[2] Influence of Other Artists on The Vocal Style

Amir Khan received training in music from his father, Shahmir Khan, for a long period of fifteen years. After completion of that training and death of his father, he didn’t confine his vocal style to the training received from his father. He listened to the great maestros of all the gharanas of his time very attentively. Among them were included top artists of all modes of classical music, that is, vocalists of dhrupad-dhamar, vocalists of khayal and instrumentalists. During this period of his practice [sadhana], those founder senior artists of different gharanas, whom he had heard, in them the names of top most artists like Ustad Abdul Karim Khan and Ustad Fayyaz Khan are worth mentioning.

In an article, based on research about the gharanas of music, under the direction of Pt. Amarnath, Ms. Bindu Chawla writes: -

“Ustad Amir Khan Saheb had a great love for quawaalee and was influenced by masters of more than two gharanas.”[1]

This quotation shows that Khan Saheb had love for quavvali personally but it wouldn’t be proper to conclude that this style had any influence on his khayal style, directly or indirectly.

In the words of Acharya Brihaspati: “He had listened to his predecessor experts; he appreciated their virtues and prepared a new bouquet of his own gayaki.”[2] Making it more clear, Ustad Moinuddin Khan, Sarangi player of Indore, said: “Khan Saheb listened very attentively to Ustad Rajab Ali Khan [Dewas], Ustad Aman Ali Khan [Bhindi Bazar] and Fayyaz Khan etc, all the top artists, and molded the best aspects of their gayaki in his gayaki in a distinct manner.”[3] He also considered the gayaki of Ustad Abdul Karim Khan. In this context, he himself says: “I also saw to it what did Abdul Karim Khan do.”[4]

Music being his family profession and Indore being the center of great artists in those days, Amir Khan had the opportunity to listen to all top vocalists and instrumentalists and to have personal contact with them. As previously mentioned, on every Friday, after the afternoon prayer, there used to be a gathering at his house, where Wahid Khan, Rajab Ali Khan, Allah Bande Khan [dhrupad singer], Bundu Khan [Sarangi player], Murad Khan [Binkar], Nasiruddin Khan Dagar, Bashir Khan, Krishna Rao Apte [dhrupad singer], Ustad Alladiya Khan [Sarangi player], Ustad Dhulji Khan [Tabla player], Ustad Jahangir Khan [Tabla player] etc great artists used to come. He also remained in close contact of Babu Khan [a famous Sitar player], a disciple of Murad Khan [binkar]. Babu Khan and Amir Khan used to have a sitting regularly at the place of Goswami Krishnaraiji Maharaj. There Nasiruddin Khan [dhrupad singer] also used to come. Goswami Krishnaraiji Maharaj had so much interest in music that any vocalist who visited the court of Maharaja Tukoji Rao Holkar, was called by him several times to perform at his place. Here it is to be noted that Goswami Gokulotsavji Maharaj, famous vocalist of the style of Indore Gharana at present, is grandson of the said Goswami Krishnaraiji Maharaj and this information too was received from him. The author is gandaband shagird [disciple] of Goswami Gokulotsavji Maharaj since 1986.

Ustad Amir Khan received fine knowledge of tal and laya from his maternal uncle, Ustad Rehman Khan, during the course of his guidance in Tabla playing. This fact was confirmed by famous Tabla player, Ustad Ismail Daddu Khan, resident of Indore in those days, in an interview given to the author on 22-05-1988. Besides being a relative of Ustad Amir Khan, Mr. Daddu Khan remained in his contact for a long time as a Tabla accompanist. He considered Ustad Amir Khan’s knowledge of Tabla playing and tal of high standard. In this context Prof. Chandrakant Lal Das informs: “It is necessary to say about Khan Saheb’s knowledge of music that his maternal uncle, Ustad Rehman Khan had been a great Tabla player. Because of his grasping power, Amir Khan has acquired complete knowledge of Tabla in his company. Consequently some of top Tabla players of the country receive embellished Tabla-compositions from him.”[5]

As has been mentioned previously, Ustad Amir Khan came in contact with many senior musicians but he was mostly and directly influenced by representative vocalists of the three different styles were Ustad Rajab Ali Khan, Ustad Aman Ali Khan and Ustad Abdul Wahid Khan.

The follower of vocal style of Ustad Amir Khan, Mr. Gajendra Bakshi, who has practiced vocalism sufficiently, remaining in his contact, writes in an article about Ustad Amir Khan’s contact with these three great vocalists: “In his youth, he found opportunity to listen Ustad Wahid Khan Saheb, Rajab Ali Khan Saheb and Ustad Aman Ali Khan Saheb from close quarters. Amir Khan Saheb had great respect for these artists. Remaining in their contact, Amir Khan Saheb had opportunity to hear them.”[6]

In the above statement of Mr. Gajendra Bakshi, the sequence of these three names is not correct chronologically. Actually, Amir Khan Saheb first came in contact with Ustad Rajab Ali Khan, then with Ustad Aman Ali Khan and lastly with Ustad Abdul Wahid Khan. The influence of these three vocalists exercised on the vocal style of Ustad Amir Khan, is mentioned as under.

1- Ustad Rajab Ali Khan [Dewas] and his Influence: -

Ustad Rajab Ali was born in Narsinghgarh [Madhya Pradesh] in 1874 AD. He received training in music from his father, Mughal Khan, who was an artist in the court of Dewas of that time. Thereafter, in 1890, he became a ceremonial disciple of Bin player, Ustad Bande Ali Khan and was trained in Bin playing. After death of Bande Ali Khan, both father and son went to Kolhapur where they lived for a long time. There he came in contact with Ustad Alladiya Khan, famous singer of Jaipur-Atrauli Gharana. There he received generous patronage from the ruler of Kolhapur, Chhatrapati Sahu Maharaj. There he received the title of ‘Dakshin Ka Sher’ [The Lion of South]. He was influenced by gayaki of Jaipur Gharana through Haider Baksh [Sarangi accompanist of Alladiya Khan]. In 1908, he came to Dewas from Kolhapur and became the court singer of Maharaja Malhar Rao Pawar, the ruler of Dewas Junior. Afterward he joined the court of Dewas Senior. When attached with Dewas court, he presented many vocal programs organized in India and Nepal.

