Tansen

Tansen (* 1506 in Gwalior, India, † 1589 in Delhi ) was a court musician of the Mughal Emperor Akbar. He is considered the father of today's North Indian art music and one of the foremost Indian musicians ever.

Tansen was in the northern Indian city of Gwalior ( Madhya Pradesh ) was born in a Hindu family. His father Mukund Misra was a poet. Tansen took music lessons from the famous teacher Swami Haridas. He initially served at the court of Maharaja Ramachandra Singh of Rewa and then to that of Akbar. At the latter he was one of the Navaratnas which honored nine jewels, and Akbar gave him the title Miyan, which is why it is now often called Miyan Tansen.

Some of the cornerstones of the repertoire of North Indian music have since Ragas of Tansen: Darbari Canada, Miyan ki Todi, Miyan ki Malhar and Miyan ki Sarang; also two important theoretical writings of the Indian music tradition originating from Tansen: Sangita Sara and Rajmala.

Virtually any of the various extant today schools ( Gharanas ) wants to trace their origin to him - probably at least that the Dhrupad back called strict vocal style to Tansen and his teacher Swami Haridas. Both his two children, Bilas Khan and Saraswati Devi, as well as numerous subsequent direct descendants were famous musicians, most recently the Dhrupad singer Dabir Khan ( 1905-1972 ).