August 3, 2003

AFTER SMASHING the Sikh kingdom in the Punjab in 1848, the British colonial rulers annexed the conquered territories to their Indian Empire. Prior to that, very little, if any, manifestations of Western culture had penetrated the ethos of this part of the Sub-continent.

The western variety of brass bands came with the rulers who used them with the different regiments of the British Indian Army. In the beginning, these bands were used only within the confines of the military cantonments established in the Punjab for British troops. The people who, at large, had no access to the cantonments, remained relatively unexposed to the heavy sonorous sounds of the shining musical instruments of these bands.

However, after the setting up of the Police Department in 1861, a training school was established at Line Subhan Khan (between the Sheranwala and Kashmiri Gates of the Walled City), where the residents of the area watched with amazement as new police recruits marched to the tunes played by a brass band.

Brass bands in their current shape are the result of an evolutionary process spanning 150 years. Their use for ceremonious occasions, especially marriage festivities, gradually took root in the local culture, ultimately becoming an essential part of the customs of this city. Previously, groups of professional musicians adorned marriage processions and social get-togethers at the Havelis of the affluent.

These groups of musicians mainly used a strong set of percussion instruments, a number of shenais and a few varieties of woodwind musical devices. But after the advent of the British Raj in the Punjab, local musicians acquired the skill of playing western musical instruments, especially those which were components of brass bands.

In the beginning, members of the local brass bands, founded after ten years of the British Raj, did not wear uniforms. They were attired in desi raiments of all sorts. However, gradually colourful uniforms were designed for them, which added much to the sheen, splendor and gaiety of the new brass bands. It was due to the conscious efforts of their founders that the brass bands acquired a disciplined look. Their uniforms were designed to avoid boredom at any cost.

For some inexplicable reason, all the brass bands set up in Lahore were owned and managed by Muslim musicians. A few half-hearted attempts made by a handful of non-Muslim musicians to establish their bands on communal lines but they failed. Those few that were owned by the non-Muslims stayed in business for some time but never made a name.

The brass bands currently in circulation in Lahore consist of twenty pieces. These are clarinets, trumpets, horns, trombones and tubas. These instruments are indispensable for melody, sustained harmony, rhythmic accent, the weight of their massed tone, and for the flame-like sonority they contribute to the climaxes. These bands are managed and led by seasoned clarinetists, which play the main melody of a song and the rest of the band instruments repeat the lyrical stanzas, sonically projecting the refrains of a particular song.

The first brass band ever to be set up in Lahore was the one founded by Malik Amir Khan in 1875. It was the forerunner of the Babu Band, one of the three leading bands in demand in Lahore and nearby towns. This band has undergone several changes in its nomenclature during the past 130 years. When Malik Amir Khan died, his son Muhammad Din took over the management of the band and reorganized it, but retained its old name — the Special Military Band. He introduced colourful uniforms and injected fresh talent into it by enrolling competent musicians. Around 1910, he changed the name of the band to Babu da Band, which later on was renamed as Babu Band.

The way to stay young is to remain youthful inside and to continue to grow while maintaining a cheerful disposition. For this one needs to stay mentally alive and alert. That was the impression one recieved on meeting Master Nazir Sohni, the inheritor and manager of the second oldest brass bands of Lahore, known as Sohni Band. It was founded by his father Master Sohni Khan in 1932. The denizens of Lahore still remember Clarinetist Master Sohni Khan (1902-1973) as the ever-smiling, charming, majestic leader of a brass band. He used to delight people with his superb performances as well as his quality of leadership, which helped in chiseling the band’s distinct quality. He was admired for maintaining the band’s slick physical appearance.

The third popular brass band of Lahore is the Jehangir Band, originally set up by Clarinetist Alamgir Khan in Amritsar but shifted to Lahore in August 1947. Babar Khan, the youngest son of Alamgir Khan, however, asserts that his grandfather, Jehangir Khan founded the band in about 1860, making it the senior-most bands in terms of longevity of existence.

Like the founder of Sohni Band, Alamgir Khan too was a celebrated name in the fraternity of classical musicians of India before 1947. Besides his association with the Jehangir Band, he was acclaimed for his expertise, talent and skill in the rendition of several genres of classical music.

In their quest for perfection, the band leaders practiced classical music daily for hours to match the brilliance of their competitors which sometimes led to rivalries among them.

Senior citizens still remember the rather unusual spectacles when two marriage processions (spearheaded by two brass bands) would converge at one point from opposite directions. The self-conscious leaders of the bands, in a spirit of intense competition, would not give the right of way to the another, blocking the streets while playing music for hours. It only ended when the senior members of Baratis from both sides intervened to persuade the “warring musicians” to give way to the other.

Brass bands of sorts exist in almost every city. However, they have not assumed the status of an art institution, as is the case with the Lahore-based bands.

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