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Recording by Zohrabai (1910).

The Agra gharana is a tradition of Hindustani classical vocal music descended from the Nauhar Bani. So far, Nauhar Bani has been traced back to around 1300 AD, during the reign of Emperor Allauddin Khilji of Delhi.

The first known musician of this tradition is Nayak Gopal. The style prevalent then in the Gharana was "Dhrupad-Dhamar". Ghagghe Khudabuksh (1790–1880 AD) introduced the "Khayal" style of Gwalior Gharana into Agra gharana which Khudabaksh learnt from Natthan Paribaksh of Gwalior.

Pedagogical genealogy

The following maps are based on recorded accounts by Vilayat Hussain Khan and Yunus Hussain Khan.^[1]

Ancestral Lineage

Gauharbani Guru
Parampara

Nayak
Gopal

Swami
Haridas

Nauharbani Guru
Parampara

Kirana Gharana
Parampara

Miyan
Tansen

Lohang
Das

Alakh
Das

Khalak
Das

Malukh
Das

Daughter

Sujan
Singh

Bichitra
Khan

Surgyan
Khan

Qader Shah
(Jogi Bacche)

Daughter

Hyder Shah

Wazir
Khan

Dayam Khan
("Saras-rang")

Hasan & Saiyad
Khan

Gwalior Gharana
Guru Parampara

Qayam Khan
("Sham-rang")

Faiz Mohammed
Khan (Barodewale)

Nathan Peer
Baksh

Rangile Gharana
Parampara

Junggu
Khan

Soosa
Khan

Gulab
Khan

Ghagge Khuda
Baksh

Ramzan Khan
("Rangile")

Sher
Khan

Mohammed
Khan

Ghulam Haider
"Kallan" Khan

Ghulam Abbas
Khan

Mohammed Ali
Khan

Nisar Hussain
"Natthan" Khan

Hydori Begum

Tassaduq
Hussain Khan

Qadri Begum

Abbasi Begum

Safdar
Hussain Khan

Faiyaz
Hussain Khan

Distinguishing characteristics

The gayaki (style of singing) of the Agra Gharana is a blend of khayal gayaki and dhrupad-dhamar. In training, both the khayal and dhrupad components run hand in hand and are not taught in an isolated fashion. This is obvious from the method of singing notes of the Agra Gharana which demands that the projection of voice be more forceful and voluminous than usually encountered in khayal gayaki, as well as uttering notes open and bare (without grace notes).

Most khayal performances by artists of Agra gharana commence with the nom-tom alaap, a tradition unique to the Agra gharana. Different facets of a raga are displayed with the help of bandish while the raga is elaborated using vistaar.

The gharana adopts a kind of voice production which relies on a flatter version of the vowel sound "a", which makes its music agreeable to rhythmic variations and is best suited for a deep masculine voice. Emphasis is laid on bold, full-throated and robust voice production, and singing in the lower register (mandra) is favoured. Keeping in tune with its dhrupadic origins, the singers use broad and powerful ornamentations (gamaks), extensive glides (meends) and resonant articulations of notes. As with the Gwalior gharana, the Agra singers accentuate the importance of the bandish and its methodical exposition. Singers following Faiyaz Khan's style resort to the dhrupadic nom-tom alaap before singing the bandish. The singers of this gharana are also great masters over layakari or the rhythmic component. In fact, layakari is the foundation on which the singers build the edifice of the bandish. Agra singers' tihais are eagerly awaited, as are their nifty ways of arriving at the same, by building up anticipation within the listener.

This is the only Gharana that has still continued to sing Dhrupad-Dhamar along with Nom-Tom Alap, Khayal, Thumri, Tappa, Tarana, Hori,

Exponents

Mehboob Khan daraspiya
Nathan Khan
Zohrabai (1868–1913)
Faiyaz Khan "Prempiya" (1886–1950)
Vilayat Hussain Khan "Pran Piya" (1895–1962)
Shrikrishna Narayan Ratanjankar "Sujan" (1899–1974)
Khadim Hussain Khan "Sajan Piya" (1907–1993)
Ramarao V. Naik (1909–1998)
Dhruvatara Joshi "Premrang" (1912-1993)
Sumati Mutatkar (1916–2007)
Dipali Talukdar Nag (1922-2009)
Shrikrishna Haldankar "Raspiya" (1927–2016)^[2]
Sharafat Hussain Khan[1930-1985]
Yashpaul "Sagun Piya" (1937 - ?)
Lalith J. Rao (1942 - ?)
Subhra Guha (1956 - )
Shaukat Hussain Khan (1962 - ?)
Mohsin Ahmed Khan Niazi (1965-2020)
Bande Hassan Khan
Latafat Hussain Khan "Prem Das"
Ata Hussain Khan "Ratan Piya"
Kaale Khan "Saras Piya"
Abdullah Khan "Manhar Piya'
Bashir Ahmed Khan
Aqeel Ahmed Khan
Wasi Ahmed Khan
Shabbir Ahmed Khan
Naseem Ahmed Khan
Yunus Hussain Khan
Yaqoob Hussain Khan
Yusuf Hussain Khan
Nasir khan
Shamim Ahmed Khan
Ghulam Rasool Khan
Anwar Hussain Khan
Ghulam Hussain Khan Raja Miyan
Arif Hussain

Bibliography

Bonnie C. Wade (1984). "Agra gharana". Khyāl: Creativity Within North India's Classical Music Tradition. CUP Archive. pp. 101–129. ISBN 978-0-521-25659-9.
Babanrao Haldankar; Padmaja Punde (2001). Aesthetics of Agra and Jaipur Traditions. Popular Prakashan. ISBN 978-81-7154-685-5.
Tapasi Ghosh (2008). Pran Piya Ustad Vilayat Hussain Khan: His Life and Contribution to the World of Music. Atlantic Publishers & Dist. ISBN 978-81-269-0855-4.

References

^ Ghosh, Tapasi (2008). Pran Piya: Ustad Vilayat Hussain Khan. India: Atlantic Publishers and Distributors. p. Appendix. ISBN 978-81-269-0855-4.
^ Jeffrey Michael Grimes (2008). The Geography of Hindustani Music: The Influence of Region and Regionalism on the North Indian Classical Tradition. p. 139. ISBN 978-1-109-00342-0.

External links

Agra gharana ITC Sangeet Research Academy

[1] Ghosh, Tapasi (2008). Pran Piya: Ustad Vilayat Hussain Khan. India: Atlantic Publishers and Distributors. p. Appendix. ISBN 978-81-269-0855-4.

[2] Jeffrey Michael Grimes (2008). The Geography of Hindustani Music: The Influence of Region and Regionalism on the North Indian Classical Tradition. p. 139. ISBN 978-1-109-00342-0.

[1]

[2]