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Influence of Muslims on South-Asian Music

Introduction to Evolution of Music
Nauman Haroon
17020071
Rakae Jamil

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Music amongst Muslims has always been a topic of debate, as some scholars say it is
Haram or prohibited whilst some believe it is allowed. However, Muslims have made a huge
contribution to the South-Asian music through different time periods; before the Mughal era
there were different contributors like the Arabs, Khilji Sultans and few other rulers, secondly
then comes the Mughal era which was the golden age for South-Asian Music as during this
period lots of ragas, musical instruments were developed and also notable musicians were
groomed and after them Muslims kept influencing music in different parts of India. Furthermore,
it was during these times that even Tawaifs also played a role in promoting different form of
music and dance. There are a lot of famous musicians of that era that are still known today in
high regards for their contributions to classical Indian music.
Before the Mughal era, the Arabs conquered Sindh and that was the time when Muslims
came in direct contact with music of the subcontinent. They introduced Perso-Arab and Turkish
music and brought in a lot of their instruments like qanun, ud (sarangee), chang, ghichak,
rabab, tambura, dhol etc. Before Muslims entered the subcontinent, Indian music was only
used in religious festivals or occasions, it was always taken as something connected with religion
however this was not the case for Muslims. Muslims took music as an enjoyable and happy
thing. They experienced all kinds of feelings it portrayed through its different forms.
Then, it was the time of the Khilji Sultans when music changed and a new side of it was
being explored. The main credit for that went to the famous poet, musician and philosopher Amir
Khusrau. He was a classical poet of those time and made immense contribution in music and
literature. He introduced a new form of music by mixing Perso-Arab and Turkish styles of music
with what had already existed in the subcontinent. One of the examples of this can be seen by his
great contribution of creating Khayal of North-Indian classical music. He did this by modifying

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raga Dhrupad and adding Persian tunes to it. Khayal is a musical form which gives more
freedom to the performer for improvisation. A Khayal can be as short as a few minutes, however
on the other hand a performer can make the same lines of the short Khayal go on for hours. Amir
Khusrau mixed the twelve mokams, forty sabab and forty-eight gosbas with the music of the
subcontinent and gave a new picture to it. Once Amir Khusrau started his work in music and was
given so much importance, other talented musicians started coming to Sultans courts to perform
where they were also given awards. One of them was Nayak Gopal who challenged Amir
Khusrau and this was the time when Amir Khusrau came up with styles such as Qawali, tarana,
naksh, nigar etc. He was even given the award of Sangeet Nayak as his talent was so precious
and unique. Other than that, Amir Khusrau even introduced a lot of Ragas like Yemen,
Sanam,Ghanam, Zilaf, Saazgiri etc and one of his most important inventions was the instrument
Sitaar, which till today is being used so commonly amongst musicians. So this shows us how
music had taken a new turn in the time of Khilji Sultans, new forms of music were coming up,
musicians were given a lot of importance and they felt confident and motivated towards
promoting and spreading their music as the Sultans were awarding them. One such example was
when two disciples of Amir Khusrau, Samat and Niaz helped spreading the Qawali.
In the same time of Sultans, even some religious forms of music were being created like
Chishti and Suhrawardy saints of those times introduced Sama Sangeet for religious functions.
They said it made the religious feeling more intense and emotional and people feel more devoted
in the religious functions when Sama Sangeet was played.
Before the Mughal Empire there were a few rulers who even played quite a major role in
developing as well as promoting music of the subcontinent. There was Sultan Sikandar Lodi who
loved music. He had four musicians who were well versed in chan, qanun and tambura.

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Further, Sultan Lodhi appointed ten shahnai players and every night he would listen to these
musicians and then go to bed. Then there was Bahadur Shah who was the Sultan of Gujrat. He
himself was a great musician and was even the supporter of Nayak Bajju, Nayak Bakshu and
Nayak Gopal. It was at his time that Nayak Bakshu created a special Todi raga called Bahaduri
Todi and made some other contributions as well. Later on there was Hussain Shah Sharqi who
was the last King of Jaunpur and was a very talented musician. He made several contributions to
music for example he invented twelve Shyams, four Todis and even created some ragas and
Hussain Shah was also known as the founder of Khayal School of music. Lastly, the final ruler
who came in power before the Mughal era took over, was Raja Mansingh Tomar, who did a lot of
work for music. He himself was even a musician and had a good voice but however he played a
more major part through his appointed musicians. He appointed Nayak Bakshu, Nayak Bhannu,
Nayak Pande, Nayak Mehmud, Nayak Lohang and Nayak Karan who wrote the treatise Man
Kutuhul to standardize the music of North-India. Secondly, the Perso-Arabic ragas and raginis
were mixed with the music of that time and they were further divided into three styles; Utar
Bharatiya, Carnatic and Muslim. This categorization into three, made identifying its different
forms easier. Other than that, Raja Mansingh even composed some Dhrupads in Hindi and also
developed the four character in Dhrupad which were; Asthayee, Antara, Sanchari and Abhog.
So as explained above, these were the major contributions made by rulers before the
Mughal era. All these contributions had brought a major change in the music of the subcontinent.
As stated earlier, Hindus used music only for religious functions however when Muslims came,
everyone started listening to music for the joy and pleasure of it. The different forms of music
which Muslims introduced created different kinds of feelings in people like; Dhrupad induced
feelings of peace and contemplation in the listener, although it was being sung in temples as well

