Gauhar Jaan (born Angelina Yeoward; 26 June 1873 – 17 January 1930) was an Indian singer and dancer from
Kolkata
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...
. She was one of the first performers to record music on 78 rpm records in India, which was later released by the
Gramophone Company of India
Saregama India Ltd. (Saregama refers to the first four notes of the Indian musical scale); formerly known as The Gramophone Company Of India Ltd. is India's oldest music label owned by the RP- Sanjiv Goenka Group of companies. The company i ...
and resulted in her being known as "the Gramophone girl" and "the first recording superstar of India".
Having recorded more than 600 songs in more than ten languages between 1902 and 1920, Jaan is credited with popularising Hindustani classical music such as ''
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 ...
'', ''
dadra
Dadra is associated with the Hindustani classical music of the Indian subcontinent.
Dadra tala
This is a Hindustani classical '' tala'' (rhythmic cycle), consisting of six beats in two equal divisions of three. The most commonly accepted theka ...
'', ''
kajri
Kajari is a folk song and dance genre of India. It is a Hindustani classical music genre, performed during the rainy season usually late June to September when lush greenery reappears and agricultural labor begins again.
It is often used to de ...
'', and ''
tarana
''Tarana'' is a type of composition in Hindustani classical vocal music in which certain words (e.g. "odani", "todani", "tadeem" and "yalali") based on Persian and Arabic phonemes are rendered at a medium (''madhya laya'') or fast (''drut laya'' ...
'' during the period.
Early life
Gauhar Jaan was born as Eleen Angelina Yeoward on 26 June 1873 in
Azamgarh, of Armenian descent. Her father, Robert William Yeoward, worked as an engineer in a dry ice factory, and married her mother, Adeline Victoria Hemmings, in 1872. Victoria, an Indian by birth, had been trained in music and dance.
In 1879 the marriage ended, causing hardships to both mother and daughter, who moved to
Banaras
Varanasi (; ; also Banaras or Benares (; ), and Kashi.) is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world.
*
*
*
* The city has a syncretic tra ...
in 1881, with a Muslim nobleman, 'Khursheed', who appreciated Victoria's music more than her husband. Later, Victoria converted to Islam and changed Angelina's name to 'Gauhar Jaan' and hers to 'Malka Jaan'.
[The importance of being Gauhar Jan](_blank)
The Tribune ''The Tribune'' or ''Tribune'' is the name of various newspapers:
United States Daily California
*''Oakland Tribune''
* ''The Tribune'' (San Luis Obispo)
*'' San Gabriel Valley Tribune''
Indiana
*''Kokomo Tribune''
*'' Peru Tribune''
* ''The Trib ...
, 26 May 2002.
Career
In time, Victoria (now 'Malka Jaan') became an accomplished singer,
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 ...
dancer and a courtesan in Banaras, and made a name for herself, as ''Badi Malka Jan''; she was called ''Badi'' (elder) because at that time three other Malka Jans were famous: Malka Jan of
Agra
Agra (, ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital New Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is ...
, Malka Jan of Mulk Pukhraj and Malka Jan of ''Chulbuli'', and she was the eldest amongst them.
Malka Jaan moved back to Calcutta in 1883, and established herself in the courts of Nawab
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 ...
, who had settled at Metiaburj (Garden Reach), near
Kolkata
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...
and within three years purchased a building at 24 Chit pore Road (now Rabindra Sarani), for Rs. 40,000. It is here that young Gauhar started her training, she learnt pure and light classical
Hindustani vocal music from, Kale Khan of
Patiala
Patiala () is a city in southeastern Punjab, India, Punjab, northwestern India. It is the fourth largest city in the state and is the administrative capital of Patiala district. Patiala is located around the ''Qila Mubarak, Patiala, Qila Mubarak ...
, 'Kalu Ustad', and Ustad
Ali Baksh Jarnail
Ustad Ali Baksh Jarnail Khan (1850 – 1920) was an Indian classical singer. Together with his friend Fateh Ali Khan, he founded the Patiala Gharana in the 19th century. They used to sing together as a team back then.https://www.swarganga.org/art ...
