Rampur-Sahaswan gharana

The Rampur-Sahaswan gharana is a khayal vocal tradition of the Uttar Pradesh towns of Rampur and Sahaswan, carried almost entirely within two interrelated families — the descendants of Inayat Hussain Khan and the relatives and disciples around him. Its singing is closely related to Gwalior, from which it took much of its grammar, and it is recognised for full-throated tone, intricate taans and a strong tarana repertoire.

The line is traced to Mehboob Khan, chief khayal singer at the court of Rampur State. His son Inayat Hussain Khan (1849-1919) is named as the founder of the gharana, which takes its second name from the family's ancestral town of Sahaswan in present-day Badaun district. Inayat Hussain Khan learned from his father and from Haddu Khan of the Gwalior gharana, whose daughter he married — the marriage that explains much of the stylistic overlap between the two traditions.

The tradition passed to Inayat Hussain Khan's brothers-in-law and their descendants: Haider Khan (1857-1927), described as his first and foremost disciple; Haider Khan's son Fida Hussain Khan (1883-1948); and Fida Hussain's son Nisar Hussain Khan (1906-1993). A parallel branch runs through Mushtaq Hussain Khan (1878-1964), a disciple of Haider Khan later groomed by Inayat Hussain Khan, who became the first singer to receive the Padma Bhushan.

Both branches were unusually productive as teachers. Nisar Hussain Khan taught Ghulam Mustafa Khan, Hafeez Ahmed Khan and Rashid Khan, the singer who brought the gharana its widest late-twentieth-century audience. Mushtaq Hussain Khan's students included Sumati Mutatkar, Naina Devi, Shanno Khurana and Sulochana Brahaspati — and, for a period, Bhimsen Joshi, who is nonetheless remembered as a Kirana singer. Sakuntala Narasimhan, a disciple of Hafeez Ahmed Khan, published a book-length study of the gharana in 2006.

The gharana also shaped the teaching at ITC Sangeet Research Academy in Kolkata: Nisar Hussain Khan was among the maestros who joined its faculty after its formation in 1977, and Rashid Khan, his student, is among the academy's best-known alumni (Wikipedia, ITC Sangeet Research Academy).

The gayaki is described as close to Gwalior: medium-slow tempos, a full-throated open voice, and detailed rhythmic play against the cycle rather than dramatic tempo contrast. What distinguishes it is the range and construction of its taans — varied in shape and demanding in execution — and a strong tarana repertoire, the syllable-based form in which rhythmic sound rather than poetic text carries the melody. Clarity of the composition itself is valued over display, and the bandish remains audible through the elaboration.