22. The musicial talents of Tanasena

22. A contemporary Sanskrit tribute to the musicial talents of Tanasena, the greatest musician of Akbar's court, and its historical Perspective * 181 For any Indian National Biographical Dictionary, if such a work is undertaken by our National Government in future years, the reconstruction of the life-history of every celebrity of ancient and mediaeval India is absolutely essential. Such a life-history must be based, as far as possible, on contemporary sources. During the last twenty-five years I have published papers on numerous Sanskrit authors and their works. In these papers I have taken care to record every bit of information about the life-history of these authors, based on documentary evidence. I have also brought to light many authors and historical personalities, unkown to the historians of literature, culture and political history. Recently I published a paper 1 on Vidyadhara, the Bengali architect of Sevai Jaipur, who was a minister of Maharaja Sevai Jaising of Amber (A. D. 1699-1743) and recorded in it some contemporary tributes to this great Bengali from his contemporaries. It is necessary to record in a similar manner contemporary tributes to other celebrities in the domain of literature, music, art and allied subjects with a view to getting an authentic picture of their life-histories. I propose in the present paper to record a contemporary tribute to TANSEN, the celebrated musician of Akbar's court, about whom we hear many stories, sometimes of a mythical character. In the Madhyayugina Caritrakosa by S. Chitrav Shastri (Poona, 1937, p. 424) I find the following information about Tansen :- * Journal of S. V, Ori. Institute, Tirupati, Vol VIII, Part I, pp. 1-8. 1. Vide pp. 285-294 of Dr. C. Kunhan Raja Volume, Madras, 1946. Since the publication of this paper I have received the following additional information about Vidyadhara from my friend Mr. Bimalacharan Deb of Calcutta in his letter of 4-12-1946:- "You will be interested to know that about 42 years ago (to be precise in 1311 Bengal style, corresponding to 1904-05 A. C.) an article on Vidhyadhara appeared in the Vangiya Sahitya Parishat Patrika of Calcutta. In this article a fair amount of information was given regarding him personally and his family and descendants and also the times in which he flourished. In that article there is a half-tone reproduction of a painting, showing Vidyadhara and his eldest son Murlidhara. This painting, the writer says, was in the possession of Surajbux, a descendant of Vidyadhara. The painting is "old style", but the writer does not say if it was contemporary or not." I have to thank Mr. Deb very much for the above information, unknown to me. I have requested Mr, Deb to publish a summary of the Bengali article on Vidyadhara in some Oriental journal along with the picture of Vidyadhara and his eldest son.

A Tribute to the Musical Talents of Tanasena 189 "TANSEN-(c. A. D. 1560) He was a Gauda Brahmin was Makaranda Pande. He was by caste. His father's name stol resident of Gwalior. His father made a vow to a Muslim saint Muhammad Ghosa for the birth of a son. Tansen was born as a result of this vow. The previous name of Tansen was TANNAMITRA. He had an extra-ordinary imitative faculty. He could imitate the sound of any animal perfectly. Once a saint of the name Haridasa Baba was staying in his garden. Having observed Tansen's imitative faculty the saint requested Tansen's father to give Tansen in his charge with a view to making Tansen an expert musician. The father agreed to this request and Tansen learnt music from Haridasa Baba and then returned to Gwalior. Later the fame of Tansen reached Emperor Akbar, who Beacon brought him to his court where he was included among the nine jewels of the court. Akbar honoured him very much. He has composed many dhrupadas in different ragas, some of which are his own inventions. In some of these dhrupadas he has incorporated the name of his royal patron, Akbar. He died at the age of 63 years. The ragas invented by him are Miya Malhar, Miya Todi, Miya Sarang etc. Once Tansen and Akbar together listened to the singing of Tansen's guru. At this time Akbar questioned Tansen: Why should there be so much difference between your singing and a that of your guru? Tansen replied that his guru Haridasa Baba sings according to his mood but he himself has to sing in obedience to Akbar's wishes." In the above account of Tansen's life and achievements the editor of the Caritrakosa has not recorded the source from which he has drawn the information about Tansen; hence it is difficult to verify it. In the Oriental Biographical Dictionary by T. W. Beale (revised by H. G. Keen, London, 1894) page 400, I find the following remarks on Tansen: "TANSEN-A celebrated Hindi musician or Singer who flourished in the time of Akbar and was employed by him. He was originally in the service of a Raja named Ramchand and was sent to court at the special request of the Emperor. He died in the 34 th year of that monarch's reign A. D. 1588, A. H. 996." The musicians in India, both vocal and instrumental, ever since the Musalman conquests, who have been highly esteemed and whose names

