Introduction

The music of Kashmir, as we hear it today, is the product of long exposure to a varied mixture of influences under different rulers of Kashmir. In the process of evolving into its present distinctive form, it has assimilated foreign influences, retained many traits of its original classicism and discarded some of the intricate details of the latter.

Handed down from generation to musical generation of teachers, students and people, Kashmiri music, with no written text on notation finds extensive mention in Kalhana’s Raj-Tarangini, the famed chronicle of the Kings of Kashmir. There we read of Maharaja Jalek (200 B.C.) employing hundreds of musicians in his court and of Maharaja Lalita Ditta engaging dancers like Indra Prabha to perform in his court.

During the Muslim era and under the Sultans, there was no decline in the cultivation of music. In fact, it was during this period, stretching over a few hundred years, that influences from Iran, Arabia and Samarkand were absorbed and Soofiana Kalan the classical music of Kashmir, came into its own. With a rich literary content of a distinctly devotional motif, the songs, the Muqams as they are called. Adhere to strict grammatical patterns of beats and notes with plenty of scope for improvisation.

The folk music of Kashmir drawing nourishing sustenance from the streams and lakes, the fields and the valleys, the mountains and uplands of this enchanting land has been, from the earliest times, woven into the very texture of the lives of the common people. With themes familiar to folk music the world over, like the longing of the lover, the joy of meeting and the melancholy of parting, the seasonal moods, the sadness of life etc. Kashmiri folk music has a rich tradition of soulful music set to plaintive or lilting tunes. The melodies are usually brief with soft rounded notes, mostly arrangements on three notes (Tribandi). The notes rarely extend beyond an octave and are generally based on the ‘Bilawal Tatha.’

The musical instruments of Kashmir comprise a variety of strings and percussions. The better know, and in general use, are the Santoor, an instrument of hundred strings, the Saz-i-Kashmir a bowed instrument, the Sehtar, a stringed instrument, the Sarang a miniature bowed instrument, and percussion instruments like the Tabla, Dukra, Nout and Tumakhnari.