Hindustani Music & Gharanas

Hindustani music is the North Indian classical tradition that developed from about the 13th–14th century CE, distinct from the South Indian Carnatic tradition though sharing the same Vedic (Samaveda) root. Fix the vocabulary on first use: classical music is a codified art-music governed by formal grammar; a raga is a melodic framework; a tala is a rhythmic cycle; and a gharana (from ghar, "house") is a lineage-school of performers with a distinctive style. The defining features of the Hindustani stream: heavy improvisation, the gharana system, a strong Persian/Sufi imprint (after the Delhi Sultanate), and forms led by Dhrupad (the old, austere genre) and Khayal (the dominant modern one).

1. Origins & Historical Evolution

• Roots in the Samaveda; theorised in the Natyashastra (Bharata Muni) with jati, grama and murchhana.
• The Sangita Ratnakara (Sharangadeva, 13th c.) is the last text common to both Hindustani and Carnatic before they diverged.
• The North-South split (13th–14th c.): after the Delhi Sultanate, the North absorbed Persian, Arab and Turkish influence (becoming Hindustani), while the South retained the older form (Carnatic).
• Amir Khusrau (1253–1325) — Sufi poet-musician at the Delhi court (of Alauddin Khalji and others); traditionally credited with Khayal, Tarana, Qawwali and the qaul, with new ragas (e.g. Zeelaf, Sazgiri), and (by tradition) the sitar and tabla — the great fuser of Persian and Indian elements.
• Regional patrons: Raja Man Singh Tomar of Gwalior (a great Dhrupad patron; the treatise Mankutuhal); Sultan Hussain Shah Sharqi of Jaunpur (Khayal patron, credited with ragas like Jaunpuri); Wajid Ali Shah of Awadh ("Akhtar Piya," a great Thumri patron — "Babul Mora").
• Tansen — court musician of Akbar and one of the Navaratnas; of the Gwalior tradition; a Dhrupad master who shaped Miyan ki Todi, Miyan ki Malhar and Darbari Kanada; his guru was Swami Haridas of Vrindavan (the bhakti-music link); his rival was Baiju Bawra.
• Patronage shifted from temples and Mughal/Nawabi courts to the modern concert stage and recording.

2. Core Theory & Performance Structure

• Swara: seven shuddha notes with komal/tivra variants — 12 notes per saptak; registers Mandra/Madhya/Taar.
• Raga: aroha/avaroha, vadi/samvadi, a pakad, minimum five notes, and a time theory (Malhar = monsoon, Basant = spring).
• Thaat: Bhatkhande's 10 parent scales — Bilawal, Kalyan, Khamaj, Bhairav, Bhairavi, Asavari, Todi, Purvi, Marwa, Kafi.
• Tala: matra, vibhag, sam, tali, khali; Teentaal (16), Ektaal (12), Jhaptaal (10), Rupak (7), Dadra (6), Keherwa (8); laya = Vilambit/Madhya/Drut.
• Performance shape: a vocal Khayal opens with a slow Bada Khayal (vilambit, with a bandish, bol-alap and behlawa) and closes with a fast Chhota Khayal (drut, with taans and sargam). An instrumental recital runs Alap → Jor → Jhala (unmetered exposition → pulse → fast climax), then a composition (gat) with the tabla.

3. Major Vocal Forms

• Dhrupad — the oldest, austere, devotional form; opens with a wordless nom-tom alap, then a composition in four parts (Sthayi, Antara, Sanchari, Abhoga); accompanied by the Pakhawaj; baanis = Dagar/Darbhanga/Bettiah/Talwandi.
• Dhamar — associated with Holi, sung in Dhamar tala; close to Dhrupad.
• Khayal — the dominant modern form (Persian "imagination"); flexible, ornamented; Bada + Chhota Khayal; popularised by Hussain Sharqi of Jaunpur and Niyamat Khan "Sadarang."
• Thumri — romantic light-classical (shringara); Lucknow & Banaras styles. Tappa — fast, intricate; from the songs of Punjab camel-drivers (Ghulam Nabi Shori). Tarana — rhythmic syllables (Amir Khusrau).
• Ghazal (Urdu/Persian poetry); Bhajan/Kirtan/Qawwali (devotional; Qawwali = Sufi, Chishti, Amir Khusrau); seasonal Chaiti/Kajri/Hori.

