Gharanas
Their Importance and contribution to Indian Classical Music
It has become fashionable these days to hark back to the "good old days" and run down the "music kept alive by Gharana musicians". In the context of Indian Classical Music, the epithets "ancient" and "old" should read respectively for the days preceding the Muslim Invasion of the Sub-Continent and the erase thereafter. Scholars have rediscovered the virtues of music as outlined in Sanskrit texts and have proceeded to dub any variations to the theme as pollution of the prurient art. Pundit Bhatkhande observed: "Best tradition of music was lost, because our music went in the hands of Muslims." He further stated, "Muslim singers never studied Sanskrit books on music." He also added, "This state of music (i.e. loss of best tradition of our music) obtained because our music went into the hands of Muslim singers." Even Pundit Vishnu Digamber Paluskar has mentioned in his writings, "Our best and ancient music bequeathed by our Rishis is lost gradually."
The reader is at a loss while discussing this subject because of the weight of scholarship behind it and scholarship in this context is nothing but a triumph of obscurantism over dynamism – triumph of ancient texts and their modern progeny over the innovations and experimentations of Gharana Musicians.
To understand the importance of "performed music" as against written one and the role of personal instructions and "riyaz" as against structured theories, the scholars should rather have traced briefly the history of Indian Classical Music to the present day simultaneously revealing the hollowness of the "ancient scholarly text" and outlined guide-lines which could have helped the development of Indian Classical Music, free from the burden of "Sanskrit theories".
History of Structured Music in India
Myth has it that music was created by Lord Shiva and Narad Muni or Ghandharvas. But the earliest reference to it in the written text seems to be in "Bharat Natya Shastra", by Bharat Muni. Of course, there is no reference to Ragas in this text. There is however, a reference in "Sangit Ratnakar", an old Sanskrit threatise to Ragas. The scholars have resurrected manuscripts of relatively recent origin, not earlier than 1000 A.D., and have established that there were two types of music, "Margiya Music" and "Desi Music". They have also concluded that music as we practice it today has originated from "Desi Music". Nonetheless, these scholars are not in a position to distinguish between the two types by demonstrations. In this confusion as to the origin of the Ragas, the scholars have related ragas to their predecessors "Prabhandhaks" and even to "Murchhanas". However, there are descriptions of Ragas in the later Sanskrit treatises and it is concluded that the text to which the present ragas are nearer, are likely to be more correct that the others. But the ragas today are not precisely sung the way they are described in the treatises. The theory of Shadaj Gram, Gandhar Gram and Madhyam Gram has also vanished. Sanskrit threatises on music of medieval age substantially differ from one another in the matter of description of Ragas. Moreover, it is not justifiable to correlate the said treatises only because they are written in Sanskrit. What is more, the authors of the said threatises were not "performing singer".
The Origin of "Gharanas"
At the time of Emperor Akbar, there were no Gharanas. As we know today, there were only "Banis". There wre four Banis : Ghobarhar, Nauhar, Dagur and Khandar. Their characteristics acna be summed up in the following phrase :
"Jor Jor Se Khandar Gaje,
Madhur Bold Ko Nathur Jano.
Sans Badi Ghobarhar Ki,
Alap Chari hai Dagur Ki."
In the initial stages, these Banis were the style of singing of particular musicians of a particular lineage. Tansen, for example, used to sing, Ghobarhar Bani, Agra Gharana used to sing Nauhar Bani, Dagur family used to sing Dagur Bani fo Saharanpur, and Khandar Bani used to be sung by Ustads from Sikandrabad of Uttar Pradesh. Till the time of Emperor Aurangzeb, these banis remained distinct from one another, but they started intermingling with one another since then. Thus, Banis were in a way predecessors of Gharanas.
When Aurangzeb banished musicians from the Mugal Court, they drifted back to their towns or villages and kept the tradition of their respective styles alive, through oral instructions from generations to generation even in the most depressing economic conditions. We should feel grateful to these self-sacrificing musicians for keeping our tradition alive.
