Ustad Zia Mohiuddin Dagar (14 March 1929 – 28 September 1990), (Popularly known as Z. M. Dagar), was a

North India North India is a geographical region, loosely defined as a cultural region comprising the northern part of India (or historically, the Indian subcontinent) wherein Indo-Aryans (speaking Indo-Aryan languages) form the prominent majority populati ...

n ( Hindustani) classical musician, one of the 19th generation of Dagar family

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 ...

musicians. He was largely responsible for the revival of the

rudra vina The ''rudra veena'' () (also spelled ''rudraveena'' or ''rudra vīnā'') — also called the ''bīn'' in North India — is a large plucked string instrument used in Hindustani music, especially dhrupad. It is one of the major types of ''veena' ...

as a solo concert instrument.

Early life and the choice of veena

Z. M. Dagar was born in the town of

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 ...

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

on 14 March 1929 and began musical study with his father, Ustad Ziauddin Khan Dagar, court musician for the

Maharana The Maharana ("Great Rana") is a variation on the Indian royal title Rana. Maharana denotes ' great king' or ' high king', similar to the word " Maharaja". The term derives from the Sanskrit title "Mahārāṇaka". Usage at the time of independ ...

. He was trained both in vocals and in the

rudra veena The ''rudra veena'' () (also spelled ''rudraveena'' or ''rudra vīnā'') — also called the ''bīn'' in North India — is a large plucked string instrument used in Hindustani music, especially dhrupad. It is one of the major types of '' vee ...

, an instrument used by vocalists to practice melodies. The veena was traditionally not played in public, but the young Zia Mohiuddin adopted it as his primary instrument, giving his first recital at age 16. Although he was discouraged by his father from experimenting with the structure of the veena, he nevertheless modified the instrument after his father's death to better equip it for solo performance, transforming it into a larger bass instrument (sometimes called a 'Dagar veena'): With the help of the instrument house Kanailal & Brother, he enlarged the tumbas (gourds) and dhandhi (hollow neck) to create greater resonance and to allow the notes to sustain longer and so better reproduce the techniques used in dhrupad singing. Because of these modifications, the instrument was too heavy to be held in the standard Northern posture (with one tumba on the left shoulder), so he played instead in the Southern posture, with one tumba on the ground and one on the left knee.

Struggles and hardships

After India gained independence in 1947, the princely states were abolished. The Dagar family lost the patronage of the court of Udaipur, and had to seek employment elsewhere. Finally, they arrived in

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

. For 25 years, they had to make ends meet by working in garages, selling bread, and rarely, playing instruments for movie scores. They did not have a tanpura, sitar, or veena, let alone a house. There was much cynicism about dhrupad, as his son Mohi Baha'ud-din recounted in an interview.

"Dhrupad? Who'll listen? Rudra veena? Play something else. Long alaaps? So boring!"

Playing style

Z. M. Dagar was known particularly for his slow development of ragas, typically performed only with

tanpura The tanpura (; also referred to as tambura, tanpuri, tamboura, or tanpoura) is a long-necked, plucked, four-stringed instrument originating in the Indian subcontinent, found in various forms in Indian music. Visually, the tanpura resembl ...

accompaniment (he rarely played with

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 ...

), and for his meticulous attention to

microtonal Microtonality is the use in music of microtones — intervals smaller than a semitone, also called "microintervals". It may also be extended to include any music using intervals not found in the customary Western tuning of twelve equal interv ...

inflections.

Outside India

He was very active in the West, associating himself with the American Society for Eastern Arts in

Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California *George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer to ...

, California (Zia Mohiuddin Dagar offered 12 weeks of classes during the spring of 1977). Financial support was secured by the Center for World Music from the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the feder ...

and other contributors) and with

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the Methodi ...

, , and the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

, where he was a visiting professor.

Honours

*In 1986, Ustad ji was awarded the

Kalidas Samman The Kalidas Samman () is an arts award presented annually by the Government of Madhya Pradesh in India. The award is named after Kālidāsa, a renowned Classical Sanskrit writer of ancient India. The Kalidas Samman was first awarded in 1980. It ...

Award, one of India's most prestigious awards, by the

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (; ; ) is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, Indore. Other major cities includes Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar. Madhya Pradesh is the List of states and union te ...

government. *He also received the

Sangeet Natak Academi Sangeet Natak Akademi (The National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama in English) is the national level academy for performing arts set up by the Government of India. It is an autonomous body of the Ministry of Culture, Government of India. H ...

Award in 1981, the Rajasthan Sangeet Natak Academi award, and the

Maharana Kumbha Kumbhkaran Singh (1417–1468), popularly known as Maharana Kumbha, was the ruler of the Kingdom of Mewar in medieval India. He belonged to the Sisodia clan of Rajputs. It was during his reign that Mewar became one of the most powerful politic ...

award, to name a few.

Family

His younger brother, Ustad Zia Fariddudin Dagar, was a vocalist and teacher, and his son, Mohi Baha'ud-din, is a veena player.

Establishment of the Dhrupad Gurukul

Established in 1982, the concept of making a Gurukul was entirely Ustad Zia Mohiuddin Dagar's. He envisioned a place where he would sit with his disciple and impart training in the 'Guru Shishya Parampara'; a method in which a few selected students study under one roof whilst staying with the guru. Ustad sahib put at least twenty years of his time and effort to give shape to this idea on his own and thus, the Gurukul came into being in 1982 at Palaspa - a village near Panvel - Mumbai.

Death

Ustad Zia Mohiuddin Dagar died on 28 September 1990.

Discography

References

External links

* Z. M. Dagarat allmusic
Z. M. Dagar
A memoir by Jody Stecher a
Raga Records
by the Gundecha Brothers {{DEFAULTSORT:Dagar, Zia Mohiuddin 1929 births 1990 deaths Dagarvani Hindustani instrumentalists People from Udaipur Wesleyan University people Place of death missing Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Rudra veena players Indian male classical musicians 20th-century Indian male classical singers Recipients of Kalidas Samman