Origins & History
Dagar vani is one of the four banis, or stylistic streams, of dhrupad, beside Gauhar, Khandar and Nauhar. Banglapedia names it after Brijchand of the village of Dagur, a musician of Akbar's time. The family traces its descent to Swami Haridas, while Sunil Dutta finds its history traceable with confidence only to the 1800s.
Joep Bor and Philippe Bruguière name Baba Gopal Das as the family's founder, a Hindu said to have converted to Islam in the time of the emperor Muhammad Shah. His younger son, Behram Khan, became a court musician at Jaipur under Maharaja Sawai Ram Singh and also served courts at Lahore, Alwar and Delhi. A lineage account says Behram Khan learned music and its theory in Benares from Kalidas Dagur. His dates are disputed: Outlook gives 1753 to 1852, Dutta 1753 to 1878, and a lineage account a death around 1880.
Behram Khan taught his grand-nephews Zakiruddin Khan and Allabande Khan, whose father had left him after a disagreement. The brothers became first court musician at Udaipur and a court musician at Alwar, and their duet was praised at the first All India Music Conference in Baroda in 1916.
"Rahimuddin added the suffix Dagar to his name, and this new patronymic was then adopted by the whole family"
ਇਤਿਹਾਸਕ ਸਮਾਂ-ਰੇਖਾ
Duet praised at Baroda
Zia Mohiuddin Dagar is born
A new rudra veena
The Senior Dagar Brothers tour Europe
Dhrupad Kendra opens in Bhopal
Gurukul near Panvel
H. Sayeeduddin Dagar dies
Lineage & Legacy
The guru-shishya tradition passed down through generations
The family line passed from father, uncle and cousin to son. Zakiruddin Khan's son Ziauddin Khan and Allabande Khan's four sons, Nasiruddin, Rahimuddin, Imamuddin and Hussainuddin, carried it into the 20th century. After independence the family lost royal patronage, and the eight grandsons of Zakiruddin and Allabande kept the tradition going. Rahimuddin Khan added Dagar to his name, and the whole family took it as a surname.
Founder of the teaching line
Behram Khan
19th century
Founder of the teaching line
Behram Khan's grand-nephews
Zakiruddin Khan
Died early 20th century
Singer and court musician
Allabande Khan
Died 1927 or 1928
Singer and court musician
The eight grandsons
Nasir Moinuddin and Nasir Aminuddin Dagar
20th century
The Senior Dagar Brothers
Nasir Zahiruddin and Nasir Faiyazuddin Dagar
20th century
The Junior Dagar Brothers
Zia Mohiuddin Dagar
1929-1990
Rudra veena player
Zia Fariduddin Dagar
1932-2013
Singer and teacher
H. Sayeeduddin Dagar
1939-2017
Singer
The present generation
Mohi Bahauddin Dagar
Born 1970
Rudra veena player
Wasifuddin Dagar
Singer
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
- Behram Khan, Jaipur court musician, founder of the teaching line, 19th century
- Zakiruddin Khan and Allabande Khan, duet singers at Udaipur and Alwar
- Nasir Moinuddin and Nasir Aminuddin Dagar, the Senior Dagar Brothers
- Nasir Zahiruddin and Nasir Faiyazuddin Dagar, the Junior Dagar Brothers
- Zia Mohiuddin Dagar, 1929-1990, rudra veena player
- Zia Fariduddin Dagar, 1932-2013, singer and teacher in Bhopal
- H. Sayeeduddin Dagar, 1939-2017, singer
- Mohi Bahauddin Dagar, born 1970, rudra veena player
ਸੰਗੀਤਕ ਵਿਸ਼ੇਸ਼ਤਾਵਾਂ
Distinctive style, techniques, and aesthetic philosophy
Overall Style
A Dagar performance centres on a long, slow and meditative alap, the unmetred opening, with close attention to microtonal shading and to the raga's character. A composition with pakhawaj, the barrel drum, follows. The family has long sung in pairs of brothers.
A long, slow alap
Singing in pairs
The rudra veena
Taught as method
Signature Repertoire
The Dagars sing dhrupad in the Dagar vani, the stream the family is now synonymous with. A concert opens with a long alap with tanpura, and a composition with pakhawaj follows. On the rudra veena Zia Mohiuddin Dagar recorded concerts in 1975, 1979 and in Seattle in 1981, with an instrument built for him in Calcutta from 1959.