Thus, the word Bani may be used as a tradition or system of music while the Gharana may be used as school of music from a particular place, town or village where the musicians resided with their relatives and disciples. They incorporated their innovations into music in such a way that they were acceptable to the senior members to the Gharana. All these Gharanas were of Muslim origin as was natural in the Mughal era and used to exchange views and disciples freely. There is little or no truth in the charge that there was intense rivalry and jealousy amongst musicians of different Gharanas.
Gagge Khudabax of Agra Gharana learnt his music initially from Gwalior Gharana. He and Pundit Behramkhan of Dagur Gharana were such intimate friends that they used to give all details of their Gharanas to each other. Kallan Khan, the second son of Gagge Khudabax, learnt some Ragas from Mehboob Khan (Daraspiya) of Atrauli. Kallan Khan also learnt from his great grandfather Inayat Khan. Khadim Hussain Khan, my Guru, learnt from many Ustads, though he was disciple of Kallan Khan. He also learnt from Abdullakhan, the second son of Nattan Khan, Villayat Hussain Khan, Nane Khan, Fiayaz Khan, Pundit Ganpat Rao Mankiker, Muzzafar Khan of Aligarwale, Asiquali Khan, the son of Miya Manrangli, Vazirkhan of Jaipur and Nanijan of Junagadh.
He also learnt from Aladiya Khan of Jaipur Gharana. In short, it is correct to say that Gharana musicians were narrow-minded and jealous of one another. Even, my Ustad, Khadim Hussain Khan, taught some "Chiz" to Sawai Ghandarav of Kiran Gharana. Kallan Khan used to say "Lean good aspects of music from musicians. Music is an ocean". Aladiya Khan of Jaipur Gharana publicly admitted that his "Kesar" (Kesarbai Kerkar) was not even one fourth fo Bablibai, the disciple of Nathan Khan. IN short, Gharana musicians were not prejudicial in their thinking. But in spite of free exchange of certain singing styles, characteristics patterns emerged, distinguishing one Gharana from the other. And none could claim that it was the best, inspite of its own contribution to music and its fidelity to the family tradition. My Ustad, Khadim Hussain Khan, used to say : "Whoever says that his Gharana is the best is "Kud" (not knowledgeable) and whoever thinks that his singing style and his music is the best is "Maha Kud". Thus Gharanas are a culmination of experiences of many musicians in the aesthetics of music. Here are some observations in respect of Gharanas".
"Gharana is not made by Imagination. It comes into existence only after four or five or more generations and it evolves and revolutionizes the music."
"Truly speaking, Muslim Gharana musicians have kept alive our music and made it not only better but have kept it on a very high pedestal."
"Enormous knowledge of music, as well as the acknowledged prestigious styles were kept alive only by Gharana singers and they are the only persons who demonstrate correct and beautiful music. It is the duty of singers of Gharanas to keep their tradition alive, so that the real music of India remains alive."
"The disciples of any Gharana perpetuate it and its singing style through learning and long practice."
"Singers of different Gharana competed with one another and compared their skill and learning, exchanging the knowledge and enlarging the scope of their singing styles."
"The name of the Gharana to which the singer belongs is a matter of great prestige".
"Scholars and thinkers of music do not recognize the great service and contribution to music by Muslim Gharana musicians and write derogatory remarks about them. They are unbalanced and intolerant."
"Tradition passing from generation to generation has not only kept our music alive but has placed it on a high pedestal. We cannot conceive our Indian Classical music without our traditional Gharans. Gharanas are not opposed to progress, but they try to adopt whatever is good and progressive in Indian Music. Indian Music has remained alive, thanks to Gharanas. They are unique and are not to be found in any other musical system of the world. But for them, there would have been no music in India nor would there be any knowledge of music."
"Since last two to three hundred years, the work done by Gharana musicians to keep Indian Music alive is so immense that it could not have been done even by the biggest organization in India."
