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56-735: Vasant Rai (1942–1985) was an Indian musician who played the Indo-Afghan instrument the sarod . Rai's family was born in Unjha , Gujarat. Rai was the last student of Baba Allauddin Khan , who is best known as the teacher of Ravi Shankar . He died in his New York apartment shortly after a Carnegie Hall performance. Rai had been visiting the United States since his teen years. He settled in New York City in 1969 and lived mainly in

112-662: A broad-gauge line in future, connecting Gwalior to Kota, Rajasthan via Sheopur. It is the junction point to reach tourist destinations like Shivpuri, Dholpur and Bhind. Gwalior is on the Main train line between Delhi (station code: NDLS) and Mumbai (Bombay; CSTM) and between Delhi and Chennai (MAS). Some trains starting here and travelling towards Eastern India via Gwalior Junction – Jhansi Junction provide direct connections to points in eastern India including Kolkata , Durgapur , Barauni , Varanasi , and Allahabad. There are about fifty trains to New Delhi and Agra every day, and around

168-505: A court musician in Gwalior , who changed the rubab into the sarod we know today. A parallel theory credits descendants of Madar Khan, Niyamatullah Khan in particular, with the same innovation around 1820. The sarod in its present form dates back to approximately 1820, when it started gaining recognition as a serious instrument in Rewa, Shahjahanpur , Gwalior and Lucknow . In the 20th century,

224-403: A member of approximately the same stylistic school as Radhika Mohan, prefers to use just the index and middle fingers of his left hand. Amjad Ali is, however, pictured circa 1960 playing with all three fingers. [1] Gwalior Gwalior ( Hindi : IPA: [ɡʋɑːlɪjəɾ] , pronunciation ) is a major city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh ; It is known as

280-490: A metallic plate, elements that are characteristic of the contemporary sarod. These enhancements facilitated longer-lasting notes and the ability to execute the intricate embellishments characteristic of dhrupad and khyal styles of music. Although the sarod has been referred to as a " bass rubab" its tonal bandwidth is actually considerably greater than that of the rubab, especially in the middle and high registers. Lalmani Misra opines in his Bharatiya Sangeet Vadya that

336-411: A population of 1,054,420. Males constitute 53% of the population and females 47%. Gwalior has an average literacy rate of 84.14%, higher than the national average of 74%: male literacy is 89.64% and female literacy is 77.92%. In Gwalior, about 11% of the population is under 6 years of age. The city's metropolitan population, which includes the commuter town of Morar Cantonment , was 1,102,884. Hinduism

392-598: A princely state of the British Raj with the Scindia as the local rulers. High rocky hills surround the city from all sides, on the north it just forms the border of the Ganga- Yamuna Drainage Basin. The city however is situated in the valley between the hills. Gwalior's metropolitan area includes Lashkar, City Centre, Old City (Fort), Gwalior West and Morar Cantonment . Gwalior was one of

448-412: A soft, ringing tone. The lack of frets and the tension of the strings make the sarod a very demanding instrument to play, as the strings must be pressed hard against the fingerboard. There are two approaches to stopping the strings of the sarod. One involves using the tip of one's fingernails to stop the strings, and the other uses a combination of the nail and the fingertip to stop the strings against

504-445: A sub-tropical climate with hot summers from late March to early July, the humid monsoon season from late June to early October, and a cool dry winter from early November to late February. Under Köppen's climate classification the city has a humid subtropical climate . The highest recorded temperature was 48 °C and the lowest was −1 °C. Summers start in late March, and along with other cities like Jaipur and Delhi , are among

560-587: Is generally credited to Niyamatullah Khan of the Lucknow Gharana as well as Ghulam Ali Khan of the Gwalior-Bangash Gharana. Among the contemporary sarod players, this basic design is kept intact by two streams of sarod playing. Amjad Ali Khan and his disciples play this model, as do the followers of Radhika Mohan Maitra. Both Amjad Ali Khan and Buddhadev Dasgupta have introduced minor changes to their respective instruments which have become

616-481: Is generally very mild with daily temperatures averaging in the 14–16 °C (57–61 °F) range, and mostly dry and sunny conditions. January is the coldest month with average lows in the 5-6 °C range (41-42 °F) and occasional cold snaps that plummet temperatures down to a single digit. Gwalior has been ranked 26th best "National Clean Air City" (under Category 1 >10L Population cities) in India. Gwalior

