Music continued to flourish in medieval India in spite of the acquisition of political power by the Turks, Afghans and Mughals.  It was patronized and thrived at the imperial courts of Muslim kings in Delhi and Agra and at the centers of provincial kingdoms like the Sharqui kingdom of Jaunpur, the Khilji kingdom of Malwa and the Bahmani kingdom of Bijapur and Golcunda.
In his memoirs Babur, the founder of the Mughal dynasty, has named several leading musicians of his time including Sheikh Ghuran, Sheikh Adhan, Khawaja Abdullah Marwareed, Sheikh Nai, Sheikh Quli, Ghulam Saadi, Meer Anju and many others. It is believed that the renowned musician Baiju Bawra was among the musicians in Humayun’s court.
In the reign of Akbar there were many immortal musicians like Mian Tansen, Sujan Khan, Tantarang Khan, Bilas Khan, Baaz Bahadur, and Pirzada Khurasan. During this period some well known ragas such as Darbari Kanhra, Jogia, Mian-ki-Malhar, Mian-ki-Todi, Mian-ki-Sarang were introduced by Tansen. Similarly Nayak Bakshoo, a musician of the court of Raja Mansingh of Gwalior created many ragas like Bahaduri Todi, Nayaki Kanhra, Nayaki Kalyan, etc.
The Sufis from the countries of Central Asia who started coming to India with the establishment of the Muslim rule in North India in the eleventh century made a major contribution to the growth of musical institutions in India. Music played a central role in all of their congregations. They skillfully blended the Arab and Persian styles with Hindustani music and utilized it as a medium of communication for their messages of moral and spiritual uplift for the common man.
Among a number of Sufi sects in India the contribution of two sects, the Chishtis and the Suhrawardis is most noteworthy. The contribution of Hadrat Nizamuddin’s disciple Amir Khusru is only too well known. He broke away from the old traditions and introduced new forms such as Qaul, Qawwali, Qalbana, Naqsh-e-gul and Nigar. Khusru is said to have created about twelve new melodies, among which are Zilaf, Muafiq, Ghanam, Farghana, Zangula and Sarpada. In the court of Jalaluddin Khilji the ghazals of Khusru were regularly recited by the famous musicians.
Several new musical forms were developed during the medieval Muslim period. Two of the most outstanding forms are Dhrupad and Khayal, which are still dominant in today’s Indian music. The beginning of Dhrupad occurred in the thirteenth century and it reached the zenith of its popularity in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Two renowned books of the era Ain-e-Akbari and Raga-Darpan state that most of the musicians of that time were Muslims. Kitaab-e-Nauras written by Ibrahim Ali Shah the ruler of Bijapur also mentions the popularity of Dhrupad as far as Deccan. Today the well known Dagar family is continuing to uphold the traditions of Dhrupad.
On the other hand the genesis of Khayal can be traced to the eighth century. The old musical forms of Khayal were influenced by Qaul and Qawwali. Sultan Hussain Sharuqui, the ruler of Jaunpur took keen interest in the development and popularization of this style. In the Mughal court of Mohammad Shah Rangeela his court musicians Niamat Khan and Feroz Khan composed hundreds of Khayals with a high degree of perfection. A large number of Muslim musicians were accomplished Khayal singers in the medieval period.
Another contribution of the Muslim musicians has been the establishment of the Gharana system starting in the eighteenth century. Several such Gharanas have flourished in various parts of the country. Among some of the prominent Gharanas are those of Gwalior, Agra, Jaipur, Kirana and Delhi. The Gharanas specially emphasized disciplined singing or playing an instrument according to the traditional style established by an extraordinary musician.
Among other musical forms Tarana, Thumri and Tappa are also popular styles which developed through the synthesis of the indigenous Indian music with influences brought in by the Muslims. The origin of Tarana is associated with Amir Khusru whereas Nawab Wajid Ali Shah is credited as one of the early patrons and composers of Thumri. Tappa style of singing is believed to have been the innovation of Shori Mian of Lucknow.
During the later medieval period a large number of standard works on music, both original and translations from Sanskrit, were undertaken. The three major works belonging to this period are: Raga-Darpan by Faqirullah; Tohfat-e-Hind by Mirza Khan; Naghmat-e-Asfi by Ghulam Raza.
