Raja Chakradhar Singh (19 August 1905 −7 October 1947) was the

Raja ''Raja'' (; from , IAST ') is a royal title used for South Asian monarchs. The title is equivalent to king or princely ruler in South Asia and Southeast Asia. The title has a long history in South Asia and Southeast Asia, being attested f ...

Raigarh Raigarh is a city in Eastern Chhattisgarh. History The tradition preserved by the ruling family of the erstwhile state of Raigarh maintains that the Raj Gond family migrated to this region from Bairagarh/Wariagarh of Chanda district of Mahara ...

and Chief of

Bargarh Bargarh is a city and municipality in Bargarh district in the state of odisha in India. It is the administrative headquarters of Bargarh District. Bargarh is popularly known for intensive cultivation of 'paddy', therefore called "Bhata Handi" o ...

ruled by Gond dynasty. He was the ruler of

Princely state of Raigarh Raigarh was a princely state in India at the time of the British Raj. The state was ruled by a Gond dynasty of Gond clan. History Raigarh estate was founded in 1625 by Madan Singh. He was descended from the Gond kings of Chanda. In 1911 R ...

from 1924 till his death in 1947. He was son of Raja Bhup Deo Singh, who died in 1917.

Early life

He completed his education from

Rajkumar College, Raipur Rajkumar College (or RKC) in Raipur, Chhattisgarh, is one of the oldest K-12 foundations of India. It was founded by Sir Andrew Fraser in the year 1882 at Jabalpur. The School functioned at Jabalpur till 1892 and thereafter, shifted to its presen ...

. He succeeded to throne of Raigrah upon death of his elder brother,

Raja Natwar Singh Raja Natwar Singh Bahadur (13 March 1891-1924) was ruler of Raigarh State from 1917- 1924. He succeeded to throne upon death of his father Raja Bhup Deo Singh Bahadur on 22 March 1917, but proved to be incapable of managing his state and it was ...

in 1924. The government management however continued till 1927 when Raja was invested with powers.Raigarh darbar by P. D. Ashirwadam Agam Kala Prakashan, 1990 On the contribution of Chakradhar Singh, Raja of Raigarh, 1905–1947, to Kathak dance and Hindustani music.Memoranda on the Indian States 1939– Page 118

Music

He was a great patron of Indian arts, classical dance, music invited to his capital music and dance-experts from different parts of the country. His contribution has been important in the development of the classical form of

Kathak Kathak ( hi, कथक; ur, کتھک) is one of the eight major forms of Indian classical dance. It is the classical dance from of Uttar Pradesh. The origin of Kathak is traditionally attributed to the traveling bards in ancient northern Ind ...

. During the reign of Raja Chakradhar Singh, experts of both the gharanas, namely, Jaipur and Lucknow gained prominent positions and were patronised by him.Indian Dance: The Ultimate Metaphor by Shanta Serbjeet Singh – 2000 – Page 64 Even experts from Benaras gharna were in his court. The Raigarh Gharana of

was established by him during his reign, which produced many luminaries, dancers, singers and musicians due to his patronage and philanthropy.The India Magazine of Her People and Culture by A. H. Advani- Volume 6 – 1985– Page 250 October 7, 1947, was a sad day for the artistes, art lovers and the people of Raigarh. Raja Chakradhar Singh died suddenly and the haven of music he created came to a standstill leaving everyone bereft Among the noted Kathak exponents to have served his court were Pandit Jaggannath Prasad of Jaipur Gharana and Guru Kalaka Prasad and his sons of Lucknow Gharana. He invented a new dance form by mixing different dance forms, which led to foundation of Raigarh Gharana. Raigarh Gharana thus founded by Raja Chakradhar Singh, although the youngest of all gharanas, has its own compositions of

thumri Thumri () is a vocal genre or style of Indian music. The term "thumri" is derived from the Hindi verb ''thumuknaa'', which means "to walk with a dancing gait in such a way that the ankle-bells tinkle." The form is, thus, connected with dance, dra ...

ghazal The ''ghazal'' ( ar, غَزَل, bn, গজল, Hindi-Urdu: /, fa, غزل, az, qəzəl, tr, gazel, tm, gazal, uz, gʻazal, gu, ગઝલ) is a form of amatory poem or ode, originating in Arabic poetry. A ghazal may be understood as a ...

s, ''todas'' and ''bols'' which are unique in themselves. Chakradhar Singh was himself a great exponent of

tabla A tabla, bn, তবলা, prs, طبلا, gu, તબલા, hi, तबला, kn, ತಬಲಾ, ml, തബല, mr, तबला, ne, तबला, or, ତବଲା, ps, طبله, pa, ਤਬਲਾ, ta, தபலா, te, తబల� ...

and

pakhawaj The pakhavaj is a barrel-shaped, two-headed drum, originating from the Indian subcontinent, the oldest version of double sided drums and its descendants are mridangam of Southern India and kendang of Maritime Southeast Asia and other South Asia ...

. He was himself also a good dancer and musician. His patronage extended to all dancers irrespective of their

gharana In Hindustani music (North Indian classical music), a ''gharānā'' is a system of social organisation in the Indian subcontinent, linking musicians or dancers by lineage or apprenticeship, and more importantly by adherence to a particular mus ...