There was close friendship between Shamir Khan [father of Amir Khan] and Ustad Rajab Ali Khan. That is why, Amir Khan used to go to the residence of Ustad Rajab Ali Khan at Dewas, since his childhood. Rajab Ali Khan also used to visit his home at Indore. Those days, Ustad Rajab Ali Khan was supposed to be an expert in winning the mehfil [concert]. Also Shahmir Khan wanted that Amir Khan should listen to the gayaki of Ustad Rajab Ali Khan attentively and should try to understand his complex and difficult style. Hence being inspired by his father, it was natural to increase the interest of Amir Khan in the vocal style of Ustad Rajab Ali Khan. Thus the first influence on meru khand based style given by his father, was that of Ustad Rajab Ali Khan. Amir Khan paid respect to him like a guru. He used to offer money as a mark of respect and used to put some money under his bed stealthily, so that he should not feel offended.

Ustad Rajab Ali Khan also had listened singing of Amir Khan since his childhood and was optimistic for his progress in music. Therefore he used to guide him from time to time and encouraged him to establish himself as a professional singer.

The specialty of gayaki of Ustad Rajab Ali Khan was his tans. He reached the peak of popularity due to tans. Late Amique Hanafi, who had been producer at Akashwani Indore, used to meet Ustad Amir Khan from time to time, has narrated an event in these words: -

“In the room for riyaz in the new house of Amir Khan Saheb, there was only the picture of Khan Saheb [Rajab Ali Khan] facing to the place of sitting. I said, Khan Saheb! What is this? He replied ‘Oh! There is no equivalent to the practice of drut and tanaiti of uncle Rajab Ali Khan. I pray Almighty that if only a part of tanaiti of Bade Miyan would come into my voice, I would be enriched. I sing keeping him in front me.”[7]

Ustad Rajab Ali Khan had an expertise for application of straight and chhoot ki tan in mixed and complex ragas in easy and natural manner. Ustad Amir Khan adopted this quality excellently keeping in mind the quality of his own voice and the nature of style. Before coming to madhya shadja [keynote] after finishing a tan, that is while making descending part of the tan, where Amir Khan applied chhoot and descending straight tan in ragas having mixed and complex swara application, such as shuddhakalyan, nand kalyan and bhatiyar; there the influence of Ustad Rajab Ali Khan can be clearly discerned.

Pt. Amarnath has explained the meaning of chhoot tan as follows: -

“Fast, straight tan of shooting nature, essentially skipping some notes of the scale.”[8]

Saral, firat, ragang, alankarik etc the types of tans have been applied traditionally in khayal gayaki. Not depending on these prescribed tan patterns, usage of various complex swara applied tans was an important feature of Ustad Rajab Ali Khan’s style.[9] This feature too was excellently adopted by Amir Khan, because he had become mature in the practice of merukhand. Thus he was capable to apply difficult swara phrases easily. Prolonging the sound of akar, Ikar etc vowels, and extending pronunciation of the words of bandish, whatever difficult and untraditional tans Amir Khan presented; it was the influence of the flight of imagination of Ustad Rajab Ali Khan. Both the vocalists didn’t applied alankars in tans in even sequence, as – n_. r g, r g m^|, g m^| p etc. On the contrary, they produced variety by mixed application of different phrases of alankars and produced peculiarity by giving stress beyond imagination. For example – n r g, r g m, n m r g, m d p.[10]

Before Amir Khan reached Bombay, his style had been influenced by the tans of Ustad Rajab Ali Khan. There he lived in company of Amanat Khan, nephew and favorite disciple of Ustad Rajab Ali Khan. Whatever direct influence of Rajab Ali Khan had been on Amir Khan, was fortified through Amanat Khan.

Amanat Khan was son of Jamal Khan, brother of Rajab Ali Khan and was elder to Amir Khan by eleven years. From the very childhood, Amanat lived in close contact of Rajab Ali Khan, learnt his gayaki by heart and represented his style. Rajab Ali Khan also considered Amanat to be true representative of his style and used to say: “Amanat is the lamp of mine, he would illuminate my name.”[11]

Amanat Khan had very melodious voice. He was skillful in firat and tayari [rapidity] and even in drut laya, he sustains dana [grain] and clarity in his tans, like Rajab Ali Khan. The relation between Amanat Khan and Amir Khan were friendly. In Bombay, they lived in the same room for many years and practiced together. According to late Mr. Krishnarao Majumdar, one of the main disciples of Ustad Rajab Ali Khan, Ustad Amir Khan prepared drut tans of khayal with the help of Amanat Khan, which were the prominent part of Rajab Ali Khan’s gayaki. These two friends used to come to Dewas together from time to time and took advantage of the valuable advice of Rajab Ali Khan regarding music.

According to late Mr. Krishnarao Majumdar “Amanat, nephew of Rajab Ali. There will be no vocalist like him again. His speed was like lightening. Amir took up that fast speed also. Tan and drut, that is 2/3rd part of vocalism. Remaining is vilambit.”[12]

From the above statement, it seems that 2/3^rd part of the vocal style of Ustad Amir Khan was the result of influence of Ustad Rajab Ali Khan. But this ratio exceeds too much from the reality, drut tans and drut khayal are employed only for 1/3^rd of time in the presentation of khayal gayaki. Besides it, Amir Khan gave much importance to the vilambit khayal and the gradual movement of raga falling under it, in comparison to Ustad Rajab Ali Khan. On the basis of available audio recorded gayaki of Ustad Amir Khan, it can be said that the statement of Mr. Krishnarao Majumdar about consisting 2/3^rd part of total gayaki of Ustad Amir Khan by tans and drut gayaki, is far from reality.

After attaining maturity in age and in vocalism, Ustad Amir Khan reduced application of tans of fast speed and adopted grave vilambit gayaki. As there is not much scope for fast speed and atidrut tans in shant rasa salient vilambit gayaki. Hence it is clear that the influence of drut laya of Rajab Ali Khan in his youth, appears rarely in his matured vocalism. This change in tans was related to speed; the form of tans technically remained almost the same.