Tracing the history of the contribution of Muslim musicians to the growth of Indian music it becomes evident that the Muslims of medieval India were what the indigenous Indian culture had made of them in the course of six hundred years. They became Indian in thought, speech and action and religion was part of the culture, but not the whole of it. It is obvious that music has been an unmatched medium to bring Muslims and Hindus together in India through the last six hundred years, and it is impossible to separate the Muslim components from the Hindu components in Hindustani music.
Hello Navaid,
Regarding specific links to Hindu scriptures, I have none but a good starting point would be wikipedia. That way you are alteast somewhat confident that it is unbiased.
That said, please checkout the references in the articles within wikipedia before you decide upon the ‘truthfulness’ of statements that use such references.
I use w’pedia for all religious beliefs/philosphies, including their scriptures, translations, exegies, history, archeology & atheism and agnosticism and, upon verification with followers of such faiths/philosophies and the quoted references, I find it generally true.
Navaid,
You seem to be going in a loop.Let me put it very simply.
Like you ask; how is honour killing linked to Islam, I also ask you how is Casteism linked to the Hinduism? Does is find endorsement in Vedas/Upnishads/The Bhagwad Geeta? PERIOD.
I recognise and acknowledge that discrimination based on a Caste System is a social evil and do my bit to move away from it. But to use this to vilify Hinduism is not correct.
I think you should have condemned slavery OUTRIGHT but instead ended up justifying it(using the ridiculous comparative evil argument).
Navaid, avoid religious one-upmanship. It will lead nowhere.
Here is a part of a piece by Naseeruddin Shah(it was about why he acted in Khuda Ke Liye) which was published in the May issue of Tehelka:
“We were not fanatics, but I had been brought up in a very orthodox home. My mother’s only solace and source of pleasure was prayer. As children, we were all taught to read the Quran but not to understand it. I remember even then that as the maulvi interpreted the holy text, I thought it ridiculous. His interpretations were full of fire and brimstone and talk of kafirs doomed for hell. I had many Hindu and Christian friends, who I knew to be very good fellows, and I wondered why they must suffer while we Muslims, no matter what we did, would only suffer a mild purgatorial period before we were all accepted into a sylvan heaven. According to him, everything was haraam: music, watching films, wearing western clothes, shaving, drinking, growing hair above the lips.
All of this bothered me intensely. What is the azaan but music; what is the recitation of the Quran but music? Did our holy book really condemn our women to look like penguins, deformed and shapeless in uniform black? The maulvi had 13 children: how were they to be reared? That is what should have been worrying him instead of all his talk of the afterlife.”
See what an honest person this man is?
Navaid,
Read up a little bit more about Hinduism and its history. Otherwise you risk seeming like a person intent on scoring cheap points, not based on facts but on hearsay.
The caste system is clearly a bad system. But caste based on birth is not sanctioned in any of the religious texts of Hinduism. The Manu Smriti is not a religious text (read up the difference between a “Shruti” and a “Smriti”). It is a code of law that was drawn up by some person(s) at a specific point of time. It was rarely used as a practical code of law in any period – most Kings devised their own laws. And as of today, it has zero relevance. A majority of Hindus have not heard of it, and nobody other than scholars would know its contents. It can be safely consigned to the dustbin of history.
Besides the fact that none of the texts sanctioned caste based on birth, even practically, there was considerable mobility across caste. Further, there were numerous reform movements throughout the Bhakti period, meant to remove caste based distinctions that society had formed. Caste has proved to be much more difficult to get rid of, but that is not because of the lack of efforts of religious authorities and saints. For instance, the foremost leader of the Vaishnavite movement in the south (the equivalent of Adi Shankaracharya for the Shaivites) is Ramanuja. He opened up the Vaishnavite temples to people of all castes as early as the 10th century. The main Vaishnavite bard saints of Tamil Nadu are called the Alwars and are given places of honour in temples, and their songs sung even today. They came from across castes, including from “untouchable” castes (google the name “Thiruppaan Alwar”). Their Shaivite counterparts, called Nayanmars, also came from across castes, including untouchables (google the name “Nandanar”). Sant Ravidas (a prominent figure among many North Indian hindus, in particular the RadhaSoami sect and Sikhs, including in particular the Nirankaris) was from the Chamar community, another former “untouchable” community. There are numerous other examples. You must be familiar with Valmiki, the original author of the Ramayana. He was from a community of hunters, which would be a “low” caste in the hierarchy.
