Lucknow Gharana (Tabla)

लखनऊ घराना (तबला)

Open, resonant tabla shaped by kathak dance at the Lucknow court

Tabla Gharana Lucknow Late 18th century

Founded By

Miyan Bakshu

The Lucknow gharana is a school of North Indian tabla that formed when players of the Delhi gharana settled in Lucknow, and James Kippen ties its hereditary family to the city from the late 18th century. It is known for khula baj, an open, resonant style shaped by pakhawaj and kathak dance.

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Origins & History

In the 18th century musicians and dancers left Delhi for the Awadh court at Faizabad under Nawab Shuja-ud-daula, as Delhi lost its place as North India's main centre of arts patronage, Kippen writes. Tabla players of the Delhi family settled in Lucknow, and accounts give their relationship to Siddhar Khan of Delhi in different ways. Most accounts name Bakshu Khan, also spelt Bakhshu and known as Miyan Bakshu, as the founder.

Many accounts pair him with a brother, Modhu Khan, as co-founder. Kippen found very weak historical evidence for that brotherhood, and some Lucknow players, among them the late khalifa Afaq Hussain Khan, held that Modhu Khan reached the city about 50 years after Bakshu Khan. The founders' years in Lucknow are put around 1770, an estimate on which musicians and historians disagree.

Lucknow is credited with originating the purab baj, the eastern style, named for the city's position east of Delhi. Kippen's monograph, The Tabla of Lucknow (1988), counts Lucknow among the six tabla gharanas widely recognised today, and his teacher Afaq Hussain Khan headed its hereditary family.

"Six gharanas are widely recognised: those of Delhi, Lucknow, Ajrara, Farukkhabad, Punjab and Benares."

— James Kippen

The Tabla of Lucknow: A Cultural Analysis of a Musical Tradition (Cambridge University Press, 1988), Preface

Chronologie historique

18th century

Musicians leave Delhi for Awadh

Musicians and dancers leave Delhi for the Awadh court at Faizabad under Nawab Shuja-ud-daula, as Delhi loses its place as the main centre of arts patronage.
Late 18th century

The tabla family in Lucknow

The hereditary family of tabla players, led by Bakshu Khan, becomes associated with Lucknow. One estimate places the founders there around 1770; others dispute it.
1867

Abid Hussain Khan is born

Abid Hussain Khan is born into the hereditary line. He later accompanies kathak dancers, composes dance phrases and bears the title khalifa.
Late 1920s

First professor of tabla at Marris College

Abid Hussain Khan becomes the first professor of tabla at the Marris College of Music in Lucknow, which Bhatkhande opened in 1926.
1988

The Tabla of Lucknow published

Cambridge University Press publishes James Kippen's The Tabla of Lucknow, a study of the gharana whose hereditary head, Afaq Hussain Khan, was Kippen's teacher.
1990

Death of Afaq Hussain Khan

Afaq Hussain Khan, born in 1930 and head of the hereditary Lucknow tabla family, dies in 1990.
2019

Padma Shri for Swapan Chaudhuri

Swapan Chaudhuri, who trained in the Lucknow gharana under Santosh Krishna Biswas of Kolkata, receives the Padma Shri.

Lineage & Legacy

The guru-shishya tradition passed down through generations

The Lucknow line passed within a hereditary family whose head carries the title khalifa. Abid Hussain Khan, Wajid Hussain Khan and Afaq Hussain Khan bore it. The family also taught players from other gharanas: accounts name Modhu Khan as teacher of the Benares gharana's founder, and Abid Hussain Khan taught at a public college from the late 1920s.

The founding generation

Bakshu Khan

18th century

Founder

Named as founder of the Lucknow tabla gharana in most accounts, and placed in Lucknow around 1770 by one estimate. He came from the Delhi tabla family.

Modhu Khan

Named co-founder in many accounts

Paired with Bakshu Khan as brother and co-founder in many accounts, which Kippen found weakly supported. Accounts name him as teacher of the founder of the Benares gharana.
Guru-Shishya Tradition

The khalifas

Munne Khan

Tabla player and teacher

Son of Muhammad Khan of the hereditary line, elder brother and teacher of Abid Hussain Khan.

