Hindustani Classical Music — Gharanas, Ragas & Instruments

Why This Chapter Matters

SSC and RRB GA sections pick up 2 to 4 questions from Hindustani classical music in almost every attempt of CGL, CHSL, MTS, NTPC and Group D. Examiners like this topic because it gives clean single-fact questions: an instrument paired with its player, a gharana paired with its city, a Bharat Ratna year paired with a musician's name. This makes the whole chapter high-yield for the time you spend on it.

The sub-topics that repeat most are: instruments and their exponents (sitar-Ravi Shankar, tabla-Zakir Hussain type pairs), the gharana system (which city a gharana belongs to), the meaning of raga and tala at a basic level, and Bharat Ratna/Sangeet Natak Akademi awardees from music. Learn the tables in this chapter cold and revise the one-line facts the night before your exam.

1. Origins of Hindustani Classical Music

Hindustani classical music is the classical music tradition of North India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. It grew out of ancient Vedic chanting (Samaveda) and later absorbed Persian and Central Asian influences after the Turkish and Mughal presence in North India from the 12th century onward. This is why Hindustani music uses many Persian-origin words (khayal, gharana, ustad) while Carnatic music of South India stayed closer to older Sanskrit terminology.

Amir Khusrau (13th century, court of Alauddin Khilji) is credited by exam books with several innovations: the qawwali form, and instruments associated with him in popular tradition include the sitar and tabla, though historians debate the exact origin of these instruments. SSC questions usually accept the traditional attribution to Khusrau, so remember his name with this topic.

Tansen is the best-known name in Hindustani music history. He was one of the Navratnas (nine gems) at the court of Akbar in the 16th century. Tansen is credited with composing several ragas, including Miyan ki Malhar, Miyan ki Todi and Darbari Kanada. His tomb is at Gwalior, and Gwalior also hosts the annual Tansen Sangeet Samaroh in his memory. Gwalior is additionally home to the oldest surviving gharana of Hindustani vocal music.

Two broad singing styles dominate Hindustani vocal music today: Dhrupad, the older and more austere style with no light ornamentation, and Khayal, a more flexible and romantic style that became dominant from the 18th century. A lighter semi-classical form called Thumri developed around Lucknow and focuses on romantic or devotional themes with more ornamentation than khayal.

2. The Gharana System

A gharana is a school or lineage of music, usually tied to a particular family or a city, that passes on a distinct style from guru to disciple (the guru-shishya parampara). Gharanas are named after the city where they originated, not after any single founder in most cases.

Gharana	Associated City/Region	Known For
Gwalior Gharana	Gwalior (Madhya Pradesh)	Oldest khayal gharana; balanced, straightforward style
Kirana Gharana	Kirana (Uttar Pradesh)	Emphasis on sur (pitch) and slow elaboration; associated with Abdul Karim Khan and Bhimsen Joshi
Agra Gharana	Agra	Blend of dhrupad and khayal styles
Jaipur-Atrauli Gharana	Jaipur/Atrauli	Complex rhythmic patterns; associated with Kesarbai Kerkar
Patiala Gharana	Patiala (Punjab)	Fast, ornamented khayal singing; associated with Bade Ghulam Ali Khan
Rampur-Sahaswan Gharana	Rampur (Uttar Pradesh)	Balanced blend of dhrupad seriousness and khayal ornamentation
Banaras Gharana	Varanasi	Known especially for thumri and tabla playing
Delhi Gharana	Delhi	One of the earliest khayal gharanas along with Gwalior

SSC has repeatedly tested "gharana matched to city" style questions, so treat this table as a must-learn.

3. Raga and Tala — The Basic Grammar

A raga is a melodic framework: a fixed set of notes (swaras) arranged in a specific ascending order (aroha) and descending order (avaroha), meant to evoke a particular mood or time of day. There are seven basic swaras in Indian classical music: Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha, Ni (Shadja, Rishabh, Gandhar, Madhyam, Pancham, Dhaivat, Nishad).

Ragas are traditionally associated with specific times of the day or seasons. A few commonly tested examples:

Raga	Traditional Time/Season
Bhairav	Early morning
Yaman	Evening
Malhar (Miyan ki Malhar)	Monsoon season
Bageshri	Late night
Darbari Kanada	Late night
Basant	Spring season

The parent scale system used to classify ragas in Hindustani music is called That (10 thats were codified by musicologist V.N. Bhatkhande in the 20th century).

Tala is the rhythmic cycle that governs the timing of a composition, measured in a fixed number of beats (matras) grouped into sections (vibhags). A tala repeats in a cycle; the first beat of each cycle is called the sam. Common talas include Teentaal (16 beats, the most common tala in khayal), Ektaal (12 beats), Jhaptaal (10 beats) and Dadra (6 beats, used in light classical music like thumri).

