UNESCO declares Gwalior the ‘city of music’: a look at its illustrious musical tradition – The Indian Express

Indian music history would be incomplete without the mention of Gwalior and the gharana that stemmed from there. The city’s illustrious past is dotted with patronage of music — many of its rulers were musicians themselves or took a keen interest in music. Gwalior also hosted well-known musicians, who were either born in the city or came there to learn from the masters.

Gwalior gharana, the oldest musical gharana and a significant chapter of Hindustani classical music’s history flourished under the aegis of Raja Man Singh Tomar during the 15th century. Man Singh’s great grandfather Dungarendra Singh Tomar, a musician himself, attempted a revival of Indian classical music through academic interest and patronage. He is known to have gifted two music treatises in Sanskrit – Sangeet Shiromani and Sangeet Choodamani – to his friend and Sultan of Kashmir Zain-ul-Abdin. The treatises comprised detailed discussions on music and musical instruments.

Dungarendra also composed Vishnupadas (songs in praise of Vishnu) with a unique style of singing that he passed down to Man Singh, who ascended the throne in 1486. It’s also believed that Man Singh invented dhrupad, in a classical genre sense. His Horis and Dhamars also became quite popular. The king would take advice from Sufi saints, who were often musicians too. In an attempt to popularise Indian music, he replaced Sanskrit songs with those in simple Hindi.

Man Singh also wrote Manakutuhala (Quest for Learning), considered the first treatise of music in Hindi, helping a wider audience to understand high art performed in kings’ courts. This made dhrupad more accessible, which now comprised Vishnupadas sung in ragas. The king also built huge music halls in his palace and held regular music sessions. His music was also popular among Sufis as well as Muslim Sultans.

The glory of the Gwalior gharana

Before Hindustani classical music was divided into various gharanas – musical ideologies and systems where the musicians identify with a style either by lineage or by learning and following this style – Gwalior emerged as the first proper gharana of music and evolved under the Mughal rule. The initial ustads of the gharana included Naththan Khan, Naththan Pir Baksh and his grandsons Haddu, Hassu, and Natthu Khan.

Khayal singing, as we know it today, emerged from dhrupad under the aegis of Gwalior gharana while incorporating the elements of qawwali. Ustad Naththan Pir Baksh was one of the early masters to create khayal — the orderly system of presenting a raga which became extremely popular in the 18th and 19th centuries and remains significant even today. What’s interesting about Gwalior is the inclusion of Persian words in the pieces and concepts of bandish ki thumri (a more structured style of thumri or love song). Interestingly, every artist who emerged from Gwalior gharana sounded different and yet there was a certain unity in the style.

Tansen, Gwalior’s crown musician

Mian Tansen born as Ramatanu to a poet and musician was one of Gwalior’s early proteges. At the beginning of the 16th century, he trained under Swami Haridas, who practised dhrupad but the poetry was dedicated to Krishna instead of Vishnu. The famed Sufi saint Mohommad Ghous also had a huge impact on Tansen. While learning from Ghous, Tansen understood and honed the Gwalior gharana style and was the court musician for King Ram Chandra Singh of Rewa, Madhya Pradesh, for many years.

The story of his musical brilliance and knowledge travelled and Akbar invited Tansen to be a part of his court musicians in the Mughal court. A Vaishnava musician, he first refused, but after Ram Chandra insisted he go, he joined the court at the age of 60.

Abul Fazl’s Ain-i-Akbari mentions 36 imperial musicians, out of which 15 were from Gwalior. Akbar’s admiration for Tansen has found much place in popular culture and much of it comes from the writings about the musician.

Some notable names from the Gwalior gharana

The well-known names include Haddu Khan’s son Bade Inayat Hussain Khan (1852-1922), Vasudeva Buwa Joshi, Balakrishnabuwa Ichalkaranjikar (1849–1926) who taught Vishnu Digambar Paluskar who later founded the Gandharva Mahavidyalaya which continues till today, famed educator BR Deodhar and Pakistani singer Farida Khanum among others.

The generation that came after included Pt Kumar Gandharv, Malini Rajurkar, Veena Sahasrabuddhe, and Dharwad-based Pt Venkatesh Kumar, whose music also has distinct touches of Kirana gayaki among others. Any student learning Hindustani classical music even today will find themselves including the techniques and nuances invented and taught by the Gwalior gharana.