Kapurthala Gharana

Suraj Khan and Chand Khan alias Sudhakar and Diwakar Pandit were considered as the founders of Sham Chaurasi Gharana. The duo was also regarded as the founders of the Kapurthala Gharna. The Sham Chaurasi Gharana had been so popular in Punjab that all wished to be associated with the name. Apart from these two eminent artists Sain Ilyas Khan has also attributed for the establishment of the Kapurthala Gharana. Sain Ilyas Khan was under the tutelage of one of the artist of the Sham Chaurasi Gharana and later settled in Kapurthala. He is also credited with establishing a music school. Thus this gharana was named as Kapurthala Gharana. Pandit Amin Chand Sultanpuriya and Pandit Nathu Ram Sultanpuriya had been his disciples. Pandit Amin Chand Sultanpuriya was the court musician of maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir. He specialized in Dhrupad singing and performed in tough, complicated and intricate talas.

Another notable singer of Kapurthala Gharana was Pandit Nathu Ram. He was trained by his father and uncle who were also proficient Dhrupad singers. They were notable Brahmins who performed pujas in the temple. Nathu Ram learnt Dhrupad, Khayal, Tappa, Thumri and Tarana. He was a talented Shabad Gayak also and performed them in raagas as mentione din Guru Granth Sahib. He is also credited with performing in Harballah Sangeet Sammelan.

Meer Rehmat Ali and Bhai Mehboob Ali were also eminent singers of Kapurthala Gharana. They were commonly known as Bhai Booba. According to history Meer Rehmat Ali was rewarded with a Surbahar by the Mughal emperor Mohammad Shah Rangile which was his favourite instrument. In his last days he had gifted his Surbahar to Bhai Booba who performed at the court of Maharaja Bhupendar Singh of Patiala. He was appointed as the court musician. Later Kunwar Mrigender Singh learnt Surbahar from Bhai Booba and received much popularity.

Few of the other eminent artists of this Kapurthala Gharana are Mahat Gajja Singh and Bhagwan Dass Saini who had become the disciple of Pandit Dilip Chandra Vedi. He was proficiebt in Dhupad, Khayal, Thumri, Gazal, Bhajan, Shabad and others. Kunwar Mrigender was also an expert Sitar, Surbahar and Rudra Veena player.