Farrukhabad Gharana
A Refined Tabla Tradition Celebrated for Its Rich Gats, Expressive Bols & Rhythmic Elegance.
Provenance
The Farrukhabad Gharana emerged in the late 18th century and was later patronized by the Nawabs of Awadh, with Rampur becoming an important centre of its development.
Founder
Haji Vilayat Ali Khan, a disciple and son-in-law of Mian Bakshu, founded the Farrukhabad Gharana in the late 18th century.
Genealogy
The disciple and son-in-law of Mian Bakshu, called Haji Vilayat Ali Khansaheb, in the late 18th century founded this Gharana. The Nawabs of Awadh patronized it. Later, Rampur became the hub of activity for this Gharana.
Ustad Amir Hussain Khan was the leading exponent of this gharana, who taught Pt. Nikhil Ghosh, Pt. Arvind Mulgaonkar, and Pandharinath Nageshkar among others, who were great gurus and torchbearers of this gharana.
Genre
It stresses on the Gat and sound syllables, such as Ghidan, tak tak, nag nag, dhir dhir kidtak etc. There are thousands of gats composed by Ustad Haji Vilayat Ali Khan, like Dodhari, Tidhari, Chodhari, Tipalli, Chaupalli, etc.
The Peerless & Illustrious
Ustad Amir Hussain Khan was the leading exponent of this gharana, who taught Pt. Nikhil Ghosh, Pt. Arvind Mulgaonkar, and Pandharinath Nageshkar.
The Torchbearers
Ahmadjaan Thirakwa (1880-1976) belonged to this Gharana and was patronized by Nawab Hamid Ali Khan. His contemporary Ustad Masit Khan (1880-1974) who also hailed from Rampur moved to Calcutta in the thirties and taught Pt.Gyan Prakash Ghosh and Raichand Boral and his own son Keramatullah Khan. Among other Farukhabad exponents are Ustad Shamsuddin Khan (1880-1967), Pt.Gyan Prakash Ghosh (1911-1997), Keramatullah Khan (b.1917), Kanai Dutta, Shyamal Bose, Shankar Ghosh, Nayan Ghosh, Anindo Chatterjee, Sabir Khan and Rashid Mustafa. The internationally acclaimed Tabla player, Pt. Nikhil Ghosh was a disciple of Amir Hussain Khan. The stress is on Ad and Barabar laya.