Personal Instruction in Music
Music is a performing art as opposed to plastic art such as painting, literature or sculpture. It is the characteristics of performing arts that the senses have to be aroused to experience them. In music it is the sense of hearing which needs to be attuned with imagination.
Indian Classical Music does not have a strong tradition of written music, though there are attempts made in ancient times to codify the structure of music and pin-down its beauty. Perhaps because of its very nature, it is difficult to express the intricacies of music in another medium.
On account of this, it has been the Indian tradition to pass on the knowledge of music not by writing, but by voice from mouth and personal instructions. The "Guru Shisya Parampara" derived its strength from this tradition and was sustained till the advent of new scholars who impose themselves of this perfectly satisfactory (rather the only possible) system of personal instruction.
Some Pundits have admitted,
"Music cannot be learnt from books, but it can only be learnt through the Ustad or the teacher who teaches by giving live demonstration of music by singing."
"Music is a performing art and it cannot be learnt through books, so it can only be learnt through live demonstration by the Guru or the Ustad."
Ustad Abdul Karim Kham has said,
"Shruti is not possible in music by mathematical calculation."
Some Pundits have said,
"To use Shruti in music and to identify it can only be possible with the help of the best traditional and experienced singer (Ustad) with the knowledge of Swara (Notes) from Gharana.
They further state,
"Such singers are illiterate, therefore to use Shruti properly does not seem to be easy."
Still scholars hark to old Sanskrit texts for carrying on "Hindu"tradition, conveniently forgetting that if it was not for their Muslim Gurus spending so much of their time, they could not have gathered even the knowledge they have today. To accuse the Ustads of being illiterate is to bite the hand that feeds you. Scholars should keep in mind that it is better to be illiterate that to be uneducated.
Some scholars have said,
"Many Pundits boast their giving lessons of music to the students but they have no knowledge of singing style. A literate person having knowledge of music through books can sing in notes and tal, but cannot claim to be a true singer of Gharana style. No scholar can give knowledge of music through singing unless he has taken training from a Gharana Ustad. Every singing style (Gharana) has its speciality and individuality and depicts ragas in its own peculiar correct way."
To illustrate this, I remember a story told by my Ustad Khadim Hussain Khan. Once a Pundit came to Miya Tansen along with three or four camels carrying books on music. He told Miya Tansen that he wanted to test his knowledge of music. He had read all the books on music which were on the back of his camels. Miya Tansen told the Pundit that he wanted to know from him, which raga he could sing the best and wanted to hear it. Punditji could not sing any raga properly. Hence, Miya Tansen told Punditji to throw away his books into the ocean, and admonished him that he should not insist on such discussions about music with performing musicians.
Thus, in respect of music, bookish knowledge is not enough, Blunders could be made. Excellent classical music could be threatened and misinterpretations could be committed by scholars. This has been experienced whenever books like 'Sangit Ranakar', 'Sangit Darpan' and others were interpreted. Moreover no person sings ragas like they are stated in books. Even Pundit Bhakkhande has suffered from this inadequacy. Raga Vistar of Raga Khambhavati and Devagiri is mis-intepreted in his book. It is difficult to interpret raga even when it is sung, let alone when it is written about. Kesarbai Kerkar once sang raga Khambhavati. Her Guru Ustad Aladiya Khan admitted that it was incorrect even when he himself had taught her to sing, because the Raga belonged not to his Gharana but to Atrauli Gharana.
Pundit Ratanjankar accepted Ustad Faiyaz Khan as his Guru but disagreed with him to respect of interpretation of Raga Shree and Raga Marwa and endorsed the views of Pundit Bhatkhande. In Maharashtra the classical music spread only recently, hardly before 80/100 years, through musicians of Gwaliar Gharana and Agra Gharana. These musicians had learnt music through hard work and sacrifice. The scholars found fault with them. Some of these muslim Gharana musicians also knew Sanskrit. But they never disputed the claim made by the scholars regarding the superiority of old music over contemporary music. They could do so, for they were trained in a system where competitions were held for deciding the ability of musicians for singing Ragas.
