Ustad Ghulam Ali who played Sarangi on the top of Eiffel Tower

The last Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar would get absorbed in the melody of Sarangi echoing through the walls of his Palace. The court musicians Ustad Haider Baksh and Ustad Badal Khan played the tiling tunes on the emperor’s favourite instrument even when the Mughal Empire lost its sheen and grip.

Ustad Ghulam Ali, a renowned Sarangi player and vocalist of today, remembers his two grand Gurus – Ustad Haider Baksh and Ustad Badal Khan – who played Sarangi and soothed the frayed nerves of this last Mughal Emperor.

Ghulam Ali, successor of Sonipat-Panipat Gharana told Awaz-the Voice, “The lone Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar could find solace in the soothing tunes of Sarangi; he even learned to play it. “Bahadur Shah Zafar was obsessed with the lilting tunes of Sarangi and it was a lifeline for him in the darkest period of the Mughal empire.”

Narrating stories told to him by his Guru, Ustad Fayaz Khan about his gurus (who were in the court of Bahadur Shah Zafar) Ustad Ghulam Ali said that the Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar was in love with Sarangi. “It was the darkest phase in the more than 300-year-old Mughal Empire and the last powerful Ruler was trying his best to fight against the British East India Company.”

The Mughal Court was about to be captured by the British. Amid the falling Empire, the only solace for the Emperor was music.

Ustad Ghulam Ali told Awaz-the Voice, “It is not only about Sarangi’s connection with the royals but with the human souls. This is the reason we compare Sarangi to the human voice and maybe this was the reason the instrument could become one’s companion. I am obsessed with the real-life story of the Mughal Emperor who saw Sarangi as his companion. I feel so thrilled when I think about that era and wish I could be one of those musicians in the Mughal Court.”

Ustad Ghulam Ali started learning music at the age of 3 years. “My father Ustad Tajuddin Khan, a famous Sufi singer of Dilli Gharana, was my first Guru and my inspiration,” he told Awaz-the Voice in an interview.

“I am the successor of the 500-year Sonipat-Panipat Gharana of Sarangi which was renamed as the old school of Sarangi during the British Period. Sourangi was the old name of Sarangi and Punjab was its birthplace. You may call it a magical instrument which is suitable with every kind of vocal music.”

He told the story of his grandfather Ustad Niyaz Ahmed Khan who wanted him to be a great musician who would be able to carry on with the legacy. He said “Once a renowned musician Ustad Wazir Hussain Khan joined AIR Delhi as a staff Sarangi artist. My grandfather Khan Sahab was also a singer in Air and he met him there He requested Ustad Wazir Hussain Khan to teach me Sarangi and initiated the ‘Ganda Bandhan’ (tie between the teacher and student).  It was because of his sole interest I could learn Sarangi.”

Ustad Ghulam Ali has been playing Sarangi as a solo musician for the last 5 decades now and is the 17th generation in his family to play Sarangi with boundless efficiency that could hardly be compared with any other Gharana in the country. (Awaz)

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