Some "notes" on the Sitar

S. P. Bhattacharyya

Alaap

    The Sitar has evolved from the ancient (1000 AD and earlier) Indian Veena, a fretted string instrument played by Saraswati, the Goddess of Music and Learning.  Its development was also influenced by instruments from Persia (Iran) and the Middle East such as the Sehtar and Oudh.  The modern Sitar has 5 main melody strings tune to Ma (F), Sa (C), Pa (G), Sa (C), and Pa (G), two Chikari strings for rhythm and Jhala, tuned to upper Sa (C) and 11 sympathetic Tarab strings which are tuned to the Raga being performed.  The curved brass frets, which are about 20 in number, are adjustable to coincide with the notes of the Raga.  The pulling of the main strings across these frets produce the Meends (glides), a specialty of the Sitar.  The sympathetic Tarab strings which enrich the tonality of the instrument are a characteristic feature of Indian string instruments and are a realization of the underlying concept that music consists of a combination of Ahat (struck) and Anahat (unstruck) sounds.  The strings are plucked by a Mizrab, a wire plectrum worn on the tip of the index finger.

    Early accounts and paintings indicate that instruments resembling the Sitar were used during religious festivities in pre-Islamic India.  Later, in the Mughal period (12th to 18th century), the Sitar came to be used to accompany "nautch" girls as they entertained the courtiers by singing and dancing.  It is only in the 18th and 19th century that the Sitar gradually developed into and acquired the status of a solo classical instrument.  This is due to the efforts of many dedicated court musicians of Delhi, Rampur, Gwalior, Lucknow, Benares, Jaipur, and Bengal.

Jod

    Intensive developments began to occur in Indian classical music starting in the 16th century when the legendary Tansen (1520-1589) was installed as one of the Nine Jewels in the court of Emperor Akbar in Fatehpur Sikri.  Tansen is supposed to have had the ability to produce rain and fire with the power of his music.  He consolidated and created many compositions and Ragas which are well known today, such as Darbari Kanhra, Miya-ki-Malhar and Darbari Todi, and laid down the foundations of Dhrupad music, both vocal and instrumental.  The Dhrupad style is a slow, dignified and deliberate development of a Raga not admitting any fast movements or flashiness in the improvisation.  Tansen's descendants and their disciples form an unbroken musical line lasting 400 years until today and make up the musical "family" called the Seni Gharana.  This Gharana forms the backbone of North Indian classical music and most of the important musicians of Northern India claim some connection to it.

    The main string instruments used in the time of Tansen were the Been and the Seni Rabab and the rhythm was kept by the Pakhawaj, a single drum similar to the South Indian Mridangam.  These instruments were suitable for the slow Dhrupad style of music.  With the passage of time the Dhrupad style was superceded by the Khyal (fanciful) style where faster Taans (musical passages) and fancy rhythmic work were important components of composition and performance.  Khyal singing was developed around the early 1700's by Niyamat Khan of Delhi, and further expanded in the 1800's by the brothers Hassu Khan and Haddu Khan of Gwalior.

    In turn these developments in vocal music required that corresponding changes occur in the instruments which now had to play faster Gats (composition set to a rhythm cycle) and Taans.  Thus the Been and Seni Rabab naturally evolved beginning from around this time into the Sitar and Sarod as we know them today.  The Pakhawaj also gradually lost its position as an accompanying instrument to the more dynamic Tabla.

Jhala

    The invention of the Sitar was for some time believed to be the work of Amir Khusro the noted literary, musical and intellectual figure of the 13th century.  Amir Khusro, who was born in 1253 AD in the state of Uttar Pradesh and served in the Delhi court of Allauddin Khilji, has been credited also with the invention of the vocal music forms Qawwali, Khyal and Tarana and also the melodies Raga Yaman and Raga Basant Mukhari among other tings.  It turns out that none of these figured in Khusro's own writings and, although he alludes to several instruments in use at the time, there is no mention of any instrument resembling the Sitar.

    Modern historians are in agreement that the confusion could stem from the fact that there is a second Amir Khusro, also known as Khusrau Khan, who lived in the 18th century and was a musician in the court of Muhammad Shah of Delhi (1719-1748).  The 18th century Amir Khusro was indeed responsible for the development of the Sitar as a classical instrument and its introduction to the Delhi court.  Amir Khusro's brother Niyamat Khan, a Beenkar (veena player) and vocalist in the Dhrupad tradition was the leading and most famous musician in the Delhi court.  They were descendants of Tansen from his daughter Saraswati's line.  Khusro's son Firoz Khan and grandson Masit Khan were Sitarias (professional Sitar players) and introduced many innovations into the art of Sitar playing.  The Firozkhani Gat and Masitkhani Gat, structures used in today's music, are their creations. 

