Sham Chaurasi Gharana is a vocal gharana (a family's style of singing) in

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 ...

known for the singing of vocal duets. It is also known as the cradle of

drupad 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 ...

. It is one of the four singing gharanas of Punjab; the other three are:

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 ...

, Talwandi and Kapurthala. It is most notably represented in modern times by the brothers Nazakat and

Salamat Ali Khan Salamat Ali Khan (12 December 1934 11 July 2001) was a Pakistani vocalist and touring artist known for his contribution to the Hindustani classical music. Widely regarded as one of the greatest classical singers of the Indian subcontinent, ...

History

The gharana is believed to have been founded in the 16th century by Chand Khan and Suraj Khan who were contemporaries of

Tansen Tansen ( – 26 April 1589), also referred to and commonly known as Sangeet Samrat () , was a Hindustani classical musician. Born in a Hindu Gaur Brahmin family, he learnt and perfected his art in the northwest region of modern Madhya Pr ...

at the court of

Mughal emperor The Mughal emperors ( fa, , Pādishāhān) were the supreme heads of state of the Mughal Empire on the Indian subcontinent, mainly corresponding to the modern countries of India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. The Mughal rulers styled t ...

Akbar Abu'l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar (25 October 1542 – 27 October 1605), popularly known as Akbar the Great ( fa, ), and also as Akbar I (), was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Hum ...

. Successive generations of musicians in the gharana specialised in the

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 ...

form of singing and evolved a tradition of duet vocal (

jugalbandi A jugalbandi or jugalbandhi is a performance in Indian classical music, especially in Hindustani classical music but also in Carnatic, that features a duet of two solo musicians. The word jugalbandi means, literally, "entwined twins." The duet ca ...

) performances. Meer Baksh and Khairdeen, Karam Elahi Khan, Vilayat Ali and Hadayat Khan, Ghulam Shabir Khan and Ghulam Jafar Khan, Nazakat Ali and Salamat Ali are noted practitioners of

from this gharana. The gharana is centred at

Shamchaurasi Shamchaurasi is a town and a municipal council in Hoshiarpur district in the Indian state of Punjab. It is also a constituency of the Punjab Legislative Assembly. In 2019, the Punjab Government announced that Shamchaurasi would be upgraded to a ...

in the

Hoshiarpur Hoshiarpur () is a city and a Municipal corporations in India, municipal corporation in Hoshiarpur district in the Doaba region of the Indian state of Punjab, India, Punjab. It was founded, according to tradition, during the early part of the ...

district of

Punjab, India Punjab (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in northern India. Forming part of the larger Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, the state is bordered by the States and union territories of India, Indian states of Himachal ...

; alternate spellings include Shamchurasi. An explanation of the name is that ''sham'' is taken from the name of the

Sufi Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, ...

saint, Sant Shami Shah and (''chaurasi'' =84) was named after a cluster of 84 villages which constituted a land revenue unit., Retrieved 7 November 2018 According to one legend, the founders were given a parcel of land here as a grant to them by

Mughal Emperor The Mughal emperors ( fa, , Pādishāhān) were the supreme heads of state of the Mughal Empire on the Indian subcontinent, mainly corresponding to the modern countries of India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. The Mughal rulers styled t ...

. In an alternative version of the origin, the Mughal Emperor Muhammad Shah "Rangila" was said to have been so impressed by the gharana that he gave all income from the 84 local villages, known as 'Chaurasi', to the Sufi saint Sant Shami Shah.

Nazakat and Salamat Ali Khan

Around the turn of the century, the gharana was represented by Vilayat Ali Khan, who was noted for his

singing. His sons were Salamat Ali Khan, Nazakat Ali Khan, Tasadaq Ali Khan, Akhter Ali Khan and Zakir Ali Khan. The brothers Nazakat Ali Khan (1928-1984) and Salamat Ali Khan (1934-2001) had their debut performance on

All India Radio All or ALL may refer to: Language * All, an indefinite pronoun in English * All, one of the English determiners * Allar language (ISO 639-3 code) * Allative case (abbreviated ALL) Music * All (band), an American punk rock band * ''All'' (All a ...

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

in 1942, when Salamat was only 8. They went to

Amritsar Amritsar (), historically also known as Rāmdāspur and colloquially as ''Ambarsar'', is the second largest city in the Indian state of Punjab, after Ludhiana. It is a major cultural, transportation and economic centre, located in the Majha r ...

for a memorable concert: :"When the performance started, it seemed like a feast of musical notes had descended upon us in the audience. Every member of the audience was amazed and in complete awe of the duo. It was almost unbelievable that boys of that age could give such a fine performance. When the drut portion started, the brothers gave a blazing display of

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 ...

s, sargams and ''layakari'', which left the audience stunned".: After the 1947

partition of India The Partition of British India in 1947 was the Partition (politics), change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: ...

, the family first moved to

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 List ...

, Pakistan and later moved to

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

. They emerged as one of the leading performers of

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...

in Pakistan. Famous Indian playback singer

Lata Mangeshkar Lata Mangeshkar () (born as Hema Mangeshkar; 28 September 1929 – 06 February 2022) was an Indian playback singer and occasional music composer. She is widely considered to have been the greatest and most influential singers in India. Her cont ...

once reportedly said that Ustad Salamat Ali Khan was the greatest classical vocalist of the Indian subcontinent. A number of their recordings exist from their very fruitful partnership until 1974. Subsequently, due to differences over finances,Biography of Salamat Ali Khan on The Friday Times (newspaper)
Published 14 Jan 2011, Retrieved 7 November 2018 they broke up, and then Nazakat Ali Khan died in 1984, but Salamat Ali Khan continued singing along with his sons Sharafat Ali Khan and

Shafqat Ali Khan Shafqat Ali Khan (born 17 June 1972) is a classical singer of the khyal vocal genre, from Pakistan, belonging to the Sham Chaurasia gharana.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 ...

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 ...

and

Kafi Kafi ( pa, ਕਾਫ਼ੀ (Gurmukhi), (Shahmukhi), Hindi: काफ़ी, Urdu: کافی, Sindhi:ڪافي) is a classical form of Sufi music mostly in the Siraiki, Punjabi and Sindhi languages and originating from the Punjab, and Sindh ...

singing. Notable students (shagird) of Ustad Salamat Ali Khan include Ustad Hussain Bakhsh Gullu, Ustad Shafqat Ali Khan, Abida Parveen and many more. Ustad Salamat Ali Khan was awarded the

Pride of Performance The Pride of Performance ( ur, ), officially known as Presidential Pride of Performance, is an award bestowed by the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to recognize people with "notable achievements in the field of art, science, literature, sports, an ...

Award in 1989 by the

President of Pakistan The president of Pakistan ( ur, , translit=s̤adr-i Pākiṣṭān), officially the President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is the ceremonial head of state of Pakistan and the commander-in-chief of the Pakistan Armed Forces.Profile and award info for Salamat Ali Khan
travel-culture.com website, Retrieved 7 November 2018

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sham Chaurasi gharana Vocal gharanas Hindustani music Music schools in India Music schools in Pakistan Indian classical music Classical music in Pakistan