According to his nature, he found himself more befitting for grave gayaki, instead of the style of fast tans in drut laya. Besides, he felt that in the contemporary field of music, it would much better for him to make progress by the gayaki based on rasa [sentiment], instead of demonstration of miracles and strength. In this context, his own ideas are worth mentioning: “Uncle Rajab Ali Khan rides on lightening. It is not possible for every one to ride on such a horse and again there is no more field to run such a horse.”[13]

Amir Khan used to have conversations with Rajab Ali Khan Saheb regarding prevalent and non prevalent bandishes of khayal and used to be benefited from his treasure of knowledge of bandishes. His curiosity about those bandishes can be gauged from the recollection of Pt. Amarnath: “Once, after staying at my residence in Delhi for eight to ten days, he was to proceed for Bombay, perhaps to participate in some program. I had just told to my disciple to bring a ticket. He called him back to say that he would go first to Indore and Dewas. I said, why to make such a round? Why don’t go to Bombay directly? He said: ‘Son! Rajab Ali Khan is ill at Dewas. He has a sthayee of raga shankara, whose refrain is in lower octave. I have to take it. Bombay can be visited later. Programs are held often.’”[14]

In an interview given to the author on 9^th April 1989, Mr. Krishnarao Majumdar told about the said bandish of raga shankara as follows: “kaisee been bajai sanvaro, been bajai mana har leeno - - -.

Similarly, Rajab Ali Khan Saheb’s favorite bandish of raga miyan kee malhar ‘barsan lagee ree badariya savan kee’ was also used to sing by Ustad Amir Khan with great interest. This bandish, sung by Ustad Amir Khan, is audio recorded in HMV Cassette No.STC04B-7373, on side b.

In spite of said similarities and influences, difference between gayaki of the two vocalists can be clearly discerned. In other words, there were many elements in the gayaki of Ustad Rajab Ali Khan which were not adopted by Ustad Amir Khan at all. For example, the khayal rendering of Ustad Rajab Ali Khan starts from madhya laya and reaches madhya, drut and atidrut. On the contrary, Amir Khan starts presentation of any raga with ativilambit laya [less than 1/4^th of ordinary vilambit] and after devoting a long time for vilambit khayal, he sings chhota khayal or tarana in madhya laya, whose laya is somewhat speeded up afterwards.

After the bandishes of madhya laya, by various mutual combination of swara, laya and words of bandish, and by demonstration of variety of behlavas, bolbat and boltan etc in the raga, Ustad Rajab Ali Khan comes to tans. Whereas Ustad Amir Khan improvises the raga by detailed grave alap after the sthayee and after a long time, he applies tans etc, the elements of fast movement.

Layakari had a special role in the gayaki of Ustad Rajab Ali Khan. Along with every beat of tal, the connection between tal and swara was maintained by stress on swara. He used abundantly difficult layakaris full of peculiarity; and applying layakaris of aad-kuad [3/2 & 5/4] in adachautal [a tal supposed to be difficult] to make the audience fascinated, was an ordinary thing for him. But the vocalism of Ustad Amir Khan was centered on swaras. He didn’t try to make the audience spellbound by applying the application of complex layakaris. He brought stability to swaras to increase sobriety. So to lay stress on swara with every beat was not appropriate to his style. Ustad Rajab Ali Khan came to sama, by taking refrain full of variety from an unimaginable place, by taking full refrain in very narrow space before sama and by applying tihayee. These applications prove his command on tal and laya. Ustad Amir Khan’s refrain [mukhda] used to be of natural manner only. Under layakaris, Ustad Rajab Ali Khan applied bolbat in various layas profusely. ‘Bolbat’ means performing the lyric of bandish by dividing it into different laya sections, in which extempore improvisation is applied on the place of basic notation of bandish. This part is considered to be an influence of dhrupad on khayal gayaki. Such bolbat was skillfully applied by Ustad Rajab Ali Khan in tayar [fast but clear] laya. But Ustad Amir Khan didn’t give a role to bolbat in his gayaki, nor did he consider it proper to use lyric for that purpose. At such places, he thought it proper to use sargam [sol-fa], instead of verse [words of bandish].

Thus, Amir Khan Saheb was specially inspired by Ustad Rajab Ali Khan in order to develop his own style, but at many places he adopted different view point. Close relations remained between the two artists till the death of Ustad Rajab Ali Khan. After the death of his nephew and beloved disciple, Amanat Ali Khan, Ustad Rajab Ali Khan considered Amir Khan in the place of his nephew. Ustad Amir Khan too called him uncle. Ustad Amir Khan always tried for the well being and social dignity of Ustad Rajab Ali Khan. He used to organize his programs and also remained himself present there.

The last big program of Ustad Rajab Ali Khan was held at Bombay on 2^nd April 1957, organized by Sursingar Sansad, where Ustad Amir Khan was also present along with great artists like Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan and dancer Sitara Devi. Before it, Ustad Amir Khan had organized a program of Ustad Rajab Ali Khan in the library of Akashwani Indore, on 27^th March 1956, where the Tabla accompanist was Mr. Ahmad Jan Thirakwa.

