S-R-g-m-P-d-n-S

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Darbari has been described as “the Emperor of Ragas, and the Raga of Emperors”. Its majestic tones famously echoed across the marble floors of Mughal palaces in centuries past, bringing solemn relief to kings, warlords, and diplomats alike. Consequently, modern renditions tend to retain a grave, reverential patience, pairing pakad of dnP & gmR amidst heavy, vocalistic ornaments and turns. In the words of legendary vocalist Amir Khan, “Darbari is my favourite raga…It is suitable for my voice, and also for my heart and mind”. Swara-congruent (if the raga’s sruti subtleties are ignored) with Adana, Jaunpuri, Kaushiki, and Kaunsi Kanada.

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Aroha: SRg, mPD, nS

Avroh: RnS, dnP, mP, gmRS

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Chalan: e.g. SnSRS; (n)d; (n)dnP; mP; (P)d(P)d; dnRS; SR; (R)g; (R)g; mP; nP(m)g; (m)gm; (S)RS; mmP; mP; (P)d; (P)d; (P)nP; nnPmPn(m)g; (m)gmRS (Ramrang)

–Ulhas Kashalkar (2011)–

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“When my father [Hafiz Ali Khan] was honoured with the Padma Bhushan in 1960, he asked then-President Rajendra Prasad to ‘protect the sanctity of Raag Darbari’. He didn’t ask for a house or a car – he was pained over the dilution of Darbari…” (Amjad Ali Khan)

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—Context—

Origins, myths, quirks, & more

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Raag Darbari is among the most revered musical forms in the entire Hindustani tradition. Its name is derived from durbar, Persian for ‘royal court’ – Deepak Raja speaks for many through the centuries in describing it as “the emperor of ragas, and the raga of emperors”.

 

Its majestic tones echoed across the marble floors of Mughal palaces, bringing solemn relief to rulers, mystics, and servants under the refuge of late-night darkness. Legend has it that the raga was created by Miyan Tansen at Akbar the Great’s 16th-century court, seeking to soothe the ruler’s stress and provide rare moments of pause amidst the relentless trials of governing a vast, warring empire.

 

Consequently, performances tend to retain a grave, reverential character, balancing patient melodic turns with slow, highly expressive ornaments, with explorations tilted towards mandra saptak. The raga is often referred to as ‘Darbari Kanada‘, indicating membership of the Kanada raganga, a ancient group of Carnatic-derived forms sharing similar phraseologies (in particular, a vakra ‘gmR‘ avroh motion).

 

Raja again: “The key to the ‘majestic aloofness’ of the raga lies in the ponderous deliberateness’ with which it has to be rendered: [via] the andolit treatment of komal ga and komal dha in the ascent as well as the descent. These two oscillations are fundamental to the sculpting of the two phrases which virtually define [the raga]: gmR & dnP…Some believe that Darbari does not use the common ga and dha pitch-ratios…Instead, it uses their ‘suppressed micro-swaras‘: accessible only as suggestions arising from oscillations between Re–ga and Pa–dha“…

 

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[MORE SOON: click here to hasten the project’s expansion, so all 365+ raga pages can eventually look more like these]

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–Bhimsen Joshi (1960)–

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“Legend credits Tansen with giving the ancient Kanada a new interpretation, which we today associate with Darbari. It is a monumental raga: unmatched in the ragaspace for its gravitas, difficult in its swara-lagav, and profound for its emotional impact on the innocent and the illuminati alike. Darbari is the premier Kanada, the flagship of the raganga…” (Parrikar)

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• Ragmalas •

Historic miniature paintings (learn more)

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“Kanara Ragini, holding sword and shield, with a white elephant with severed tusk and two male attendants…” (Penn, c.1800)

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—Phraseologies—

Melodies, movements, characteristics…

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[coming soon]

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—Raag Ranjan demo (2019)—

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“Listen, there is no rigidity! Each and every artist sings a Darbari in his own uniqueness, and yet it remains a Darbari. If your wife showers all her love on you…the Darbari you will sing will become a romantic Darbari. But if you have fought with her, the Darbari you will sing will become tense. There is so much versatility in ragas: not only can it change from person to person, but also from mood to mood – and yet the knowledgeable will be able to pinpoint it as the same raga, no matter who is singing it and in what mood…” (Pandit Jasraj)