    According to one story Niyamat Khan and his nephew Firoz Khan were insulted on one occasion when a vocalist they were accompanying called them "nirjeev" (lifeless).  The Emperor sympathized with the vocalist and Niyamat Khan and Firoz Khan left the court and settled in the outskirts of Delhi.  Under the pennames of Sadarang and Adarang they created many lively compositions in beautiful and melodious Ragas using fast and dynamic Taans.  Thus was born the new vocal music style which came to be known as Khyal.  The composition of Adarang and Sadarang continue to figure in today's Khyal singing.  Several of these compositions were in praise of the Emperor who then invited them back to his court in Delhi.  Firoz Khan thus incorporated into his Sitar playing both the Beenkar and slow Dhrupad styles as well as the new Khyal style with its fast Taans and rhythmic work.  His son Masit Khan further developed the classical art of Sitar playing by composing many Gats in which the purity of the Raga's melodic structure was carefully retained.

    The most important Sitaria of the 19th century was Amritsen (1814-1893), son of Rahimsen, a Sitar player and a descendant of Tansen, from his son Bilas Khan.  These musicians established the Sitar branch of the Seni Gharana in Jaipur.  It was said that Amritsen was born with a silver spoon in his mouth.  He began performing with his father from the age of 10 and was appointed a court musician from the age of 14 with a handsome salary.  His concert fees at that time were between Rs.500-1000 for each performance and he lived lavishly and extravagantly.

    Another important Sitaria of that period was Ghulam Raza from the Lucknow court of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah.  Ghulam Raza wielded considerable influence in the Lucknow court and at one point was even appointed Deputy Prime Minister.  Wajid Ali was a great patron of musicians and it was during his stewardship that the Thumri and Dadra vocal forms and the Kathak dance from were developed in the Nawabi, and according to some decadent culture of Lucknow.  In 1850 Ghulam Raza was asked to leave Lucknow as he was discovered to be haning an affair with one Surfaraz Mahal, one of Wajid Ali's queens.  He and his son Ali Raza are credited with the development of the compositional structure known as the Razakhani Gat.  Wajid Ali Shah was eventually banished from Lucknow by the British in 1856 and went and settled in Calcutta taking with him his entourage of more than 150 musicians.  This had a significant impact and Calcutta and Bengal in general became one of the most important centers of North Indian classical music.

    IN the late 19th century Imdad Khan was one of the highly regarded and innovative Sitar players of Calcutta.  His son Enayat Khan continued the tradition and today his musical line continues with the great Sitaria Ustad Vilayat Khan.

    The greatest contribution of Bengal to classical music is undoubtedly Ustad Allauddin Khan whose personality dominated the instrumental music scene of North India during the first half of the 20th century.  His musical education occured in Rampur from the leaders of the Seni Gharana of the 19th century. His extensive teachings, numerous compositions and disciples and extensive musical activity in general, founded what is known today as the Seni Allaudin Gharana.  During the latter half of the 20th century his most distinguished disciples Pandit Ravi Shankar and Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, who is also his son, brought the Sitar and Sarode respectively, to concert stages in almost all countries of the world, establishing Indian classical music permanently on the world music scene.  Their teachings have produced generations of highly capable disciples, amony whom Indrajit Banerjee stands out as a rising Sitaria.

    As we come to the close of the 20th century there is increasing interest in the history of Indian music and some important research works such as [1] have begun to appear.  Some of the "notes" given here are taken from this source and the interested reader is urged to consult [1] for a delightfully refreshing yet detailed and serious history of North Indian classical instruments music.

[1] Allyn Miner "Sitar and Sarod in the 18th and 19th Centuries" Ed. by International Institute for Traditional music, Berlin, Wilhelmshaven:Noetzel, 1993.

S.P. Bhattacharyya is Professor of Electrical Engineering and a faculty adviser to SPICMACAY at Texas A&M University.  He is also a disciple of Sarode maestro Ustad Ali Akbar Khan and a performing concert artist.

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