Without having any ceremonial relationship of ganda bandhan, the relations between Ustad Rajab Ali Khan and Amir Khan were like a guru and shishya [the teacher and the taught]. “Once Amir Khan Saheb invited Ustad Rajab Ali Khan on dinner at his residence. Ustad Rajab Ali Khan came with Mama Krishnarao Majumdar. Other Musicians were also present in the dinner. After dinner, Ustad Rajab Ali Khan said: ‘Amir Khan! As you have hosted a feast, now you will have to sing also. ‘Mehfil’ was held and Amir Khan Saheb started singing. While singing, he again and again looked towards Ustad Rajab Ali Khan and then on the picture of his father, late Shahmir Khan, Sarangi player, hanging on the wall above him. Suddenly Amir Khan Saheb became very emotional, a gush of tears started flowing from his eyes and his voice was choked. Amir Khan Saheb enjoyed the great delight of vocalism which he had learned from his father; because while singing, he was applauded by the dancing eyes of Ustad Rajab Ali Khan blessing him as ‘marhaba-marhaba’ [congratulations]. Then Ustad Rajab Ali Khan said: ‘I feel proud today that you have achieved expertise and fame of an Ustad in gayaki.’ Though Amir Khan Saheb had not been tied ganda, yet he had a sense of respect for Ustad Rajab Ali Khan like a guru. He said to Ustad: ‘all this is due to you.’”[15]

In the said mehfil, famous Tabla player Ismail Daddu Khan, Sarangi player Alladiya Khan and Tabla player Jahangir Khan were present. Ismail Daddu Khan had given Tabla accompaniment in the singing of Ustad Amir Khan. In the interview taken by the author on 22-05-1988, Mr. Ismail Daddu Khan told: “At that time being very happy, Ustad Rajab Ali Khan said affectionately: ‘Amir Khan! Having heard your singing today, I am so happy that even I die, I shall not be sad for the reason that a good vocalist will be there after me.’”

After a very short period of the said program, Ustad Rajab Ali Khan died on 8^th January 1959 at Dewas, at the age of 85.

Thus the first influence on the gayaki of Ustad Amir Khan, inherited from his father, was of Ustad Rajab Ali Khan.

2- Ustad Aman Ali Khan of Bhindi Bazar and his influence: -

Ustad Aman Ali Khan was born in 1884 at Bijnore [Dist. Muradabad, Uttar Pradesh]. His grand father, Dilawar Husain Khan lived at Muradabad. Afterwards his family migrated to Bombay and resided in Bhindi Bazar area; that is why they were called Bhindi Bazar Walas. Dilawar Husain had four sons- 1. Chhajju Khan, 2. Nazir Khan, 3. Haji Vilayat Husain Khan and 4. Khadim Husain Khan. Aman Ali Khan was the son of Chhajju Khan. Chhajju Khan was also known by the name of Amarsha Saheb. Shahmir Khan, father of Ustad Amir Khan lived in the same area of Bombay and had received training from the same Nazir Khan and Chhajju Khan.

Aman Ali Khan had no interest in music in childhood but he was attracted to it later on and started having training from his father Chhajju Khan. Afterwards he was also guided by his two uncles, Nazir Husain and Khadim Husain. He was well known for application of sargam based on merukhand and became famous as nayak [composer] because of bandishes composed by him. He had composed about five hundred bandishes in different ragas under the pen name ‘Amar’. He died in 1953.

Ustad Amir Khan had ample opportunity to listen to Aman Ali Khan and to understand his style, during his residence at Bombay, in his youth. He had received training of the same style from his father as inheritance, in the form of basic education; so it was natural to be attracted towards similar musical elements. Ustad Amir Khan got refinement and maturity in his ancestral vocal style, because of this contact with Aman Ali Khan.

The specialty of Aman Ali Khan’s gayaki was his method of presentation of sargam in khayal gayaki. The general meaning of sargam is to present the notes of music by pronouncing their brief names. In the training of music and for its practice, the tradition of use of sargam is old; and for the preparation of tans, paltas of sargam are practiced. But subsequently, sargam got place for itself as an element of khayal gayaki, which can be seen especially in the khayal style of Kirana, Bhindi Bazar and Indore Gharana.

On the presentation style of sargam of Ustad Abdul Karim Khan of Kirana Gharana and Aman Ali Khan of Bhindi Bazar, there was more of less influence of Karnatak Music; but sargam of Aman Ali Khan was more complex and he allotted comparatively more time to sargam in his gayaki.

How sargam found a place in khayal gayaki with the inspiration of Karnatak Music, Dr. Prabha Atre, an eminent vocalist and a researcher on ‘sargam’, writes in her Marathi book: “In addition to instrumental style, influence of Karnatak Music can also be seen in the presentation of sargam. The andolan and stress on swara, and the pronunciation of swara name also appear to be inclined towards Karnatak Music.”[16]

Ustad Amir Khan treated the style of Aman Ali Khan as an ideal, in the presentation of sargam. The purpose of giving importance to sargam in Bhindi Bazar style was to present the qualities of layakaris in the khayal, without doing any harm to the beauty of lyric. In this context, Pt. Ramesh Nadkarni, a disciple of Aman Ali Khan, says in an interview: “The application of sargam is not only the exercise of palta. It is applied to show the beauty of laya. It is used there, where the words of lyric are likely to be broken; so that the beauty of lyric could be maintained and beauty of swara combination could be emphasized.”[17]

In khayal singing, Ustad Amir Khan gave much importance to pronunciation of words, their accuracy and the aesthetics based on swara and lyric, generated by it; therefore he was influenced by the style of Aman Ali Khan. The traditional link between alap and tan, that is bolbat, was not accorded a place in the style of Ustad Amir Khan and instead he adopted the method of presentation of sargam, here the same principle is seemed to have been applied.

In spite of absence of lyric; meed, khatka, gamak etc embellishing elements are applied in sargam also to make it manifest. After applying one swara with khatka reaching immediately to another swara and then to stabilize voice, to join two swaras with meed in ascending or descending order and to pronounce tans of gamak in the form of sargam etc, are the stylistic qualities of Ustad Amir Khan, which are supposed to have been influenced by Aman Ali Khan.

In the gayaki of Ustad Amir Khan, there was rationality in application of ‘sargam’. He didn’t allow this element to be all pervading in his whole khayal style, contrary to Aman Ali Khan. The application of sargam by Ustad Amir Khan in chhota khayal and tarana is seem to be similar to that of Aman Ali Khan, but in bada khayal, wherever he applied sargam, that was his own specialty. It is fact that Ustad Amir Khan has expressed the connection between tal and swara by sargam with laya even in bada khayal of ativilambit laya; it again appears to be nearer the principle of presenting the laya by sargam as enunciated by Bhindi Bazar Walas.

