Music in Colonial Punjab

Abstract

Abstract This book offers the first social history of music in undivided Punjab (1849-1947), unearthing new evidence to argue for the power of female performers and the primacy of classical music for a region conventionally understood as a centre of folk music alone. It maps the historical journey of musicians and dancers in colonial Punjab—whether mirāsī (community of bards), kalāwant (higher-status musicians), kanjrī (subaltern female performers) or tawā’if (courtesans)—from the prominence of Pul Kanjri during Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s reign in the early nineteenth century, to the emergence of the Patiala gharānā (musical lineage) as the epitome of musical excellence in the early twentieth. The volume examines the history of Punjabi socio-musical reform by the newly emerging Anglicised middle classes—whether Hindu, Muslim or Sikh—and the engagement of British colonial administrators with Punjab’s musician and performing communities. The author reveals the inherently diverse composition of musical connoisseurship in Punjab and positions gender and caste at the heart of the musical transformations wrought by colonialism in the region. Combining insights from history, ethnomusicology, sociology, literature and geography, Music in Colonial Punjab provides a unique perspective on the social history of an activity that still unites a fascinating region today divided between the rival nation-states of India and Pakistan.