Origins & History
Amir Khan was born in 1912, and accounts differ on where. Susheela Misra gives Kalanaur, G. N. Joshi Indore, and Suresh Chandvankar Akola in Maharashtra, adding that the family had moved from Kalanaur and settled in Indore. His father, Shahmir Khan, was a sarangi player at the Indore court. He trained his son first on sarangi, then in singing built on merukhand and sargam. Misra names Chajju Khan and Nazir Khan of the Bhendibazaar gharana as Shahmir Khan's teachers, while Partho Datta's review of Amarnath's memoir says he had no gharana lineage.
Amir Khan then built his style from singers he heard. He took his very slow tempo from Abdul Wahid Khan of the Kirana gharana, his taans from Rajab Ali Khan of Dewas and his sargam from Aman Ali Khan. Amal Das Sharma writes that he absorbed Abdul Wahid Khan's style without becoming his disciple, and that the older singer blessed him. Misra still calls Amir Khan self-taught.
He came to Bombay around 1934, aged about 22, and in 1936 served Chakradhar Singh of Raigarh for about a year. The style took shape over the rest of his career, and his singing came to be known as the Indore gharana. He died in a car accident in Calcutta on 13 February 1974.
"Amir Khan's sole concession to the speed-loving contemporary listeners was the Tarana"
ऐतिहासिक समयरेखा
Amir Khan is born
Move to Bombay
Service at Raigarh
Amarnath becomes a disciple
Death of Amir Khan
Lineage & Legacy
The guru-shishya tradition passed down through generations
Amir Khan's father trained him, and the style Amir Khan built passed to disciples from several backgrounds. One early disciple was Amarnath, who heard him on the radio in 1942 and became his formal disciple in 1949. Amarnath later taught the style in his turn, and his own students carry it on.
First teacher
Shahmir Khan
Sarangi player and first teacher
Founder
Amir Khan
1912-1974
Founder and vocalist
Amir Khan's disciples
Amarnath
Disciple, teacher and composer
Kankana Banerjee
Disciple and vocalist
A. Kanan
Disciple and vocalist
Tejpal Singh
Disciple and vocalist
Poorabi Mukherjee
Disciple and vocalist
Amarnath's students
Shanti Sharma
Vocalist, student of Amarnath
Rekha Bhardwaj
Vocalist, student of Amarnath
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
- Amir Khan, founder and vocalist, 1912-1974
- Amarnath, disciple, teacher and composer
- Kankana Banerjee, disciple and vocalist
- A. Kanan, disciple and vocalist
- Tejpal Singh, disciple, one of the Singh Brothers
- Poorabi Mukherjee, disciple and vocalist
- Srikant Bakre, disciple, in Misra's list of pupils
- Shanti Sharma, vocalist, student of Amarnath
संगीतात्मक विशेषताएँ
Distinctive style, techniques, and aesthetic philosophy
Overall Style
Indore singing starts from an ati-vilambit khayal, slower than the usual slow tempo, and develops the raga within it through merukhand: a method that builds the raga from permutations of a small group of notes. Aneesh Pradhan writes of rapid merukhand taans sung in sargam, the note names. Misra notes that bol-alap and bol-taan, improvisation on the words of the song, were absent from Amir Khan's singing.
Ati-vilambit khayal
Merukhand
Sargam taans
Low voice, plain setting
Signature Repertoire
Khayal is the core, and the tarana is the form Amir Khan made his own. He held that its syllables carry meaning, and Aneesh Pradhan hears a Persian connection in his taranas. Toshniwal credits him with bandishes and taranas under the pen name Sur Rang. Misra writes that he never sang thumri in concert, though his disciples heard him sing it in private. He also sang for films, among them Baiju Bawra and Goonj Uthi Shehnai.
