The court at Delhi patronised classical music. The tradition was set by Mian Tansen, court musician of Emperor Akbar, an exponent of dhrupad style, who ruled the musical world of northern India. As the Mughal authority declined, the disciples and descendants of Tansen started leaving Delhi. A number of them found warm reception with Bengali feudatory chiefs. A descendant of Tansen, a 'dhrupadiya' named Bahadur Khan, settled himself in the court of the feudatory chief of Vishnupur and started a school of music which came to be known as the Vishnupur school or Gharana which produced a line of eminent musicians, many of whom were retained by wealthy landlords interested in Indian classical music. Prominent among such patrons in the mid-nineteenth century were the members of the Tagore family, Saurindramohan Tagore and his brother Jatindhramohan Tagore whose efforts made Calcutta a main centre of Hindustani classical music in Bengal. Some other masters of this school were retained by Devendrnath Tagore for coaching the members of his family and also for setting the music of Brahmo devotional songs in the solemn and dignified style of Dhrupad.
Music & Dance