THIS is apropos of Prof Hasan Aziz's rejoinder (March 4) to my letter which discussed Dhrupad Gaeki briefly in the context of a Dhrupad singer, Alia Rashid.

He disagrees with my saying that this Gaeki is also known as 'qaseeda khwani' and then goes on to state that “Dhrupad consists of two to four rhyming lines of hymns, essentially in praise of Hindu deities or Muslim saints”.

It is a well-known fact that 'qaseeda' is written and sung in praise of someone. In this regard I am quoting extract from an Urdu write-up of my music teacher Ustad Buland Iqbal, who has composed music for around 35 Pakistani films with his partner late Lal Mohammad (the duo is known as 'Lal Mohammad Iqbal'). He says

“Dhrupad is a form of classical singing which is sung in a specific “ta'al” named 'chautal', having 12 'matrays' (beats). Unlike Khayal Gaeki, the singer does not make use of “ta'ans”, 'paltay' and 'murkis' (voice variations) instead the “ra'ag” and “ta'al” are elaborated through the spread of words.

“The words used in Dhrupad are mostly in the style of 'qaseeda khwani' in which the bravery, splendour and glory of kings and nawabs was portrayed. That is why it remained popular in the kings darbars and the Gaeki progressed due to the patronage provided by them.”

Dhrupad from the ancient time has got several changes and no clear idea is actually available on its evolution. However, beginning with the dynasty of Alauddin Khilji (1296-1316) and with the incoming of Amir Khusro, historical changes are available from records.

According to the opinion of some musicologists, Dhrupad is the outcome of research of Maharaja Mansingh Tomer (1486-1516) of Gwalior. Nayak Bakhshu helped him a lot in establishing the Dhrupad. Mansingh developed Dhrupad into an effective style and made it comprehensive.

At Emperor Akbar's darbar there were four music pundits, namely Tansen, Raja Sammokhan Singh, Briz Chand and Srichand. They were the creators of different types of Dhrupad Gaeki. Amongst them, Briz Chand belonged to a Brahmin family from village “Dagur” village near Delhi and his style of singing is known as 'Dagar Bani'.

Most of the Dhrupad singers have been following his style in the recent and present time in India and Pakistan. Popular Dhrupad greats, namely Zia Fariduddin Dagar and Zia Mohiuddin Dagar, are the two prodigies of Briz Chand's school. Asifuddin Dagar performed at the All-Pakistan Music Conference held at Karachi in February.

We need more devoted youngsters like Alia Rashid if this form of classical singing is to be kept alive in Pakistan.

PARVEZ RAHIM
Karachi