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672-780: Is one of the major commercial railway stations of the North Central Railway, whose zone headquarters is centred in Prayagraj . The station has won awards from Indian Railways for excellent clean infrastructure in 1987, 1988, 1989 and 1992. It is in the Adarsh Station Category of Indian Railways. Gwalior Light Railway connected to the Kuno Wildlife Sanctuary in Sheopur . It is being converted to broad gauge and may commence service as

728-576: Is one that attributes its invention to the ancestors of the present-day sarod maestro, Amjad Ali Khan . Amjad Ali Khan's ancestor Mohammad Hashmi Khan Bangash, a musician and horse trader, came to India with the Afghan rubab in the mid-18th century, and became a court musician to the Maharajah of Rewa (now in Madhya Pradesh ). It was his descendants, notably his grandson Ghulam Ali Khan Bangash,

784-570: Is practised by the majority of the people in Gwalior (88.84%). Other religions practised include Islam (8.58%), Jainism (1.41%), Sikhism (0.56%), and Christianity (0.29). Gwalior has a long history of religious amity. The erstwhile Maharajas of the Scindia dynasty considered the Sufi saints to be their gurus and headed the Muharram procession every year. Languages of Gwalior (2011) Hindi

840-547: Is responsible for the civic infrastructure and administration of the city, which is divided into 66 wards. Shobha Satish Sikarwar(INC) is the present Mayor of Gwalior. The Municipal Commissioner , a member of the Indian Administrative Service , is responsible for the corporations finances and for the services and works conducted for the city. Gwalior Municipal Corporation covers an area of 414 square kilometres (160 sq mi). The municipality

896-587: Is the Gwalior (Lok Sabha constituency) . In June 2024 General Election, Bharat Singh Kushwah of Bharatiya Janata Party had been elected as the Member of Parliament from Gwalior. Central government institutions include: Gwalior is a major railway junction in the Northern central region. The Gwalior Junction (Station code: GWL) is the part of the North Central Railways . Gwalior is one of

952-465: Is the Gwalior inscription of the Alchon Hun ruler Mihirakula . It describes Mihirakula's father Toramana (493–515) as "a ruler of the earth, of great merit, who was renowned by the name of the glorious Tôramâna; by whom, through (his) heroism that was specially characterized by truthfulness, the earth was governed with justice", and his Mihirakula as "the lord of the earth" as of 520 CE. Around

1008-420: Is the predominant language of Gwalior, with nearly 96% of residents speaking it as their first language. Sindhi and Marathi are spoken by 1% each. Gwalior is located at 26°13′N 78°11′E  /  26.22°N 78.18°E  / 26.22; 78.18 . in northern Madhya Pradesh 300 km (190 mi) from Delhi. It has an average elevation of 197 metres (646 feet). Most part of it comes under

1064-497: Is the traditional setting. Another type is that designed by Allauddin Khan and his brother Ayet Ali Khan. This instrument, referred to by David Trasoff as the 1934 Maihar Prototype, is larger and longer than the conventional instrument, though the fingerboard is identical to the traditional sarod. This instrument has 25 strings in all. These include four main strings, four jod strings (tuned to Ni or Dha , R/r , G/g and Sa respectively), two chikari strings (tuned to Sa of

1120-451: Is typically tuned to C. Sarod strings are either made of steel or phosphor bronze . Most contemporary sarod players use German or American-made strings, such as Roslau (Germany), Pyramid (Germany) and Precision (USA). The strings are plucked with a triangular plectrum ( java ) made of polished coconut shell, ebony, cocobolo wood, horn, cowbone, Delrin or other such materials. Early sarod players used plain wire plectrums, which yielded

1176-598: The Alchon Huns in the 5th century AD to Gurjara Pratihara dynasty in the 8th century AD. It was passed on to Kachchhapaghatas in the 10th century AD. It fell into the hands of the Delhi Sultanate in 12th century AD, it was then passed on to the Tomars in the 13th century AD who were the vassal rulers of the Delhi Sultanate . The Mughal Empire conquered the city and its fortress in the 16th century AD. When

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1232-670: The Bharatiya Janata Party . Her son, Maharaja Madhavrao Scindia was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1971, representing the Congress Party, and served until his death in 2001. His son, Jyotiraditya Scindia , also in the Congress Party, was elected to the seat formerly held by his father in 2004, but later joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2020. As of the 2011 Census of India , Gwalior had

1288-454: The Chambal division of northern Madhya Pradesh. Several administrative and judicial organisations, commissions and boards have their state and national headquarters situated in the city. Gwalior was the capital of the state of Madhya Bharat from 1948 till 1956 which later became a part of the larger state of Madhya Pradesh. Prior to Indian independence on 15 August 1947, Gwalior remained

