Development of Dhrupad in Mughal Era took place under the patronage of the Mughal Emperors. Akbar was a great lover of art, music and culture and collected a number of musicians in his court. Tansen, Baz Bahadur, Baba Ramadasa, Subhan Khan, Srigyan Khan and Miyan Chand were among the principal musicians. After the death of Emperor Akbar, his son Jahangir ascended the throne of Delhi. He too was a great lover of music. There were several singers as well as music players in his court. Among the chief musicians were Bilasa Khan, son of Tansen, Khurramadada, Makhu etc. Jahangir died in A.D. 1627 and was succeeded by his son Shah Jahan.
Shah Jahan was also a great lover of music like his father and great grand father. He was so fond of Bakshu`s Dhrupad compositions that he ordered a collection of all the genuine Dhrupads of Baksu. This collection is known as Sahasarasa. There were several musicians in the court of Shah Jahan such as Lala Khan (son-in-law of Bilasa Khan), Khusahdla Khan (son of Lala Khan), Rahga Khan, Kisana Khan, Jagannatha Kaviraya, and Bhagavana, the blind Pakhavaj player. Lala Khan was a very accomplished singer and was given by Shah Jahan the title of `Guna Samudra` (the ocean of talents). Shah Jahan was succeeded by his son Aurangzeb.
Though Aurangzeb is famous for his hatred for music yet there are several Dhrupads which are in his praise. He inherited several musicians from his father. The chief musicians of his court were Khusahala Khan, Purusanayana, Sukhlsena Kalavanta and Karvai. After Aurangzeb his son Bahadur Shah I ascended the throne. The great musician Niyamat Khan `Sadarang` (who is said to be the founder of Khayal style) was his court musician. Sadarang composed many Khayals but he himself sang only Dhrupads. After his death, his son Jahandar Shah succeeded him. He ruled only for eleven months. Sadarang who was earlier the court musician of his father now became the chief musician of Jahandar Shah`s court. After the death of Jahandar Shah his brother`s son Farrukh Siyar became the Emperor. He was succeeded by his cousin`s son Rafi-ud-Darajat and Rafi-ud-Darajat was succeeded by Niku-Siyar the son of Rafi-ud-Darajat`s father`s uncle. After Niku-Siyar, Muhammad Shah `Rangile` ascended the throne. He was the nephew of Jahandar Shah. Muhammad Shah earned the title Rangile, meaning colourful, because of his colourful personality and his love for easy life. He was a great lover of music. Besides Dhrupad he was also fond of the newer styles of singing. Therefore only few Dhrupad singers were in his court. The main reason for this seems to be that by this time the newer styles of music like Khayal, Thumri, Tappa etc. had become more popular than the Dhrupad style and Muhammad Shah was fonder of these newer styles which were more erotic than the Dhrupad. The Dhrupad singers of this period settled mainly at Mathura, Vrindavan, Rampur, Jaipur, Varanasi, Indore, Vimupur, Darbhanga, Haryana and Lucknow. In these places they established schools of music which found good nurturance from their progeny and their growing number of pupils. As these schools emanated from particular families these were called Gharanas (Gharana means house or family).
In the course of time the newer styles of music became so popular that Dhrupad which was at its height in the 16th century was pushed to the background.