Aman Ali Khan accorded much importance to merukhand system in his gayaki, which was not so prevalent in North Indian music in those days. After Bhindi Bazar gayaki, similarly singing style of Ustad Amir Khan is based on merukhand system of movement, whose principle source is ‘Sangeet Ratnakar’, written by Pt. Sharangdeo, in 13^th century.[18] This information is given in an English article, written by Ms. Bindu Chavla, which is based on a research conducted by Pt. Amarnath, that is as follows: -

“The Style [of Amir Khan], after the Bhindi Bazar Gharana, is based on the merukhand system of improvisation that appears in the thirteenth century Sangeet Ratnakar of Sharangdeo”[19]

Shahmir Khan, father of Ustad Amir Khan, became disciple of Ustad Chhajju Khan [father of Aman Ali Khan] and Ustad Nazir Khan of Bhindi Bazar Gharana for the purpose of imbibing the merukhand system. Hence, Ustad Amir Khan was attracted towards Ustad Aman Ali Khan of the same Bhindi Bazar Gharana in order to base his gayaki on merukhand system.

Changing the order of swaras in any swara phrase is called merukhand, khandmeru or swara prastar [spreading of swara by permutation]. While presenting a raga, this is generally done in three, four or five swaras. Bhindi Bazar Gharana adopted the merukhand system to get various and maximum number of swara phrases on mathematical basis by application of swaras in a definite number. By changing the order of swaras, maximum how many swara phrases can be obtained, the merukhand system provides guidance in this regard. On the other hand, the grammar of raga, that is the principle of prohibited or allowed swaras in ascending or descending, rareness or prevalence of a note, saving from the ragas of same nature etc are the reasons which limit application of maximum swara phrases. So Ustad Amir Khan got benefited from the experience of Aman Ali Khan to acquire skill of selecting swara phrases suitable to raga. The maximum forms of swara prastars [permutations] have been used by Ustad Amir Khan in ragas-malkauns, megha, abhogi, kaunsikanada etc which are of audav jati [pentatonic class] or of audav sampurna jati [pentatonic-heptatonic] or the ragas where there is more scope for independent improvisation. Ustad Amir Khan has been cautious in presentation of various swara phrases in the ragas which are of serious nature and provide limited independence, like darbari kanada. Hence the gayaki of Ustad Amir Khan can not be blamed for those accusations which have been leveled against the predecessor maestros of Bhindi Bazar Gharana, that by their system of swara prastar, the raga is damaged.

Aman Ali Khan gave much importance to madhya laya in his style, which concluded on reaching the drut laya. All of his self composed bandishes are set in madhya laya, that is why link between verse, laya and swara is always maintained. His bada khayal too used to start from madhya vilambit laya. There was no role for ativilambit laya in his style. Because of madhya vilambit laya, link between swara and laya could be maintained even in bada khayal.

Where Ustad Amir Khan has vocalized compositions of Aman Ali Khan in the form of bada khayal, he has maintained Aman Ali Khan’s madhya vilambit laya. For example, bandish of raga-hansadhvani set in ektal, composed by Aman Ali Khan ‘jai mate vilamb tajde’ and the bandish of raga basant mukhari set in jhaptal ‘Prabhu data vidhata’. As far as Ustad Amir Khan’s own style of bada khayal is concerned, he applies ativilambit laya in jhumra tal. In available audio recordings of his vocalism, there are few examples where he has sung bandishes of bada khayal in madhya vilambit trital [like the tal applied with masitkhani gat], whom he used to sing in ativilambit jhumra often. For example, the bandish of raga-malkauns in ativilambit jhumra presented in HMV LP No.IASD1357, ‘jinkay mana ram biraje’, he sang it in madhya vilambit trital in the program of Akashwani Indore. In the background of such experiments, influence of Aman Ali Khan’s style of singing bada khayal in madhya vilambit laya, might be the reason indirectly. This aspect is about the presentation of bandish. Ustad Amir Khan didn’t make unnatural efforts to demonstrate the link between tal and swara in his gayaki. He had not adopted Aman Ali Khan’s layakari in extempore improvisation of bolbat.

There is not as much space available for imagination based raga improvisation in madhya vilambit laya as is available in ativilambit laya. The reason for this is that the rotations of tal are completed comparatively in short time because of speedy laya. Besides, the strokes of tal beat coming speedily, the stability of swaras and shant rasa can not be produced. And if shant rasa is tried to be produced intentionally in such laya, there being no adjustment with such rhythmic environment, it will appear to be artificial. Hence, the style of Ustad Amir Khan was different from that of Ustad Aman Ali Khan, because he made bada khayal a medium of expressing shant and karunrasas.

There was no distortion of posture and gesture in vocal presentation of Aman Ali Khan. Ustad Amir Khan too was very cautious in keeping his expression natural in his vocalism. In this matter, Ustad Aman Ali Khan might have been an ideal for Ustad Amir Khan, besides other great vocalists.

Special emphasis is laid on layakari in Bhindi Bazar Gharana and Aman Ali Khan presented its refined form. His presentation of drut khayal full of laya is considered equivalent to the steps of dance. As vocal style of Ustad Amir Khan produced shant rasa, therefore there was no excitement in his vocalism generated by layakari. The stability of swara is related to the stability of mind, whereas the result of layakari is mobility. Hence the layakari is more suitable for shringar rasa, veer rasa etc. Therefore where the lyrics in which such expressions are found, there the stepping of dance can be discerned also in the presentation of Ustad Amir Khan because of miraculous layaparts. Mr. V. H. Deshpande in this way: “In his madhya laya, inclining towards drut laya, again he makes feel in his gayaki the dance like gayaki of Bhindi Bazar.”[20] But Ustad Amir Khan’s laya fullness is not due to bolbat, speedy word pronunciation or layakari with tihayees; instead its peculiarity of laya lies in stress on particular places in tans. He has increasingly applied tan salient swara phrases even in the basic swara compositions of such bandishes.

