S-R-g-m-P-D-n-S

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The late-night Shahana (literally: ‘Of Royal Demeanour’) draws on elements from Darbari and Bageshri, notably including the former’s nP; gmRS descent and the latter’s strong g-m-D grouping. Distinctively, shuddha Dha is used as a prominent melodic endpoint, with Pa supporting it via distinctive up-down phrases such as PmgmD. Usually interpreted as a Kanada raga, Deepak Raja describes first hearing it in the early 1970s: “Ustad Vilayat Khan…drifted into it without announcing the raga. As it unfolded, I said to myself, ‘How clever! He is playing Darbari with a twist: replacing the komal dha with shuddha Dha, and delivering an entirely different musical experience!”. Raja also notes that Shahana is linked in Medieval texts to “a Persian melody known as Firodast”, and that classical poetry concerning it often features descriptions of springtime and monsoons (“both suggesting a relief from extreme conditions: a degree of euphoria is, indeed, integral to the psycho-acoustics of the raga…”). Bor similarly traces the Shahana lineage back to Faqirullah’s 1666 Raga Darpan, which describes it as a blend of Kanada phrases with “Farudasht, supposedly a creation of Amir Khusro” – also outlining the modern raga’s poorvang-affinity with Adana and Bahar. Compare and contrast with other Kafi-prakriti Kanada-ang ragas including Hussaini Kanada, Mudriki Kanada, and Raisa Kanada. [n.b. the Hindustani ‘Sahana/Shahana’ is unrelated to its Carnatic namesake.]

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राग शहाना

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• Hindustani Raga Index •

Aroha: nSgm; PnPNS

Avroh: SnDnPmP; gmRS

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Pakad: variable, e.g. PmgmD; SDnP; DmP; gmRS

Chalan: e.g. PnPNS; nSRgmRS; RnSm; SRgmP; gmDnP; mPSDnP; mPNSNS; RSDnP; nmPg; mRS (Raja)

—Anupama Bhagwat (2014)—

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[jor themes, e.g. 0:01] (m)nmP, mPP, m\g, g(mg), mnD, DDD(nP), m, (m)nmP, P, (m)nm nnP, P, P(mPDP)m, m(gmg), g(m)g, SggmD, D, m(D)m, D(n)D, Dn(R)S, S(nS), S\D, (m)nmP, P, P…

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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

Thaat: 10 | 32 | Enclosed | Inexact

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

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

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Aroha: Audav | Shadav | Sampurna

Avroh: Audav | Shadav | Sampurna

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

Samay: Morning | Aftern. | Eve. | Night

Construction: Jod | Mishra | Oddball

Origin: Ancient | Carnatic | Modern

Dominance: Poorvang | Uttarang

Prevalence: A-list | Prachalit | Aprach.

• Prakriti: Kafi thaat, Kafi, Bageshri, Bhimpalasi, Desi, Dhanashree, Hussaini Kanada, Mudriki Kanada, Raisa Kanada

Also compare to other members of the Kanada raganga

–Swara Geometries–

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• Core form: S–R–g–m–P–D–n–S

• Reverse: SRgmPDnS (=itself)

• Complement: SrGMdNS (=Din ki Puriya)

• Imperfect: 1 (Dha)

• Detached: none

• Symmetries: mirror (S—M)

• Murchanas: Bilawal set

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• Quirks: ‘palindromic‘ (same intervals forwards & backwards) • ‘maximal‘ (swaras are optimally ‘spread out’) • ‘Pa-repeating‘ (poorvang and uttarang take the same ‘semitone shape’)

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–Global Translations–

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• Carnatic: ~Kharaharapriya (mela #22)

S-R₂-G₂-M₁-P-D₂-N₂-S

• Jazz: Dorian

1-2-b3-4-5-6-b7-8

• Pitch classes (‘fret-jumps’):

0-2-3-5-7-9-10-0

(2–1–2–2–2–1–2)

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o • o o • o • o • o o • o

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• Tanpura: Sa–Pa (+Pa)

• Names: Shahana, Sahana, Shahana Kanada

• Transliterations: Hindi (शहाना); Bengali (সাহানা); Tamil (சகானா)

—Uday Bhawalkar (2019)—