1344-724: The Gird area. The Tigra Dam is located on the outskirts of the city. The dam is now being used to store water from the Sank river and supply water to the city. The reservoir is used for leisure activities including speed boating, paddle boating, and water scooters. The Swarna Rekha river is a reconstructed part of the Swarna Rekha river which was dried during the British raj. Boat rides run between Padav in central Gwalior to Gwalior Zoo. The Lashkar part of Gwalior has many parks, including

1400-605: The Golden-Quadrilateral Highway project passes through the city. The Agra-Bombay national highway (NH3) passes through Gwalior, connecting it to Shivpuri on one end and Agra on the other. The Yamuna Expressway is easily accessible from Agra for the travellers going to New Delhi. The city is connected to the Jhansi by the National Highway 75, towards the south of the city. The northern part of

1456-950: The Greenwich Village area and also for a short time at the Chelsea Hotel when he was not touring. From 1969 to 1985, he conducted the Alam School of Music in Greenwich Village. Alla Rakha , Mahapurush Mishra , Shamta Prasad and Zakir Hussain usually accompanied him on the tabla . Vasant Rai taught Indian musicians, most notable are sarodist Pradeep Barot , mandolin player Emu Desai, and sitar player Shamim Ahmed Khan. Vasant Rai's notable western musicians were Lex Hixon , Collin Walcott , and Don Cherry . Rai had been signed exclusively by Vanguard Records from 1975 to 1982. Vasant's first commercial recording

1512-526: The Gwalior State in the 18th and 19th centuries, who were a princely state during the period of British colonial rule until Indian independence. During independence, the clans became involved in politics. The Scindia state of Gwalior became a major regional power in the second half of the 18th century and figured prominently in the three Anglo-Maratha Wars . (Gwalior first fell to the British in 1780.) The Scindias held significant power over many of

1568-671: The Phool Bagh, or the garden of flowers, built to welcome the Prince of Cambridge and the Italian Garden – the garden which was used by the Scindias as a place of relaxation, is Italian in architecture with a water pool surrounded by musical fountains. Ambedkar Park and Gandhi Park are other prominent parks. Gwalior Zoo provides a home for white tigers , serpents, golden pheasants, sambar , hyena, bison, and others. Gwalior has

1624-741: The Rajput states, and conquered the state of Ajmer. During the Indian Rebellion of 1857, the city was briefly held by rebel forces in 1858 until they were defeated by the British. The Scindia family ruled Gwalior until India's independence from the United Kingdom in 1947, when the Maharaja Jivajirao Scindia acceded to the Government of India. Gwalior was merged with a number of other princely states to become

1680-613: The 13th century it remained under Muslim rule. In 1375, Raja Veer Singh was made the ruler of Gwalior and he founded the rule of the Tomar clan. During those years, Gwalior saw its golden period. The Jain Sculptures at Gwalior Fort were built under Tomar rule. Man Singh Tomar a Tomar Rajput made his dream palace, the Man Mandir Palace which is now a tourist attraction at Gwalior Fort. Babur described it as "the pearl in

1736-523: The 1830s, the Scindia Dynasty captured Gwalior and it remained a princely state during the period of British rule. Chaturbhuj Temple at Gwalior Fort claims the world's very first occurrence of zero as a written number. Gwalior was major centre in the 1857 rebellion , mainly because of Rani Lakshmibai . After Kalpi (Jhansi) fell into the hands of the British on 24 May 1858, Lakshmibai sought shelter at Gwalior Fort. The Maharaja of Gwalior,

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1792-713: The 9th century, the Gurjara-Pratihara dynasty controlled Gwalior and during their rule, they constructed the Teli ka Mandir temple. The Kachchhapaghata dynasty ruled the area c.950 –c.1192 CE, leaving remarkable architectural works such as the Sasbahu Temples . In 1021, Gwalior was attacked by forces led by Mahmud Ghazni . In 1231 Iltutmish , ruler of the Mamluk dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate , captured Gwalior after an 11-month-long effort and from then till

1848-578: The City of Music having oldest musical gharana in existence. It lies in northern part of Madhya Pradesh and is one of the Counter-magnet cities. Located 313 kilometres (194 mi) south of New Delhi , the capital city of India and 446 kilometres (277 mi) from Bhopal , the state capital, Gwalior occupies a strategic location in the Gird region of India. The historic city and its fortress have been ruled by several historic Indian kingdoms. From

