Zeelaf | SGmPdS | Hindustani Raga Index

S-G-m-P-d-S

A rare audav raga fabled to have been created by 13th-century qawwali pioneer Amir Khusrau, somewhat resembling ‘Bhairav minus re & Ni’. As per Rajan Parrikar, “this haunting pentatonic melody is composed of the following swaras: SGmPd. Jitendra Abhisheki gives a superb account with his own composition [transcribed below]: notice the strong ma and the subtle Gm\S meend”. See a fascinating discussion of Zeelaf’s alternate forms and possible origins by Ramesh Gangolli, based on the information in Bhatkhande‘s Hindustani Sangeet Paddhati Vol. 4: “Somnath Pandit’s Raga Vibodha [c.1610] refers to a raga by the name of ‘Zuluf’, described as a mixture of the melas Karnatagouda and Bhairav. His ‘Karnatagouda’ is substantially the same as [today’s] Kanada-ang…and Bhatkhande [c.1915-20] remarks that one of the prevalent versions of Zeelaf takes the notes of Bhairav in the poorvang, [but] re is weak or omitted“. Also refer to vocal renditions by Pandit Jasraj and Ishwarchandra Karkare (who states that “the old/original name of this raga was ‘Stutipriya’…”).

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—Jitendra Abhisheki (1991)—

[bandish] d, P, (P)dPm, mP, GmG\S, d, P…

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• Recent Raga Index Updates (Jan 2026): Added new ragas: e.g. Asa, Basant Bahar, Badhans Sarang, Bayati, Chandni Todi, Chandraprabha, Deepavali, Firozkhani Todi, Gaud, Japaniya, Kaushiki, Latangi, Maru, Palas, Sarangkauns, Shivanjali, Shrutivardhini • ‘Bifurcations‘: analysis via ‘poorvang + uttarang’ formulas • DoGa Kalyan & the Beatles’ Blue Jay Way • Amir Khan’s ‘168 merukhands’ • Uncovered Prabhateshwari‘s origins • Transcribed Manjiri Asanare-Kelkar’s ‘Amodini‘ lec-dems • Experiments (e.g overtonal Bhairav, jazz Malkauns) • Survey of Sa Tunings • More Masterlist ragas (1000+)

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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

Aroha: Audav | Shadav | Sampurna

Avroh: Audav | Shadav | Sampurna

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

Samay: Morning | Aftern. | Eve. | Night

Raganga: Bhairav | Malhar | Kan. | Todi

Construction: Jod | Mishra | Oddball

Origin: Ancient | Carnatic | Modern

Dominance: Poorvang | Uttarang

Prevalence: A-list | Prachalit | Aprach.

• Prakriti: (none found)

Also compare to other members of the Bhairav raganga

–Swara Geometries–

• Core form: S–G–m–P–d–S

• Reverse: SGmPdS (=itself)

• Negative: 2-1-1-3-3-1-1

• Imperfect: 3 (Ga, Pa, dha)

• Detached: 2 (Ga, dha)

• Symmetries: mirror (S—M)

• Murchanas: none

• Quirks: ‘palindromic‘ (same intervals forwards & backwards) • ‘atritonal‘ (no available tritones)

–Global Translations–

• Carnatic: (~Bhavani)

S-G₃-M₁-P-D₁-S

• Jazz: Dbl. Harmonic (no 2nd/7th)

1-3-4-5-b6-8

• Pitch classes (‘fret-jumps’):

0-4-5-7-8-0

(4–1–2–1–4)

o • • • o o • o o • • • o

• Tanpura: Sa–Pa

• Names: Zeelaf, Zilaf, Zilafa, Zilapha, ‘Stutipriya’ (archaic scale name)

• Transliterations: Hindi (झिलफ)

—Pandit Jasraj (1975)—

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George Howlett is a London-based musician, writer, and teacher (guitars, sitar, tabla, & santoor). Above all I seek to enthuse fellow sonic searchers, interconnecting fresh vibrations with the voices, cultures, and passions behind them. See Homepage for more, and hit me up for Lessons!