Origins & History
By the family's account, the founders were sons of Imam Khan, who sang dhrupad with his brother Wazir Khan, and the family moved from the Mewat region to Indore in Malwa. Ghagge Nazir Khan trained under Waris Ali Khan of the Qawwal Bacchon gharana and sang at the Jodhpur court, then the Scindia court in Gwalior, and died in Bhopal. He adopted and trained his younger brother Munavvar Khan.
Wahid Khan became the first gandabandh disciple of the been player Bande Ali Khan, tied to him by the thread rite of formal discipleship. At the court of Maharaja Shivaji Rao Holkar in Indore he received the title Veena Vinod. The family records Bande Ali Khan calling Wahid Khan's playing the taiyyari ki been, the been of taans, and traces the gharana's merukhand taans to it.
The vocal line passed from Ghagge Nazir Khan to his pupils Natthulal and Chimanlal, and Natthulal trained his nephew Motiram. Motiram's son Jasraj, trained after his father's early death by his elder brother Maniram, became the gharana's most prominent singer. Irfan Zuberi, writing after Jasraj's death, names Ghagge Nazir Khan of Jodhpur as the gharana's fountainhead.
"It is distinct from other variants of the genre in its bhajan (devotional songs) and Sufi feel."
ઐતિહાસિક સમયરેખા
From Mewat to Indore
Rais Khan is born
Jasrangi first staged
Death of Rais Khan
Lineage & Legacy
The guru-shishya tradition passed down through generations
The Mewati line split early into a vocal and an instrumental strand. The vocal line ran from Ghagge Nazir Khan through Natthulal to Motiram and his sons, of whom Jasraj carried it furthest. Wahid Khan's sons and grandsons kept the instrumental line, on rudra veena and later sitar. At the Sanand court, Jaiwant Singh Waghela and Ghulam Qadir Khan of the founding family both taught Jasraj.
The founding brothers
Ghagge Nazir Khan
Singer, named as founder in every account
Wahid Khan
Rudra veena player
Munavvar Khan
Singer
Ghagge Nazir Khan's pupils
Natthulal
Singer
Jasraj's teachers
Motiram
Singer
Maniram
Singer
Jaiwant Singh Waghela
Singer and patron of Sanand
Ghulam Qadir Khan
Singer of the founding family
Jasraj and his disciples
Jasraj
Died 2020
Singer
Sanjeev Abhyankar
Singer
Kala Ramnath
Violinist
The instrumental line
Rais Khan
1939-2017
Sitar player
Siraj Khan
Sitar player
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
- Ghagge Nazir Khan, singer named as founder in every account
- Wahid Khan, rudra veena player at the Indore court, co-founder in the family's account
- Motiram, singer, father and first teacher of Jasraj
- Maniram, singer, Jasraj's elder brother and guru
- Jaiwant Singh Waghela, Mewati singer of Sanand
- Jasraj, singer and the gharana's most prominent exponent, died 2020
- Rais Khan, sitar player of the instrumental line, 1939-2017
સંગીતની લાક્ષણિકતાઓ
Distinctive style, techniques, and aesthetic philosophy
Overall Style
Mewati khayal is set apart by a devotional feel. Afshan Ahmed hears a bhajan and Sufi quality in it, and Jasraj described spiritual and devotional overtones as the gharana's core. Jasraj also made meend, the glide between notes, the heart of its melody, with bhava, feeling, as its watermark, as V Shoba writes. The family traces the gharana's merukhand taans, built from permutations of a few notes, to Wahid Khan's been.
A devotional feel
Meend at the heart
Merukhand taans
Temple music
Signature Repertoire
Khayal is the core, sung with a devotional leaning. Jasraj brought haveli sangeet, the temple music of the Pushtimarg tradition, into the concert repertoire. He also devised the Jasrangi jugalbandi, in which a male and a female singer sing different ragas at once, drawing on the moorchana system. Rajan Parrikar credits Jaiwant Singh Waghela with the raga Jaiwanti Todi.