A are handed down to posterity with much respect by different authors, are as follows:-Gopal, Amir Khusro, the poet, Baiju, Bhano, Pand wa, Bakshu Lohang, Sultan Husain Sarqi of Jaunpur, Raja Man of Gwalior, founder of the dhurpad, in whose time also lived the four following:- Charju, Bhagwan, Dhondhi and Dalu: Tansen, Subhan Khan, Surgayan Khan of Fathapur, Chand khan, and his brother Suraj khan, TANTARANG KHAN, the son of Tansein, Madan Rae, Ramdas and his son Surdas, a blind moral poet and musician, Baz Bahadur, Mundia, Mian Pand, Mian Daud Mulla Is-haq, Shaikh Khizir, Shaikh Beichu, Hasan Khan Teini, Surat Sein and his brother Lala Deibi, Mirza Aquil, Mian Shori, Ghutami, Lal Khan¹ Nilam Prakash, and the Bin players, Firoz khan and Naubat khan." Beale's account of Tansen is evidently based on non-Sanskrit sources. I record below a tribute to Tansen and his musical talent from a contemporary Sanskrit Kavya called the Virabhanudaya Kavya, composed by its author Madhava about A. D. 1555 according to Dr. Hiranand Shastri. Canto X of this Kavya deals with the reign of Ramacandra, the Baghela ruler of Rewa, who was a patron of Tansen. This Ramacandra is identical with Raj Ramchand mentioned as Tansen's employer in Beale's article on Tansen. This canto tells us tha Ramacandra was a great patron of music. He lavished his munificence on Tanasena, the renowned musician of India, to whom, being pleased with his dhrupadas he gave countless wealth. Tanasena was music incarnate. His dhrupadas became very famous and are sung even now. The following verses of Canto X refer to Tanasena and his enchanting dhrupadas and ragas which had made a name for him before A. D. 1555, when this Kavya was composed :-Page 121-122 " gandharvavidyamayadehabhaje yastanasenaya kalavide'dat | ragam pratiha pratitanametat pratidhupatkotisasankatankah || 26 || astau sa yaman nayati sma tena ragadina tatsamudiritena | varsadikalam gamayan mahindrah so'vagamam tatra ( Svagamattatra ) nimesamatram || 27 || hahahuhu (hu ) tumburunaradadyaih kvacit kvacit kacana bhati vidya | sa sarvabhasacaturah samastavidyadharo'sau vidhina vyadhayi || 28 || bhuto bhavisyannapi vartamano na tanasene sadrso ( nasamo ) dharanyam | tatha (S) prasiddhaya tridive'pi manye naitadrsah kopyanavadyavidyah || 29 || 1. Edited by K. K. Lele and Anant Shastri Upadhyaya with Text and Translation into English together with a critical analysis by Hiranand Shastri : Published by the Rewa Darbar, 1938. -The rare MS of the Virabhanudaya Kavya was written at Benares by a Kayastha, Tulsidasa, son of Krsnadasa in A. D. 1591.

A Tribute to the Musical Talents of Tanasena durlanghya sailo parisindhu madhye dvipantara / le (Spi ) bile vane ca | sriramacaritrasudhabhisika yasya dhrupajjivati sarvakalam || 30 || tatraiva tatraiva vaco vilasa yantraiva (yatraiva ) janascaranti | yatraiva yatraiva vacamsi nunam sa tanasenoktirudeti tatra || 31 || " 191 The free translation of the above stanzas as given by the editors is as follows:- "26. Tanasena, the celebrated singer of his court, was indeed music incarnate. Ramacandra gave a crore of silver tankas for every tune he sang. 27. He passed the whole day in listening to his songs and considered the succession of seasons as an instant in duration. 28. Tanasena was conversant with all languages and all the niceties of the art of singing and seemed to surpass the celestial songsters Haha, Huhu, Tumburu and Narada. 29. Tanasena had no equal in the past and present times and probably none would equal him in the future and in the heavens also there is none so proficient. 30. Immortal are his strains, which pervade the universe and are steeped in the nectar of Ramacandra's glories. 31. Wherever human speech shows its excellence Tanasena's songs are sung. " From the above Sanskrit tribute to Tanasena of c. A. D. 1555 we may now turn to Ain-i-Akbari 1 of c. 1590 A. D., in which we get the following information about this greatest musician of Akbar's court :Page 406 "89 Rajah Ramchand Baghelah ..... Ramchand was the patron of the renowned musician and singer Tansin, regarding whom vide the List of Musicians at the end of this book. His fame had reached Akbar; and in the 7 th year the emperor sent Jalaluddin Qurchi (No. 213) to Bhath to induce Tansin to come to Agra. Ramchand feeling himself powerless to refuse Akbar's request, sent his favourite with his musical instruments and many presents to Agra, and the first time that Tansin performed at the court the emperor made him a present of two lakhs of 1. Trans. by H. Blochmann, Vol. I ( Bib. Indica) Calcutta, 1868. Pages 406, 475, 612. 613.n-Footnote 1 on Page 612 by Blochmann reads: "Regarding Tansen, or Tansain or Tansin vide p. 406. Ramchand is said to have once given him one crore of tankas as a present. Ibrahim Sur invain persuaded Tansen to come to Agrah. Abul Fazl mentions below his son Tantarang khan and the Padishahnamah (II-5 an interesting passage) mentions another son of the name Bilas -