All this is not to deny that there were horrible crimes committed against people in the name of caste. Untouchability is a social evil that should never have existed. I can also understand the resentment that many Dalits today would feel about the mistreatment of their ancestors. We all must do all we can to get rid of any vestiges of this evil and to evolve towards a society where all humans are treated equal. However, to suggest that such discrimination is directly sanctioned by Hindu sacred texts or that there was no attempt to reform it or that there was no social mobility in the past simply betrays an ignorance of facts.
I also find the distinctions based on how people “within” vs. “outside” the religion were treated to be hollow to the core. The fact is that there is almost no culture that can claim a moral high ground. Every culture and every civilization has at some point or the other mistreated humans. Thankfully, we happen to live at a point in history that is remarkable, even if nowhere close to perfect. Remarkable, because we at least have the realization that the governing principle for relations between humans must be one where universal human rights are supreme. Where rule of law, rather than rule of one person or of the mob prevails. And where people are judged by their deeds, not by their birth. We are not there yet, but we are closer to that ideal than ever before in history.
Girish, hats off
love the way u talk sense…
Girish, others:
I agree that in various periods during the millenia some Hindu religious people and reformers tried to uplift the shudra caste Hindus so that at least life could become bearable for them. Also I agree that Manu Smriti that mandates that Shudras remain untouchable and subject to basic inhuman restrictions may not be a core Hindu religious scripture. Yet the fact that despite all this the Manu Smriti’s lowly designation of Hindus born in the Shudra caste has remained unchanged and reforms could not make a dent in that sanction. Many knowledgable Hindu scholars say that the importance of Manu Smriti is so deeply ingrained in Hindu religion that ” it is not possible to upgrade the Shudra caste”.
Despite the government’s efforts to give lucrative reservation to SCs (Dalits) and the obvious economic advantages, it still appears impossible to remove the Shudra caste sanction.
Why? There has to be something basic about Hindu religious sanction to Manu Smriti that it is making all efforts at reform in this area impossible over so many centuries and the efforts of so many. What is that?
Kaleem, I believe the day politicians want the caste issue it will get resolved. Its a need of politicians to not only bolster identities but also to keep boosting it. In modern India caste issues can get resolved very quickly. It needs a will power and thats all. Caste system let me put it this way was one of the best thought out systems in the world. The idea was to accumulate knowledge of particular fields in a community in such a way that they become perfectionised to the core. So a samurai can be created if a certain community has the knowledge of sword acquired over a period of time. But knowledge got lost and convenience seeped in. I will say lets do away with the system now. I am suposedly born in a brahmin family and there are many others here who might be brahmins and I will say lets finish the system. Its no more valid. But I guess it requires a political consciousness.
However I will agree that no civilisation , religion or culture can claim high pedestal. Hinduism or Islam.
Coming to more modern issues I have never received an answer to my question of support of organisations like Taliban amongst Indian Muslims or do they believe in political Islam in modern times? What are the reasons that make indian muslims jump to support Taliban in Indian streets? This is the same organisation that swept off all Hindu Buddhist links in afghanistan. Persecuted minorities and finished of the local afghan economy?
Kaleem said,
‘Many knowledgable Hindu scholars say that the importance of Manu Smriti is so deeply ingrained in Hindu religion that ” it is not possible to upgrade the Shudra caste”’
Nonsense. ppl don’t even know whats manu smriti (except many dalit and ‘christian dalit’ (?) leaders who use it for political purposes. right now i’m sitting next to an iit-iim guy who’s benefitted from reservations and trust me nobody can EVER call him low (shudra) in any manner. he does not need anybody’s sanction – he’s affluent and smart – he’s already uplifted – more than most indians of his generation will ever be. he’s empowered, thanks to chokha mela, shivaji, jyotiba phule, babasaheb ambedkar, shahu maharaj (since he’s from maharashtra) gandhi and many others. he’s married to a ‘high caste’ woman, the caste barrier is forever broken.
