The Origin and Evolution of Kathak in Delhi - Delhi Heritage City

the sarod Yet it was once again Amir Khusro who is credited to have inspired innovations in the formand in the number of strings of the veena that finally resulted in the sitar. Mughal miniature paintingsdo show two kinds of stringed instruments, one with a long slender neck and few strings (similar tothe ‘tanpura’) and the second, again with a slender neck but a little more broad, having several stringsand frets and with one, sometimes even two rounded resonant barrels, reminiscent of the present daysitar The latter, as in the case of sarangi, became a standard accompanying instrument for Kathak.The area of ‘vacika abhinaya’ saw far reaching influences of developments in Delhi that impactedKathak. With the advent of Muslim rule with capital at Delhi, the region saw a cross fertilization ofseveral languages: Prakrit of the common man, Sanskrit of the learned, Persian, Arabic and Turkish.From this interaction, the new language of the masses that developed was Hindavi, and which wasutilised by Amir Khusro and became vehicles for ‘abhinaya’ in Kathak. His verses 18 are still performed.Another luminary of the medieval period who combined in him the complete fragrance of plurality andmulti culturalism was Ras Khan. Born as Sayyad Ibrahim, he became an ardent Krishna follower andhis verses too became part of the Kathak abhinaya repertoire 19 . The new lingua franca was utilisedfor evocative verses of ‘thumris’ that centred on the eternal theme of yearning of union of theindividual soul with the Almighty and which was symbolised by Radha or the gopis with Krishna, theAlmighty. These poignant verses reflected love in both its hues namely pain of separation and ecstasyof union. When performed by the courtesans at Delhi court, Mohan became synonymous with ‘sajan’or ‘piya’. Interestingly, the contents and themes danced by the traditional Brahmin Kathaks continuedto be strongly based on Hindu deities.But yet again it was the fertile period of 19 th century onwards that Urdu poetry, a language which bythen had attained maturity and finesse from its humble beginnings as a language of the ‘stables’,found its way into Kathak abhinaya. Mirza Ghalib, Mir Taqi Mir, Daagh to name a few becamehousehold names and their verses were performed by the dancers in the Mughal court. Here again,the ‘ghazals’ were delineated at two levels, the dual interpretation of emotions being afforded byVaishnavism and Sufism. Therefore, ‘saiyan’ or ‘sajan’ became synonymous with the Almighty keepingthe essence of Sufism as He became synonymous with the ‘paramatma’ (or the Supreme Lord).Amir Khusro was also known for his verses of riddles (‘paheliyan’). It was during this period that thefoundations of the ‘prahelika paran’ in Kathak was laid, which flowered in subsequent eras. One ofthe most popular ‘prahelika paran’ still being performed in Kathak is given in the footnote 20 . However18Khusro dariya prem ka, ulti va ki dhaar,Jo ubhraa so doob gayā, jo dooba so paar.Sej vo sooni dekh ke rovun main din rain,Piya piya main karat hoon pahron, pal bhar sukh na chain.Chhāp tilak sab chīnī re mose nainā milāikeBāt agam keh dīnī re mose nainā milāikePrem bhaṭī kā madvā pilāikeMatvālī kar līnhī re mose nainā milāike19Maanush hoin to wahi raskhaan basaun gokul gaon ke gwaalanJo pasu hoin to kahaan basu mero charaun nitnand ki dhenu majhaaranPaahan hoin to wahi giri ko jo dharyo kar chhatra purandhar dhaaranJo khag hoin to basero karoi mil kaalindi kool kadamb ki daaran20Nai abala ras reet na jaani, sej chadhhi jiya mahe dariRas baat kahi tab chaunk pari, tab dhaye ke kanthan baanh dhariIn donon ke jhakjhoran mein katinar pitambar toot pari7