Paper short abstract:

The paper will present song texts in Braj Bhasha addressed to Aurangzeb from a collection of lyrics of the 19th century. As a less studied source on poetic appreciation at the Mughal court, lyrics supplement the information provided by Indo-Persian musicological treatises and other textual sources.

Paper long abstract:

In earlier publications I studied manuscript, lithographic and printed collections of lyrics and more specifically of the Dhrupad genre of Hindustani music. A brief survey of motivations for their compilation as poetico-musical illustrations of theoretical treatises, or as court musicians' repertoires, will help contextualizing the oral and written transmission of dhrupad songs addressed to Aurangzeb. Among two remarkable examples of both categories are the late 17th century Sanskrit theoretical works of Bhavabhatta, a musician and musicologist at the court of Anup Singh, king of Bikaner, one of the governors of Aurangzeb in the Deccan, and the mid-19th century Rampur court musicians' repertoire known as Rampur Ragamala. Fifteen dhrupad songs dedicated to Aurangzeb / Alamgir have been edited from the Rampur manuscript by Acharya K.Ch. Brahaspati 'Anangrang' (1918-1979), a Sanskrit, Persian and other Indic languages scholar, musicologist and poet-composer at the court of Rampur in his Dhruvapada aur uska vikas (1976). They highlight the representation of Aurangzeb by court musicians praising his glorious and auspicious reign in Puranic and Sufi terms, his celebration of New Year, spring, etc. with courtesans, described according to the classical literary categories of lovers, in a style similar to many dhrupads composed for the Mughal emperors Akbar, Jahangir and Shah Jahan. As a less studied source on poetic and aesthetic appreciation at the Mughal court, lyrics supplement the information on performing arts at the court of Aurangzeb, as provided by Indo-Persian musicological treatises, historical chronicles, hagiographical narratives, and vernacular literature that have been studied earlier.