then why is it alive? ask mayawati, ask the republican party of india members in maharashtra – they keep the caste alive for political reasons. ask the gujjars – why they want to be classified as the lowest – for economic benefit. this has NOTHING to do with hinduism, its simple class struggle where powerful classes oppressed weaker ones.mayawati (lower caste than yadavs) makes life tough for yadavs today – is it in manusmriti? manusmriti is but one ‘smriti’ – and u think ppl oppress others because they look for justification in the book? do hindu leaders / spiritual leaders justify manu smriti? or even in our homes or temples? manu smriti is burned regularly by dalit leaders (particularly in tamilnadu) – how many riots take place???does anyone even care? and that too when mainstream holy books clearly say that caste is not by birth? how so? do we teach our children that manu smriti is a superior book? the absolute truth? u need to tell me how this works, and not just make allegations.
i’m OBC btw, opted not to get the certificate
For most people, the caste system is a convenient stick to beat Hinduism with. Despite the fact that it has nothing to do with religion and despite the fact that any tenuous link that existed in the past has also been overwhelmingly repudiated. No significant Hindu religious leader has justified caste-based discrimination in the last half century. There has been a large-scale democratization of the spiritual arena as well. Most of the spiritual leaders that Hindus seem to follow nowadays are not Brahmins (in fact this has been true historically too). Amma (the hugging saint) has enormous following. She comes from a backward caste.
Hinduism has gone through enormous reforms and in a very short period of time. If it were not for politics and the need for our leaders to preserve caste differences and caste-based animosities, it would have reduced in influence, particularly in urban areas. Yes, in some parts of the country, caste continues to play a big role in people’s lives, particularly in rural areas. But even there, (e..g in Bihar) the underlying struggle is for economic reasons. Take Bihar for instance. The Brahmins there are pretty much irrelevant politically (just as in most parts of the country) and often quite poor. The main struggle is between Bhumihars and various backward castes. Why? Bhumihars are the land-owning (former Zamindar) community and want to preserve their privileges. They oppress backward castes when they can, but also mistreat Brahmins.
Then why are people of higher caste still in positions of privilege in the private and public sector and why have the Dalits, Muslims and other backward castes not acquired proportional representation in jobs etc. Is it because the caste system continues to keep them backward? I believe the caste system is a convenient scapegoat. The real reason lies in the fact that these communities started off being poorer and less educated. The Government has failed in providing good primary and secondary education to all. And this failure more adversely affects those who are poorer in the first place – others take care of it themselves through private schools. Education and in particular school education is critical to uplifting our poor masses, a majority of whom happen to be from these castes for historical reasons. I also believe that our current system of reservations plays its role in keeping the backward castes backward (by taking away incentives to work hard and excel, for those who avail of reservations and by keeping the reservation benefits within a small subset of these castes, and mostly amongst people who do not need or deserve the benefits in the first place).
Thus, to get rid of the caste system or at least its pernicious effects, reform primary and secondary education and provide access to all. Do away or reform the current perverse system of reservations and convert it into something that actually benefits those who need it. And reform our political system such that politicians don’t have incentives to appeal to narrow caste groups, but are rewarded for having a broad appeal across caste and community groups (e.g. through a runoff system of voting between the top two candidates in each constituency if the leading candidate does not get 50% of the vote in the first instance). Caste will slowly but surely disappear.
Manusmiriti is unknown to 99.99% of Hindus and almost non existant. The only people who wants to keep it alive are either Muslims like Kwaja or Christain Missionaries and its common knowledge that both represnt inimical forces as far as Indians are concerned .
Kaleem, Navaid, others
your knowledge of Hinduism appears to be on shaky footing.
Outside of India (or, more properly stated, outside of South Asia), in Hinduism’s hey-dey, untouchability was not a major factor. There was not widespread untouchability in the Hindu empires of Cambodia, Vietnam, the Phillipines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapur, etc. There also was no widespread practice of untouchability in other areas Hinduism was a significant presence (mostly Buddhist countries/empires). Likewise, in all modern forms of Hinduism outside of South Asia, there is no widespread untouchability.
I challenge you to refute the above statement. Please find me evidence of widespread untouchability outside of India/South Asia.
