Raja Chakradhar Singh (19 August 1905 −7 October 1947) was the

Raja Raja (; from , IAST ') is a noble or royal Sanskrit title historically used by some Indian subcontinent, Indian rulers and monarchs and highest-ranking nobles. The title was historically used in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. T ...

Raigarh Raigarh is a city in northern Chhattisgarh known as the 'Cultural capital of Chhattisgarh'; Raigarh is famous for its dance form “SUWA” (as Raigarh Gharana) and classical music; Raigarh is also known as Sanskritidhani. It is also known for ...

and Chief of

Bargarh Bargarh is one of the major towns of Western Odisha and a municipality in Bargarh district in the state of Odisha in India. It is the administrative headquarters of Bargarh District and an important town of Odisha because it is known as the ...

ruled by Gond dynasty. He was the ruler of Princely state of Raigarh from 1924 till his death in 1947. He was son of Raja Bhup Deo Singh, who died in 1917.

Early life

He completed his education from Rajkumar College, Raipur. He succeeded to throne of Raigrah upon death of his elder brother, Raja Natwar Singh in 1924. The government management however continued till 1927 when Raja was invested with powers.Raigarh darbar by P. D. Ashirwadam Agam Kala Prakashan, 1990 On the contribution of Chakradhar Singh, Raja of Raigarh, 1905–1947, to Kathak dance and Hindustani music.Memoranda on the Indian States 1939– Page 118

Music

He was a great patron of Indian arts, classical dance, music invited to his capital music and dance-experts from different parts of the country. His contribution has been important in the development of the classical form of

Kathak ''Kathak'' is one of the eight major forms of Classical Indian dance, Indian classical dance. Its origin is attributed to the traveling bards in ancient northern India known as ''Kathakar'' ("storyteller"), who communicated stories from the ...

. During the reign of Raja Chakradhar Singh, experts of both the gharanas, namely, Jaipur and Lucknow gained prominent positions and were patronised by him.Indian Dance: The Ultimate Metaphor by Shanta Serbjeet Singh – 2000 – Page 64 Even experts from

Benares gharana Benares gharānā (Hindi: बनारस घराना) is one of the six most common styles of playing of the Indian tabla. History The Benares tabla gharana was developed a little over 200 years ago by Pandit Ram Sahai (1780–1826). At ...

were in his court. The Raigarh Gharana of

was established by him during his reign, which produced many luminaries, dancers, singers and musicians due to his patronage and philanthropy.The India Magazine of Her People and Culture by A. H. Advani- Volume 6 – 1985– Page 250 October 7, 1947, was a sad day for the artistes, art lovers and the people of Raigarh. Raja Chakradhar Singh died suddenly and the haven of music he created came to a standstill leaving everyone bereft Among the noted Kathak exponents to have served his court were Pandit Jaggannath Prasad of Jaipur Gharana and Guru Kalaka Prasad and his sons of Lucknow Gharana. He invented a new dance form by mixing different dance forms, which led to foundation of Raigarh Gharana. Raigarh Gharana thus founded by Raja Chakradhar Singh, although the youngest of all gharanas, has its own compositions of

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, dram ...

ghazal ''Ghazal'' is a form of amatory poem or ode, originating in Arabic poetry that often deals with topics of spiritual and romantic love. It may be understood as a poetic expression of both the pain of loss, or separation from the beloved, and t ...

s, ''todas'' and ''bols'' which are unique in themselves. Chakradhar Singh was himself a great exponent of

tabla A ''tabla'' is a pair of hand drums from the Indian subcontinent. Since the 18th century, it has been the principal percussion instrument in Hindustani classical music, where it may be played solo, as an accompaniment with other instruments a ...

and

pakhawaj The ''pakhavaj'' is a barrel-shaped, two-headed drum, originating from the Indian subcontinent, kendang of Maritime Southeast Asia and other South Asian double-headed drums. Its older forms were made with clay. It is the percussion instrumen ...

. He was himself also a good dancer and musician. His patronage extended to all dancers irrespective of their

gharana In Hindustani music (North Indian classical music), a ''gharānā'' is a system of social organisation in the Indian subcontinent, linking musicians or dancers by lineage or apprenticeship, and more importantly by adherence to a particular musi ...