Rupees. Tansin remained with Akbar. Most of his compositions are written in Akbar's name, and his melodies are even now-a-days everywhere repeated by the people of Hindustan." Page 475- "213. Jalal khan Qurchi - Akbar was much attached to him. In the 5 th year, he was sent to Ramchand Bhagelah (No. 89) at eunde with the with the request to allow Tansin to go to court." Page 612- "Imperial Musicians...... Imperial Musicians...... His Majesty pays much attention to music ........ musicians at court, Hindus, Iranis, Turanis, Kashmiris, both men and women ........ Principal musicians. 1. Miyan Tansen. A singer like him has not been in India for -goo but anothe last thousand years. .coitstub 2. Baba Ramdas of Gwalior, a singer 99 (names of 34 more musicians are recorded here) Page 618-footnote 3 :-"During Shah Jahan's reign we find JAGANATH who received from Shah Jahan the title Kabrai; Dirang Khan breast and Lal Khan who got the title Gunsamundar (ocean of excellence). Lal khan was son-in-law to Bilas, son of Tansen. Jaganath and Dirang khan were both weighed in silver and received each 4500 Rupees." The statement of Blochmann that Ramchand gave one crore of tankas to Tansen as present is corroborated by the Virabhanudaya Kavya (X 26) which states :- " gandharvavidyamaya dehabhaje yastana senaya kalavide'dat | ragam pratihapratitanametat pratidhupatkotisasankatankah || 26 || " Ramchand gave one crore of tankas for every dhrupada Tansen sang. Vincent Smith in his Akbar the Great Mogul (Oxford, 1917), p. 50, states that Baz Bahadur, the king of Malwa, was an expert in music and song and "like Tansen, was reputed to have received instruction from Adali or Muhammad Shah Adil, the last of the Sur kings (Badaoni, tr. Ranking, i. 557)" The Virabhanudaya Kavya (X. 13) refers to fafe in the following stanza: " saidilistam saranagato'bhut svayam suratranamahammadadih || 13 || || " Dr. Hiranand Shastri has identified gaff with Sultan. Muhammad Sur Adali (vide p. 17 of his Critical Analysis), who gave instruction to Tansen in music. It is interesting to note that this reference to (Tansen's guru) fefe or Adali occurs in the very canto in which we find the verses referring to Tansen and his musical talents (X. 26-31 ).

A Tribute to the Musical Talents of Tanasena 193 Speaking of "Tansen and music" Vincent Smith observes (pp. 61-62 of Akbar the Great Mogul):- 10 "Akbar, although engaged in so much troublesome business and in various departments, was not indifferent to the pleasures of life. He took special delight in music and song and seems to have had a considerable knowledge of the technicalities of those arts. About this time (1562) he required Raja Ramchand of Bhath or Rewa to send to court Tansen of Gwalior, who was universally recognized as the premier musician and singer of the age. Tansen, who became a Musalman subsequently was received with marked favour and liberally paid. He is credited by Abu-l Fazl with having introduced 'great developments' into his art. Conservative Hindu musicians take a different view and accuse him of having falsified the traditional ragas, two of which, Hindol and Megh, have disappeared since his time. Such critics hold that the influence of Tansen was deleterious to the musical science of India. It would seem possible that he may have violated the ancient Hindu canons and sought to modernize his art by making changes to suit Muslim taste. Few people have a right to express any positive opinion on the subject and the author of this book is not included among those few. " On p. 100 of his Akbar, Smith gives an account of the surrender of Kalanjar by Raja Ramchand of Riwa A. D. 1569 and refers to this Raja as "the chief who had surrendered Tansen, the musician, to Akbar's demand." On p. 59, Smith mentions the personal friends of Akbar, called the "nine jewels" (Blochmann, Ain, Vol. i, p. 474, No 205; and the nauratna picture in the Victoria Memorial Collection, Calcutta. - The nauratna or "nine jewels" meant nine friends namely Raja Birbal, Raja Mansingh, Raja Todar Mall, Hakim Humam, Mulla Dupiyaza, Faizi, Abu-l Fazl, Mirza Abdu-r rahim, Khan Khanan and Tansen.)" On pages 422-428 Smith makes the following remarks about Tansen :-ala ovin sidi "All authorities and traditions are agreed that the best performer at Akbar's court was Miyan Tansen whom Akbar in the 7 th year of the reign had required the Raja of Riwa to surrender. Abul Fazl declared that "a singer like him has not 1. "A H. Fox Strangways, The Music of Hindustan, page 83 (Oxford, 1914) For the theory of the Hindu ragas or "musical modes" see that work and H. F. A. p. 330. The subject remains extremely obscure. The concluding section of Ain 30, Book II of Ain, tr. Blochmann vol. i. pp. 611-13 deals with the musicians of the imperial court. See also Ch. XV, post. " 25