4. The Gharana System (the central concept)

• A gharana is a lineage/school with a distinctive gayaki, choice of ragas and ornamentation, transmitted through the guru-shishya parampara; gharanas crystallised in the 19th century as court patronage declined and musicians settled in particular towns.
• Khayal gharanas: Gwalior (oldest; Hassu-Haddu Khan; clear, simple), Agra (forceful, Dhrupad-influenced; Faiyaz Khan), Kirana (individual swaras; Abdul Karim Khan, Bhimsen Joshi, Gangubai Hangal), Jaipur-Atrauli (complex, rare ragas; Alladiya Khan, Kishori Amonkar, Mallikarjun Mansur), Patiala (ornate, fast taans; Bade Ghulam Ali Khan), Rampur-Sahaswan (Mushtaq Hussain Khan, Rashid Khan), Bhendibazaar (breath control; Aman Ali Khan), Indore (Amir Khan), Mewati (Jasraj) and Delhi.
• Dhrupad baanis: Dagar, Darbhanga, Bettiah, Talwandi (the modern revival led by the Dagar brothers and the Gundecha Brothers).
• Tabla gharanas (6): Delhi (closed, "do-haath"), Ajrara, Lucknow, Farrukhabad, Banaras, Punjab (pakhawaj-derived, "open").
• Instrumental gharanas: Maihar (Allauddin Khan — teacher of Ravi Shankar & Ali Akbar Khan) and the Imdadkhani/Etawah sitar gharana (Vilayat Khan).

5. Instruments & Exponents

• Tata (string): the Sitar (evolved from the tritantri veena; the Masitkhani/Razakhani gats; Ravi Shankar, Vilayat Khan), the fretless Sarod (from the Afghan rabab; Ali Akbar Khan, Amjad Ali Khan), the bowed Sarangi (closest to the human voice), Santoor (Shivkumar Sharma), the bass Surbahar, the Rudra Veena/Been (Dhrupad), and the drone Tanpura.
• Sushira (wind): Bansuri (Hariprasad Chaurasia), Shehnai (Bismillah Khan); the Harmonium is a later European import (a common trap).
• Avanaddha (percussion): Tabla (Zakir Hussain, Alla Rakha), Pakhawaj, Dholak.
• Ghana (idiophone): Manjira, Ghungroo, Kartal.

6. Theorists, Reformers & Modern Figures

• Pandit V. N. Bhatkhande — systematised Hindustani music into the 10 thaats and a notation (Hindustani Sangeet Paddhati, Kramik Pustak Malika); organised the All-India Music Conferences (from 1916, Baroda).
• Pandit V. D. Paluskar — founded the Gandharva Mahavidyalaya (Lahore, 1901), bringing music to the masses; composed the "Raghupati Raghava" tune.
• Bharat Ratna musicians: Bhimsen Joshi (2008), Ravi Shankar (1999), Bismillah Khan (2001) (and the Carnatic vocalist M. S. Subbulakshmi, 1998); other legends — Kumar Gandharva, Kishori Amonkar, Jasraj.

7. Hindustani vs Carnatic

• Region/influence: North + Persian/Islamic vs South + indigenous/temple. Emphasis: raga elaboration/improvisation (Hindustani) vs composition (kriti) (Carnatic).
• Forms: Khayal/Dhrupad vs Kriti/Varnam. Instruments: Sitar/Sarod/Tabla vs Veena/Mridangam. Notation: Bhatkhande vs the Purandara Dasa tradition.

8. Quick Reference Tables

Music is a recurring Prelims theme; the favourite formats are form/instrument/exponent matching and "who founded/originated what."

For Mains, the staples are syncretic evolution, the gharana/guru-shishya transmission, and the Hindustani-Carnatic comparison.