Muslim Gharana musicians and scholars were mutually prejudical against one another. The following two statements can explain the situation at the time.
Pundit Bhatkhande has written,
"Ittiterate singers have described the Pundit as a person who irrelevantly speaks on the matter of music."
Gharana musicians used to stop singing when a scholar arrived to listen to their music cirtically and used to comment. "Oh, the Pundit has come, he will write anything about music without understanding it."
However some remarks of scholars are noteworthy:
"I have to admit and say that they (Muslim Ustads of Gharanas) have a superior inborn intellect and they are unparalled, superb singers."
"The music, prevalent now, is the creation of these Muslim Ustads."
Also, the opinion of scholars about writing of books on music is worth noting :
"To understand music and to write about it, we have to take full assistance from the very best Gharana singers, experienced and expert in "swar Gyan" (Knowledge of Notes)."
"In our community of writers on music, were find some without the knowledge of "Swar Gyan" (Knowledge of Notes)."
"Those who say that medieval writers on music have not clarified the science of music, are true. Moreover, It is perceived from their books that the medieval writers of music cannot be written by such persons, but at the same time we should not degrade such writers on music and condemn their views true or untrue as sins."
"Even today we find many writers on music, who are not excellent singers themselves and do not know singing properly. When we come across such people know, we cannot say that their kind did not exist in old times."
There is an allegation that the Gharana musicians did not impart full knowledge of music to the disciples outside their family circle. There is some truth in it. Their attitude should be understood in the context of the circumstances under which they lived and worked. They suffered greatly and made great sacrifices for keeping music alive. They had no source of livelihood except the patronage of kings and nobles. The disciples who came to them to them from outside their families did not behave well. Some of them learnt music and later never acknowledged the Gharana. Some others nursed disgust for Muslim Singers. Some even did not acknowledge their Gurus after learning music from them. Such experiences compounded with the economic insecurity would only make the Gharana Musicians suspect the outsiders. In these circumstances no blame should go to Gharana Musicians, but it should go to the other side.
It is strange that there is no Gharana with Hindu Lineage. All Hindu Musicians have leant their music and singing style from Ustadas of Muslim Gharanas in the past one Century. This shows that our music is of non-religious nature.
Proper Role of Gharana with Particular Reference to Agra-Atrauli Gharana
According to Ustad Khadim Hussain Khan, Agra-Atrauli Gharana is based on the following principles.
Firstly, he says, music should not be for "WAH WAH"; but it should be for "AAH". What he means thereby is that singing should be such that listener's heart should throb with "AAH" and it should not indulge in the gimmick of fast tan for a long time for "WAH WAH". Music is for the inner happiness of both the singer and the listeners. Music should not seek applause from audience, it should rather seek inner satisfaction of perfection.
Secondly, Raga should not be mixed but should be pure and clear. Once a good musician sang Marva and mixed it with Puriya. Out of these two ragas, one is of male 'Prakruti' and the other of female "Prakruti'. Rhishabh Komal of both ragas are different, Challans also are different. Raga must have its own individuality. It must have a separate identity. The Ustad used to say, "First master or know 250 to 300 Ragas and then think of new Ragas". Nowadays some musicians do not know 250 to 300 Ragas but start making new Ragas and give them new names. It is possible that the same Raga may be already there in the repertoire of old Ragas, about which they did not know. For example, Ashawari in Pundit Bhatkhande's book and Janpuri are the same Raga. Without applying the standard of separate identity and individuality (SHAKAL) of Ragas, the Pundit made tow Ragas and justified it by a filmsy statement that Ashawari does not take Nishad Komal in Aroh as Jaunpuri does. Even in Jaunpuri one can sing from Dhaivat to Shadaj but individuality |(SHAKAL) of the two Ragas is not changed. Thus, Ashawari is a Raga having Rishabh Komal which gives a new identity to it. Even well-known singers at times sing Meghmalhar, and think that they sing a Raga for even hour but should sing it in a pure form. If one has learnt from a genuine Ustad who could guide properly with a fine understanding of different Ragas then only one can sing pure Ragas. I remember a story about Rishi Narad who was a great singer in Heaven. He became so arrogant that he started singing Ragas as he liked. So on day God Vishnu took Narad to a place where he saw that someone had fingers broken, someone had legs broken, someone had hands broken and they all were in great agony. So Narad ask God Vishnu, "What is this and why have you brought me here? God Vishnu said to him "Ash them!." So Narad asked them who they were. They said: "We are Ragas and Raginiyas. Some one named Narad is singing Ragas and Raginiyas in such a manner that he has made our condition like this." Narad immediately understood his folly.