Compare with Similar Gharanas
Understand how મેવાતી ઘરાના differs from other traditions
Select a Gharana to Compare:
| મેવાતી ઘરાના (Current) |
ગ્વાલિયર ઘરાના (Comparing) |
|
|---|---|---|
| પ્રકાર | Vocal | Vocal |
| ઉદ્ભવ | Indore | Gwalior |
| Era | Early 19th century | Late 18th century |
| Style | Mewati khayal is set apart by a devotional feel. Afshan Ahmed hears a bhajan and Sufi quality in it, and Jasraj described spiritual and devotional overtones as the gharana's core. Jasraj also made meend, the glide between notes, the heart of its melody, with bhava, feeling, as its watermark, as V Shoba writes. The family traces the gharana's merukhand taans, built from permutations of a few notes, to Wahid Khan's been. | A Gwalior performance follows its composition. The singer sets out the bandish, the composed song, in its two parts, sthayi and antara, and builds the raga from that structure with the words kept in order. The alap, the unmetred opening, stays short, and the voice is open and full. The method as a whole goes by the name ashtang gayaki, singing built on eight elements. |
Influence & Legacy
Jasraj took the Mewati style to wide audiences for almost seven decades, and the family itself calls him the torch bearer of its vocal tradition. His disciples carried it on, among them the singer Sanjeev Abhyankar and the violinist Kala Ramnath. In the instrumental line, Rais Khan, born in Indore, died in Karachi in 2017. In the family's account, Siraj Khan, grandson of Latif Khan, now leads that line.
વારંવાર પૂછાતા પ્રશ્નો
What is the Mewati gharana?
The Mewati gharana is a khayal tradition of Hindustani classical vocal music, rooted in Indore and named after Mewat, the region its founding family left. It is known for a devotional, bhajan and Sufi feel, and through Jasraj for meend at the heart of its melody.
Who founded the Mewati gharana?
Ghagge Nazir Khan is named as founder in every account. The family's own account and Afshan Ahmed name him with his brother Wahid Khan, a rudra veena player at the Holkar court in Indore, as joint founders. Irfan Zuberi names Ghagge Nazir Khan alone as the gharana's fountainhead.
Which musicians belong to the Mewati gharana today?
Jasraj's disciples carry the vocal line, among them the singer Sanjeev Abhyankar and the violinist Kala Ramnath; Jasraj himself died in 2020. In the instrumental line, the family names Siraj Khan, grandson of Wahid Khan's son Latif Khan, as its present torch bearer.
How does the Mewati gharana differ from the Gwalior gharana?
Mewati khayal is marked by a devotional, bhajan and Sufi feel and, since Jasraj, by meend at the heart of its melody, while Gwalior khayal is led by the bandish, with a short alap and an open voice. Ghagge Nazir Khan himself sang at the Scindia court in Gwalior.
Is the name Mewati from Mewat or Mewar?
The name comes from Mewat. By the family's account, the founders' family moved from the Mewat region to Indore in Malwa, and Jasraj described the gharana as having its origins in Mewat, which he placed in Rajasthan.
Is the Mewati gharana known for bhajans?
The Mewati gharana is a khayal tradition with a devotional leaning. Its singing has a bhajan and Sufi feel, and Jasraj brought haveli sangeet, Krishna-centred temple music, into its repertoire.
What is the link between Jasraj and the Mewati gharana?
Jasraj was the Mewati gharana's most prominent exponent. His father Motiram was a Mewati vocalist trained by Natthulal, a pupil of Ghagge Nazir Khan, and after Motiram's death his elder brother Maniram became his guru. He also studied with Jaiwant Singh Waghela and Ghulam Qadir Khan at Sanand.
Does the Mewati gharana have dhrupad roots?
Yes, by the family's account. The founders' father, Imam Khan, and his brother Wazir Khan were dhrupad singers, and Wahid Khan played the rudra veena as a disciple of the been player Bande Ali Khan. Ghagge Nazir Khan then trained in khayal under Waris Ali Khan of the Qawwal Bacchon gharana.
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