V.N. Bhatkhande and Vishnu Digambar Paluskar are the two names most credited with systematising Hindustani music theory and notation in the modern era, and with founding music education institutions (Paluskar founded the Gandharva Mahavidyalaya in Lahore in 1901, later reestablished at multiple Indian cities).

4. Instruments of Hindustani Classical Music

4.1 String Instruments

Instrument	Type	Description	Well-known Exponents
Sitar	Plucked string	Long-necked instrument with movable frets and sympathetic strings	Ravi Shankar, Vilayat Khan, Nikhil Banerjee
Sarod	Plucked string	Fretless, metal fingerboard, deeper resonant tone than sitar	Ali Akbar Khan, Amjad Ali Khan
Sarangi	Bowed string	Short-necked bowed instrument, closest in tone to the human voice, traditionally used to accompany vocalists	Ram Narayan
Santoor	Struck string	Trapezoidal box with strings struck by mallets (mediators), originally from Kashmir	Shivkumar Sharma
Violin	Bowed string	Adopted from Western music into Indian classical music	—

4.2 Wind Instruments

Instrument	Description	Well-known Exponents
Shehnai	Double-reed wind instrument, associated with auspicious occasions and weddings	Bismillah Khan
Bansuri	Bamboo flute	Hariprasad Chaurasia
Harmonium	Keyboard reed instrument, mainly used for vocal accompaniment	—

4.3 Percussion Instruments

Instrument	Description	Well-known Exponents
Tabla	Pair of hand drums (dayan and bayan), the principal percussion instrument of Hindustani music	Zakir Hussain, Alla Rakha
Pakhawaj	Older barrel-shaped double-headed drum, mainly used to accompany dhrupad	—

SSC frequently frames questions as "which instrument is associated with which artist" or "which instrument belongs to which family (string/wind/percussion)". Learn both angles from the tables above.

5. Legendary Exponents of Hindustani Music

Name	Instrument/Form	Key Fact
Tansen	Vocal (dhrupad)	Navratna of Akbar's court, 16th century
Bismillah Khan	Shehnai	Played at the Red Fort on India's first Independence Day, 15 August 1947; Bharat Ratna in 2001
Ravi Shankar	Sitar	Popularised Hindustani music internationally; Bharat Ratna in 1999
Bhimsen Joshi	Vocal (Kirana gharana)	Bharat Ratna in 2008
Zakir Hussain	Tabla	Son of Alla Rakha; internationally acclaimed tabla player
Ali Akbar Khan	Sarod	Son of Allauddin Khan; founded the Ali Akbar College of Music
Amjad Ali Khan	Sarod	Leading contemporary sarod player
Hariprasad Chaurasia	Bansuri	Popularised the bamboo flute in classical concerts
Shivkumar Sharma	Santoor	Brought the santoor into Hindustani classical concert music
Kishori Amonkar	Vocal (Jaipur-Atrauli gharana)	Noted khayal and thumri singer
Girija Devi	Vocal (Banaras gharana)	Known as the "Thumri Queen"
Vilayat Khan	Sitar	Known for a vocal-style approach to sitar playing (gayaki ang)
Allauddin Khan	Sarod, multi-instrumentalist	Founder of the Maihar gharana; teacher of Ravi Shankar and Ali Akbar Khan

Only Bismillah Khan, Ravi Shankar and Bhimsen Joshi hold the Bharat Ratna among Hindustani musicians as of the settled record. This trio is a favourite for direct recall questions.

6. Sangeet Natak Akademi

The Sangeet Natak Akademi, established in 1952, is India's national academy for music, dance and drama, headquartered in New Delhi. It was the first of the national akademis to be set up by the Government of India. It confers the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (also called Akademi Ratna/Akademi Puraskar) annually to recognise excellence in music, dance and drama, and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship, its highest honour, given to a limited number of distinguished persons. Many Hindustani musicians named above are past recipients of this award before going on to receive higher civilian honours.

7. Common Confusions to Avoid

• Hindustani vs Carnatic: Hindustani is North Indian, uses instruments like sitar, sarod, tabla, shehnai; Carnatic is South Indian, uses veena, mridangam, nadaswaram. Full Carnatic detail is covered in the next chapter.
• Ustad vs Pandit: "Ustad" is an honorific used for male Muslim classical musicians (e.g. Ustad Bismillah Khan, Ustad Zakir Hussain); "Pandit" is used for male Hindu classical musicians (e.g. Pandit Ravi Shankar, Pandit Bhimsen Joshi). Both are titles of respect, not degrees.
• Raga vs Tala: Raga governs melody (which notes, in what order); tala governs rhythm (the beat cycle).
• Dhrupad vs Khayal: Dhrupad is older, austere, no light ornamentation; Khayal is more flexible and became dominant later.
• Sitar vs Sarod: Sitar has frets and a lighter, twangy tone; sarod is fretless with a deeper, heavier tone.