Thirdly, there is no music without the use of proper 'Sur' (Note) used at proper place (Sur-ka-Lagav). It is said that Agra-Atrauli Gharana is Laya-Pradhan. ('Rhythm-Oriented'). It is true but at the same time it is "Sureej". It is said that when Gagge Khudabax sang, people used to cry and, therefore, many a times he was not invited to perform at weddings. One incident at the concert of Ustad Nathan Khan is a pointer to "SUR KA LAGAV". Before the concert started, some people said that they were to hear "LAYA KA BADSHAH (an emporor or an expert on rhythm). Nathan Khan overheard it and he sang only Alap-Chari and closed the concert. The audience was in tears and some of the listeners came to him and said. "What a Sureel music they have heard. So "SUR KA LAGAV" is also an essential element of music.
Fourthly, it is said that Agra-Atrauli Gharana is only meant for male singers or male musicians. But it is not so. Babibai was a disciple of Nathan Khan and according to Ustad Aladiya Khan she was far better than Kesarbai Kerkar Zoharbai was the disciple of Sherkhan, the father of Nathankhan. There are many female disciples of Ustad Khadim Hussain Khan, such Vatsalabai Kumthekar, Krishna Udyavarkar, Lalita Rao, Padmaja Pande and others. There is no sex differentiation in music and each Gharana has its own eminent female singers to match their male counter-parts.
Fifthly, Agra-Atrauli Gharana teaches the singing style with eighteen "ANGAS" (use of combination of notes in peculiar style) which is used in singing of different "PRAKAR" of music such as KHAYAL, DHRUPAD, DHAMAR, THUMARI, BHAJAN, DADRA and others. They are used differently in different Ragas. The Angas are such as MURKI, GITKARI, KANFAN, MEED, SOOTH, LAHEK, BOL-BAHARAT, BOLBANAV, BOLBANT, BOLTAN, BOLLAYAKARITAN and others. Some Angas cannot be used in DHRUPAD-DHAMAR, and some cannot be used in the same Ragas, such differentiation we cannot find in the books written by the scholars. Only the Gharana Ustads can show you how to use them. Ustad Khadim Hussain has said that his maternal uncle (Ustad Faiyazkhan) was called "Chau Mukhiya" singer, as he used to sing all "PRAKAR" such as KHAYAL, DHRUPAD, DHAMAR, THUMRI DADRA, RASIYA, GAZAL etc.
Lastly, in my humble opinion, instead of relying on the books written on music by scholars, we should preserve the knowledge of our music through Ustads of old Gharanas. No doubt Pundits have made very good efforts to popularize Indian Classical Music: we would appreciate it, but in doing so they have taken an extreme stand against Gharana musicians. The scholars in their writing have misrepresented music in their enthusiasm to uphold Sanskrit books on music. We have never heard about 'SARANGDEO', a writer on music in Sanskrit that he was also a great performing artist like Tansen.
The Sangeet Natak Academy, Sangeet Research Academy and similar institutions should invite old venerable Ustads of different Gharanas to sing, classify, discuss and record Ragas according to their Gharanas. In this process ' Scholars' should not be invited for discussions. Subsequently the books written by scholars should be modified. Ustads of different Gharanas should be adequately remunerated. Unless we offer proper respect to old Gharana Ustads, we will not be able to appreciate the value and meaning of the old tradition of our Classical Music in its real form and perspective.
-Madhusudan B. Patel
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