That’s proof enough that it is a cultural, not religious, trait. Honor killing is an appropriate analogy, though, of course, I acknowledge that untouchability affects far more people.
In response to Kaleem’s post from late May, point #4, as in quotes below:
“Hindus should acknowledge the fact that the Moghul rulers’ power, wealth, infrastructure was of such a high level that if they had supported a drive to convert Hindus and their culture into an Islamic one, the clear majority of Indians would have become Muslim at the end of their rule and the Hindu culture would have become very small in India. Look at what happened to the culture/ethos of Indians in North America, South America; to the original inhabitants of the Russian subcontinent. Hindus should acknowledge that the Muslim rulers in India (with a few exceptions) let the Hindus maintain all of their religious/cultural traditions; most of the conversion to Islam was the result of the efforts of the Sufi saints and the strong desire of low caste Hindus to escape a very oppressive system that had no hope in eternity of redemption for them. How can a religious order ask one substantial segment of its population to remain in that order but not allow them equal space even in places of worship or in matters of observance of that faith? And for how long?”
Kaleem, during the Islamic rule of India, the majority of the world’s Hindu population was converted to Islam. You and others have repeatedly made the point that the presence of a Hindu majority shows that Islamic rule was completely benign for Hindus. Firstly, this hardly shows anything; in Gujurat, the percentage of Muslims has not gone down in the last 60 years – therefore, the state has been absolutely tolerant – correct? (by your logic, yes, correct).
Secondly, it’s basically a false point. Hinduism’s center was destroyed, it’s centers of learning dissappeared, it’s most holy places were occuppied, and the majority of Hindus were converted. That’s what happenned, and it’s time faced it, so we can get ourselves straight again.
Girish, triple …
I have not said anywhere that Hindu texts have sanctioned caste based discrimination, in fact, I have acknowledged my lack of knwoledge on this front. However, the clergy have used the distinction based on caste found in the scriptures and perhaps the discrimination in the Manu Smriti to discriminate against the out-castes. I think you are trivilaising the significance of this text to suit your argument. It may not have enjoyed the significance the British advertised but it was apparently not as insignificant as you and others here are claiming it to be. The common Hindu anyway has, even historically, never the read the scriptures (except may be the popular ones), that duty and right being confined to a few. It is very likely that this text did have an effect on those already biased against the low-castes or out-castes. And there were many who were biased as history has shown.
Nice to know about the examples you quoted of the reformers, I was defintely not aware of some of them. Will read more. However, the reforms dont appear to have been very successful otherwise such widespread discrimination would not have been present. We are not talking about just the last 50 years by the way. Nevertheless, kudos to those who tried to reform.
Again, I dont think Buddhism was ‘allowed’ to get rid of the caste system. Buddhism created space for itself as did Qadiyanism or Bahaism. The latter were not ‘allowed’ to leave Islam. The rulings on apostasy may have prevented individuals in certain societies to leave but to imagine that people could not leave the system at all are a fantasy. The number of people leaving Islam even in non-Muslim countries even today remains extremely low despite the global and continous vilification of Islam and no laws in those countries against apostasy.
“I also find the distinctions based on how people “within” vs. “outside” the religion were treated to be hollow to the core.”
I dont, I feel that a system must at least safe guard its followers.
“Thankfully, we happen to live at a point in history that is remarkable, even if nowhere close to perfect.”
I agree but perhaps every generation has felt that way about that era especially when there were reforms and reformers around. I am unfortuanetly not as enthusiastic about the acceptance of universal human rights by many today. Many accept it out of convenience, like they accept that hoesty is the best policy. This implies that when it ceases to be the best policy they would have no hesitation in being dishonest.
“Every culture and every civilization has at some point or the other mistreated humans.”
Maybe, but if the mistreatment is a historical legacy that that culture/civilization inherited, I am ready to forgive but if it has been created by that culture/civilization then I am less sympathetic.
Kaleem,
I agree this topic is not about Hindu-Muslim tussle. I understand this website is about Indian Muslims. I believe your current article is very much biased and only takes Muslims further away from mainstream. Although good intended, your article doesn’t serve a good purpose to anyone in a bigger picture. Or, if it does, please point out?
I have a suggestion – how about you write articles on:
- Contribution of Muslims to India – both positive and negative.
