Music played a central role in all
of their congregations. They skillfully blended the Arab and
Persian styles with Hindustani music and utilized it as a medium
of communication for their messages of moral and spiritual uplift
for the common man.
Among a number of Sufi sects in India the contribution of two
sects, the Chishtis and the Suhrawardis is most noteworthy. The
contribution of Hadrat Nizamuddin’s disciple Amir Khusru is only
too well known. He broke away from the old traditions and
introduced new forms such as Qaul, Qawwali, Qalbana, Naqsh-e-gul
and Nigar. Khusru is said to have created about twelve new
melodies, among which are Zilaf, Muafiq, Ghanam, Farghana, Zangula
and Sarpada. In the court of Jalaluddin Khilji the ghazals of
Khusru were regularly recited by the famous musicians.
Several new musical forms were developed during the medieval
Muslim period. Two of the most outstanding forms are Dhrupad and
Khayal, which are still dominant in today’s Indian music. The
beginning of Dhrupad occurred in the thirteenth century and it
reached the zenith of its popularity in the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries. Two renowned books of the era Ain-e-Akbari
and Raga-Darpan state that most of the musicians of that time were
Muslims. Kitaab-e-Nauras written by Ibrahim Ali Shah the ruler of
Bijapur also mentions the popularity of Dhrupad as far as Deccan.
Today the well known Dagar family is continuing to uphold the
traditions of Dhrupad.
On the other hand the genesis of Khayal can be traced to the
eighth century. The old musical forms of Khayal were influenced by
Qaul and Qawwali. Sultan Hussain Sharuqui, the ruler of Jaunpur
took keen interest in the development and popularization of this
style. In the Mughal court of Mohammad Shah Rangeela his court
musicians Niamat Khan and Feroz Khan composed hundreds of Khayals
with a high degree of perfection. A large number of Muslim
musicians were accomplished Khayal singers in the medieval period.
Another contribution of the Muslim musicians has been the
establishment of the Gharana system starting in the eighteenth
century. Several such Gharanas have flourished in various parts of
the country. Among some of the prominent Gharanas are those of
Gwalior, Agra, Jaipur, Kirana and Delhi. The Gharanas specially
emphasized disciplined singing or playing an instrument according
to the traditional style established by an extraordinary musician.
Among other musical forms Tarana, Thumri and Tappa are also
popular styles which developed through the synthesis of the
indigenous Indian music with influences brought in by the Muslims.
The origin of Tarana is associated with Amir Khusru whereas Nawab
Wajid Ali Shah is credited as one of the early patrons and
composers of Thumri. Tappa style of singing is believed to have
been the innovation of Shori Mian of Lucknow.
During the later medieval period a large number of standard works
on music, both original and translations from Sanskrit, were
undertaken. The three major works belonging to this period are:
Raga-Darpan by Faqirullah; Tohfat-e-Hind by Mirza Khan;
Naghmat-e-Asfi by Ghulam Raza.
Tracing the history of the contribution of Muslim musicians to the
growth of Indian music it becomes evident that the Muslims of
medieval India were what the indigenous Indian culture had made of
them in the course of six hundred years. They became Indian in
thought, speech and action and religion was part of the culture,
but not the whole of it. It is obvious that music has been an
unmatched medium to bring Muslims and Hindus together in India
through the last six hundred years, and it is impossible to
separate the Muslim components from the Hindu components in
Hindustani music.
The writer is a
community activist in Washington DC. He can be reached on
kaleemkawaja@gmail.com
|
Comments
|
Quick links