Abid Hussain Khan

1867-1936

Khalifa and teacher

Accompanied kathak dancers and composed dance phrases, nachbols. In the late 1920s he became the first professor of tabla at the Marris College of Music in Lucknow.

Wajid Hussain Khan

Khalifa

Bore the title khalifa as head of the hereditary Lucknow tabla family; a lineage chart places him after Munne Khan and before Afaq Hussain Khan.

Afaq Hussain Khan

1930-1990

Khalifa

Head of the hereditary family and James Kippen's teacher. He held that Modhu Khan reached Lucknow about 50 years after Bakshu Khan.
Guru-Shishya Tradition

The present line

Ilmas Hussain Khan

Hereditary successor

A later member of the hereditary line, described in a UCLA lecture notice as Abid Hussain Khan's great-grandson; lineage charts place him in a different branch.
Guru-Shishya Tradition

Pupils from outside the family

Swapan Chaudhuri

Tabla player

Trained with Santosh Krishna Biswas of Kolkata, an exponent of the Lucknow gharana. He has received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award and, in 2019, the Padma Shri.

The gharana system is rooted in the guru-shishya (teacher-disciple) tradition, where musical knowledge and style are passed down through direct apprenticeship over three or more generations.

Key exponents

  • Bakshu Khan, founder, active around 1770 by one estimate
  • Modhu Khan, named co-founder in many accounts
  • Abid Hussain Khan, 1867-1936, khalifa and first professor of tabla at Marris College
  • Wajid Hussain Khan, khalifa of the hereditary line
  • Afaq Hussain Khan, 1930-1990, khalifa of the hereditary line
  • Swapan Chaudhuri, pupil of Santosh Krishna Biswas, Padma Shri 2019

Caractéristiques musicales

Distinctive style, techniques, and aesthetic philosophy

Overall Style

The Lucknow manner is khula baj, the open style: bolder, more resonant strokes that use the palm with the fingers, set against Delhi's two-finger playing at the rim. Open and closed are not always clearly defined, and khula baj also plays closed strokes with force. The style draws on pakhawaj technique and on kathak, whose dancers shaped its fixed compositions. The dance school itself has its own page, the Lucknow gharana of Kathak.

Khula baj

The open style uses bolder, more resonant strokes and the whole palm with the fingers, against the two-finger rim playing of Delhi.

The purab baj

Lucknow is credited with originating the purab baj, the eastern style, named for its position east of Delhi. Farrukhabad and Benares belong to the same group.

Pakhawaj and kathak

Pakhawaj technique and kathak dance both shaped the style. The dancers at Lucknow are the main reason the gharana built fixed compositions that close on a cadence.

Fixed compositions

Gat, tukra, chakradar and paran sit beside the qaida, a theme with set variations, and the peshkar, both inherited from Delhi.

Signature Repertoire

Lucknow repertoire sets gat, tukra, chakradar, paran and nauhakka beside the qaida and peshkar it inherited from Delhi. The fixed forms grew from accompanying kathak at Lucknow. Abid Hussain Khan accompanied dancers and composed nachbols, dance phrases, and his playing was called tabla for dancers. Kippen lectured in 2008 on Abid Hussain Khan's notebooks.

Compare with Similar Gharanas

Understand how Lucknow Gharana (Tabla) differs from other traditions

Select a Gharana to Compare:

Lucknow Gharana (Tabla)
(Current)		 Punjab Gharana
(Comparing)
Type Tabla Tabla
Origine Lucknow Lahore
Era Late 18th century
Style The Lucknow manner is khula baj, the open style: bolder, more resonant strokes that use the palm with the fingers, set against Delhi's two-finger playing at the rim. Open and closed are not always clearly defined, and khula baj also plays closed strokes with force. The style draws on pakhawaj technique and on kathak, whose dancers shaped its fixed compositions. The dance school itself has its own page, the Lucknow gharana of Kathak. Punjab tabla keeps strong pakhawaj roots. Early players used a wooden bass drum, the dukkad, loaded with wheat-flour dough, and played it in a pair called the jodi. Aneesh Pradhan notes the players' fondness for cross-rhythms and less common talas. Their laykari, rhythmic play with divisions of the beat, is complex, and the style is open and forceful, with compositions that demand physical strength.
View Punjab Gharana Details

