Dagar gharana

The Dagar gharana (or Dagar vani) is a tradition of the classical dhrupad genre of Hindustani classical music spanning 20 generations, tracing back to Swami Haridas (15th century), and including Behram Khan of Jaipur (1753-1878). For some generations its members were associated with the courts of Jaipur, Udaipur, and Mewar.[1][2][3]

The main feature of the Dagar gharana is sophisticated, subtle, serene and rigorous exposition of alap-jor-jhala, including great attention to microtonal inflection delineating the subtleties of raga often otherwise overlooked or lost.

Until the 20th century, it was exclusively a vocal genre (at least in performance), but since the innovations of Zia Mohiuddin Dagar to the rudra vina, that instrument has found a place in performance, following closely the inflections and style of the vocal technique.

The genre was carried into the 20th century by seven Dagar brothers and cousins: Aminuddin Dagar and Nasir Moinuddin (Senior Dagar Brothers), Rahim Fahimuddin Dagar, Nasir Zaheeruddin and Nasir Fayyazuddin (Junior Dagar Brothers), H. Sayeeduddin Dagar, and the brothers Zia Mohiuddin Dagar and Zia Fariduddin Dagar. Zia Mohiuddin (rudra vina) and Zia Fareeduddin (vocal) were largely responsible for training today's practitioners, the most prominent of whom include Ritwik Sanyal, Pushparaj Koshti, Wasifuddin Dagar, Bahauddin Dagar, Asit Kumar Banerjee, Uday Bhawalkar, and the Gundecha Brothers.[4]