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India's first crorepati singer challenged Viceroys, travelled by personal train, out-earned Lata Mangeshkar, Md Rafi

ByAbhimanyu Mathur
Jan 21, 2025 02:03 PM IST

Gauhar Jaan was born to Armenian immigrants but grew up to become India's first singing superstar, charging astronomical amounts per recording.

In a time when the biggest singers in India charge lakhs for each recording and crores for concerts, it is hard to imagine a time when a few hundred rupees were considered 'princely sums' for one recording. And yet, during this time, there was one singer who became a crorepati simply on the basis of her recordings and popularity. This is the story of India's first singing superstar - the Gramophone girl, Gauhar Jaan. (Also read: When a villain was India's highest-paid actor, richer than Amitabh, was so feared kids weren't named after him for years)

Gauhar Jaan recorded over 600 songs in 20 languages and was reported to be a crorepati.
Gauhar Jaan recorded over 600 songs in 20 languages and was reported to be a crorepati.

Gauhar Jaan's early years

Born Angelina Yeoward to a family of Armenian descent in Azamgarh, Gauhar's father Robert William Yeoward was an engineer. In 1879, when Gauhar was 6, the marriage ended. Both Angelina and her mother Victoria faced hardships, following which Victoria married a Muslim man named Khursheed. Victoria converted to Islam, became Malka Jaan, and changed Angelina's name to Gauhar Jaan. In time, Malka Jaan became a popular singer, moving to Calcutta in 1883. Within three years, she bought her own kotha, where Gauhar grew up and learned music. In 1888, Gauhar gave her first performance and was appointed court musician at the royal courts of Darbhanga Raj. She started performing in Calcutta in 1896 and was called the 'first dancing girl' in her records.

Gauhar Jaan, the singing superstar

By the early 1900s, Gauhar Jaan was one of the most accomplished singers in India. She became a sensation when she agreed to record her songs for gramophone, compressing classical recitals into 2-3 minute songs. Her records soon began flying off the shelves. By the end of the decade, Gauhar was charging 1000-3000 per recording, far more than the annual income of most households in that era. Interestingly, decades later, Lata Mangeshkar and Mohammed Rafi would charge 500 per song in the 1950s.

According to Bangalore Mirror, 'at one point she became so wealthy, that she would drive around the city in a horse-driven buggy, a luxury allowed only to the Viceroy of India at that time. Gauhar paid a fine of 1,000 rupees for flouting government laws but never gave up on her evening rides.' One of her patrons in Bengal even gifted her a private train she would use for her travels across India. In 1911, she was famously invited to perform at the coronation of King George V at Delhi Durbar, an honour accorded to only one other singer - Jankibai of Allahabad. At this time, contemporary reports called her a crorepati, making her one of the wealthiest non-royals in the country.

Gauhar Jaan's final years

In her final years, plagued by ill health, Gauhar moved to Mysore. There, the ruler Krishna Raja Wadiyar IV appointed her palace musician. The Hindu reported that she suffered from bouts of depression towards the end. Gauhar Jaan died in Mysore in 1930 at the age of 56. At the time, many claimants to her property came forward, hoping she would have left substantial wealth behind. But it soon emerged that over the last decade of her life, Gauhar Jaan had spent all her money and died virtually penniless. Her work, nonetheless, inspired generations of singers after her, notably Begum Akhtar and Noor Jehan. Her recordings for the Gramophone Company of India earned her the moniker the Gramophone Girl.

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