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

---

A mysterious Malkauns-adjacent raga of great historic renown, now seldom heard in its traditional form. Instead, it is known through its influence on Kaunsi Kanada (still called ‘Kaushiki Kanada’ by some). Ragas entitled ‘Kaushika/Kaushiki’ are mentioned in numerous ancient texts, including the 11th-century writings of Abhinavagupta (“Bhinnashadaja, Kaushiki, and Bhinnapanchama are favoured in Summer”), Sarngdeva’s 13th-century Sangita Ratnakara (“Bhairava, Kaushika, Hindola, Dipaka, Sri, and Megha are the six primary ragas”), and Krishnananda Vyas’ 1842 Raga Kalpadruma (which describes Vageeshwari as a “consort of Kaushik”). Direct links between Kaushiki’s historic and modern forms are, however, uncertain. Some have suggested that Maihar guru Allauddin Khan may have resurrected the raga – indeed, the only recordings I can find come from his direct lineage: notably including his daughter Annapurna Devi, her disciples Nikhil Banerjee, Basant Kabra, and Amit Bhattacharya, plus her nephew Aashish Khan, and Ravi Shankar’s sitar student Rash Behari Datta (many thanks to Jaideep Roy for his assistance here). Devi’s rendition – possibly from her debut concert in New Delhi – is captivating despite its hazy audio quality, fully justifying the hype around a rising star who was still only in her early twenties. She affords a central role to shuddha ma throughout, and Pa is featured judiciously in descent as d(Pm), m(P), P(dnSn), set amidst swirling ornaments which weave in and out of the familiar Malkauns framework. Kabra’s full-length 2018 recital subtly builds on Devi’s ideas (sthayi: gmPnS n\d, dPmP, Pm\g, RS, gPm), while Aashish Khan’s 2020 album release favours similar motifs (dnS nd, PdPm gRgS: reminiscent of his father Ali Akbar Khan’s Chandranandan gat). Nikhil Banerjee recorded the raga several times, with my pick being a 1977 Kolkata concert held just a few months after he had suffered a cardiac arrest, necessitating a particularly restrained style (also compare to Chandrakaushiki, his fusion of Kaushiki and Chandrakauns). S. Balachander’s historical analysis gives core movements of SgmdPmgPmg; mdnPmgRS, also discussing its historical shruti quirks (“The scale has a ‘reduced Pa’, referred to in the scriptures as ‘Madhyam gram Pancham’…which leads to a ‘reduced Re’ known as ‘Trisruti Rishabh’…”) – while Jeff Whittier cautions against excessive overlap with Kaunsi Kanada (“Kaushiki is Malkauns-ang, and Kaunsi Kanada is Kanara-ang…the dnS in Kaushiki is clearly from Malkauns [whereas] the andolans of Kaunsi Kanada are definitely those of the Kanara ragas…”).

---

• Raga Megalist (365+) •

राग कौशिक

Search | Glossary | Tags

• Hindustani Raga Index •

Aroha: SgmdnS

Avroh: dnSnd, PdPm, gRgS

---

Chalan: signatures – e.g. nSgS; SmgmgRS; mdnmndm; gmdmgdm; mndnSnd; PgPmgRS (Balachander)

---

—Annapurna Devi (~1950)—

---

[alap, e.g. 4:19] m(dm), n(gn), m(dm), m(Pm), g(Rmg), R(gmgm), m(dm), m(gmRgmgR), S(R)S, S(nS), n(S), S(mg), m(dnSndnS), S, m(ndnS), d(ndS), d(nSndnS), n(S), n(Sn), d(n), n(d), S(ng)S…

---

• Classifiers •

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

---

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.

---

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, Darbari, Adana, Jaunpuri, Sampurna Malkauns

–Swara Geometries–

---

• 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

---

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

---

–Global Translations–

---

• Carnatic: ~Natabhairavi (mela #20)

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)

---

o • o o • o • o o • o • o

---

• Tanpura: Sa–ma

• Names: Kaushiki, Kaushika, Kaushik, Kaishik, Kaishiki (not ‘Kaushiya/Koushiya’)

• Transliterations: Hindi (कौशिक)

—Nikhil Banerjee (1977)—

---

“Some important information [about this recording]. In 1977 Nikhil Banerjee had suffered from a cardiac attack which affected his riyaz and playing. He had to change his playing style to allow for his health…concentrating more on raagdari, and keeping the super fast taans aside. This outstanding recording is one of the transitory period. If you listen to his earlier recordings of Kaushiki, the difference will be distinguished. Here he is more careful in alap, and plays more slowly and passionately…” (Arkarup Gangopadhyay)

---