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but the Muslim leaders introduced new forms of it so listeners could listen to it in normal
situations as well when they wanted to relax or enjoy peace. Secondly Khayal music created a
romantic mood in the listeners; people loved listening to it and especially the Kings and
Emperors. Lastly, Qawali also emerged at that time; it is an ecstatic Sufi form of music that takes
the listener to the feelings of depth and spreads the message of love, peace and harmony.
Then, the Mughal rule came in 1526 in Delhi under Emperor Babur. The Mughal era was
the most significant time in music history of Muslims. Emperor Babur was fond of music. Under
Baburs rule people were appreciated for good writing or singing a good song. He didnt just like
music but also wrote great poetry.
Emperor Humayun was also fond of music. He had fixed Mondays and Wednesdays for
musicians and singers to perform. There is a famous story about Humayun that when he captured
Mandu in 1535 and ordered the killing of prisoners, he found out that there was a person
Bachchu among the captives who was a musician. He not just released him but also made him
musician of the court (Sen). This shows us how much he respected and gave honor to musicians
in his time. Another example of him honoring musicians can be seen when he made Nayak
Gopal the chief musician of his court (Khan: 5-6).
After Humayun, Akbar was the Mughal emperor and this was the most significant time
for music in the Mughal era. Akbar was a great lover of music and according to Abul Fazal, he
was the patron of all those who practiced this art (Sen). Akbar had several musicians in his court
and they were arranged in seven divisions, one for each day. Ain-e-Akbari was written by Abul
Fazal at this time. This was basically a book which is the official record of Akbars rule. Abul
Fazal wrote this book on Akbars order and it took him seven years to complete it. In this book,

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Abul Fazal gives a list of 36 different singers and performers of various instruments who were
regarded as the highly honored ones in the court of Akbar. Akbar himself was an amazing
musician and even studied Hindu vocalization under Lal Kalawant (Mondal). Mian Tansen was
the most famous and best singer of Akbars time. Mian Tansen is regarded as one of the best
musicians in the history of India. He was trained by Swami Haridas and when Akbar heard him
for the first time, he awarded Mian Tansen with 200,000 rupees and gave him the title Tansen.
Mian Tansen created various ragas among which the famous ones are Miyan ki Malhar, Darbari
and Miyan ki Todi. Miyan ki Malhar is a raga associated with the rainy season and its melodic
movements are serious and slow. However raga Darbari is a late night raga and the emotions it
potrays are mostly romantic and joy. Raga Darbari is the most melodious raga is the Hindustani
Classical music. Further, Miyan ki Todi is considered as a morning raga. Mian Tansen was also
credited with the discovery of the famous instrument Rudra Vina. It is an instrument which
represents the concept and practice of the raga (especially the alaap). Mian Tansen had such great
musical capability that it is said that he could charm the beasts of the forests with his singing
(Silver). Mian Tansen was so precious to Emperor Akbar that he married his daughter to Tansen.
Other famous musicians during Akbars reign were Baba Ram Da, Baiju Bawara and Sur Das.
One of the most important things at Akbars time was that Dhrupad form of music had reached
its most successful point when great singers like Baba Gopal Das, Tansen and Baji Bawra
performed it. Dhrupad means the rendering of verse into music. It is the oldest and most
important form of Hindustani vocal music. It was the most dominant form of music of India and
was performed regularly in the Mughal courts. Dhrupad wonderfully shows a raga through its
two main movements; the alap and bandish. The alaap is the improvised section of a raga and
bandish is the melodic composition. It usually covers themes like religion, devotion, philosophy

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or celebration of seasons. Dhrupad gained a lot of importance during Mughal emperors as

famous singers like Tansen used to perform it and it was during this time that Dhrupad became
the court music of Mughal emperors as before it was being performed mostly in temples. All the
music in India today has gained its importance because of Dhrupad; maybe that is why it is the
soul of Indian music. So we can see that there was huge amount of contribution to music during
Akbars time, it was his love and support for music because of which instrumental as well as
vocal music progressed and after fusing different forms of music, a National Indian Music came
into being.
Emperor Jehangir, son of Akbar, continued the growth of arts like music, dance, and
poetry as he himself had an interest in fine arts. The famous musicians of his court were Mian
Lal Khan, Bilas Khan and Mirza Zulqarnain. They were all famous Dhrupad singers. We can see
that with the passing of time Dhrupad was gaining importance as its different forms were
developing and performances in Mughal courts were even increasing.
After him, Emperor Shahjahan came into power. He also had an interest in music and
dance. It was Emperor Shahjahan who got the famous monument Taj Mahal and the Peacock
Throne built. During his time a treatise, Raga Darpana was written by Mirza Faqirullah, which
listed down 30 great musicians. Even is his time, there were great dhrupad singers like Sheikh
Bahauddin and Mian Dalu and his court musicians were well trained in the singing style of Man
Kutuhal. Through this evidence we can notice that Dhrupad and Khayal styles of music were
developing and gaining popularity.
Music declined a little during Aurangzebs time but some treatises were compiled which
were; Naghmat-ul-Israt by Mir Ahmed and Mirat-ul-Kheyal by Sher Muhammad. Then,