This effect can be seen in his gayaki in following drut bandishes: -

1. Raga-bilaskhani todi, trital- ‘Bajay Neekay ghungaariya’

2. Raga-malkauns, trital – ‘Aaj moray ghar aaila balma’

3. Raga-bihag, trital – ‘Aali ree Albeli’

4. Raga-hansadhvani, trital – ‘Lagi lagan pati sati sang’.

3- Ustad Abdul wahid Khan and his influence: -

Respectively third main influence on the gayaki of Ustad Amir Khan was that of Ustad Abdul Wahid Khan, the famous maestro of Kirana Gharana. Ustad Abdul Wahid Khan was a main representative of Kirana Gharana. His hearing capacity being impaired, he was known as Behre [deaf] Wahid Khan. The eminent Sarangi player of Kolharapur, Khan Saheb Haidar Khan was his guru and by relation he was his uncle. He lived with him from his very childhood and received training in music from him. Thus, Abdul Wahid Khan obtained all those gharanedar [of gharana] music compositions through Haidar Khan, which Haidar Khan had received from the contemporary binkar, Bande Ali Khan of Kirana.

After leaving Kolhapur, Wahid Khan lived first in Bombay and thereafter at Lahore and Delhi respectively.

Improvisation of raga by alap, with gradual movement of swaras, is considered to be the specialty of his gayaki.[21] His tans used to be complex and peculiar. He used to sing prevalent ragas such as malkauns, multani, lalit, darbari kanhada, miyamalhar etc. He died in 1949, at the age of 78, in Kirana [near Dist. Saharanpur, U.P.].

Having been influenced by Ustad Rajab Ali Khan and Aman Ali Khan, the style developed by Ustad Amir Khan himself was highly influenced by the gayaki and the principles of Kirana Gharana; the medium was Ustad Abdul Wahid Khan. While living in Siddique Building [from 1944 to 1951] situated at the crossing of G.B. Road and Ajmeri Gate, old Delhi, Ustad Amir Khan came in contact with Ustad Abdul Wahid Khan. In those days, Ustad Abdul Wahid Khan Usually lived in Delhi and Used to visit this area. This area was the center of many important artists in those days.

Ustad Amir Khan liked the gayaki of Ustad Abdul Wahid Khan very much. He was eager to listen to him as much as possible. A vocalist, Ms. Munni Bai, resident of Delhi, was disciple of Abdul Wahid Khan. After being acquainted with Munni Bai, in order to understand Abdul Wahid Khan, Amir Khan adopted the method that he used to be present while Munni Bai took lessons from Abdul Wahid Khan and listened to him. Subsequently, Amir Khan married the same Munni Bai. He always tried to maintain contact and closeness with Ustad Abdul Wahid Khan. He wanted to become host of Abdul Wahid Khan, so that enough opportunity could be availed for mutual discussion about music. Being influenced by his eagerness, curiosity and perseverance, Ustad Abdul Wahid Khan also accepted to become his guest many times and provided him opportunity to understand important factors of his style and thus increased the knowledge and experience of Ustad Amir Khan.

Though Ustad Amir Khan got benefited by the gayaki and experience of Ustad Abdul Wahid Khan, he didn’t give much importance to ceremonial formality of ‘gandabandhan’, nor did Abdul Wahid Khan expect it from him. Despite it, illusion prevails that Amir Khan formally had become disciple of Abdul Wahid Khan. As Ms. Chhaya Bhatnagar wrote in an article: “Afterwards he practiced art becoming disciple of the great musician, Ustad Abdul Wahid Khan Saheb of Kirana Gharana for some time due to which he got new elegance in his gayaki.”[22]

Two main instances are available which prove wrongness of above statement, which are as follows: -

In an interview given to Ravindra Visht by Ustad Amir Khan, this part is worth paying attention: “I [Ravindra Visht] asked- have you learnt from Abdul Wahid Khan of Kirana Wala? Some people say so. Khan Saheb got a bit angry, when I have listened to him? Once or twice face to face, and from radio. I have adopted method of improvisation from him. The rest of gayaki is my own.”[23]

The second reference is from an article of Mr. Amique Hanafi. He writes: “the mutual relation of respect and love between Amir Khan Saheb and Wahid Khan Saheb was that of heart and spirit. The ceremonial custom of basic formality of ganda bandhan had nothing to do with it. Though Ustad Amir Khan was a man of open heart and mind and was receptive to virtue, available from anywhere; nevertheless due to his individualistic tendency and emphasis on his own style, he was not willing to accept tutelage of any one, other than his father, Ustad Shahmir Khan.”[24]

Although Abdul Wahid Khan and Amir Khan didn’t give importance to the formality of the guru and shishya relationship between them, some of the devotees of Abdul Wahid Khan wanted that Amir Khan should become his disciple ceremonially. But because of the reasons mentioned above, Amir Khan didn’t succumb to their pressure. This information was provided to the author by Mr. Potdar in an interview on 9^th April, 1989.

Amir Khan’s style of presentation of vilambit khayal and the method of raga improvisation by shabdalap [alap with words] was particularly influenced by the vocal style of Ustad Abdul Wahid Khan. In this context, Mr. Krishnarao Majumdar, who was well acquainted with Ustad Amir Khan and also had heard Ustad Abdul Wahid Khan in music concerts, told the author in an interview on 9^th April, 1989: “Abdul Wahid Khan had an extraordinary command over vilambit khayal. Simply by listening to him, Amir Khan imbibed the vilambit style. Also in application of ativilambit laya in bada khayal, Amir Khan was inspired by Abdul Wahid Khan.”

The gradual raga improvisation in vilambit khayal, which is by movement [badhat], is supposed to be main characteristic of vocal style of Kirana Gharana. Abdul Wahid Khan became famous due to being authority on this part. ‘badhat’ means presentation of a raga by gradual addition of each applied swara one by one, showing the role and importance of each swara according to the grammar of raga. Through this badhat, he used to sing a raga for long time. Ustad Amir Khan endeavored to imbibe this quality of Abdul Wahid Khan to the maximum, and he was successful in it to a great extent.

