February 5th, 2012
An evening with maestro Saeed Zafar Khan illuminates a rich history of the sitar, an instrument believed to be invented by Amir Khusro to enhance qawwaalee performances.
In the oral tradition of Dillee, the beloved city, its 13th century poet, Amir Khusro Dehalvi was blessed by the grace and favour of his Peer-O-Murshid Hazrat Sultan ul Mashaikh Nizaamuddeen Awliya. It was the reason that Khusro could produce a volume of verse, which still remains unparalleled.
Khusro’s productivity was also remarkable. For example an earlier poet, Nizami took 20 years to write his Khamsa or five long poems. Khusro wrote on the same subjects and completed his work in just five years. This was not all.
Khusro was not only a poet. He was also a master musician who created new modes – ragas and raaginees, as well as instruments such as the sitar and tablaa. There is no written record of these creations. Even the prolific writing of Amir Khusro makes no mention of either the sitaar or the tablaa. Scholars of the music are not convinced of the veracity of this story, as sitar first finds mention in literature of the 17th century, whereas Khusro died in 1325.
But you should remember that ours is not a written or literary tradition. It is, in most cases, an oral tradition that was passed on from preceptor to disciple, father to son etc in the gharaanaa tradition (where the learner is required to accept whatever is taught to him as gospel).There is no scope for doubt and no questions are asked or allowed.
The Aga Khan study (financed by the Ford Foundation) of the Aalam-i-Khusro organised a lecture demonstration by Ustaad Saeed Zafar Khan, a master sitar player of the Dillee Gharaanaa on 28 January at the India International Centre. Titled ‘Amir Khusro and the Sitar’, the ustaad brought his own instrument and moved its struts and echoing wires to illustrate the points made. As a doyen of the Dillee Gharaanaa tracing its origin to Amir Khusro himself, the ustaad reasserted the claim that the sitar was, indeed, a creation of Khusro.
Ustaad Saeed Zafar Khan was able to demonstrate the ragas and drumming patterns used for the sitar from its earliest version and during the course of its development.
The original instrument created by Khusro had only three strings — one of steel and two of brass. The word for ‘three’ in Persian is ‘Seh’ — hence the name, Sehtaar or the three-stringed instrument. There were very few frets to mark the stops and no sympathetic or echoing wires. Khusro’s sitar was a rudimentary instrument that was not designed for a solo performance or an independent role. This instrument was created to provide a background, which would help to enhance a qawwaalee performance.
In subsequent centuries, the sitar developed and grew out of its subordinate to qawwaalee. Frets and sympathetic wires were added later, and new songs and beats were composed to help the instrument occupy centre stage, independent of any other.
Ustaad Saeed Zafar Khan was able to demonstrate the ragas and drumming patterns used for the sitar from its earliest version and during the course of its development. The earliest period was illuminated by the singing of the naghmaa (melodic prelude) in raga Zila Kaafi (an evening melody said to have been created by Amir Khusro).
We were next treated to the appearance of the sitar in literature. This was during the reign of Muhammad Shah Rangeelaa (1715-1748) and the role of the Beenkaars — Maseet Khan, Raza Khan and Firoz Khan, were spelt out, keeping with the tantrakaaree and developed by them.
The raga Eman Kalyan was used as an illustration because it is also a composition attributed to Khusro. The highlight of the evening was a rendition of the raga Poorvi, an evening melody, again attributed to Khusro, as this was the favourite mode of Hazrat Nizamuddeen Awliya. He is supposed to have said, “I hear that there is a melody which is favoured in heaven – perhaps it is in the raga Poorvi…” A few rare compositions in ragas, Nigaar and Firdaus, and taalas Firdausi and Usool Faakhtaa were presented.
What made the event memorable was that the ustaad sang the composition in Hindavi before playing it on the stringed instrument. This made the theory of Khusro’s invention of the instrument plausible.
It is hoped that TV channels and radio networks will provide space for such learned lecture demonstrations, so that viewers and listeners are able to connect to the great Indian heritage.