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Emperor Bahadur Shah even had a short time as the Mughal Emperor; however he did play some
role in contributing to music as he had musical gatherings everyday and used to listen to music
all night for which he was called Shah-ie-be-Khabar. And he even composed many Dhrupads,
Horis and Kheyals with the help Niamat Khan, Niaz Qawal and Lal Bangali.
During Muhammad Shahs reign also music flourished, especially the Khayal style.
Khayal style became developed at this time; it attained popularity in itself and even acquired
technical accuracy. The credit for this went to Niamat Khan who was even awarded the title of
Sadarang. Another famous and talented singer of Emperor Shahs time was Firoz Khan who
composed many Dhrupads, Kheyals and Taranas and he was given the title of Adarang.
Muahammad Shahs time was crucial for the development of Khayal style of music. For Khayal,
the first music evidence is still there at the Delhi Darbar of Emperor Shah. As Khayal was
attaining importance in the Mughal courts, different performing styles emerged into Gharanas
amongst which the major ones were Rampur, Gwalior and Patiala (Indian Classical Musical
Circle Literature). Muhammad Shahs contributions to Khayal music were tremendous and about
70% of the Khayals sung today are represented by the names of Muhammad Shah and
Sadarang (Khan: 8).
After the fall of Mughal Empire, Muslims still influenced music of the subcontinent. This
can be seen from the facts that; Muhammad Raza Khan invented a major scale Vilawal, secondly
Pandit Vishnu Narayan Bhatkande circulated the theory of the ten scales all over the area because
of which he was known as the originator of the ten scales and, Thumri was initiated by Bhaiya
Saheb Ganpatta and Rao Mainuddin with Wajid Ali Shahs support. Thumri was famous for the
excess amount of emotions it created and it represented different ragas at the same time.

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Although the Mughal era ended but the contributions it made for music were very
precious and innumerable. Even though the Mughal rule had ended but because they had
influenced everyone in such a way that music kept on spreading. Many treatises were written like
Hindustani Sangeet by Pandit Bhatkande, then music schools were opened in Lucknow and
Gwalior. One of the music schools started by Pandit Bhatkande was Moris College of Music at
Lucknow which later turned into Bhatkande University. Then another institution named Prayag
Sangeet Samiti and Vishnu Digambar Academy of Music was made in Allah-a-bad and many
universities started offering music as a course. Furthermore, a lot of zamindars and Rajas loved
music and they used to arrange musical functions and invite well-known Muslims to attend the
functions. Other than that, music was spreading in Bengal as well. So we can see how the
Mughal empire started influencing music in different ways and it started spreading all over India,
people started listening to music on different occasions and even for the enjoyment and not just
for religious occasions. Music now was becoming a part of their culture, to listen to music,
perform it, attend programs etc.
There was another way in which Muslims influenced music and they had learnt this from
Hindus. Hindus had a concept of Devadasi. These were basically temple prostitutes who had
the talent of singing and dancing and when great temples were built in India, these Devdais were
attached to those temples. They did not just sing and dance for the idol but were also a source of
income for the temple. These women were married to the temple god and were highly respected
by everyone. Muslims were basically following the same kind of ritual as they had Tawaifs.
Mundy, an English traveler reported that there were a lot of Tawaifs and they were different from
the normal prostitutes. The sons of upper classes were sent to these Tawaifs for their education
and a lot of important men of the society learnt the culture from these Tawaifs. These Tawaifs

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were married to trees and plants and had followed the culture mostly from the Devadasis. They
played some role in influencing music and dance as Muslims but their dark period came as well
when they were being criticized as evil and emphasis was made on banning all this including
devadasis and Tawaifs. Later things changed, Devadasis became Shrimati-jis and Tawaifs
became Begums.
So as I have explained the different eras and the different ways Muslims influenced
music in South Asia, it can be seen that they played an important role in changing the music
scenario of the subcontinent. Muslims, especially the Mughals, brought different forms of music
together like the Perso-Arab and Turkish and they always supported musicians so that music
could grow, new instruments were invented, musical programs were held and even treatises were
written. All this proves that a lot of classical musical forms we use today originated from
Muslims of those times, like the Qawali is widely known amongst Sufis, Khayal and Dhrupad
style of music is used in bollywood songs and all the different forms of ragas are widely used to
compose different forms of music.

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