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—Listen—

A brief selection of superb renditions

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–Budhaditya Mukherjee (2019)–

• Imdadkhani sitar (4m): Shortly before this show, Mukherjee confided to me that he felt nerves and trepidation at playing a famous night raga in Darbar‘s late-afternoon festival-closing timeslot, anticipating dissonance at uprooting such a heavy raga from its appropriate prakar (I mentioned to him that it would at least be midnight in India’s timezone…):

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[jor phrases, e.g. 1:38] (P)n(P)n Pmgm RSnSR m\g(m)RS n\d(nd), (n)S(N)Sd NSRSN S(N)dnd (n)S(n)Sn ndnSRS nSRm\g(m) RSRSnS, RSnSRS, (d)nd (n)S(n)Sn, (d)nd (n)R(n)RS, (n)Sn (R)m(R)mR, (n)Sn (S)R(S)RS, ndnSRS nSRm\g mg(mgm), RSnS nSR…

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–Amjad Ali Khan (2017)–

• Senia-Bangash sarod (6m): A concise rendition from Mumbai’s Royal Opera House, accompanied by the dual-tabla pairing of Satyajit Talwalkar & Anubrata Chatterjee:

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[alap, e.g. 0:13] d, (n)d, d/n(P), P, g/m P(mPnP) m\g, g(mg) m(gmPgmR), R(gR), (ndn)d, d(ndSn) n(RgRgRn), n(Sdnd) n(SdnS), S; mP(n)d d(nd) d(ndnP), P(SnS) S(n) S(n), (n)dn/R, R, R(g) R(gR) g(mRg) R(gS) S d(SnSnSnSR) S(RS) n\d, n(dn) d(ndnP), d(nP) P(SnS) nP m\g(mg), gm SR, n(dndSn) n(Rn), S(nS), S…

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–Further Recordings–

• Aarshin Karande (8m): a Jasraj bandish describing Lord Shiva’s paradoxical epithets (“Master of Spirits…Master of Wilds”)
• Vijay Kannan (18m): as per a moving email from Vinod Mudliar, this solo bansuri take helped him through cancer treatment
• Sharan Rani (24m): a well-filmed performance from the Prasar Bharati archives, utilising the sarod‘s comparative lack of sparkle
• Zia Mohiuddin Dagar (28m): using the rudra veena‘s particular capabilities for slow-release meend in mandra saptak
• Roshan Ara Begum (28m): a Radio Pakistan take, proving that female vocal ranges can take the raga to its full heights
• Ram Narayan (30m): a striking take recorded at the peak of his powers (“sarangi and tabla stitch heaven and earth together…”)
• Pannalal Ghosh (37m): bansuri gats in jhoomra and tintal, seasoned with unusually expansive taar saptak lines
• Bade Ghulam Ali Khan (50m): a legendary AIR performance from the Patiala master, comprising two famous bandish
• Vilayat Khan (66m): filmed at a 2002 London concert with Kishan Maharaj, with both artists being well into their 70s
• Pandit Jasraj (74m): backed by Hemant Bhatt’s pakhawaj (bandish: Hari Virahi Ja Ko Man / Asi Darbari Gunijangave)

• Guitaragas •

My attempts to capture the raga on electric guitar (see more of these clips)

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—Darbari on electric guitar (gat)—

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Covering the gat from vichitra veena master Gopal Shankar Misra’s divine 1999 album rendition (‘Out of Stillness’)…

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• Classifiers •

Explore hidden inter-raga connections: swara geometries, melodic features, murchana sets, ragangas, & more (also see the Full Tag List):

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Swaras: -4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10+

Sapta: Audav | Shadav | Sampurna

Poorvang: SRGM | SRG | SRM | SGM

Uttarang: PDNS | PDS | PNS | DNS

Varjit: Re | Ga | Ma | Pa | Dha | Ni

Double: rR | gG | mM | dD | nN

Thaat: 10 | 32 | Enclosed | Inexact

Chal: All-shuddha | All-komal | Ma-tivra

Gaps: Anh. | Hemi. | 3-row | 4-row | 5-row

Symmetries: Mirror | Rotation | Palindr.

