--- url: 'https://kalasudha.com/en-gb/gharana/punjab-gharana' title: 'Punjab Gharana' author: name: Anonymous updated: '2026-10-17T17:51:06+00:00' type: website summary: "The Punjab gharana, also called the Panjab gharana, is a school of tabla playing that grew out of pakhawaj drumming in the Punjab region, and some accounts date its tabla form to the 19th century. Tabla historians count it among the six main tabla gharanas, with Delhi, Ajrara, Lucknow, Farrukhabad and Benares. Its main centre was Lahore, where it kept a separate identity from the other five.Tabla historian Aneesh Pradhan and India's NCERT tabla and pakhawaj textbook both name Lala Bhavani Das, a pakhawaj player, as founder. Pradhan cites Aban Mistry's view that Bhavani Das, Bhavani Din and Bhavani Singh (also spelt Bhawani) are one man. Jasdeep Singh, writing for the NCPA, reads Mistry as separating an 18th-century Bhawani Das from a 19th-century Bhawani Singh. Several accounts make Miyan Qadir Baksh I a disciple of Bhavani Das, and Singh credits his descendants with establishing the gharana. Singh dates him around 1700; DigiTabla, using Gottlieb's dates, has a Kader Baksh born around 1810 bring the line to the tabla. A few accounts name Qadir Baksh alone as founder. The Tribune reports a belief that the line began as a jori pakhawaj tradition with the Sikh Guru Arjan Dev, which Singh rejects. None of the sources consulted gives a documented founding date.Pakhawaj roots show in the instruments. Early players used a wooden bass drum, the dukkad, loaded with wheat-flour dough, and played it in a pair called the jodi. Punjab players favour cross-rhythms, laykari, rhythmic play with divisions of the beat, and less common taals, or rhythmic cycles, among them Pancham Sawari of 15 beats, Dhamar and Shultal. The repertoire leans on long gats, relas and parans more than peshkar and qaida, though the balance varies by lineage.Miyan Qadir Baksh I is a different man from Miyan Qadir Baksh II, a 20th-century teacher. Ally Adnan records that Shaukat Hussain Khan learnt from Heeralal of the Delhi line and then from Miyan Qadir Baksh II, worked at Radio Pakistan in Lahore for 43 years and taught Tari Khan. After Partition in 1947 the repertoire divided between India and Pakistan. Alla Rakha took the style to international audiences as accompanist to Ravi Shankar. His son and disciple Zakir Hussain continued the line, and theirs is the best known of several lines in India. Another runs through Firoz Khan, who passed Punjab compositions to Gyan Prakash Ghosh in Kolkata.Key exponentsLala Bhavani Das (also Bhavani Din, Bhavani Singh), pakhawaj player named as founderMiyan Qadir Baksh I, disciple of Bhavani Das, dated around 1700 by Jasdeep Singh and to around 1810 by DigiTablaMiyan Qadir Baksh II, 20th-century teacher of Alla Rakha and Shaukat Hussain KhanFiroz Khan, composer who passed Punjab compositions to Gyan Prakash Ghosh in KolkataAlla Rakha, soloist and accompanist to Ravi ShankarShaukat Hussain Khan, Lahore soloist and Radio Pakistan staff artist for 43 yearsZakir Hussain, son and disciple of Alla RakhaTari Khan, Lahore disciple of Shaukat Hussain KhanSourcesAneesh Pradhan, columns in Scroll on the Punjab gharana (2016) and the Bhavani Das pakhawaj tradition (2019)NCERT, Sangeet: Tabla evam Pakhawaj, Class 11, chapter 8 (2021)Jasdeep Singh, essay on the Punjab gharana, NCPA ON Stage (December 2020)Krishnaraj Iyengar, The enigmatic ustad from Punjab, The Tribune (2019)Ally Adnan, The Ustad of Ustaads, The Friday Times (2015)DigiTabla, Six gharanas" image: 'https://kalasudha.com/themes/custom/music_agency/assets/icon/logo.svg' published: true og: site_name: KalaSudha 'image:url': 'https://kalasudha.com/themes/custom/music_agency/assets/icon/logo.svg' 'image:secure_url': 'https://kalasudha.com/themes/custom/music_agency/assets/icon/logo.svg' 