- How Muslims gained from India – both positive and negative.
In your replies you are referring to Aryan invasion theory – my friend – this theory has already been proven wrong (lot of research been done – you can google it up from credible sources – not just hindu websites). So, if you take help of failed theories, it will have a negative effect on your credibility and hence your write-ups.
Hope you will take my criticism in a positive way.
Thanks
Let’s say Hindus used to follow Manu Smriti. Do you know how many Hindus follow it now a days? We have figured out what was wrong and amended our rules. Maybe that was one way of life in that era, which is not applicable to current circumstances. Btw, I have read Manu Smriti – it never mentioned untouchable or anything.
Anyways, question to my Muslims friends – when are you going to amend your rules and get united with mainstream instead of fighting for your own identity and keep yourself away?
Is it good to protest for Israel-Palestine conflict in New Delhi, but not to protest when terrorists attacked parliament? This shows how Muslims have been directed towards their religion first and nation afterwards. Sorry to say but thats current reality of most of Muslims – even the so-called educated one.
Navaid,
You are on a slippery slope with that distinction of yours between mistreatment created and inherited by a civilization respectively. I wouldn’t go down that route if I were you.
Regarding why the caste system persists despite attempts at reform – the answer is vested interests. The same answer holds for the many social evils that persist amongst Muslims (including that of caste amongst Indian Muslims). It takes a lot to break those vested interests. Either a revolution, or sustained efforts over a period of time. In the Indian case, post-independence politics and the vested interests it has created have prolonged the life of the caste system.
Hindu society has largely acknowledged things that are wrong with it and there have been serious attempts at reform, although there is much remaining to be done. Things are nowhere close to ideal, but the monumental nature of the changes in the last century or so rival those of the reformation within Christianity.
BTW, there are lots of Muslims leaving the fold wherever they are free to do so. (freedom can be restricted both not just through laws, but also through social pressures). This is not reflected in census numbers of Muslims, which is growing in many developed countries primarily due to immigration and differential birth rates. Just because Muslim numbers are growing does not mean that (a) nobody is leaving Islam, or that (b) lots of non-Muslims are converting to Islam. The only significant conversion of non-Muslims to Islam in recent times has been amongst African Americans (the reason for that has nothing to do with Islam, and many of these “converts” would not be considered Muslims at all by those Muslims who were born into the mainstream sects). Most of the increase in the global proportion of Muslims is because of higher birth rates.
This article came to my notice when I was googling about some Raag in Hindustani Classical Music. The article is indeed very well written and my compliments to Kaleem for that.
However, I am unpleasantly surprised and saddened to see that a discussion on Classical Music too has eventually struck that, all too familiar, jarring note of Hindu-Muslim differences, caste ism, slavery and what not.
For, Hindustani Classical Music was the one place that served as a confluence of artists belonging to both the religions. Philosophical differences were forgotten, excellence was appreciated irrespective of the religious beliefs. While Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan’s rendering of ‘Hari Om Tat Sat’ moved several Hindu hearts, Pandit Jasraj’s ‘Mero Allah Meherban’ brought tears to innumerable Musilm eyes in Pakistan. And there are several such examples already pointed out by many people here. In fact, with respect to caste ism too, I would like to say that, though Classical Music was confined to only Brahmins in the initial years, in the last couple of centuries we have seen a steady stream of non-Brahmin Hindu maestros being wholeheartedly embraced. Pandit Mallikarjun Mansur, Gangubai Hangal, Pandit Basavaraj Rajguru to name a few.
While we should, for once, congratulate ourselves and feel proud that there does exist a forum which has acted as the melting pot for musicians of all religious beliefs, instead, the discussion has again degenerated and as always, has ended without any conclusion.
Can somebody make a detailed study of how and why Classical Music maintained and encouraged this equality between Hindus & Muslims? We could try to extend this for the betterment of the lives of the general publim in India. Or am I being overly optimistic?!
So finally, my appeal to all those who have argued over religion & caste: Please shift your arguments to some other place. Please spare Classical music of these feuds because history has spared it from them. Possibly, even the ‘One Universal God’ doesn’t want humans going about polluting this noble art. An art which truly connects to him as efficiently as a prayer.
P.S. – Apologies if my thoughts resemble a sermon.
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