Compare with Similar Gharanas
Understand how इंदौर घराना differs from other traditions
Select a Gharana to Compare:
| इंदौर घराना (Current) |
किराना घराना (Comparing) |
|
|---|---|---|
| प्रकार | Vocal | Vocal |
| उत्पत्ति | Indore | Kairana |
| Era | Mid 20th century | Late 19th century |
| अंदाज | Indore singing starts from an ati-vilambit khayal, slower than the usual slow tempo, and develops the raga within it through merukhand: a method that builds the raga from permutations of a small group of notes. Aneesh Pradhan writes of rapid merukhand taans sung in sargam, the note names. Misra notes that bol-alap and bol-taan, improvisation on the words of the song, were absent from Amir Khan's singing. | The Kirana style centres on the swara: the exact intonation and expression of each note. A singer unfolds the raga note by note in slow vilambit tempo, with an extended alap, and the emphasis falls on melody more than rhythm. The recording producer G. N. Joshi named precise tunefulness, a graceful presentation of the bandish and disciplined raga development as the gharana's marks. |
Influence & Legacy
After 1974 the style passed on through Amarnath's teaching to students such as Shanti Sharma and Rekha Bhardwaj. Malini Nair writes that several musicians outside the line cite Amir Khan's raga expansion as an influence. The Darbar trust names Rashid Khan, Nikhil Banerjee and Ajoy Chakrabarty among them. The older Indore Binkar line of Bande Ali Khan, court musician of Indore from the 1860s, is a separate rudra veena tradition.
अक्सर पूछे जाने वाले प्रश्न
What is the Indore gharana?
The Indore gharana is a school of Hindustani khayal singing formed in the 20th century by Amir Khan, who grew up in Indore. It is known for very slow ati-vilambit khayal, raga development through merukhand permutations of a few notes, and fast taans sung in sargam.
Who founded the Indore gharana?
Amir Khan (1912 to 1974) founded the Indore gharana, and his singing came to be known by that name. The style took shape over his career, from his move to Bombay around 1934 until his death in 1974. His disciple Amarnath also held him to be the founder of the Indore school.
Which musicians belong to the Indore gharana today?
The Indore line continues through Amir Khan's disciples and their students. Amarnath taught the style after 1974, and Malini Nair names Shanti Sharma and Rekha Bhardwaj among his students. Amir Khan's own disciples include Kankana Banerjee, A. Kanan, Poorabi Mukherjee and Tejpal Singh of the Singh Brothers.
How does the Indore gharana differ from the Kirana gharana?
The Indore gharana adds fast merukhand taans in sargam to the very slow tempo it shares with the Kirana gharana. Amir Khan took that tempo from the Kirana singer Abdul Wahid Khan, and his taans and sargam from other masters. Partho Datta's review cites Kumar Prasad Mukherji's view that his raga elaboration came closest to the Kirana style.
Why is it called the Indore gharana if Amir Khan may have been born in Kalanaur?
The gharana is named after Indore because Amir Khan grew up there, where his father was a sarangi player at the court. His birthplace is disputed: Susheela Misra gives Kalanaur, G. N. Joshi Indore, and Suresh Chandvankar Akola, who writes that the family came from Kalanaur and settled in Indore.
Is the Indore khayal gharana the same as the Indore Binkar gharana?
No. The Indore khayal gharana is Amir Khan's vocal school of the 20th century. The Indore Binkar gharana is an older rudra veena line that traces itself to Bande Ali Khan, a court musician of Indore from the 1860s. The two are separate lines that happen to share the city's name.
What is merukhand and how does the Indore gharana use it?
Merukhand is a method of building a raga from systematic permutations of a small group of notes. Amir Khan's father drilled him in it from boyhood, and he used it to shape the slow khayal and his fast taans, sung in sargam. Toshniwal quotes him on practising 5040 taan patterns.
What part does the tarana play in Indore gayaki?
The tarana is a fast form Amir Khan made his own and popularised. Susheela Misra calls it his sole concession to listeners who wanted speed. He held that tarana syllables carry meaning, and composed taranas himself, under the pen name Sur Rang in Toshniwal's account.
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