Qutub Bakhsh, more commonly known as Tanras Khan (c. 1801 – c. 1890), was an Indian musician of the Hindustani Classical tradition known for being a luminary of the

Delhi Gharana The Delhi or Dilli Gharana, is a tabla traditional playing style, "regarded by many as the fountainhead of all the tabla gharanas" and known for being the first and oldest gharana playing style of tabla. It also is one of the six most common sty ...

.(House of Delhi classical musicians).Tanrus Khan - founder of the original Delhi gharana on 'The Life of Music in North India: The Organisation of an Artistic Tradition' by Daniel M. Neuman on GoogleBooks website
Retrieved 14 January 2022 He was a court musician and music teacher to the last

Mughal Mughal or Moghul may refer to: Related to the Mughal Empire * Mughal Empire of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries * Mughal dynasty * Mughal emperors * Mughal people, a social group of Central and South Asia * Mughal architecture * Mug ...

emperor

Bahadur Shah Zafar II Bahadur Shah II, (Abu Zafar Siraj-ud-din Muhammad; 24 October 1775 – 7 November 1862), usually referred to by his poetic title Bahadur Shah ''Zafar'' (; ''Zafar'' ), was the twentieth and last Mughal emperor and a Hindustani poet. His spouse ...

Background

Qutub Baksh was born to a musical family and initiated into music by his father, Qadir Baksh of Dasna. He became a disciple of Miyan Achpal of the Delhi Court in order to further develop his music.

Early life and career

"Meer Qutub Baksh alias 'Tanrus Khan' was an iconic Khayal singer of the 19th century."Profile of Tanrus Khan on SwarGanga Music Foundation website
Retrieved 14 January 2022 "Since Delhi has been, off and on, the capital and the cultural center of the North Indian musical tradition, many families originally came from Delhi." "Tanrus Khan was famous for his swift, sparkling Taans and so this title 'Tanrus' (one who has a charming Taan) was given to him by

, the last Mughal emperor." Occasionally Tanrus Khan sang

qawwali Qawwali is a form of Sufi Islamic devotional singing originating in the Indian subcontinent. Originally performed at Sufi shrines throughout the Indian subcontinent, it is famous throughout Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Afghanistan and has ...

s also. So he is also said to be a member of the 'Qawwal Bachchon Ka Delhi Gharana' originally organized by the legendary 13th century musician

Amir Khusrow Abu'l Hasan Yamīn ud-Dīn Khusrau (1253 – 1325 AD), better known as Amīr Khusrau, sometimes spelled as, Amir Khusrow or Amir Khusro, was an Indo-Persian Sufi singer, musician, poet and scholar, who lived during the period of the Delhi Sult ...

. Many Khayals and Taranas of Hindustani classical music were composed by Tanrus Khan. Tanrus Khan was attached to Delhi court but after the Mutiny of 1857, he left Delhi and went to

Gwalior Gwalior (Hindi: , ) is a major city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh; It is known as the Music City of India having oldest Gwalior gharana, musical gharana in existence. It is a major sports, cultural, industrial, and political c ...

but felt that he was not much appreciated there. So he went to

Nizam of Hyderabad Nizam of Hyderabad was the title of the ruler of Hyderabad State ( part of the Indian state of Telangana, and the Kalyana-Karnataka region of Karnataka). ''Nizam'' is a shortened form of (; ), and was the title bestowed upon Asaf Jah I wh ...

's court and worked there and finally died in Hyderabad in 1885.

Interaction among music gharanas

It is widely known that the founders of Patiala gharana had studied under the tutelage of Tanras Khan, the founder of the

Delhi gharana The Delhi or Dilli Gharana, is a tabla traditional playing style, "regarded by many as the fountainhead of all the tabla gharanas" and known for being the first and oldest gharana playing style of tabla. It also is one of the six most common sty ...

. According to Manorama Sharma, author of the book, 'Tradition of Hindustani Music' (2006):

"In a very big function, the ceremony of Ganda-Bandhan was performed and both Ali Baksh and Fateh Ali became the disciples of Ustad Tanras Khan. In 1890, after the death of Ustad Tanras Khan, Ali Baksh and Fateh Ali became the disciples of Ustad Haddu Khan and Ustad Hassu Khan of Gwalior Gharana. Afterwards, they also received training from Ustad Bahadur Hussain Khan of Rampur. Thus, it is apparent that Ali Baksh and Fateh Ali received training from the well known musicians and later developed their own style which became famous as the Patiala Gharana. Both of them began to be known as Aliya and Fattu."

Delhi gharana

Prominent exponents

* Ghulam Hussain Khan alias 'Ustad Mian Achpal' (music teacher of Tanrus Khan) * Ustad Tanrus Khan * Ustad Umrao Khan (Tanrus Khan's son) * Ustad Sardar Khan (Umrao Khan's son) * Ustad Manzoor Ahmed Khan Niazi * Ustad Munshi Raziuddin * Qawwal Bahauddin Khan'Karachi's heritage: Qawwali gali'
The Express Tribune newspaper, Published 29 June 2014, Retrieved 14 January 2022 * Ustad Abdullah Manzoor Niazi (Ustad Manzoor's Son) * Ustad Meraj Ahmed Nizami * Ustad Fareed Ayaz * Ustad Naseeruddin Sami * Qawal Najmuddin Saifuddin & Brothers, * Hamza Akram Qawwal * Subhan Ahmed Nizami

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tanrus Khan 1890 deaths 19th-century Indian musicians Musicians from Delhi Hindustani musicians 19th-century Indian Muslims Indian classical composers Indian male classical musicians 19th-century male musicians Year of birth uncertain