.India's Kathak Dance Past, Present, Future: – Page 28 His name is often taken with

Wajid Ali Shah Mirza Wajid Ali Shah () (30 July 1822 – 1 September 1887) was the eleventh and last King of Awadh, holding the position for 9 years, from 13 February 1847 to 11 February 1856. Wajid Ali Shah's first wife was Alam Ara who was better known a ...

Awadh Awadh (), known in British Raj historical texts as Avadh or Oudh, is a historical region in northern India and southern Nepal, now constituting the North-central portion of Uttar Pradesh. It is roughly synonymous with the ancient Kosala Regio ...

as a patron of classical Indian dance and music, especially with respect to Kathak dance and

Hindustani classical music Hindustani classical music is the Indian classical music, classical music of the Indian subcontinent's northern regions. It may also be called North Indian classical music or ''Uttar Bhartiya shastriya sangeet''. The term ''shastriya sangeet'' ...

. Among the dancers and musicians to have performed or served his court were Pandit Makhan Lal Chaturvedi, Dr. Ramkumar Verma, Pandit Mahaveer Prasad Dwivedi, Pandit Padumlal Punnalal Bakshi. Even

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

language writers like Pandit Sadashiv Das, Pandit Sharda Prasad, Pandit Kashi Dutt Jha served him, through them he translated a lot of music and dance literature in Sanskrit. In 1938, Chakradhar Singh headed the first All India Music Conference held at

Allahabad Prayagraj (, ; ISO 15919, ISO: ), formerly and colloquially known as Allahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi, Varanasi (Benar ...

. In this conference Chakradhar Singh went with his team of 60 artists. In 1939, the conference organised a welcome party for

Viceroy of India The governor-general of India (1833 to 1950, from 1858 to 1947 the viceroy and governor-general of India, commonly shortened to viceroy of India) was the representative of the monarch of the United Kingdom in their capacity as the Emperor of ...

, where Kathak dancer Karthik Kalyan presented the dance and was assisted by Chakradhar Singh, who played tabla. He was given title of ''Sangit Samrat - (King of Music)'' by the Viceroy Lord Linlithgow at this conference. In 1943 conference at Khairagarh, he again played

for the dance performance of Kalyan Das. He had a very good knowledge of Hindi, Sanskrit, Urdu and Oriya and has written several books on Indian traditional music such as * ''Alkapuri Tilasmi'' * ''Bairagadiya Rajkumar'' * ''Joshe Pharhad'' * ''Kavya Kanan'' * ''Mayachakra'' * ''Moorj Paran Pushpakar'' * ''Mriganayni'' * ''Nartan Sarwasya'' * ''Nigare Pharhad'' * ''Prem ke Teer'' * ''Raag Ratna Manjusha'' * ''Ramyaras'' * ''Ratnahar'' * ''Taal Toynidhi'' * ''Taalbal Pushpakar''

Death

Raja Chakaradhar Singh died on 7 October 1947 just after

independence of India The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events in South Asia with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British colonial rule. It lasted until 1947, when the Indian Independence Act 1947 was passed. The first nationalistic ...

. After his death, Lalit Kumar Singh, his son succeeded him to the throne of Raigarh and ruled briefly before the Raigarh State was merged into Union of India on 14 December 1947. The princely states of Jashpur,

, Sakti, Sarangarh and

Udaipur Udaipur (Hindi: , ) (ISO 15919: ''Udayapura'') is a city in the north-western Indian state of Rajasthan, about south of the state capital Jaipur. It serves as the administrative headquarters of Udaipur district. It is the historic capital of t ...

were united later to form the

Raigarh district Raigarh district is a district of the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh. Raigarh is the district headquarters. The district was formed by merging the princely states of Raigarh State, Raigarh, Sakti State, Sakti, Sarangarh State, Sarangarh, ...

.Publication by Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics – 1973– Issue 61 – Page 346India Today 1992– Page 74 His second son Surendra Kumar Singh was s politician of

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

Legacy

There is a music academy established after him, as his memorial at

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Chakradhar 1905 births 1947 deaths Rajas of Raigarh Kathak exponents Tabla players History of Chhattisgarh Hindustani instrumentalists Hindi-language writers 20th-century Indian musicians 20th-century drummers Musicians from Chhattisgarh 20th-century Indian philanthropists Odia-language writers 20th-century Urdu-language writers