Gauhar Jaan (born Angelina Yeoward, 26 June 1873 – 17 January 1930) was an Indian singer and dancer from Calcutta. She was one of the first performers to record music on 78 rpm records in India, and released by Gramophone Company of India.
Gauhar Jaan was born as Angelina Yeoward on 26 June 1873 in Azamgarh, of Armenian descent. Her father, William Robert Yeoward, worked as an engineer in a dry ice factory, and married her mother, Victoria Hemmings, in 1872. Victoria, an Indian by birth, had been trained in music and dance.
Unfortunately, the marriage between William and Victoria did not survive long. Victoria developed a relationship with a friend by the name of Khurshed. Angelina's parents divorced in 1879. After her divorce, Mrs. Yeoward embraced Islam and took the name Malak Jan, and her daughter assumed the name Gauhar Jan. Gauhar also had the nickname of "Gaura". It should also] be noted that Gauhar's mother is often known as "Badi" Malak Jan, because at the time there were three other famous Malak Jans, the designation of Badi implying that she was the eldest of the Malak Jans.
Career
In time, Victoria (now 'Malka Jaan') became an accomplished singer, Kathak dancer and a courtesan in Banaras, and made a name for herself, as Badi Malka Jan; she was called Badi (elder) because at that time three other Malka Jans were famous: Malka Jan of Agra, Malka Jan of Mulk Pukhraj and Malka Jan of Chulbuli, and she was the eldest amongst them.
Malka Jaan moved back to Calcutta in 1883, and established herself in the courts of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah, who had settled at Matiaburj (Garden Reach), near Kolkata and within three years purchased a building at 24 Chitpore Road (now Rabindra Sarani), for Rs. 40,000. It is here that young Gauhar started her training, she learnt pure and light classical Hindustani vocal music from, Kale Khan of Patiala, 'Kalu Ustad', Ustad Wazir Khan of Rampur, and Ustad Ali Baksh Jarnail (founding members of Patiala Gharana) and Kathak from legendary Brindadin Maharaj (granduncle of Birju Maharaj), Dhrupad dhamar from Srijanbai, and Bengali Keertan from Charan Das. Soon she also started writing and composing ghazals under the pen-name 'Hamdam' and became proficient in Rabindra Sangeet.
Gauhar Jaan gave her maiden performance at the royal courts of Darbhanga Raj in 1887 and was appointed as court musician, after receiving extensive dance and music training from a professional dancer at Banaras. Gauhar Jan started performing in Calcutta in 1896 and was called the 'first dancing girl' in her records. She met Gujarati Parsi theatre artist Amrit Keshav Nayak around 1904–1905 and had a brief relationship with him before his sudden death in 1907. He helped her recover from trauma following death of her mother.
Gauhar Jaan first visited Madras in 1910, for a concert in the Victoria Public Hall, and soon her Hindustani and Urdu songs were published in a Tamil music book. In December 1911, she was famously invited to perform at the coronation of King George V at Delhi Durbar, where she sang a duet, Ye Hai Tajposhi Ka Jalsa, Mubarak Ho Mubarak Ho, with Jankibai of Allahabad.
Eventually, in her final days, she moved to Mysore, at the invitation of Krishna Raja Wadiyar IV of Mysore, and on 1 August 1928, she was appointed as a 'Palace musician', though she died within 18 months, on 17 January 1930 in Mysore.
In her lifetime, she recorded more than 600 records from 1902 to 1920, in more than ten languages, including Bengali, Hindustani, Gujarati, Tamil, Marathi, Arabic, Persian, Pushto, French, and English. She would round off her performances for a record by announcing 'My name is Gohar Jan'.
She popularised light Hindustani classical music with her thumri, dadra, kajri, chaiti, bhajan, tarana renditions, and also mastered the technique of condensing performing the elaborate melody Hindustani classical style to just three and a half minutes for a record. Her most famous song are, thumri sung in Bhairavi is Mora nahak laye gavanava, jabse gaye mori sud huna live, Ras ke bhare Tore Nain, Mere dard-e-jigar and Bhajans like, Radhey Krishna Bol Mukhse.
Inspiration
It is said that, Begum Akhtar in her early days wanted to pursue a career in Hindi films, but after listening to the singing of Gauhar and her mother, she gave up the idea completely and devoted herself to learning Hindustani classical music, in fact, her first teacher was Ustad Imdad Khan, who accompanied the mother-daughter duo on sarangi.
Personal Life
The personal life of any famous person is always difficult to scrutinise, Gauhar Jan is no exception. Perhaps the personal life of a tawaif is even more difficult to fathom. However, it appears that there were three men who were "significant" in her personal life. One of these was the zamindar Nimai Sen. The nature of his attachment to her is indicated by the inordinate level of material gifts that he bestowed upon her. Although tawaifs were particularly noted for extracting large material gifts from their patrons, this level of material appreciation seemed to be unusual even for those standards. Another significant relationship was Saiyad Gulam Abas who is reputed to be her erstwhile tabla accompanist and personal assistant. She was married to him even though he was a good ten years younger than her. This relationship soured when she became aware of his marital infidelities. He subsequently tied her up in a long series of lawsuits. Later on, she started living with Amrut Vagal Nayak, a noted actor of the Gujarati stage. It is said that this relationship lasted 3-4 years. Although the relationship is reputed to have been a stable and harmonious one, it ended with his sudden death.
Her last days at Mysore could not be described as happy days. She was virtually alone. The legal harassment of her ex-husband, as well as the conniving relatives, had long since reduced the great wealth that she had once enjoyed. She was 58 years old, and in failing health. At the age of 60 she died nearly penniless.
India's first recording sessions
India's first recording sessions included Gauhar Jaan, singing a khayal in Raag Jogiya, recorded by Fred Gaisberg of the Gramophone Company. The sessions began on 8 November 1902. Over the course of six weeks, more than 500 matrices were recorded of local artists. The records were manufactured in Germany and shipped to India in April 1903. They proved a great success in popularising the gramophone in India, where locals had no interest or appreciation for Western music. The recording was done in a makeshift recording studio in two large rooms of a hotel in Kolkata. By 1903, her records started appearing in Indian markets and were in great demand.
Restoration and release
Saregama India (formerly the Gramophone Co. of India Ltd. or His Master's Voice (HMV)), 'is planning to re-release the milestone recordings of Gauhar Jaan, after retrieving them from Gramophone Company's London archives, and restoring them to their original glory.
Her songs are also part of the 'Vintage Music From India' (1996) audio album, and her image forms its cover.
Contemporaries
There were four singing contemporaries of Gauhar Jaan with first names pronounced the same way as hers and sometimes spelled in English in different ways:
Gauhar Jan of Patiala;
Miss Gohar, who was associated with Parsi Theatrical Company in Bombay (Mumbai);
Gohar Kayoum Mamajiwala (also known as Miss Gohar), a singer actress who was associated with and mistress of Sardar Chandulal Shah of Ranjit Films (studio), Bombay; and
Gohar Bai Karnataka of Bijapur. She is typically associated with Bal Gandharva
No comments:
Post a Comment