The influence of Abdul Wahid Khan on vilambit khayal style of Amir Khan brought very significant changes in his style. “The deep impression of alap-bazee [the game of alap] of Abdul Wahid Khan is found so much on Amir Khan that in his vilambit khayal, one can remember Wahid Khan and here he [Amir Khan] completely forgets the danceful gayaki inherited from Bhindi Bazar and its layakari too [whether it is of madhya laya] is not given any opportunity.”[25]

Alap becomes effective due to badhat style and besides it unnecessary repetition is avoided. In the words of Mr. Chetan Karnani: “Amir Khan believed in a simple principle of architectonics known as badhat. This is a Kirana Device that he borrowed from Wahid Khan, whereby the musical edifice is built up note by note in observance of the principles of Gestalt Psychology-namely, when you touch the next higher note, an entirely new configuration is formed in relation to the earlier notes. The observance of this principle can be seen in his rendering of darbari where in he elaborates the raga for about ten minutes using the notes only below the gandhar of the middle octave.”[26]

As there being a system of raga improvisation by badhat in Kirana Gharana, its vocal style is alap salient. The detailed alap is done before bandish in dhrupad gayaki and binkari. Almost similar alap is done in Kirana khayal gayaki with tal after the sthayee, including application of words of bandish; the reason is that the origin of this style is from the style of bin players like Bande Ali Khan. In midst of other factors, the ratio of alap was considerably increased in the vocal style of Ustad Amir Khan due to influence of alap presentation technique of Ustad Abdul Wahid Khan. The ragas where there is more scope for presentation of various alaps, were favorite ragas of Abdul Wahid Khan and also of Amir Khan, such as: shuddha kalyan, darbari, malkauns, bhimpalasi, multani, todi, asavari, lalit, miyamalhar, yaman kalyan etc. While being absorbed in presenting alap in such ragas, to pass a period of half an hour or more in grave alap in complete bass octave and purvang of middle octave, is an ordinary thing. The recording of Khan Saheb’s yaman kalyan preserved with the archive of Akashwani Indore and shuddha kalyan rendered in a concert at Bombay, are excellent examples of it.

Being influenced by the Kirana style, Amir Khan adopted many of its bandishes also, as for example: chhota khayal of raga darbari- ‘Jhanjhanakwa bajay bichhua’, The bandish in jhaptal madhya laya of raga abhogi- ‘Charan ghar aye’, chhota khayal in raga shuddha kalyan- ‘Mandar bajo’, vilambit khayal of raga miyamalhar- ‘Karim naam tero’.

The tradition of tuning the first string of Tanpura with shuddha nishad along with singing, instead of pancham swara, has started with Kirana Gharana. The followers of this gharana opine that the clear sound of nishad swara available on Tanpura, creates a peculiar environment full of swaras, which helps the vocalists to reach the stage of samadhi by means of swaras. Ustad Amir Khan also adopted this system. He got prepared a special Tanpura having five strings, which he used in his singing; so that one additional string could be tuned with shuddha nishad.

Ustad Abdul Wahid Khan used to sing most of bada khayals in vilambit jhumra tal, whereas in practice, application of this ancient tal was declining. Even as application of jhumra tal not being encouraged by the contemporary vocalists, Ustad Amir Khan was not discouraged and by adopting application of jhumra tal, he made it alive.

After considering all these influences, although Amir Khan could not receive any systematic and direct training from Ustad Abdul Wahid Khan by becoming his disciple; still by listening only and adding this experience to his thinking, he shaped his style in such a form, wherein qualities of Abdul Wahid Khan were incorporated to a great extent. After listening to Amir Khan from radio, he was very pleased and blessed him in such terms which could be treated no less than a certificate or degree. He said: “I believe that after me, my gayaki will remain alive only because of you.”[27]

Influence of Hazrat Amir Khusro and his Literature: -

Amir Khusro was born in 1253 A.D. at Patiali, a small town of Etah District of Uttar Pradesh. His father, Amir Mohammed Saisuddin came to India from Khurasan [a city of Iran] and settled in Etah. He was Turkish Muslim and his wife was Hindu.

Amir Khusro was a lover of arts and had interest in poetry. In books of history, the name of Amir Khusro is mentioned as Abul Hassan and Hazrat Amir Khusro Rehmatullah Aleh.

After his father’s death, Amir Khusro came to Delhi, where he found patronage of Ghayusuddin Balban of Ghulam dynasty. Here he came in contact with artists and literary persons and so his talent got advanced more and more. He also found patronage of Alauddin Khilji [1295-1316 A.D.]. From the decline of Ghulam dynasty to the rise of Tughalak dynasty, he had seen 11 rulers.

Amir Khusro was disciple of famous Sufi saint, Hazarat Nizamuddin Auliya. That is why a clear influence of Sufi philosophy can be seen in his thoughts and literature. He was a man of versatile genius. He expressed his views on the subjects regarding religion, philosophy, grammar, mathematics, science, music etc. Besides being a poet and Sufi saint, his achievements in the field of music are considerable. Thus, his name became permanent in the history. quol, tarana, quavvali and khayal style are considered his creations. Similarly for instruments, he is considered to be inventor of Sitar and Tabla. He is credited also to have composed certain ragas and tals. Some of the ragas invented by him were born out of the fusion of Iranian music and Indian ragas. An Urdu book regarding music, ‘Risal-e-Amir Khusro’ was written by him, which available with Mohammed Karam Imam, the author of ‘Madan-ul-Mousiqui’. For the first time, Amir Khusro applied Iranian ‘Usoole-Makam’ [principle of scale] to Indian music, resulting in mail or thaat system in place of ancient murchhana system.

During the reign of Kaikobad and his permission, Amir Khusro wrote ‘Kiram Ussaden Masnavi’ [ovation of the ruler]. Besides it, he wrote some other books also, such as ‘Nuhsipahar’, ‘Khajainul Futuh’, ‘Divalrani Khizrakhan’ etc. He had also written ‘Khalakbari’, a collection of poetic creations, wherein synonymous poems of Arabic, Persian and Hindi have been given. He had good knowledge of Persian, Arabic and prevalent Brij Bhasha. Hence he wrote poems in all those languages. Brij Bhasha was his mother tongue. In addition he had sufficient knowledge of Sanskrit also. His books in prose and verse have been given high place in Persian literature. He had an equal command on Indian and Persian music.