.India's Kathak Dance Past, Present, Future: – Page 28 His name is often taken with

Wajid Ali Shah Mirza Wajid Ali Shah ( ur, ) (30 July 1822 – 1 September 1887) was the eleventh and last King of Awadh, holding the position for 9 years, from 13 February 1847 to 11 February 1856. Wajid Ali Shah's first wife was Alam Ara who was better k ...

Awadh Awadh (), known in British historical texts as Avadh or Oudh, is a region in the modern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, which was before independence known as the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh. It is synonymous with the Kośāla region of ...

as a patron of classical Indian dance and music, especially with respect to Kathak dance and

Hindustani classical music Hindustani classical music is the classical music of northern regions of the Indian subcontinent. It may also be called North Indian classical music or, in Hindustani, ''shastriya sangeet'' (). It is played in instruments like the violin, sita ...

. Among the dancers and musicians to have performed or served his court were Pandit Makhan Lal Chaturvedi, Dr. Ramkumar Verma, Pandit Mahaveer Prasad Dwivedi, Pandit Padumlal Punnalal Bakshi. Even

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

language writers like Pandit Sadashiv Das, Pandit Sharda Prasad, Pandit Kashi Dutt Jha served him, through them he translated a lot of music and dance literature in Sanskrit. In 1938, Chakradhar Singh headed the first All India Music Conference held at

Allahbad Allahabad (), officially known as Prayagraj, also known as Ilahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi (Benares). It is the administrat ...

. In this conference Chakradhar Singh went with his team of 60 artists. In 1939, the conference organised a welcome party for

Viceroy of India The Governor-General of India (1773–1950, from 1858 to 1947 the Viceroy and Governor-General of India, commonly shortened to Viceroy of India) was the representative of the monarch of the United Kingdom and after Indian independence in 19 ...

, where Kathak dancer Karthik Kalyan presented the dance and was assisted by Chakradhar Singh, who played Tabla. He was given title of ''Sangit Samrat - (King of Music)'' by the Viceroy Lord Linlithgow at this conference. In 1943 conference at

Khairagarh Khairagarh is a city in Khairagarh-Chhuikhadan-Gandai district. Formerly, it was the part of Rajnandgaon district. History Khairagarh State was a feudatory state of the former Central Provinces of British India. Pandadah (8 kilometer from ...

, he again played

for the dance performance of Kalyan Das. He had a very good knowledge of Hindi, Sanskrit, Urdu and Oriya and has written several books on Indian traditional music like * ''Alkapuri Tilasmi'' * ''Bairagadiya Rajkumar'' * ''Joshe Pharhad'' * ''Kavya Kanan'' * ''Mayachakra'' * ''Moorj Paran Pushpakar'' * ''Mriganayni'' * ''Nartan Sarwasya'' * ''Nigare Pharhad'' * ''Prem ke Teer'' * ''Raag Ratna Manjusha'' * ''Ramyaras'' * ''Ratnahar'' * ''Taal Toynidhi'' * ''Taalbal Pushpakar''

Death

Raja Chakaradhar Singh died on 7 October 1947 just after

independence of India The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947. The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged ...

. After his death,

Lalit Kumar Singh Raja Lalitkumar Singh (1924–2000) was the last official ruler of princely state of Raigarh State. He ascended the throne in 1947 upon death of his father Raja Chakradhar Singh and acceded his State into Union of India on 1 January 1948. He lat ...

, his son succeeded him to the throne of Raigarh and ruled briefly before the

Raigarh State Raigarh was a princely state in India at the time of the British Raj. The state was ruled by a Gond dynasty of Gond clan. History Raigarh estate was founded in 1625 by Madan Singh. He was descended from the Gond kings of Chanda. In 1911 Ra ...

was merged into Union of India on 14 December 1947. The princely states of

Jashpur Jashpur District is a district of the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh bordering Jharkhand and Odisha. Jashpur Nagar is the administrative headquarters of the district. The district was formerly a princely state before Indpendence. Highly mou ...

, Sakti,

Sarangarh Sarangarh is a New District in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. History During the British Raj era, Sarangarh State was one of several princely states governed by the Raj Gond dynasty of Rajputs. It was originally a dependency of the Ratan ...

and

Udaipur Udaipur () (ISO 15919: ''Udayapura''), historically named as Udayapura, is a city and municipal corporation in Udaipur district of the state of Rajasthan, India. It is the administrative headquarter of Udaipur district. It is the historic capit ...

were united later to form the

Raigarh district Raigarh district is a district of the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh. Raigarh is the district headquarters. The district was formed by merging the princely states of Raigarh, Sakti, Sarangarh, Udaipur and Jashpur. Jashpur is now a sepa ...

.Publication by Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics – 1973– Issue 61 – Page 346India Today 1992– Page 74 His second son Surendra Kumar Singh was s politician of

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...

Legacy

There is a music academy established after him, as his memorial at

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Chakradhar 1905 births 1947 deaths Rajas of Raigarh Kathak exponents Tabla players History of Chhattisgarh Hindustani instrumentalists Hindi-language writers 20th-century Indian musicians 20th-century drummers Musicians from Chhattisgarh 20th-century Indian philanthropists Odia-language writers Urdu-language writers