(founding members of
Patiala Gharana
The Patiala ''gharana'' (, ) is one of the vocal (tradition, school, or style of music) of Hindustani classical music, named after the city of Patiala in Punjab, India where it was established. The ''gharana'' was founded in the mid to late 19th ...
) and
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 ...
from legendary Brindadin Maharaj (granduncle of
Birju Maharaj
Pandit Birju Maharaj (born Brijmohan Nath Mishra; 4 February 1938 – 16 January 2022) was an Indian dancer, composer, singer, child molester and exponent of the Lucknow "Kalka-Bindadin" Gharana of Kathak dance in India. He was a descendant o ...
),
Dhrupad
Dhrupad is a genre in Hindustani classical music from the Indian subcontinent. It is the oldest known style of major vocal styles associated with Hindustani classical music, Haveli Sangeet of Pushtimarg Sampraday and also related to the South Ind ...
dhamar from Srijanbai, and Bengali Keertan from Charan Das. Soon she also started writing and composing
ghazals
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 p ...
under the pen-name 'Hamdam' and became proficient in
Rabindra Sangeet
''Rabindra Sangeet'' ( bn, রবীন্দ্র সঙ্গীত; ), also known as Tagore Songs, are songs from the Indian subcontinent written and composed by the Bengali polymath Rabindranath Tagore, winner of the 1913 Nobel Prize in Li ...
.
[Gohar Jan](_blank)
Chowk, 16 April 2008.
Gauhar Jaan gave her maiden performance at the royal courts of
Darbhanga Raj
The Darbhanga Raj, also known as Raj Darbhanga and the Khandwala dynasty, was a Maithil Brahmins dynasty and the rulers of territories, not all contiguous, that were part of the Mithila region, now divided between India and Nepal.
The rulers ...
in 1887 and was appointed as court musician,
after receiving extensive dance and music training from a professional dancer at
Banaras
Varanasi (; ; also Banaras or Benares (; ), and Kashi.) is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world.
*
*
*
* The city has a syncretic tra ...
.
['My name is Gauhar Jan'](_blank)
www.the-south-asian.com, October 2003. Gauhar Jan started performing in
Calcutta
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...
in 1896 and was called the 'first dancing girl' in her records. She met Gujarati Parsi theatre artist
Amrit Keshav Nayak
Amrit Keshav Nayak (14 April 1877 – 18 July 1907) was a Parsi theatre actor-director, lyricist and Gujarati author. He joined theatre at early age and later directed several plays including adaptations of plays of Shakespeare. He wrote plays an ...
around 1904–1905 and had a brief relationship with him before his sudden death in 1907. He helped her recover from trauma following death of her mother.
Gauhar Jaan first visited
Madras
Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
in 1910, for a concert in the
Victoria Public Hall
Victoria Public Hall, or the Town Hall, is a historical building in Chennai, named after Victoria, Empress of India. It is one of the finest examples of British architecture in Chennai and was built to commemorate the golden jubilee of Que ...
, and soon her
Hindustani and Urdu songs were published in a Tamil music book. In December 1911, she was famously invited to perform at the coronation of
King George V
George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936.
Born during the reign of his grandmother Que ...
at
Delhi Durbar
The Delhi Durbar ( lit. "Court of Delhi") was an Indian imperial-style mass assembly organized by the British at Coronation Park, Delhi, India, to mark the succession of an Emperor or Empress of India. Also known as the Imperial Durbar, it was ...
, where she sang a duet, ''Ye Hai Tajposhi Ka Jalsa, Mubarak Ho Mubarak Ho'', with Jankibai of
Allahabad
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 ...
.
Eventually, in her final days, she moved to
Mysore
Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude of ...
, at the invitation of
Krishna Raja Wadiyar IV
Maharaja Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV (Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar; 4 June 1884 – 3 August 1940) was the twenty-fourth maharaja of the Kingdom of Mysore, from 1902 until his death in 1940. He is popularly called ''Rajarshi'' ( sa, rājarṣi, lit ...
of
Mysore
Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude of ...
, and on 1 August 1928,
she was appointed as a 'Palace musician', though she died within 18 months, on 17 January 1930 in
Mysore
Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude of ...
.
In her lifetime, she recorded more than 600 songs from 1902 to 1920, in more than ten languages, including Bengali, Hindustani, Gujarati, Tamil, Marathi, Arabic, Persian, Pushto, French, and English. She would round off her performances for a record by announcing 'My name is Gohar Jan'.
