What is wrong with Bihar - roots

What has gone wrong with Bihar after our independence? Why is it synonymous with backwardness? These questions are painfully present in the minds of all good thinking Biharis.

Let us look at where Bihar was at the time of independence and immediately after. It had undergone two centuries of subjugation under the British rule. In that sense, its exploitation was the longest and perhaps the most ruthless. After 1857, the Bihari elite along with the Bengalis, where shunned by the British as untrustworthy. The focus shifted to Punjab, and the Sikhs there, who had supported the British in 1857. The recruitment to the army and the myth of Sikh valour as opposed to passiveness and cowardly nature of Bengalis was willfully spread. The fact that British Indian army was now drawn from Punjab meant that British welfare measures such as advances in irrigation and agriculture were entirely concentrated in that region. This was to keep the village folks quiet, satisfied and even happy so that there brothers in uniform in the British Indian army did not get disaffected.

Bihar, on the other hand, did not receive any such benefits. Its exploitation over the period 1757-1857 through measures such as Permanent Settlement had helped British East India Company generate finances that was needed to conquer the whole of India through a scheme of outright annexation or subsidiary alliances. After 1857, new methods were introduced, some of which, for example, provided canon fodder for Gandhi’s Satyagraha experiment later in Champaran in 1916. This meant that in 1947 Bihar, along with Bengal and Orissa (that formed the old province of Bengal under the British East India Company) was the most drained (in the sense of “drain of wealth” a term coined and explained by Dadabhai Naoroji) and consequently the most impoverished region of India. Ruthless exploitation for 2 centuries had broken the will of the people. The elite was completely subjugated was either trying to ape the British masters or simply indulged in debauchery. There was no leadership available from this class. The old culture and traditions were allowed to be forgotten and lost patronage of the elite which took on to western pursuits. By 1900, the population in the region was perhaps the most docile and also the most eroded in terms of self respect and self esteem.

More later.......

Other Gharanas in Bihar

Darbhanga Gharana
This Gharana is famous for rendition of Dhrupad. The style of Dhrupad of Darbhanga Gharana is also known as Khandar Vani. Pt. Ram Chatur Mallik was the most famous exponent of this Gharana in recent times. The famous exponents of this Gharana today are Pt. Vidur Narayan Mallik and Pt. Abhay Narayan Mallik. They emphasize the composed song over improvised alap.

Bettiah Gharana
This Gharana is also well known for its rendition of Dhrupad. A section of Dhrupad singers of Dilli Gharana migrated in the time of Shah Jahan to Bettiah and flowered under the patronage of Bettiah Raj. The Dhrupadiyas of Bettiah practice Nauhar and Khandar vani, with some unique techniques for nomtom alap. The most famous exponents of the Bettiah Gharana today are Pt. Indrakishore Mishra and Pt. Falguni Mitra.

Gaya Gharana

The Gaya gharana of Indian classical music has made vital contribution to the evolution of classical music. Till early 1950s, Gaya used to be a hub of cultural activities and Nakphophaji, one of the great patrons of music in Gaya, frequently organised night-long musical sessions in which great maestros like Gangubai Hangal, D V Pulaskar, Omkarnath Thakur, Alla Rakha, Begum Akhtar and Bade Ghulam Ali Khan participated. Jaddan Bai, an exponent of Indian classical music, was patronised by the Nawab of Gaya.

During the olden days, Gaya developed as a centre of thumri. The Awadhia thumri of Benares was improvised and presented in a new and pleasing manner. The greats of the Gaya gharana thumri include Dhela Bai, Soni Maharaj, Balram Singh, Ram Prasad Mishra alias Ramuji, and Jay Ram Tiwari. Fortunately, the tradition is still alive and needs more support and current exponents include Govardhan Mishra and Kameshwar Pathak, the former being son of Ram Prasad Mishra.

The Gaya Gharana singers also specialise in Tappa style of singing. Some were also Khayal singers. But Tappa and Thumri were there forte. In fact, Padmashri Gajendra Narayan Singh of the Sangeet Natak Academy rates Pt Govardhan Mishra as the best Tappa singer in the country today.

Bihar has produced musicians like Bharat Ratna Ustad Bismillah Khan and dhrupad singers like the Malliks (Darbhanga Gharana), the Mishras (Bettiah Gharana) and those in Gaya. There were also other centres excellence of classical music in Bihar such as in Champanagar Banaili where Kumar Shyamanand Singh was himself an accomplished singer. Other great patrons were Bettiha Maharaj, Maharaja of Darbhanga, Rai Bahadur of Pachhgachhia, and Zamindars in Gaya, Arrah and Muzaffarpur. A great place to get more information is http://www.patnadaily.com/features/classicalmusic.html