1904-588: The Indian seni rubāb , which held a significant place in the Mughal royal courts. The sarod emerged in India during the early 19th century as an evolved form of the Afghani rubāb, commonly played in the regions to the east of Delhi, inhabited by Afghan communities. In the latter half of the 19th century, the progeny of the rubab musician and Afghan merchant Ghulam Bandagi Khan endowed the instrument with metal strings and

1960-585: The Mughal Empire was declining, it fell into the hands of Jat rulers , then to the Maratha in 1754, and lastly it was passed on to the Scindia Dynasty of Maratha Empire in early 18th century. In April 2021, It was found that Gwalior had the best air quality index (AQI 152) amongst the 4 major cities in Madhya Pradesh . Besides being the administrative headquarters of Gwalior district and Gwalior division , Gwalior has many administrative offices of

2016-456: The Persian verb sorūdan , which correspondingly means "to sing", "to play a musical instrument", but also means "to compose". Alternatively, the shahrud may have given its name to the sarod. The Persian word šāh-rūd is made up of šāh ( shah or king) and rūd (string). The origins of sarod music can be traced back to the rhythmic and vibrant melodies of the Afghani rubāb , as well as

2072-768: The central government of India . The judiciary has four levels: the lowest level being the Gwalior Gram panchayat (or " Gram Nyayalaya "). Above the gram panchayat is the District Court for Gwalior district sits Lashkar. Above that, the Madhya Pradesh High Court has its main seat in Jabalpur , but also a permanent bench in Gwalior city. The final court of appeal is the Supreme Court of India . The Gwalior Municipal Corporation

2128-409: The design templates for their followers. Both musicians use sarods made of teak wood, and a soundboard made of goat skin stretched across the face of the resonator. Buddhadev Dasgupta prefers a polished stainless steel fingerboard for the ease of maintenance while Amjad Ali Khan uses the conventional chrome or nickel-plated cast steel fingerboard. Visually, the two variants are similar, with six pegs in

2184-659: The few places where both narrow gauge and broad gauge railways tracks were operational (until the line closed in 2020 ). Gwalior was the terminus for the longest narrow-gauge route operating in the world, covering a distance of 198 km (123 mi) from Gwalior Junction to Sheopur. Gwalior Junction is a six-railway track intersection point. It won an award for the best and cleanest station of North Central Railway zone . Gwalior has 3 railway stations within city limits namely: Birla Nagar station Sithouli Station Dabra Station Travellers can board/de board from Gwalior Junction Railway Station from these routes namely: Gwalior

2240-438: The fingerboard. Fingering techniques and how they are taught depends largely on the personal preferences of musicians rather than on the basis of school affiliation. Radhika Mohan Maitra, for example, used the index, middle and ring finger of his left hand to stop the string, just like followers of Allauddin Khan do. Maitra, however, made much more extensive use of the third fingernail for slides and hammers. Amjad Ali Khan, while

2296-424: The general state of Indian instrument-making in the present day. The design of the instrument depends on the school ( gharana ) of playing. There are three distinguishable types: The conventional sarod is a 17 to 25-stringed lute-like instrument—four to five main strings used for playing the melody, one or two drone strings, two chikari strings and nine to eleven sympathetic strings. The design of this early model

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2352-543: The hottest in India and the world. Temperatures peak in May and June with daily averages being around 33–35 °C (91–95 °F), and end in late June with the onset of the monsoon . Gwalior receives 750 mm of rain on average per year, most of which is concentrated in the Monsoon months (from late June to early October). August is the wettest month with about 250 mm of rain. Winter in Gwalior starts in late October, and

2408-415: The hundred Indian cities to be developed as a smart city under PM Narendra Modi's flagship Smart Cities Mission . According to legend, Gwalior was founded in 600 CE after a local chieftain, Suraj Sen , who was cured of leprosy from a drink given to him by a holy man called Gwalipa. Suraj subsequently set up a town and fort and named them after Gwalipa. The earliest historical record found at Gwalior

2464-419: The main pegbox, two rounded chikari pegs and 11 (Amjad) to 15 (Buddhadev) sympathetic strings. The descendants of Niyamatullah Khan (namely Irfan Khan and Ghulfam Khan) also play similar instruments. Some of the followers of Radhika Mohan Maitra still carry the second resonator on their sarods. Amjad Ali Khan and his followers have rejected the resonator altogether. These instruments are typically tuned to B, which

2520-547: The major locations of rebellion during the 1857 uprising . Post-independence, Gwalior has emerged as an important tourist attraction in central India while many industries and administrative offices came up within the city. Before the end of the 20th century it became a million plus agglomeration and now it is a metropolitan city in central India. Gwalior is surrounded by industrial and commercial zones of neighbouring districts ( Malanpur – Bhind , Banmore – Morena ) on all three main directions. Gwalior has been selected as one of