She popularised light
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 ...
with her
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 ...
,
dadra
Dadra is associated with the Hindustani classical music of the Indian subcontinent.
Dadra tala
This is a Hindustani classical '' tala'' (rhythmic cycle), consisting of six beats in two equal divisions of three. The most commonly accepted theka ...
,
kajri
Kajari is a folk song and dance genre of India. It is a Hindustani classical music genre, performed during the rainy season usually late June to September when lush greenery reappears and agricultural labor begins again.
It is often used to de ...
,
chaiti
Chaiti are semi-classical songs, originating from the Indian subcontinent, sung in the Hindu calendar month of Chait. These songs are rendered during the Holy month of Sri Rama Navami in March/April. It falls under light classical form of Hindustan ...
,
bhajan
Bhajan refers to any devotional song with a religious theme or spiritual ideas, specifically among Indian religions, in any language. The term bhajanam (Sanskrit: भजनम्) means ''reverence'' and originates from the root word ''bhaj'' ...
,
tarana
''Tarana'' is a type of composition in Hindustani classical vocal music in which certain words (e.g. "odani", "todani", "tadeem" and "yalali") based on Persian and Arabic phonemes are rendered at a medium (''madhya laya'') or fast (''drut laya'' ...
renditions, and also mastered the technique of condensing performing the elaborate melody Hindustani classical style to just three and a half minutes for a record. Her most famous song are,
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 ...
sung in
Bhairavi
Bhairavi ( sa, भैरवी) is a Hindu goddess, described as one of the Mahāvidyas, the ten avatars of the mother goddess. She is the consort of Bhairava.
Etymology
The name ''Bhairavi'' means "terror" or "awe-inspiring". She is the ...
is ''Mora nahak laye gavanava, jabse gaye mori sud huna live'', ''Ras ke bhare Tore Nain'', ''Mere dard-e-jigar'' and Bhajans like, ''Radhey Krishna Bol Mukhse''.
Inspiration and honours
It is said that
Begum Akhtar
Akhtari Bai Faizabadi (7 October 1914 – 30 October 1974), also known as Begum Akhtar, was an Indian singer and actress. Dubbed "Mallika-e-Ghazal" (Queen of Ghazals), she is regarded as one of the greatest singers of ghazal, dadra, and thumr ...
in her early days wanted to pursue a career in Hindi films, but after listening to the singing of Gauhar and her mother, she gave up the idea completely and devoted herself to learning
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 ...
, in fact, her first teacher was Ustad
Imdad Khan
Ustad Imdad Khan (1848 – 1920) was a sitar and surbahar player. He was the first sitar player ever to be recorded.[sarangi
The sārangī is a bowed, short-necked string instrument played in traditional music from South Asia – Punjabi folk music, Rajasthani folk music, and Boro folk music (there known as the ''serja'') – in Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. It is ...]
.
On 26 June 2018,
Google
Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...
commemorated Gauhar Jaan with a
Doodle
A doodle is a drawing made while a person's attention is otherwise occupied. Doodles are simple drawings that can have concrete representational meaning or may just be composed of random and abstract lines or shapes, generally without ever lift ...
on her 145th birth anniversary.
Google commented: "Gauhar Jaan, who emerged on the scene at the turn of the 20th century, gained popularity through her singing and dancing, and would go on to define the future of Indian performance art.".
India's first recording sessions
India's first recording sessions included Gauhar Jaan, singing a
khayal
Khyal or Khayal (ख़याल / خیال) is a major form of Hindustani classical music in the Indian subcontinent. Its name comes from a Persian/Arabic word meaning "imagination". Khyal is associated with romantic poetry, and allows the perfor ...
in Raag Jogiya, recorded by
Fred Gaisberg
Frederick William Gaisberg (1 January 1873 – 2 September 1951) was an American musician, recording engineer and one of the earliest classical music producers for the phonograph, gramophone. He himself did not use the term 'producer', and was not ...
of the
Gramophone Company
The Gramophone Company Limited (The Gramophone Co. Ltd.), based in the United Kingdom and founded by Emil Berliner, was one of the early recording companies, the parent organisation for the ''His Master's Voice (HMV)'' label, and the European ...
