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North Indian tabla drums. It was created by Ustad Haji Vilayat Ali Khan, disciple of Ustad Miyan Bakshu Khan of Lucknow, and it is for his birthplace the gharana is named. Being a prominent com- poser and performer, he was appointed as court musician in Rampur and passed his tradition on through his three sons, Nisar Ali Khan, Aman Ali Khan, and Hussain Ali Khan, and their disciples. There is a huge variety in the repertoire of compositions, owing to the tremendous and creative output of great composers such as Haji Vilayat Ali Khan and Amir Hussain Khan, nephew of Munir Khan, himself a disciple of Hussain Ali Khan. In addition, a large number of Lucknow gats (compositions) were given as dowry by Ustad Miyan Bakshu Khan when his daughter married his disciple and the gharana's founder, Ustad Haji Vilayat Ali Khan. The Farukhabad Gharana is part of the purbi baj ,or "eastern style," which is characterized by an extensive use of resonant strokes played on the sur of the daya. The playing style of the Farukhabad gharana was developed from the strongly dance- influenced style of the Lucknow gharana, and contains similarities to its strong, resonant sounds.The repertoire is replete with a varied and intriguing compo- sitions, makes great use of open resonant baya strokes, and con- tains many unique stroke combinations. There is a greater wealth and emphasis of gats, chalan, and rela compositions than on qaida or peshkar. There is a prominent use of certain bols, such as dheredhere, takataka.
The lineage is unbroken today; another disciple of Haji Vilayat Ali Khan, claimed to be his son or son-in-law, Nanhe Khan preserved and passed the tradition through his son Masit Khan, who gave it to his son Keramatullah Khan, followed by his son Sabir Khan, and finally to his son Arif Khan. Ustad Sabir Khan and his son Arif perform actively and continue the tradition of their forefathers in Calcutta.
Other important performers and teachers of the farukhabad gharana include Jnan Prakash Ghosh, Pandit Chatur Lal, and Anindo Chatterjee.
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5. Benares gharanaBenares gharana is one of the six most common styles of playing of the Indian tabla.
The Benares tabla gharana was developed a little over 200 years ago by the legendary Pandit Ram Sahai (1780-1826). Ram Sahai began studying the tabla with his father from the age of five. At the age of nine, he moved to Lucknow to become the disciple of Modhu Khan of the Lucknow gharana. When Ram Sahai was seventeen years old, Wazir Ali Khan, the new Nawab, asked Modhu Khan if Ram Sahai could perform a recital for him. Modhu Khan agreed, on the condition that Ram Sahai would not be interrupted until he finished playing. It is said that Ram Sahai played for seven consecutive nights. After this incredible perfor- mance, Ram Sahai was praised by all the members of the commu- nity and was showered with gifts. Shortly after this performance, Ram Sahai returned to Benares.
After some time performing in Benares, Ram Sahai felt the need to make a significant change in his tabla playing. For six months, he withdrew into seclusion, and worked to develop what is now known as the Benares baj or style of tabla playing. The philosophy behind this new style of tabla playing is that it would be versatile enough to perform solo, and to accompany any form of music or dance. The tabla would be able to play delicately, as required for khyal, or more aggressively, like pakhawaj, for the accompaniment of dhrupad or kathak dance. Ram Sahai developed a new way of fingering the tabla strokes; especially important is the sound Na, being played with a curved ring finger to allow for maximum resonance of the dahina. He also composed numerous compositions within existing compositional forms (gats, tukras, parans etc.) and created new forms, such as uthan, Benarsi theka, and fard.
Today, the Benares tabla gharana is well known for its powerful sound, though Benares players are also very capable of playing delicately and sensitively. The gharana is categorized into the Purbi (eastern) baj, which includes the Farukhabad, Lucknow,
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and Benares gharanas. The Benares style makes use of the more resonant strokes of tabla, such as Na (played on the lao), and Din. Benares players preferentially use the full-hand TeTe strokes, rather than the single finger alternation preferred by the Delhi style, though both stroke types are integrated into the Benares baj repertoire. Benares tabla players are successful in all forms of tabla playing, including tabla solo, instrumental, vocal, and dance accompaniment. The tabla solo is highly developed in the Benares gharana, and some artists, such as Pandit Sharda Sahai, Pandit Kishan Maharaj, and Pandit Shamta Prasad, have become famous as tabla soloists. New generation of tabla players of Benares Gharana are Pt. Kumar Bose, Pt. Samar Saha, Pt. Balkrishna Iyer, Pt. Shashanka Bakshi, Sandeep Das, Partha Sarathi Mukherjee, Sukhwinder Singh Namdhari, Vineet Vyas and others.The Benares baj makes use of over twenty different compo- sitional types, and has an enormously varied repertoire of each type.