2576-564: The necklace of forts of India and not even the winds could touch its masts". The daily light and sound show organised there apprise about the history of the Gwalior Fort and Man Mandir Palace. By the 15th century, the city had a noted singing school which was attended by the prominent figure of Hindustani classical music, Tansen . After death of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb the Jat ruler Bhim Singh Rana captured Gwalior from Mughals . Later in

2632-458: The new Indian state of Madhya Bharat. Jivajirao Scindia served as the state's Rajpramukh , or the appointed governor, from 28 May 1948 to 31 October 1956, when Madhya Bharat was merged into Madhya Pradesh. In 1962, Rajmata Vijayraje Scindia , the widow of Maharaja Jivajirao Scindia, was elected to the Lok Sabha, beginning the family's career in electoral politics. She was first a member of the Congress Party, and later became an influential member of

2688-682: The same number of trains to the Bhopal and Nagpur stations. However, fewer trains are available for long routes like Mumbai and Chennai. The luxury trains – the Maharaja Express and the India on Wheels – stop at Gwalior on their week-long round trip of tourist destinations in Central India. More than 180 trains stop at Gwalior Railway Station Gwalior is fairly well connected to other parts of Madhya Pradesh and India by national and state highways. The proposed North-south-Corridor of

2744-410: The sarod is a combination of the ancient chitravina, the medieval rubab and modern sursingar . Another instrument, the sur-rabab, is known to exist, which has the characteristics of both the dhrupad rabab/seniya rabab and the sarod. The sur-rabab has the structure of the dhrupad rabab but has a metal fretboard and uses metal strings. Among the many conflicting and contested histories of the sarod, there

2800-434: The sarod was improved significantly by Allauddin Khan and his brother Ayet Ali Khan. They increased the number of chikari (drone) strings and increased the number of tarafdar (sympathetic) strings. However, as is the case with most young, evolving instruments, much work remains to be done in the area of sarod luthiery in order to achieve reliable customization, and precise replication of successful instruments. This reflects

2856-463: The upper octave ) and fifteen tarab strings. The main strings are tuned to Ma ("fa"), Sa ("do"), lower Pa ("so") and lower Sa , giving the instrument a range of three octaves. The Maihar sarod lends itself extremely well to the presentation of alap with the four jod strings providing a backdrop for the ambiance of the raga. This variant is, however, not conducive to the performance of clean right-hand picking on individual strings. The instrument

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2912-416: Was by EMI and on the tabla was Alla Rakha . Vasant Rai's sarod was a gift from his guru Allauddin Khan, and was made by Allauddin Khan's younger brother Ayet Ali Khan in the 1930s. Sarod The word sarod was introduced from Persian during the late Mughal Empire and is much older than the Indian musical instrument. It can be traced back to sorūd meaning "song", "melody", "hymn" and further to

2968-529: Was created on 6 June 1887 with two divisions for Lashkar and Morar, which later were merged with a single constitutional body. There are four seats in the state legislative assembly (the "Madhya Pradesh Vidhan Sabha") responsible for the Gwalior municipal area, the constituencies being Gwalior , Gwalior Rural , Gwalior East and Gwalior South . Prior to the 2008 boundary changes the seats were "Gird", "Lashkar East" and "Lashkar West". State institutions include: The national assembly seat covering Gwalior

3024-542: Was found to have the second-highest level of air pollution according to a World Health Organization study in 2016. Particulates from the burning of garbage and fossil fuels make breathing the air of this city a hazard. The administration of Gwalior is shared between the departments and institutions of three levels of government – civic administration by the Gwalior Municipal Corporation , state administration by government of Madhya Pradesh , and

3080-474: Was free from rebels. There is a statue erected at the cenotaph (Samadhi) of Lakshmibai on her horse at Chhatri of Rani Lakshmibai in Gwalior's Phoolbagh area where she was died and cremated which commemorates her contribution to the fight for independence. Tantia Tope and Rao Sahib escaped. Tantia Tope was later captured and hanged in April 1859. Scindia is a Maratha clan in India. This clan included rulers of

3136-441: Was not willing to give up his fort without a fight as he was a strong ally of the British, but after negotiations, his troops capitulated and the rebels took possession of the fort. The British attacked Gwalior in no time, the battle was fought by Lakshmibai. Indian forces numbered around 20,000, and British forces around 1,600 troops. Lakshmibai's example is remembered to this day by Indian nationalists. She died fighting, and Gwalior

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