Music in Colonial Punjab

This book offers the first social history of music in undivided Punjab (1800-1947), beginning at the Lahore court of Maharaja Ranjit Singh and concluding at the Patiala royal darbar. It unearths new evidence for the centrality of female performers and classical music in a region primarily viewed as a folk music centre, featuring a range of musicians and dancers -from 'mirasis' (bards) and 'kalawants' (elite musicians), to 'kanjris' (subaltern female performers) and 'tawaifs' (courtesans). A central theme is the rise of new musical publics shaped by the anglicized Punjabi middle classes, and British colonialists' response to Punjab's performing communities. The book reveals a diverse connoisseurship for music with insights from history, ethnomusicology, and geography on an activity that still unites a region now divided between India and Pakistan.

Author: Kapuria
Publisher: Oxford University Press (UK)
Published: 08/30/2023
Pages: 410
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.42lbs
Size: 8.81h x 5.87w x 1.15d
ISBN13: 9780192867346
ISBN10: 0192867342
BISAC Categories:
- History | Asia | General
- History | Social History
- Music | Genres & Styles | General