Tradition · khyal & dhrupad gharana
Agra gharana
The Agra gharana traces itself to Haji Sujaan Khan of Agra in the sixteenth century and to a Dhrupad style descended from Tansen's Nauhar bani. Faiyaz Khan Agrewale (1886–1950) is its best-known modern exponent. It is distinctive for the bold, resonant open-throated production and for continuing to sing dhamar and dhrupad alongside khyal well into the twentieth century.
- Function
- Arts & performance
- Confidence
- Established / referenced
Connections (1)
- PatronageAgra Fort
The Agra gharana traces itself to the Mughal court, and the Fort is where its Dhrupad line under Haji Sujaan Khan met and was reshaped by the khyal reforms of the eighteenth century. Faiyaz Khan Agrewale carried the mixed idiom into the twentieth. The city of Agra is where the tradition is named for, and its Mughal citadel is the setting the tradition itself claims for its founding.
On these journeys
Sources
Wikipedia, "Agra gharana"; Sangeet Natak Akademi and IGNCA oral-history collections; Bonnie Wade and the standard gharana literature.
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