Twilight of the Sultanate c16.s2: Music and Painting
Twilight of the Sultanate c16.s2
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Music and Painting
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About the art of painting during this period little is known. The Sultans of pre-Mughal India were great builders, but they do not seem to have had much liking for paintings. The Hadīs forbids painting of all human forms, and thus places a ban on the development of this art.⁵² Moreover, paintings either on paper or in plaster are not as durable as sculptures in stone, and when most of even the stone edifices of these times have been reduced to a dilapidated state, it is fruitless to search for any contemporary paintings. Even so we cannot say that the art of painting had ceased to exist. Ibn Battūta appreciated the "strikingly beautiful paintings and mosaic" of the palace of Hazār Sitūn.⁵³ We also know that Fīrōz Tughlaq forbade paintings on buildings, which shows that they were a common feature. But not much can be said about this art in this period.
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⁵² Islamic Culture, XXIV, 1950, 218-225.
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⁵³ I.B., 58-59.
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Like architecture and painting, dance and music have also been the soul of India through the ages. The sculptures on the surviving temples have kept alive the glorious memory of dancing in ancient times. Commoners and kings held these fine arts in the highest esteem.⁵⁴
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⁵⁴ The Hindu system of notation is perhaps the oldest; it was carried to Europe in the eleventh century A.D. G. S. Ojha, *Madhya Kālin Bhāratīya Sanskriti*, 193-4.
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With the advent of Islam, the art of music and dancing entered upon a new phase. Music is prohibited in Islam, but human nature ever asserted itself against the austere laws of the faith. Muslim rulers and nobles always patronised music throughout the medieval times. Contact with Iran, rise of Sūfism and their stay in Hindustan made Muslim rulers lovers of music and dance. Indian classical music survived throughout the Sultanate period, although classical Indian dancing almost died out in northern India because it had drifted from the aesthetic sphere into that of the courtesans and the dancing girls.
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The Khaljīs were great patrons of music.⁵⁵ Amīr Khusru, himself a renowned musician, gives interesting details about contemporary musicians and musical instruments in his *A‘ijāz-i-Khusravī*.⁵⁶ Though a puritan, Fīrōz Tughlaq got a number of books on music and dance, he had obtained from the Jwālā Mukhī temple, translated into Persian.⁵⁷ Even the terrible Tīmūr, who had learnt about the beauty of Hindustani music, listened to Indian artistes when he was in this country and profusely rewarded them.⁵⁸
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⁵⁵ T.F.S. (B), 128-29, 188, 199-200; Ferishta, I, 84; Aiyangar, *South India and Her Muhammedan Invaders*, 113-16.
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⁵⁶ *A'ijāz-i-Khusravī*, Bk. II, 180.
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⁵⁷ Badaonī, I, 249.
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⁵⁸ 'Abdul Ghanī, *op. cit.*, I, 31.
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But the upheaval caused by Tīmūr’s invasion dispersed the musicians of Delhi to the far-off courts of Gwalior, Jaunpur and Gujarat which remained centres of musical art throughout the fifteenth century. Husain Sharqī of Jaunpur was a great lover of music and he is said to have invented the Khayāl. Another great centre of music in northern India was Gwalior. Raja Mān Singh and his queen are said to have been proficient composers and singers. It is said that the Raja called a conference of musicians to make a proper classification of Rāgas.⁵⁹ Undoubtedly he was the founder of the Gwalior school of classical music.⁶⁰ He is said to have revived the Dhrupad style which had been neglected and therefore forgotten since the days of Amīr Khusru.⁶¹ He was the author of a treatise on music entitled *Mān-Kutuhal*.⁶² He also got the *Rāgadarpana*, a treatise on Indian classical music, translated into Persian. In his court flourished masters like Baijū, Pandvī, Lohang. The master musician was Nāyak Bhikshū. It is, therefore, not surprising that Tānsen originally belonged to Gwalior. In the far-off Vijāyanagar empire the art of music developed rapidly. Both Krishna Dēva Raya and the Regent, Rāma Raya, were proficient musicians, and during this period some new treatises on music were produced, about which we shall study a little later.
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⁵⁹ His great-grandfather Dungar Singh, who maintained friendly relations with rulers of other countries, sent a valuable work on music to Sultan Zainul Ābidīn of Kashmir. Mohibbul Hasan, *op. cit.*, 73.
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⁶⁰ V. N. Bhatkhande, *A Short Historical Survey of the Music of Upper India*, 18.
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⁶¹ Islamic Culture, XXIX, 1955, 20.
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⁶² Blochmann, Āīn, I, 681; Harihar Nivas Dwivedi, *Mān Singh aur Mān-Kutuhal* (Hindi) 41, 43.
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At Delhi music gradually regained its position with the stability of the Sultanate. The Saiyyad kings do not seem to have neglected this art and Mubārak Shāh was known for his love of music.⁶³ The orthodox Sikandar Lodi also was a great lover of music. Although to keep up a show of religious austerity he would not allow anyone to sing or play in his presence, all the celebrated artists used to come and perform before the King's favourite noblemen like Mīrān Saiyyad Rūhullā and Saiyyad Ibn Rasūl, whose tents, by the Sultan's orders, were pitched near those of the king's.⁶⁴ Thus the clever and virtuous monarch filled his ears with melody without damaging his reputation for piety. In the palace, instruments were regularly played on. Shahnāi was played every night, commencing at 9 o'clock.⁶⁵ A number of beautiful singers and players played on instruments like Chang, Qanūn, Tambūr and Vīnā.⁶⁶ According to 'Abdulla, the Sultan's favourite tunes were Mālkaus, Kalyān, Kanada and Husainī;⁶⁷ according to Ahmad Yādgār they were Kedār, Adāna, Husainī and Rāmkalī, while according to Rizqulla Mushtaqī, his favourites were Gaur, Kalyān, Kanada and Maqām-i-Husainī.⁶⁸ This list shows that Sikandar loved to listen to almost every important Rāga. Sikandar Lodi's services in promoting the art of music were laudable. Under his patronage was written and to him was dedicated the *Lahjāt-i-Sikandar Shāhī*, a treatise on music by 'Umar Yahiyā.⁶⁹ Yahiyā was a scholar of Arabic, Persian and Sanskrit and his work is based on many Sanskrit treatises like *Sangīt Ratnākar*,⁷⁰ *Nṛtya Sangrah*, *Sangīt Kalpataru* and the works of Matang.⁷¹ Probably the *Lahjāt* is the first book in Persian on Indian music.
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⁶³ T.M.S., 211.
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⁶⁴ T.D., 40.
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⁶⁵ *Ibid.*, 41, گذشتن يك پهر از شب: E.D., IV, 449.
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⁶⁶ T.S.A., 48.
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⁶⁷ T.D., 41. In Persian music there are, according to the *Ghayāsul Lughāt*, twelve Maqāms (or modes) of which Husainī is the tenth.
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⁶⁸ T.S.A., 48.
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⁶⁹ *Islamic Culture*, XXVIII, 1954, 411.
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⁷⁰ By Sārang Deva, a contemporary of 'Alāuddīn Khaljī (1296-1316).
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⁷¹ *Islamic Culture*, 1954, 414. A MS. of the *Lahjāt-i-Sikandar Shāhī* is in the Lucknow University Library. Another is in the Madras University Library.
Cites (1)
- Saṅgītaratnākara — Śārṅgadeva, Sanskrit