![](\"http:\/\/www.kashmirnetwork.com\/justju\/images\/ustad.jpg\")
<\/p>\nOver the centuries Kashmir<\/b>, isolated yet positioned at a confluence of civilizations on the Silk Route<\/b>, developed its own form of classical music. <\/p>\n
Central Asian overlays coalesced into the ancient styles of North India to beget the Sufiana Kalaam<\/b>.<\/p>\n
A Sufiana Kalaam<\/b> performance consists of an ustad<\/i>, and three musicians (all of them vocalists and instrumentalists) introducing the shakal<\/b> (alaap) before presenting the baeth<\/b> (mystic and\/or romantic verses) of a maqaam<\/b> (raga). <\/p>\n
The santoor<\/b>, a type of dulcimer made of mulberry wood and struck by a pair of qalams<\/b>, is the main instrument. <\/p>\n
The other stringed instrument is the sitar<\/b> plucked with the index finger or a mizrab<\/b>. <\/p>\n
Saz<\/b> is the bow instrument, while dokru<\/b> (tabla) provides the rhythm.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
There are around fifty Maqaam<\/i>s, or melodic systems of Sufiana Kalaam<\/b>. <\/p>\n
Lalit, Rageshwari, Jaijawanti, Bahar<\/i>, and other raags from Hindustani Shastriya Sangeet (Indian classical music) co-exist with Araq, Saba, Rehavi, Isfahan, Panjgah<\/i> and others from Iranian and Central Asian classical music systems in the syncretic Sufiana Kalaam. <\/p>\n
The great exponents of the Sufiana Kalaam include Ustad Ghulam Mohammed Qaleenbaf<\/b> (1909-1994), Ustad Mohammed Abdullah Tibetbaqal<\/b> (1914-1982) and Ustad Ghulam Mohammed Saznawaaz <\/b>(1940-2014).<\/p>\n
![](\"http:\/\/www.kashmirnetwork.com\/justju\/images\/bgm_rdb.jpg\")
\nBakshi Ghulam Mohammed<\/b>, renowned as a patron of Sufiana Kalaam, and the inimitable R. D Burman<\/b> in discussion with a group of musicians in Kashmir<\/i>. <\/p>\n
Sufiana Kalaam was the music form favoured by the elite, while the masses enjoyed traditional forms of folk music like Chhakri<\/b>, Rof<\/b> and Wanwun<\/b>. <\/p>\n
![](\"http:\/\/www.kashmirnetwork.com\/justju\/images\/chhakri.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Chhakri<\/b> is folk music sung to the accompaniment of sarang, rabab, tumbaknari<\/i> and nott<\/i>. <\/p>\n
Rof<\/b> is a form of dance and folk music associated with festivities and marriages while Wanwun<\/b> is a collection of traditional marriage songs. <\/p>\n
Nendbaeth<\/b> is sung by groups of men and women in the fields while transplanting paddy saplings (nend). <\/p>\n
Traditional Hafiz Nagma<\/b>, is a now-extinct female dance form based on the Sufiana Kalaam. <\/p>\n
Bacha Nagma<\/b>, where a male dancer accompanies the chhakri singers, was introduced in the Afghan period, <\/p>\n
The harmonium<\/b> accompanied by various traditional instruments is extensively used in modern popular Kashmiri music. <\/p>\n
![](\"http:\/\/www.kashmirnetwork.com\/justju\/images\/sign.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Video Link : Sufiana Kalaam<\/a>
\nVideo Link : Chhakri<\/a> <\/p>\n