Mian Ghulam Nabi Shori popularly known as Shori Mian (1742–92) was an Indian composer of

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, si ...

. He was a court singer of

Asaf-Ud-Dowlah Mirza Asaf-ud-Daula (23 September 1748 – 21 September 1797) was the Nawab wazir of Oudh ratified by Shah Alam II, from 26 January 1775 to 21 September 1797, and the son of Shuja-ud-Dowlah. His mother and grandmother were the Begums of Oudh. ...

Nawab of Awadh The Nawab of Awadh or the Nawab of Oudh was the title of the rulers who governed the state of Awadh (anglicised as Oudh) in north India during the 18th and 19th centuries. The Nawabs of Awadh belonged to a dynasty of Persian origin from Nishap ...

. He composed

tappa Tappa is a form of Indian semi-classical vocal music. Its specialty is a rolling pace based on fast, subtle and knotty construction. Its tunes are melodious and sweet, and depict the emotional outbursts of a lover. Tappe (plural) were sung mostly by ...

, one of the most difficult classical forms, in

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising a ...

. The brisk and ornate tappa form, romantic in nature, tappa's text is always in Punjabi. It was supposed to be a song of the cameleers of

and Rajasthan.

Early life

He was born in

Multan Multan (; ) is a city in Punjab, Pakistan, on the bank of the Chenab River. Multan is Pakistan's seventh largest city as per the 2017 census, and the major cultural, religious and economic centre of southern Punjab. Multan is one of the old ...

,Raj Kumar (2003), ''Essays on Indian Music'', Discovery Publishing House, p. 10 Punjab, to Ghulam Rasool Khan. The common myth tells that he was initially trained in Khayal singing and had a great command on ''Taan''.

Tappa

He was not satisfied with Khayal for expressing his skill in singing

Taan ''Taan'' (Hindi: , ur, ) is a technique used in the vocal performance of a raga in Hindustani classical music. It involves the improvisation of very rapid melodic passages using vowels, often the long "a" as in the word "far", and it targets a ...

; he restlessly traveled in Punjab, where he listened to the folk songs of camel-riders, which he thought to be suitable for his own style of singing. He composed Tappa using various ornamentations with Taan, Jamjama, Khatka, etc. In the Tappas of Shori Miyan, in Antara we find his name as 'Shori'.

References

1742 births 1792 deaths Hindustani singers Hindustani composers Punjabi-language singers 18th-century Indian male classical singers Awadh 18th-century Indian composers Indian male composers {{India-musician-stub