Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-xbtfd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T08:46:40.682Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

3 - The Rivals: Anjha Baras, Adarang and the Scattering of Shahjahanabad

Tazkiras and Genealogies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 November 2023

Katherine Butler Schofield
Katherine Butler Schofield
Affiliation:
King's College London
Get access

Summary

The reign of Emperor Muhammad Shah (r. 1720−48) ushered in a significant revival of Mughal courtly arts. Right at the centre of this vibrant milieu was the Emperor’s singing teacher and master of his atelier, Khushhal’s grandson Anjha Baras Khan. But posterity has forgotten him—it is his rivals Ni‘mat Khan “Sadarang” and Firoz Khan “Adarang” whom we remember as the greatest musicians of the eighteenth century. Why? As Delhi was repeatedly invaded and sacked 1739−61, Mughal court musicians scattered all over India, and had to seek new strategies to survive. What happened to Delhi’s musicians and their music is documented in a genre new to writing on music at this time: the tazkira (roughly, biographical collection). In this chapter I show that the proliferation of musicians’ biographies and genealogies were both a product of upheaval, dispersal, and enforced diversification; and a record of these things, particularly in anecdotes of rivalry.

Keywords

Indiamusiceighteenth centuryDelhiAdarangAnjha Baras Khantazkirasbiographiesgenealogiesmigrationscattering
Type
Chapter
Information
Music and Musicians in Late Mughal India
Histories of the Ephemeral, 1748–1858
 , pp. 49 - 78
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×