Sham Chaurasi Gharana is a

vocal 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 ...

(a family's style of singing) in

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'' ...

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 (for example in the Haveli Sangeet of Pushtimarg Sampradaya), and is also ...

. 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 Mubar ...

, 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 Rāmtanu ( – 26 April 1589), popularly referred to as Mian Tānsen (), or Sangeet Samrāt (), was a Hindustani classical musician. Born into a Hindu Gaur Brahmin family in Gwalior, he learnt and perfected his art in the northwest regio ...

at the court of

Mughal emperor The emperors of the Mughal Empire, who were all members of the Timurid dynasty (House of Babur), ruled the empire from its inception on 21 April 1526 to its dissolution on 21 September 1857. They were supreme monarchs of the Mughal Empire in ...

Akbar Akbar (Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar, – ), popularly known as Akbar the Great, was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Humayun, under a regent, Bairam Khan, who helped the young emperor expa ...

. 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 (for example in the Haveli Sangeet of Pushtimarg Sampradaya), and is als ...

form of singing and evolved a tradition of duet vocal (

jugalbandi A jugalbandhi or jugalbandi 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 c ...

) 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 northwestern India. Forming part of the larger Punjab, Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, the state is bordered by the States and union territories of India, Indian states ...

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

Sufi Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

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 emperors of the Mughal Empire, who were all members of the Timurid dynasty (House of Babur), ruled the empire from its inception on 21 April 1526 to its dissolution on 21 September 1857. They were supreme monarchs of the Mughal Empire in ...

. 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

(1934–2001) had their debut performance on

All India Radio All India Radio (AIR), also known as Akashvani (), is India's state-owned public broadcasting, public radio broadcaster. Founded in 1936, it operates under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India), Ministry of Information and Broa ...

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, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

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

Amritsar Amritsar, also known as Ambarsar, is the second-List of cities in Punjab, India by population, largest city in the India, Indian state of Punjab, India, Punjab, after Ludhiana. Located in the Majha region, it is a major cultural, transportatio ...

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: , ) 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 at imp ...

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

partition of India The partition of India in 1947 was the division of British India into two independent dominion states, the Dominion of India, Union of India and Dominion of Pakistan. The Union of India is today the Republic of India, and the Dominion of Paki ...

, the family first moved to

Multan Multan is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, fifth-most populous city in the Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab province of Pakistan. Located along the eastern bank of the Chenab River, it is the List of cities in Pakistan by populatio ...

, Pakistan and later moved to

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

. 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 #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

in Pakistan. Famous Indian playback singer

Lata Mangeshkar Lata Mangeshkar (; born Hema Mangeshkar; 28 September 1929 – 6 February 2022) was an Indian playback singer and occasional music composer. She is considered to be one of the greatest and most influential singers of the Indian subcontinent. He ...

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 Sharafat Ali Khan (1955 30 November 2009) was a Pakistani classical singer. He used to sing in various Hindustani classical genres such as thumri, kafi, khayal and ghazal throughout his career. The recipient of Pride of Performance Award by ...

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 Chaurasi gharana. The youngest son of Ustad Salamat Ali Khan, Shafqat began performing from the age of seven, when he ...

, who continue the Sham Chaurasia tradition. Salamat's second eldest son, Latafat Ali Khan is an exponent of

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 ...

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 ...

and

Kafi Kafi is a classical form of Sufi music in the Punjabi and Sindhi languages that originated from the Punjab and Sindh regions of South Asia. Some well-known Kafi poets are Baba Farid, Bulleh Shah, Shah Hussain, Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai, Sa ...

singing. Notable students (shagird) of Ustad Salamat Ali Khan include Ustad Hussain Bakhsh Gullu, Ustad B S Narang, Ustad

Abida Parveen Abida Parveen (; ; born 20 February 1954) is a Pakistani singer, composer, musician of Sufi music, painter and an entrepreneur. Parveen is one of the highest-paid singers in Pakistan. Her singing and music have earned her many accolades, and s ...

and many more. Ustad Salamat Ali Khan was awarded the

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

Award in 1977 by the

President of Pakistan The president of Pakistan () is the head of state of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The president is the nominal head of the executive and the supreme commander 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