HistoriCity: The many musical strings that bind West Bengal and Bangladesh

Kazi Nazrul Islam, the national poet of Bangladesh whose poetry transcends barriers of religion and nationhood, was born in Asansol, West Bengal.

Ties between India and Bangladesh may seem out of tune at present but the cultural bonds among the people of the region are not something that birthed with the creation of Bangladesh in 1971. A remarkable symbol of this shared heritage is the Gharana tradition in music across the Indian subcontinent, which remains syncretic and pluralistic with Hindus and Muslims working as closely as ever.

The cultural bonds binding modern India and Bangladesh go back several centuries. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

It is well known that Rabindranath Tagore composed ‘Amar Shonar Bangla’, which was adopted as the national song of Bangladesh in 1971. However, less known is that it was written to register a protest; the Nobel laureate wrote it in 1905 to protest the division of Bengal by the British colonial government on communal lines.

Tagore’s ancestral roots are in Jessore (now in Bangladesh) and Bardhaman districts. Kazi Nazrul Islam, another Bengali poet and the national poet of Bangladesh whose poetry transcends barriers of religion, and nationhood, was born in Asansol, West Bengal. He died in Dhaka in 1976. But beyond these two most famous luminaries, the cultural bonds binding modern India and Bangladesh go back several centuries.

According to belief, Kotalipara in Bangladesh, now a mofussil town, was a prominent fort during the early centuries of the Common Era. It is said to have been founded by king Chandra Varman of the Pushkarna dynasty of Vanga (Bengal), the town turned into an intellectual centre over centuries. In the late colonial period, it was known for its aesthetic musical style (mainly Dhrupad) led by musicians such as Tarapad Chakrabarti and Harihar Chakrabarti. Tarapad moved to Kolkata in search of better opportunities and it brought the Kotalipur-style widespread fame through the tradition of ‘Khayal’ singing, known for its creative and imaginative style.

Less than 250 kilometres east across the Damodar river, another Gharana came up in Bishnupur that became part of India after the partition in 1947. Here, Dhrupad was the staple, it being the only Bengali Gharana that propounded this classical form of singing. Bishnupur was founded during the reign of emperor Aurangzeb, notorious for being intolerant towards what he considered ‘un-Islamic’ customs like music and other arts.

One his feudatories, Malla King Raghunath Singh Dev II, brought Ustad Bahadur Khan from Delhi and settled him in Bishnupur, incepting this Gharana, that has since become the face of Bengali music in the Hindustani genre.

Stringing Afghanistan and Bengal, the Rubab is believed to have first come to India with Afghan soldiers of fortunes in the 11th century. This string instrument gradually evolved into the Sarod, and the Surbahar. The Hindu Zamindars of Rajshahi (now in Bangladesh) were more often than not powerful Brahmin families such as those of the remarkable Rani Bhabhani, who patronised arts and culture.

Joydeep Mukherjee, a music conservationist who has worked in preserving and patenting string instruments such as the Sursingar, Surbahar, and Mohanaveena, says, ‘’Ustad Mohd Ameer Khan was appointed by the Zamindar of Rajshahi in 1910 as a court musician and he also allowed his wife Binapani Devi to learn Sitar and… Surbahar from Ustad Inayet Khan of Etawah, staying at Gouripur at that time”.

Tansen, emperor Akbar’s favourite musician, remains immortal through legends and folktales. Several present-day musicians and Gharanas trace their musical and dynastic lineages to this 16th century genius. One such musician was Ustad Murad Ali of the Shahjehanpur Gharana. Both Murad Ali and his son Abdullah performed at various royal houses in Dwarbhanga (Darbhanga) as well as other Zamindaris in present day Bangladesh such as Rajshahi, Gouripur, Dhaka, Natore, and Mymensingh. The name of the latter is itself an anglicised version of ‘Momen Singh’, named after a Muslim ruler Shah Momin.

“Abdullah was the first artist to blend the Surshringar or Sursingar with the Rabab creating a new instrument which he called Sur Rabab,” says Mukherjee. “Abdullah Khan’s son Ustad Mohd Ameer Khan officially became the court musician of the Rajshahi Zamindars of the Maitras from the 1910s onwards. He used to keep a small Gopal idol with him in his room and personally worshipped it. There, in Rajshahi, he started to train Radhika Mohan Maitra from 1920 onwards, the crown prince, who later became a one of the most celebrated musicians of the subcontinent,” Mukherjee adds.

Besides these royal courts and musicians, there are older and perhaps much more influential personalities who wove their spiritual and mystic poetry to the tunes of eastern India. Lalon pir (1772 –1890), a Sufi mystic worshipped by people from both Hindu and Muslim communities was one.

Born in what is now Bangladesh, he was patronised by the Tagore landlords. Lalon’s poetry churns the diverse sects, beliefs, prejudices and mores of the 18th century and expresses a progressive realism that inspired the likes of Nazrul and Tagore. Among the most influential and popular carriers of Lalon’s poetry are the Baul singers of Bengal who have been ministering across the rural landscape for centuries.

Another similar personality but with an aristocratic background was Hason Raja or Dewan Hason Raja Choudhury (1854-1922). Born into a family of Hindu landlords who converted to Islam two generations before his birth, Raja turned to Sufism late in life. He spoke of the eternal one God who is known to us by different names be it Allah or Krishna. Tagore often cited Raja in his speeches and in a way brought Raja’s work and life into the public sphere. Hason Raja’s songs remain popular till today across both India and Bangladesh and the Bengali diaspora across the world.

(HistoriCity is a column by author Valay Singh that narrates the story of a city that is in the news, by going back to its documented history, mythology and archaeological digs. The views expressed are personal.)