In 1324 A.D., his Ustad [guide], Nizamuddin Auliya passed away. Depressed by his death, Amir Khusro became a recluse and after a year, in 1325 A.D. he left his mortal body. His grave lies beside the grave of Nizamuddin Auliya in Delhi, where Urs [death anniversary of a saint] is celebrated every year.

An all pervading influence of his literary creations on the culture and arts in India can be seen today, even after many centuries of his death. The various classes of society, who were influenced by him knowingly or unknowingly, are mainly poets, thinkers, historians, learned men of Hindi literature, musicians and quavvals. In this context, while delivering lecture at Raza College, Rampur [U.P.] in 1966, Acharya Brihaspati says: “Whether may be a poet or critic, whether a thinker paying attention to important aspects of civilization and culture or a ordinary quavval, whether an Indian or Pakistani professor writing history of Urdu language or a pandit writing glossary of Hindi literature, whether an old lady telling stories and riddles or an expert of music, is not devoid of the influence of Hazrat Amir Khusro, knowingly or unknowingly.”[28]

Self made ragas, tals, singing modes and language style, all these factors collectively have been identified as ‘Ilme Khusro’ by contemporary Muslims; and subsequently by Hindus as ‘Indraprasth Mat’. Looking to such an all pervading influence of Amir Khusro, it was but natural for a person like Amir Khan, a musician and lover of literature to be attracted towards Amir Khusro’s ideology, literature and philosophy and to prosecute his studies towards it.

Amir Khan Saheb was fond of poetry and was very much interested in Urdu and Persian literature. A poet, Mr. Bismil Sayeedi was his friend at Delhi. And at Calcutta, Mr. N. Rashid Khan who was well versed in Hindi, Urdu, Persian, Bangla and English languages, was in close contact with him. Exchange of ideas on various aspects of Urdu and Persian literature used to continue with these literate persons. The role of Khusro in music and his works were the main subjects of discussion under this exchange of ideas.

Ustad Amir Khan often used to say: “Music becomes more expressive if words are sung with feeling. The poetic aspect of khayal is as much important as its raga aspect. If an artist wants to become a good musician, it is necessary for him to have poetic imagination.”[29]

The above view expressed by Ustad Amir Khan shows the influence of Amir Khusro on him, because in the Indian history Khusro is such a two fold individual in the Indian history, who played very important role in the fields, poetry and music.

Ustad Amir Khan had opinion that the khayal of today and its bandishes have deviated from its original form. In this context, he used to present references from the history, about the origin of khayal and other vocal styles by Amir Khusro, their purpose and form. Whatever study he made about Amir Khusro, he derived following conclusion about him:

“Khusro invented quol, kalbana, naksh, gul, tarana and khayal; out of these the first four remained confined to tombs, only tarana and khayal could come out.”[30]

In another statement, he said: “Amir Khusro made the drut part of khayal and Sultan Husain made vilambit.”[31]

From the above statement of Amir Khan saheb, it becomes clear that along with other vocal styles [which subsequently extinct from Hindustani music], he considered Amir Khusro the inventor of khayal and tarana styles. About the origin of above vocal styles, Acharya Brihaspati expresses his view, referring to the Urdu book ‘Maodanul Mousiquee’, written by Hakim Mohammed Karam Imam,: “Karam Imam himself has said that Amir Khusro had made prevalent khayal, quol, kalbana, naksh, gul and tarana in place of Hindustani dhrupad, doha, matha, chhand, prabandh and kavitta.”[32]

Mr. Haldhar Prasad Singh ‘Indu’, in an article about Khusro, has credited him with the origin of khayal and tarana. The quotation in this reference is as follows: “Among his [Amir Khusro’s] vocal styles ghazal, quavvali, tarana, khayal etc are very much in vogue.”[33]

About the creation of khayal and tarana by Khusro, the ideas of Ustad Amir Khan and the prevalent views are almost same.

Ustad Amir Khan didn’t consider khayal style simply a means of entertainment; therefore he didn’t like bandishes of khayal replete with obscene and amorous poetry. If he himself composed any bandishes, all were of bhakti rasa [devotional sentiments]; otherwise he sang poetry of Sufi saints giving them the form of khayal bandish. For example, see the first two lines of a rubayee of Sufi poet, Sarmad Shahid, which were sung by Ustad Amir Khan in raga priya kalyan:

“Sarmad! gham-e ishque bul-hawas ra na dihand.

Soz-e-dil-e-parwana magas ra na dihand.”

The sense of this is- “Sarmad! The grief of love can not be imparted to every one, as the compassion of a lamp insect can not be imparted to a fly.”

Similarly Ustad Amir Khan presented Persian rubayees also in other ragas in the form of bada khayal, such as written by Hafiz: ‘Salahbar kuja va’ in raga purvi and ‘Shahaje karam’ of Hafiz in raga yaman.

Ustad Amir Khan has mostly applied jhumra tal in vilambit khayal. There are total 14 beats in this tal, which are divided in four parts of 3-4-3-4. As has already been mentioned that Amir Khan sang his vilambit khayals set in jhumra tal, like Ustad Abdul Wahid Khan of Kirana Gharana. Besides, this fact is also worth considering that Ustad Amir Khan had tendency to make efforts for revival of the modes invented by Khusro. It is believed that Khusro had invented 17 tals, which include jhumra and soolfakhta, which were vanishing from vogue.

The information given by Acharya Brihaspati, about 17 tals of Khusro, is as follows:

“According to Karam Imam, Hazarat Amir Khusro invented 17 tals on the basis of Persian behars [meters], the names of which are pashto, jobhar, quavvali, soolfakhta [usool fakhta], jat, jalad, tritala, savari, aadachautala, jhumra, zananisavari [jamani savari], dastan, khams, farodast, kaid, pehalvan, pat and champak.”[34]

The basic form of tal jhumra is given below: -

Tal jhumra-