Quick Revision — One-Line Facts

• Hindustani classical music developed mainly in North India with Persian and Central Asian influences added after the medieval period.
• Tansen was a Navratna at Akbar's court and is credited with ragas like Darbari Kanada and Miyan ki Malhar.
• Tansen's tomb and the annual Tansen Sangeet Samaroh are located at Gwalior.
• Amir Khusrau is traditionally credited with early contributions to Hindustani music including the qawwali form.
• Dhrupad is the older, austere vocal style; Khayal is the later, more flexible style.
• Thumri is a light classical form associated with Lucknow, focused on romantic/devotional themes.
• A gharana is a music lineage/school usually named after its city of origin.
• The Gwalior Gharana is the oldest khayal gharana.
• The Kirana Gharana is associated with Abdul Karim Khan and Bhimsen Joshi.
• The Patiala Gharana is associated with Bade Ghulam Ali Khan.
• The seven basic swaras are Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha, Ni.
• That is the parent-scale classification system for ragas, codified by V.N. Bhatkhande.
• Teentaal has 16 beats and is the most common tala in khayal singing.
• Raga Bhairav is sung in the early morning; Raga Yaman in the evening; Raga Malhar in the monsoon.
• Sitar and sarod are plucked string instruments; sarangi is a bowed string instrument.
• Santoor originated in Kashmir and was brought to classical concert stages by Shivkumar Sharma.
• Bismillah Khan played the shehnai at the Red Fort on 15 August 1947.
• Zakir Hussain is a leading tabla player and son of Alla Rakha.
• Hariprasad Chaurasia is the best-known name associated with the bansuri.
• Only three Hindustani musicians hold the Bharat Ratna: Bismillah Khan (2001), Ravi Shankar (1999) and Bhimsen Joshi (2008).
• The Sangeet Natak Akademi was set up in 1952 and is headquartered in New Delhi.
• The Sangeet Natak Akademi was the first national akademi established in independent India.
• "Ustad" is used for Muslim classical musicians; "Pandit" is used for Hindu classical musicians.
• Allauddin Khan founded the Maihar gharana and taught both Ravi Shankar and Ali Akbar Khan.
• Vishnu Digambar Paluskar founded the Gandharva Mahavidyalaya in 1901.
• Girija Devi of the Banaras gharana is known as the "Thumri Queen".
• Pakhawaj is the older percussion instrument mainly used to accompany dhrupad, while tabla accompanies khayal.
• The sam is the first, most emphasised beat of a tala cycle.

Memory Tables

Table A: Musician → Instrument/Form → Signature Fact

Musician	Instrument/Form	Signature Fact
Tansen	Vocal	Akbar's Navratna, composed Darbari Kanada
Bismillah Khan	Shehnai	Bharat Ratna 2001, played at Red Fort in 1947
Ravi Shankar	Sitar	Bharat Ratna 1999, globalised Hindustani music
Bhimsen Joshi	Vocal (Kirana)	Bharat Ratna 2008
Zakir Hussain	Tabla	Son of Alla Rakha
Ali Akbar Khan	Sarod	Son of Allauddin Khan
Amjad Ali Khan	Sarod	Leading contemporary exponent
Hariprasad Chaurasia	Bansuri	Popularised flute in classical concerts
Shivkumar Sharma	Santoor	Brought santoor to classical stage
Vilayat Khan	Sitar	Known for gayaki ang style
Kishori Amonkar	Vocal (Jaipur-Atrauli)	Noted khayal/thumri singer
Girija Devi	Vocal (Banaras)	"Thumri Queen"

Table B: Gharana → City → Association

Gharana	City	Association
Gwalior	Gwalior	Oldest khayal gharana
Kirana	Kirana, UP	Abdul Karim Khan, Bhimsen Joshi
Agra	Agra	Blend of dhrupad and khayal
Jaipur-Atrauli	Jaipur	Kesarbai Kerkar
Patiala	Patiala	Bade Ghulam Ali Khan
Rampur-Sahaswan	Rampur	Balanced dhrupad-khayal blend
Banaras	Varanasi	Thumri, tabla
Delhi	Delhi	Early khayal gharana
Maihar	Maihar, MP	Allauddin Khan; taught Ravi Shankar, Ali Akbar Khan

Practice MCQs

Q1. Which instrument was played by Ustad Bismillah Khan at the Red Fort on 15 August 1947? (a) Sitar (b) Sarod (c) Shehnai (d) Tabla