'image:type': image/svg+xml 'image:alt': KalaSudha --- ## [Punjab Gharana ](/en-gb/gharana/punjab-gharana) The **Punjab gharana**, also called the Panjab gharana, is a school of [tabla](/en-gb/instrumental/hindustani-classical/tabla) playing that grew out of pakhawaj drumming in the Punjab region, and some accounts date its tabla form to the 19th century. Tabla historians count it among the six main tabla gharanas, with Delhi, [Ajrara](/en-gb/gharana/ajrara-gharana), Lucknow, Farrukhabad and Benares. Its main centre was Lahore, where it kept a separate identity from the other five. Tabla historian Aneesh Pradhan and India's NCERT tabla and pakhawaj textbook both name Lala Bhavani Das, a [pakhawaj](/en-gb/instrumental/hindustani-classical/pakhawaj) player, as founder. Pradhan cites Aban Mistry's view that Bhavani Das, Bhavani Din and Bhavani Singh (also spelt Bhawani) are one man. Jasdeep Singh, writing for the NCPA, reads Mistry as separating an 18th-century Bhawani Das from a 19th-century Bhawani Singh. Several accounts make Miyan Qadir Baksh I a disciple of Bhavani Das, and Singh credits his descendants with establishing the gharana. Singh dates him around 1700; DigiTabla, using Gottlieb's dates, has a Kader Baksh born around 1810 bring the line to the tabla. A few accounts name Qadir Baksh alone as founder. The Tribune reports a belief that the line began as a jori pakhawaj tradition with the Sikh Guru Arjan Dev, which Singh rejects. None of the sources consulted gives a documented founding date. Pakhawaj roots show in the instruments. Early players used a wooden bass drum, the **dukkad**, loaded with wheat-flour dough, and played it in a pair called the **jodi**. Punjab players favour cross-rhythms, **laykari**, rhythmic play with divisions of the beat, and less common taals, or rhythmic cycles, among them **Pancham Sawari** of 15 beats, Dhamar and Shultal. The repertoire leans on long gats, relas and parans more than peshkar and qaida, though the balance varies by lineage. Miyan Qadir Baksh I is a different man from Miyan Qadir Baksh II, a 20th-century teacher. Ally Adnan records that Shaukat Hussain Khan learnt from Heeralal of the Delhi line and then from Miyan Qadir Baksh II, worked at Radio Pakistan in Lahore for 43 years and taught Tari Khan. After Partition in 1947 the repertoire divided between India and Pakistan. Alla Rakha took the style to international audiences as accompanist to Ravi Shankar. His son and disciple Zakir Hussain continued the line, and theirs is the best known of several lines in India. Another runs through Firoz Khan, who passed Punjab compositions to Gyan Prakash Ghosh in Kolkata. ### Key exponents - Lala Bhavani Das (also Bhavani Din, Bhavani Singh), pakhawaj player named as founder - Miyan Qadir Baksh I, disciple of Bhavani Das, dated around 1700 by Jasdeep Singh and to around 1810 by DigiTabla - Miyan Qadir Baksh II, 20th-century teacher of Alla Rakha and Shaukat Hussain Khan - Firoz Khan, composer who passed Punjab compositions to Gyan Prakash Ghosh in Kolkata - Alla Rakha, soloist and accompanist to Ravi Shankar - Shaukat Hussain Khan, Lahore soloist and Radio Pakistan staff artist for 43 years - Zakir Hussain, son and disciple of Alla Rakha - Tari Khan, Lahore disciple of Shaukat Hussain Khan ### Sources - Aneesh Pradhan, columns in Scroll on the Punjab gharana (2016) and the Bhavani Das pakhawaj tradition (2019) - NCERT, Sangeet: Tabla evam Pakhawaj, Class 11, chapter 8 (2021) - Jasdeep Singh, essay on the Punjab gharana, NCPA ON Stage (December 2020) - Krishnaraj Iyengar, The enigmatic ustad from Punjab, The Tribune (2019) - Ally Adnan, The Ustad of Ustaads, The Friday Times (2015) - DigiTabla, Six gharanas [Sign in to follow](/en-gb/user/login?flag_anon=follow_term-345&destination=/en-gb/markdownify/taxonomy/term/345)