been in India for the last thousand years." He was a close friend of Sur Das, and like many of his contemporaries, received much of his musical education at Gwalior, where Raja Man Singh Tomar (1486-1518) had founded a school of music. Tansen became a Muhammadan, assumed or was given the title Mirza, and is buried in Muslim holy ground at Gwalior. Unfortunately, he permitted himself to be ensnared by the prevailing vice of Musalmans in that age. His talents included the composition of verse. The date of his death does not seem to be recorded but he certainly continued to serve in the court of Jahangir (For Akbar's music and Tansen see ante chap. iii ; Ain, Vol. i, pp. 51 (Ain, 19 with plates) and 611; A. N., ii, 279; Grierson Vernacular literature No. 60 etc.; A. S. R., ii, 370, with description of Tansen's tomb; A. H. Fox Strangways, The Music of Hindustan, Oxford, 1914, p. 83. Jahangir confirms Abul Fazl's opinion of Tansen's skill (Jahangir R. B., i, 413 ). Tansen is labelled as Mirza in the nauratna drawing. Raja Man Singh Tomar of Gwalior must not be confounded with his namesake, the Kachhwaha of Amber (Jaipur). A good full-length portrait of Taen, on a small scale, is included in a well-executed picture of Jahangir's reign, depicting a court-group, which is in the possession of the Royal Asiatic Society). On p. 484 Smith refers to the Portraits of Akbar's friends and contemporaries. About Tansen's portrait he writes:- "The Sketches in Vol. lvii of the Johnson Collection, already mentioned, include some worthy of reproduction. The best is No. 44, a slightly tinted sketch of Tansen, the musician. A good full-length portrait on a small scale of the same personage is included in a picture of Jahangir's time, belonging to the Royal Asiatic Society, and hung on the staircase." The foregoing extracts from Vincent Smith's Akbar the Great Mogul give valuable information about the life and achievements of Tansen but they do not contain any information about the career of Tansen at the court of Ramachandra, the Baghela king of Rewa. Some information about Tansen has been recorded in the Maharastriya Jnanakosa by S. V. Ketkar. I note some points from this information:Vol. XV (1925) (1) 82 tanasena gamdharva a Gauda Brahmana-tradition about his acquiring proficiency in music from a Gandharva.- Akbar's

A Tribute to the Musical Talents of Tanasena 11 -- 195 favourite His original connection with a Hindu Raja, Ramacandra. Tradition about Akbar going as a bearer of musical instruments to hear the music of Tansen's guru Haridasa Svami -picture of Tansen, available (see Vol. V, p. 184)-Death of Tansen in A. D. 1588, thirty four years after Akbar's coronation -- His name is so much respected among musicians that at the bare mention of his name they twist up their ears and bow to him - His tomb at Gwalior [ a. kosa ; sam . ka . suci ] (*. 11 Vol. V (1922) pp. 183-184-a (in the article on the history of Indian Music)-Development of court in Akbar's reign.Tansen was one of the pupils of a Hindu Saint, Haridasa Svami residing at Vrndavan on the banks of Jumna. Tradition about Akbar's visit in disguise to Haridasa Svami-Raja Mansingh of Gwalior, a great patron of music, supposed to be the originator of dhrupad music--Two classes of Tansen's followers: (1) t and (2) Tansen invented a musical instrument called rababa - He also used vina or bina - These two classes of Tansen's - followers are still found at Rampur. I close these notes on Tansen with a request to my South Indian friends to record any references to this celebrated musician in datable South Indian sources, Sanskrit or non-Sanskrit.