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 songstresses, known as baigees, in royal courts.

History

Tappa originated from the folk songs of the camel riders 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 ...

. The tappa style of music was refined and introduced to the imperial court of the

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 ...

Muhammad Shah Mirza Nasir-ud-Din Muḥammad Shah (born Roshan Akhtar; 7 August 1702 – 26 April 1748) was the 13th Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1719 to 1748. He was son of Khujista Akhtar, the fourth son of Bahadur Shah I. After being chosen by the ...

, and later by

Mian Ghulam Nabi Shori Mian Ghulam Nabi Shori popularly known as Shori Mian (1742–92) was an Indian composer of Hindustani classical music. He was a court singer of Asaf-Ud-Dowlah, Nawab of Awadh. He composed tappa, one of the most difficult classical forms, in Punja ...

or Shori Mian, 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 Nishapu ...

. In Bengal, Ramnidhi Gupta & Kalidas Chattopadhay composed Bengali tappa and they are called Nidhu Babu's Tappa. Tappa ''gayaki'' took new shape and over decades became ''puratani'', a semi-classical form of Bengali songs. Tappa, as a significant genre in Bengali musical styles, reached levels of excellence in lyrics and rendition (gayaki), arguably unmatched in other parts of India. Hugely popular in the latter half of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th, tappa was the genre of choice of the wealthy elite as well as the classes with more modest means. An evolved format of the tappa was the ''baithaki'' style, which evolved under the direct patronage of the landed elites of the

zamindari A zamindar ( Hindustani: Devanagari: , ; Persian: , ) in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semiautonomous ruler of a province. The term itself came into use during the reign of Mughals and later the British had begun using it as a ...

classes of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, in their ''baithak-khanas'' (literally, ''baithak'' - assembly, ''khana'' - halls or salons) and

jalsaghar ''Jalsaghar'' ( bn, জলসাঘর ''Jalsāghar'', "The Music Room") is a 1958 Indian Bengali drama film written and directed by Satyajit Ray, based on a popular short story by Bengali writer Tarasankar Bandyopadhyay, and starring Chhabi Bis ...

(literally, halls for entertainment,

mujra Mujra is a dance performance by women in a format that emerged during Mughal rule in India, where the elite class and local rulers like the nawabs of the Indian society (often connected to the Mughal emperor's court) used to frequent courtesans ...

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 ...

halls) Composers of repute included Bidyasundar, Roopchaand Pakkhi,

Dadathakur Sarat Chandra Pandit (27 April 1879 – 27 April 1968), better known as ‘Dada Thakur’ (দাদাঠাকুর), was a well-known composer of humorous rhymes, writer, publisher and social critic. He had his ancestral house at Dafarpur ...

, and Hiralal Sarkhel. Unfortunately, tappa being mainly a vocal tradition, a lot of priceless material from the body of art has been lost in the passage of time. Many celebrated artists died before recordings of music became common. What is left today is mainly handed down from the generations by oral traditions as well as some written matter, occasionally turned up in the course of research.

Ramkumar Chattopadhyay Ramkumar Chattopadhyay (1921 — 18 March 2009) was an eminent Bengali singer, composer and music director. He was well known as a classical singer with a unique repertoire of ''Puratani'' (old Bengali) songs, devotional songs and Tappa. Early lif ...

was perhaps the most significant vocal proponent in recent times, of the tappa style in Bengal, renowned for his semi-humorous and majorly artistic renditions and his comical incorporation of English into the Bengali lyrics, either his own translations or his anecdotal translations based on prior sources, ostensibly for the 'comprehension' of the British 'sahibs' in the

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...

era, but containing many subversive and sarcastic tones in the English transliterations, clearly against the Imperial regime, but subtly put, so as not to arouse the suspicion of the strict and (usually) sensitive colonial government and invite charges of

sedition Sedition is overt conduct, such as speech and organization, that tends toward rebellion against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent toward, or insurrection against, estab ...

. (e.g. ''Let me go, ohe dwari, tumi kader kuler bou'' (humorously translated by him as "Madam, whose family you belong to...").

Performers

Among the prominent living performers of this style are Pt. Laxmanrao Pandit and his daughter Vidushi

Meeta Pandit Dr. Meeta Pandit is a Hindustani Classical vocalist and a leading exponent of the Gwalior Gharana. She is the granddaughter and disciple of Krishnarao Shankar Pandit and daughter of Laxman Krishnarao Pandit. She is the sixth in the unbroken line ...

, Pandita

Malini Rajurkar Malini Rajurkar (born 8 January 1941) is a Hindustani classical singer of Gwalior Gharana. Early life She grew up in the state of Rajasthan in India. For three years she taught mathematics at the Savitri Girls’ High School & College, Ajmer, ...

and

Shashwati Mandal Shashwati Mandal (b. 1971) is a Hindustani classical music vocalist. She is an exponent of the Gwalior gharana. Early life and training Shashwati was born in Gwalior in a family of musicians. Her maternal grandfather Pt. Balabhau Umdekar 'Kunda ...

of the

Gwalior Gharana The Gwalior Gharana (Gwalior school of classical music) is one of the oldest Khyal Gharana in Indian classical music. The rise of the Gwalior Gharana started with the reign of the Mughal emperor Akbar (1542–1605). The favourite singers of t ...

Shanno Khurana Shanno Khurana (born 23 December 1927) is a noted Indian classical vocalist and composer, from the Rampur-Sahaswan gharana of Hindustani classical music. A disciple of the doyen of the gharana, Ustad Mushtaq Hussain Khan (d. 1964), she is know ...

of the

Rampur-Sahaswan gharana Rampur-Sahaswan gharana is a gharana (musical heritage) of Hindustani classical music centred in the North-Uttar Pradesh towns of Rampur and Sahaswan. Ustad Inayat Hussain Khan (1849–1919) was the founder of this gharana. History The gharan ...

, Smt. Shubhada Paradkar, a disciple of

Gajananrao Joshi Gajanan Anant Joshi, better known as "Gajananbuwa Joshi", (January 30, 1911 – June 28, 1987) was a vocalist and violinist in the field of Hindustani music. Early life and background Gajananrao Joshi came from a family of musicians. His gran ...

and Pt.

Ajoy Chakrabarty Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty (born 25 December 1952) is an Hindustani classical vocalist, composer, lyricist and an exponent of the Patiala-Kasur gharana. He was given Padma Bhushan Award, the third highest civilian award in India in 2020. Early li ...

of the

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 ...

. Among instrumentalists, sarod player Shekhar Borkar from Pune was the first ever to perform a tappa on an instrument, implementing the Tarankaar Baaz, a style of playing he invented.

References

External links

''The Dictionary of Hindustani Classical Music'' at Google Books
{{Hindustani Classical Music page end Indian styles of music Hindustani music genres