. The sessions began on 8 November 1902. Over the course of six weeks, more than 500 matrices were recorded of local artists. The records were manufactured in Germany and shipped to India in April 1903. They proved a great success in popularising the gramophone in India, where locals had no interest or appreciation for Western music. The recording was done in a makeshift recording studio in two large rooms of a hotel in
Kolkata
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...
. By 1903, her records started appearing in Indian markets and were in great demand.
[Rebuilding a 100 years of priceless recordings](_blank)
The Indian Express
''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932. It is published in Mumbai by the Indian Express Group. In 1999, eight years after the group's founder Ramnath Goenka's death in 1991, the group was split betw ...
, 17 September 2006.['First dancing girl, Calcutta'](_blank)
/ref>
Restoration and release
Saregama India (formerly the Gramophone Co. of India Ltd. or His Master's Voice
His Master's Voice (HMV) was the name of a major British record label created in 1901 by The Gramophone Co. Ltd. The phrase was coined in the late 1890s from the title of a painting by English artist Francis Barraud, which depicted a Jack Russ ...
(HMV
Sunrise Records and Entertainment, trading as HMV (for His Master's Voice), is a British music and entertainment retailer, currently operating exclusively in the United Kingdom.
The first HMV-branded store was opened by the Gramophone Company ...
)), is planning to re-release the milestone recordings of Gauhar Jaan, after retrieving them from Gramophone Company's London archives, and restoring them to their original glory.
Her songs are also part of the 'Vintage Music From India' (1996) audio album, and her image forms its cover.'Vintage Music From India'
/ref>
Contemporaries
There were four singing contemporaries of Gauhar Jaan with first names pronounced the same way as hers and sometimes spelled in English in different ways:
* Gauhar Jan of Patiala;
* Miss Gohar, who was associated with Parsi Theatrical Company in Bombay
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...
(Mumbai);
* Gohar Kayoum Mamajiwala (also known as Miss Gohar), a singer actress who was associated with and mistress of Sardar Chandulal Shah of Ranjit Films (studio), Bombay; and
*Gohar Bai Karnataka of Bijapur. She is typically associated with Bal Gandharva
Narayan Shripad Rajhans, popularly known as Bal Gandharva, (26 June 1888 – 15 July 1967) was a famous Marathi singer and a stage actor. He was known for his roles in female characters in Marathi plays, since women were not allowed to act on ...
See also
* Tawaif
A ''tawaif'' was a highly successful entertainer who catered to the nobility of the Indian subcontinent, particularly during the Mughal Empire, Mughal era. The tawaifs excelled in and contributed to music, dance (mujra), theatre, and the Urdu l ...
* Nautch
The nautch (; meaning "dance" or "dancing")Scott A. Kugle, 2016When Sun Meets Moon: Gender, Eros, and Ecstasy in Urdu Poetry p.230. was a popular court dance performed by girls (known as "nautch girls") in India. The culture of the performing ...
Further reading
*
Khayal and thumri gayaki of Late Gauhar Jan of Calcutta
S. R. Mehta, Volume 5 (January 1992), ''The Record News'', The Journal of 'The Society of Indian Record Collectors' (SIRC).
*
* Lall, Inder Jit, "Erotic Malika who wrote poetry", ''Patriot Magazine'', 22 April 1973
References
External links
by David Courtney
David Courtney (born David Cohen, 1950, Brighton, East Sussex) is a British singer, songwriter and record producer. Courtney's first big break was as a songwriter with Adam Faith and Leo Sayer; Courtney co-wrote several hit songs with them (incl ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jaan, Gauhar
1873 births
1930 deaths
Hindustani singers
Indian women classical singers
Kathak exponents
Singers from Kolkata
Indian people of Armenian descent
20th-century Indian singers
19th-century Indian dancers
20th-century Indian dancers
19th-century Indian singers
Women Hindustani musicians
Dancers from Uttar Pradesh
Singers from Uttar Pradesh
20th-century Indian women artists
19th-century Indian women artists
Women artists from Uttar Pradesh
20th-century Indian women singers
19th-century Indian women singers
Women musicians from Uttar Pradesh
People from Azamgarh