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Rampur Sahaswan gharana

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Rampur-Sahaswan gharana is a gharana (musical heritage) of Hindustani classical music centred in the North-Uttar Pradesh towns of Rampur and Sahaswan. Ustad Inayat Hussain Khan (1849–1919) was the founder of this gharana.

Contents

History

The gharana find its origins in Ustad Mehboob Khan, the chief khayal singer in the royal court of Rampur State (in present Uttar Pradesh), his tradition was followed by his son Ustad Inayat Hussain Khan (1849–1919) and in turn by Inyat's brothers-in-law, Ustad Haider Khan (1857–1927), and Padma Bhushan Ustad Mushtaq Hussain Khan (1878–1964) (The First recipient of the Padma Bhushan Award) ( , thus all the singers were connected with each other, and gharana was named after their ancestral place, Sahaswan, in present Badaun district. Amongst noted disciples of Padma Bhushan Ustad Mushtaq Hussain are Padma Shri Ustad Ghulam Sadiq Khan, married to his youngest daughter and associated with the Music department of the Delhi University, Sulochana Brahaspati, Sumati Mutatkar, Madhumita Ray, Shanno Khurana and Naina Devi.

Inayat Khan was a child prodigy, and his first married the daughter of Haddu Khan of the Gwalior gharana.

Singing style

The Rampur-Sahaswan gayaki (style of singing) is closely related to the Gwalior Gharana, which features medium-slow tempos, a full-throated voice and intricate rhythmic play. The gharana style is also known for the diversity and intricacy of the taans (rapidfire elaborations), as well as tarana singing.

The renowned singers of this gharana include the first and, perhaps the foremost disciple of Ustad Inayat Hussain Khan, Ustad Hyder Khan sahab. In fact, Ustad Hyder Khan and his family plays a vital role in upbringing the legacy of this illustrious family as, not only him but, after his demise, his son Ustad Fida Hussain Khan and his grandson, the renowned maestro Padma Bhushan Ustad Nissar Hussain Khan made sure that the legacy carries forward to the next generation.

Ustad Nissar Hussain Khan was not just a singer but a great teacher who has given the gharana what it has in the modern Ustad Nissan Hussain Khans disciples are great Vocalists Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan, Ustad Rasheed Khan Lateef Ustad Hafeez Ahmed Khan ,Ustad Sarfaraz Hussain Khan etc.,another legendary singer of this gharana is Padma Bhushan Ustad Mushtaq Hussain Khan, who was a disciple of Ustad Hyder Khan and later on, groomed by Ustad Inayat Hussain Khan sahab. He was the recipient of the first Padma Bhushan award in singing.

Family

Currently, the gharana is represented by 2 major families, all inter related to each other. This consists of the direct blood of Ustad Inayat Hussain Khan sahab and his other relatives and disciples. Amongst the relatives, its Ustad Inayat Hussain khan sahab's very popular disciple as well as, first son in law, Padma Bhushan Ustad Mushtaq Hussain Khan. His family consists of his sons, Ustad Ishtiyaaq Hussain Khan, Ustad Isshaq Hussain Khan (Courg Musician Of Nawab Rampur),Ustad Ghulam Husain Khan, Ustad Afzaal Husain Nizami sahab, son-in-law Ustad Ghulam Sadiq Khan (recipient of Padma Shri Award), Ustad Ghulam Taqi Khan, Ustad Wajid Husain Khan (Lagan Piya), Ghulam Fareed-ud-deen Khan, late Ustad Shujat Hussain Khan, Ustad Sakhawat Husain Khan,Shehzad Hussain Khan, Muhammad Ahmed Khan, Ghulam Siraj Niazi, Ustad Ghulam Abbas Khan, Usama Khan Niazi,Areeb Khan Niazi,Ghulam Azeez Khan, Salman Khan Niazi, Nihal Khan Nizami, Ghulam Hasan Khan and Master Mehndi Hasan Niazi.

Ustad Inayat Hussain Khan sahab's direct blood consists of his sons Ustad Sabir Hussain Khan sahab and Ustad Shakir Hussain Khan Sahab. Along with this, being the second son in law and also, the father and guru of Inayat Hussain khan sahab's maternal grandsons, who further represented the gharana and contributed to the popularity of this renowned school of Khayal gayaki, Ustad Nissar Hussain Khan sahab and his family and disciples are more closely related to Ustad Inayat Hussain Khan sahab. Ustad Nissar Hussain Khan gave some of the best exponents in the field of Indian Classical Music (Hindustani/ North Indian Style) such as Ustad Hafeez Ahmed Khan (ex Deputy Chief Producer of A.I.R, ex Vice-Chancellor of the Indira Kala Vishwa Vidyalaya, the only musical university of India and a recipient of Padma Shree Award), Ustad Sarfaraz Hussain Khan (ex Producer of A.I.R and the eldest son of Ustad Nissar Hussain Khan), Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan (recipient of Padma shri and Padma Bhushan Award), Ustad Iftikhar Hussain Khan (son), Ustad Ghulam Akbar Khan, Ustad Zulfiqar Hussain Khan(son), Ustad Rashid Khan (one of the leading vocalists of the modern era and recipient of Padmashri award and Sangeet Naatak Academy Award), grandsons Ustad Mujahid Hussain Khan, Mushahid Hussain Khan and late Wajahat Hussain Khan and Ghulam Niyaz Khan. Also belonging to the same lineage are Ustad Aftab Ahmed Khan disciple and son of Ustad Waris Hussain Khan (3rd son in law of Ustad Inayat Hussain Khan) and brother of Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan}, sons of Ustad Ghulam mustafa khan- Ghulam Qadir Khan, Ghulam Murtuza Khan, Ghulam Rabbani Khan and Ghulam Hasan Khan. Younger talent consists of Danish Hussain Khan, Shahzeb Hasan Khan, Shoaib Khan, Nadeem Khan, Arshad Khan, Rizwan Khan and Shahbaaz Hussain Niazi and youngest vocalist of this gharana, Faiz Mustafa.

Apparently, there were artists who came in and learned under the able guidance of these legends of Rampur Sahaswan Gharana such as Chajju Khan and Nazir Khan (disciple of Inayat Hussain Khan Sahab), Pandit Ganpat Rao (considered to be the godfather of Harmonium playing in Sub continent territories), Ustad Hafeez Khan of Gudiyani (Gurgaon).

Some other famous names in the same category of musicians who came from elsewhere and learned in Rampur Sahaswan Gharana are Shanno Khurana(recipient of Padma Bhushan Award), Sulochana Brihaspati (recipient of Padma Shree Award), Roma Rani Bhattacharya, Arun Bhaduri, Deepak Chatterjee, Pradeep Chatterjee, Pranab Biswas, Prasad Kharpade, Chandan Das, A. Hariharan, Sonu Nigam and Shaan, to name a few.

Shri Hemant Gandharv - A Grade Artists of Akashvani Baroda. Disciple of Ustad Ghulam Mustufa Khan Sahab. He created Bandishes of many raga with his petname " Swar Rang ". Written a Books with his own creation " Swaranjali ".

In 2006, Dr Sakuntala Narasimhan, herself a disciple of Ustad Hafeez Ahmed Khan, published a book on the Rampur-Sahaswan gharana titled, The Splendour of Rampur-Sahaswan Gharana.

References

Rampur-Sahaswan gharana Wikipedia