Influence & Legacy

Lucknow fed other gharanas of the purab baj. Accounts name Modhu Khan as teacher of the Benares gharana's founder, though Aneesh Pradhan names another Lucknow master, Makkhu Khan. Rajiv Devasthali's lineage chart ties the Farrukhabad line to Lucknow through Bakshu Khan's daughter, who married Vilayat Ali Khan. Abid Hussain Khan took tabla teaching into the Marris College in Lucknow, and in Calcutta Santosh Krishna Biswas taught the style to Swapan Chaudhuri.

Sources

  1. James Kippen, The Tabla of Lucknow: A Cultural Analysis of a Musical Tradition (1988)
  2. DigiTabla, The Six Major Gharanas; Baj (Dilli baj and Purab baj) (n.d.)
  3. Arpit Saxena, Khaleefa Abid Hussain, The Lucknow Observer (2015)
  4. UCLA International Institute, James Kippen on the notebooks of Abid Hussain Khan (2008)
  5. Ali Akbar College of Music, Swapan Chaudhuri receives the Padma Shri (2019)

Questions fréquentes

What is the Lucknow gharana of tabla?

The Lucknow gharana is one of the six widely recognised schools of tabla, formed when Delhi players settled in Lucknow in the 18th century. It is known for khula baj, an open, resonant style, and for fixed compositions shaped by kathak dance.

Who founded the Lucknow gharana of tabla?

Bakshu Khan, known as Miyan Bakshu, is named as founder of the Lucknow tabla gharana in most accounts. Many accounts add his brother Modhu Khan as co-founder, but James Kippen found very weak evidence for that, and the late khalifa Afaq Hussain Khan held that Modhu Khan arrived about 50 years later.

Which musicians belong to the Lucknow gharana of tabla today?

The hereditary line continues through Ilmas Hussain Khan, after the khalifa Afaq Hussain Khan (1930 to 1990). Outside the family, Swapan Chaudhuri, who trained with Santosh Krishna Biswas of Kolkata, belongs to the gharana and received the Padma Shri in 2019.

How does the Lucknow gharana of tabla differ from the Punjab gharana?

The Lucknow gharana branched from Delhi and built its fixed compositions for kathak dance, while the Punjab gharana grew out of a pakhawaj tradition in Lahore, largely apart from the other gharanas. Punjab players favour cross-rhythms and less common talas, with long gats, relas and parans.

What is khula baj, and how does it differ from Delhi's playing?

Khula baj is the open style of Lucknow tabla: bolder, more resonant strokes that use the palm with the fingers. Delhi players use two fingers at the rim of the drum. The labels are loose, and khula baj also plays closed strokes, struck with force.

Why is the Lucknow tabla style linked with kathak?

Lucknow tabla grew up beside kathak dance, and the dancers are the main reason the gharana developed fixed, cadential forms such as gat, tukra and paran. Abid Hussain Khan accompanied kathak dancers and composed dance phrases, and his playing was called tabla for dancers.

How are the Lucknow and Farrukhabad gharanas related?

Farrukhabad is tied to Lucknow by marriage: Rajiv Devasthali's lineage chart records that Bakshu Khan taught his daughter, who married Vilayat Ali Khan of the Farrukhabad gharana. Both belong to the purab baj, the eastern group of tabla gharanas, with Benares.

What does the title khalifa mean in the Lucknow gharana?

Khalifa is the title of the head of the hereditary Lucknow tabla family. Holders of the title include Abid Hussain Khan, Wajid Hussain Khan and Afaq Hussain Khan. James Kippen calls his teacher Afaq Hussain Khan the head of the Lucknow tabla gharana, a family associated with the city since the late 18th century.

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