Q2. Tansen was one of the Navratnas at the court of which Mughal emperor? (a) Humayun (b) Akbar (c) Jahangir (d) Shah Jahan

Q3. The Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's national academy for music, dance and drama, is headquartered in which city? (a) Mumbai (b) Kolkata (c) New Delhi (d) Lucknow

Q4. Which of the following is a bowed string instrument in Hindustani classical music? (a) Sitar (b) Sarod (c) Santoor (d) Sarangi

Q5. Match the musician with their instrument: 1. Zakir Hussain, 2. Hariprasad Chaurasia, 3. Shivkumar Sharma — A. Bansuri, B. Santoor, C. Tabla (a) 1-A, 2-B, 3-C (b) 1-C, 2-A, 3-B (c) 1-B, 2-C, 3-A (d) 1-C, 2-B, 3-A

Q6. Which gharana is regarded as the oldest gharana of Hindustani khayal singing? (a) Kirana Gharana (b) Patiala Gharana (c) Gwalior Gharana (d) Agra Gharana

Q7. In how many beats is Teentaal, the most common tala of Hindustani khayal music, structured? (a) 12 (b) 10 (c) 16 (d) 6

Q8. Which of the following musicians has NOT been awarded the Bharat Ratna? (a) Bismillah Khan (b) Ravi Shankar (c) Bhimsen Joshi (d) Ali Akbar Khan

Q9. The Kirana Gharana of Hindustani vocal music is most closely associated with which of the following musicians? (a) Bade Ghulam Ali Khan (b) Abdul Karim Khan (c) Kesarbai Kerkar (d) Vilayat Khan

Q10. Which raga is traditionally sung in the early morning hours? (a) Yaman (b) Malhar (c) Bhairav (d) Bageshri

Q11. Who is credited with founding the Maihar gharana and teaching both Ravi Shankar and Ali Akbar Khan? (a) V.N. Bhatkhande (b) Vishnu Digambar Paluskar (c) Allauddin Khan (d) Abdul Karim Khan

Q12. Consider the following statements about Hindustani music terms:

1. Dhrupad is an older and more austere vocal style than Khayal.
2. Thumri is a light classical form associated with romantic or devotional themes. Which of the statements given above is/are correct? (a) 1 only (b) 2 only (c) Both 1 and 2 (d) Neither 1 nor 2

Q13. Which musicologist codified the "That" system of ten parent scales for classifying Hindustani ragas? (a) V.N. Bhatkhande (b) Vishnu Digambar Paluskar (c) Amir Khusrau (d) Tansen

Q14. Which of the following honorific titles is traditionally used for Hindu classical musicians, as distinct from "Ustad" used for Muslim classical musicians? (a) Acharya (b) Pandit (c) Guru (d) Vidwan

Q15. Arrange the following in chronological order of establishment/occurrence: 1. Sangeet Natak Akademi established, 2. Bismillah Khan plays shehnai at Red Fort, 3. Gandharva Mahavidyalaya founded by Vishnu Digambar Paluskar, 4. Ravi Shankar awarded Bharat Ratna (a) 3, 2, 1, 4 (b) 2, 3, 1, 4 (c) 3, 1, 2, 4 (d) 1, 3, 2, 4

Answer Key

Q	Answer	One-line reason
1	(c)	Bismillah Khan played the shehnai at the Red Fort on 15 August 1947.
2	(b)	Tansen was a Navratna at Akbar's court.
3	(c)	Sangeet Natak Akademi (1952) is headquartered in New Delhi.
4	(d)	Sarangi is bowed; sitar and sarod are plucked, santoor is struck.
5	(b)	Zakir Hussain-Tabla, Chaurasia-Bansuri, Sharma-Santoor.
6	(c)	Gwalior Gharana is the oldest khayal gharana.
7	(c)	Teentaal has 16 beats.
8	(d)	Only Bismillah Khan, Ravi Shankar and Bhimsen Joshi hold the Bharat Ratna among these.
9	(b)	Abdul Karim Khan is the founding figure of the Kirana Gharana.
10	(c)	Raga Bhairav is traditionally an early-morning raga.
11	(c)	Allauddin Khan founded the Maihar Gharana and taught both musicians.
12	(c)	Both statements correctly describe Dhrupad and Thumri.
13	(a)	V.N. Bhatkhande codified the That classification system.
14	(b)	"Pandit" is used for Hindu classical musicians, "Ustad" for Muslim classical musicians.
15	(a)	Order: Gandharva Mahavidyalaya (1901) to Red Fort shehnai (1947) to Sangeet Natak Akademi (1952) to Ravi Shankar's Bharat Ratna (1999).