Compare with Similar Gharanas
Understand how ਡਾਗਰ ਘਰਾਣਾ differs from other traditions
Select a Gharana to Compare:
| ਡਾਗਰ ਘਰਾਣਾ (Current) |
ਦਰਭੰਗਾ ਘਰਾਣਾ (Comparing) |
|
|---|---|---|
| ਕਿਸਮ | Vocal | Vocal |
| ਮੂਲ | Jaipur | Darbhanga, Bihar |
| Era | Late 18th century | |
| Style | A Dagar performance centres on a long, slow and meditative alap, the unmetred opening, with close attention to microtonal shading and to the raga's character. A composition with pakhawaj, the barrel drum, follows. The family has long sung in pairs of brothers. | Darbhanga dhrupad is forceful and rhythmic. Singers draw on the Gauhar and Khandar banis, two of the four named styles of dhrupad, and make layakari, rhythmic play against the tala, a marked feature, with tihais, phrases repeated three times to land on the beat. The family also sings Vidyapati's Maithili verse. |
Influence & Legacy
The Dagars taught many students from outside the family, among them Ritwik Sanyal, the Gundecha Brothers, Uday Bhawalkar and Pushpraj Koshti. The Dhrupad Kendra in Bhopal, set up in 1981, gave that teaching a state-backed home. Abroad, the Senior Dagar Brothers' European tour of the mid-1960s began the West's exposure to dhrupad, and Zia Mohiuddin Dagar taught for years at the University of Washington in Seattle.
ਅਕਸਰ ਪੁੱਛੇ ਜਾਂਦੇ ਸਵਾਲ
What is the Dagar gharana of dhrupad?
The Dagar gharana is a hereditary family of dhrupad musicians whose style, the Dagar vani, is one of the four banis of dhrupad. It is mainly vocal, with a rudra veena branch, and its teaching line begins with Behram Khan at the Jaipur court in the 19th century.
Who founded the Dagar gharana of dhrupad?
Behram Khan, a Jaipur court musician of the 19th century, is named as the founder of the present Dagar bani and its teaching line. Joep Bor and Philippe Bruguière name his father, Baba Gopal Das, as the founder of the family itself. The family also traces its descent to Swami Haridas.
Which musicians belong to the Dagar gharana of dhrupad today?
In the family, the rudra veena player Mohi Bahauddin Dagar (born 1970), son of Zia Mohiuddin Dagar, carries the line. So does the singer Wasifuddin Dagar, a pupil of the Junior Dagar Brothers. Outside the family, the tradition continues through pupils such as the Gundecha Brothers and Uday Bhawalkar, trained at the Dhrupad Kendra in Bhopal.
How does the Dagar gharana of dhrupad differ from the Darbhanga gharana?
The Dagar gharana sings the Dagar vani with a long, slow, meditative alap, while the Darbhanga gharana draws on the Gauhar and Khandar banis and is known for layakari, rhythmic play, and a forceful delivery. Selina Thielemann counts the two among the main living dhrupad traditions. Read more on the Darbhanga gharana page.
Why is it called Dagar, and is the gharana the same as the Dagar vani?
The name comes from the Dagar vani, one of the four banis of dhrupad, and the family is now synonymous with that stream. The family took Dagar as a surname from Rahimuddin Khan. Banglapedia derives the bani's name from Brijchand of the village of Dagur.
Is the Dagar gharana vocal only, or does it include the rudra veena?
It includes the rudra veena. The family played the bin in private as singers, and Zia Mohiuddin Dagar (1929-1990) was the first of them to play it in public. His son Mohi Bahauddin Dagar continues on the instrument.
Who are the Senior and Junior Dagar Brothers?
The Senior Dagar Brothers are Nasir Moinuddin and Nasir Aminuddin Dagar, sons of Nasiruddin Khan, who toured Europe in the mid-1960s. The Junior Dagar Brothers are their younger brothers, Nasir Zahiruddin and Nasir Faiyazuddin, who also sang as a duo.
Which generation of the Dagar family is performing now, and why do the counts differ?
Press and institutional sources call the mid-20th-century brothers the 19th generation and Mohi Bahauddin Dagar the 20th. The counts differ because they start from different ancestors: Ira Landgarten reaches back to the 13th century, Sunil Dutta counts twenty unbroken generations, and the family archive claims 400 to 500 years.
Have more questions? Contact our support team and we'll be happy to help!