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Aroha: Audav | Shadav | Sampurna

Avroh: Audav | Shadav | Sampurna

Jati: Equal | Balanced | Av.+1 | Av.+2

Samay: Morning | Aftern. | Eve. | Night

Murchana: Bhup. | Bihag | Bilaw. | Charu.

Raganga: Bhairav | Malhar | Kan. | Todi

Construction: Jod | Mishra | Oddball

Origin: Ancient | Carnatic | Modern

Dominance: Poorvang | Uttarang

Prevalence: A-list | Prachalit | Aprach.

• Prakriti: Asavari thaat, Asavari shuddha Re, Kaunsi Kanada, Adana, Jaunpuri, Kaushiki, Sampurna Malkauns

–Proximate Forms–

Bhairavi = ‘Darbari komal re‘

Kafi = ‘Darbari shuddha Dha‘

Charukeshi = ‘Darbari komal ga‘

Malkauns = ‘Darbari no Re/Pa‘

Suha Kanada = ‘Darbari no dha‘

Gopika Basant = ‘Darbari no Re‘

(n.b. these are just ‘scalar similarities’, with nothing particular implied about phraseological overlap)

–Swara Geometries–

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• Core form: S–R–g–m–P–d–n–S

• Reverse: SRGmPDnS (=Khamaj)

• Negative: 2-3-2-3-2 (e.g. Megh)

• Imperfect: 1 (Re)

• Detached: none

• Symmetries: mirror (m—N)

• Murchanas: Bilawal set

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• Quirks: ‘maximal‘ (swaras are optimally ‘spread out’)

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–Global Translations–

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• Carnatic: Durbarikanada

S-R₂-G₂-M₁-P-D₁-N₂-S

• Jazz: Natural Minor / Aeolian

1-2-b3-4-5-b6-b7-8

• Pitch classes (‘fret-jumps’):

0-2-3-5-7-8-10-0

(2–1–2–2–1–2–2)

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o • o o • o • o o • o • o

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• Tanpura: Sa–Pa (+Sa/ni)

• Names: Darbari, Darbari Kanada, Durbari Kanhra, ‘Shuddha Kanada’

• Transliterations: Hindi (दरबारी); Bengali (দরবারী); Urdu (درباری); Kannada (ದರ್ಬಾರಿ ಕಾನಡ); Malayalam (ദർബാരി കാനഡ)

—More—

Further info: links, listenings, learnings, etc

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• Raag Darbari: Full essay above to follow – for now, refer to Deepak Raja‘s aforementioned writings (Darbari Kanada: Majestic Gait and Tonal Geometry), as well as a tantalising lesson excerpt from Pran Nath (In Between the Notes), a Pandit Jasraj interview (“if your wife showers all her love on you…the Darbari you will sing will be romantic, but if you have fought with her, Darbari will be tense”), and a superb visual exploration of the raga’s ornaments by Rao & van der Meer (What You Hear Isn’t What You See: “With the help of melography, we can actually ‘see’ the precise forms of meend. Generally, graphic representation does much better justice to the music than staff notation or sargam: however, there are also serious limitations, especially when we look closely at rapid ornamentations or taans…[as] the ear starts ‘averaging out’ rapidly oscillating pitches at speeds of 6 movements per second…”). Also watch the famous ‘Darbari sargam scene’ from 1952’s Baiju Bawra, with Amir Khan on playback duties (“Baiju is intent on killing Tansen, but the beauty of Tansen’s music causes him to change his mind”).

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• Header audio: Gat in drut tintal on vichitra veena by Gopal Shankar Mishra (1999)
• Header image: ‘Aurangzeb holds court in his Durbar, Shaistah Khan stands behind Prince Muhammad Azam’ (c.1660)

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