A study finds Srinagar’s Saznawaz family has safeguarded Sufiana Mousiqi for eight generations, teaching it orally and free of cost to keep the classical tradition alive.
SRINAGAR: A family in downtown Srinagar is safeguarding Kashmir’s classical music, and its eighth generation remains closely tied to its musical roots, a new academic study has found. The paper, Saznawaz Gharana, The Great Maestros of Sufiyana Mousiqui of Kashmir, was written by Ishtaiq Ahmad Raina. He is a PhD scholar in the Department of Performing Arts Music at Lovely Professional University, Punjab.
The Paper was published in the International Journal of Research Culture Society, in April 2022.
Study Method
Raina used primary and secondary data. These included historical texts and discussions with leading musicians of the gharana. The paper cites interviews with family members held in February and March 2022. It describes Saznawaz as the most prominent Sufiana gharana of Kashmir. It is the oldest and the main one, the paper says.
The gharana is named after Ustaad Ramzan Joo (1881 to 1971). Its last leading musician, Ustaad Ghulam Mohammad Saaznawaz, died in February 2014. The present khalifa is his elder son, Shabir Ahmad Saaznawaz.
Music Defined
Raina argues that Sufiana cannot be classed as folk music. Folk songs are written “by the people for the people and of the people”, he says. Sufiana lacks these traits.
The music is limited to those trained in it under the guru shishya parampara. It is “out of the understanding for a common man”, the paper says. It is sung in chorus, in the manner of its Persian and Turkish counterparts. Its muqams correspond to Indian ragas.
Family Roots
The paper traces the family to Ustaad Hadi Joo, who came from Iran with the art form. Ustaad Sultan Joo performed at the court of Maharaja Ranbir Singh every Sunday. He kept five instruments before him: santoor, sitar, tabla, Saaz e Kashmir and madham.
A master of all five is called a Panjhathyari. The title became a hallmark of the gharana.
Sultan Joo also had an unusual habit. He did not call his sons by name. He played a distinct melody on the Saaz e Kashmir for each one. He taught all four sons: Subhan Joo, Wazir Joo, Ameer Joo and Qadir Joo.
Wazir Joo was also called Panjhathyari. Raina recounts a mehfil where a sitar player asked him to tune his santoor, which has 100 strings. Wazir Joo tuned only 24. He then told the sitarist he could not tune two strings of his own. The sitarist failed.
Ameer Joo played the Kashmiri sitar and tabla. At a festival in Anantnag, he and a local singer, Gaffar Joo, performed one after the other. Gaffar Joo used the difficult Mukhamas taal and found less favour. Ameer Joo chose a simpler taal. The patron, Bahar Shalla, declared him the greater singer.
Santoor Revived
After Wazir Joo died, the santoor stayed silent for 12 years, the paper says. Ameer Joo then taught his nephew, Sideh Joo, to play it. Sideh Joo in turn taught his brother Ramzan Joo, who mastered it quickly. Sideh Joo died in 1958.
Raina says Ustaad Mohammad Abdullah Tibat Baqqal named Ramzan Joo as his teacher on receiving his Sangeet academy award. Baqqal said he had learned by sitting in Ramzan Joo’s gatherings and memorising his songs.
Present Maestros
Ghulam Mohammad Saznawaz was born in 1940 at Dana Mazar, Safakadal. He began learning at six, under his father Ramzan Joo and his uncle Sidiq Joo. He worked as a staff artist at Radio Kashmir.
His honours include the Sangeet Natak Academy Award, the Tulsi Award of the Madhya Pradesh government and the Sher e Kashmir Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah Award.
He headed the Saznawaz Sufiyana Training Institute. Students learn there without payment. He taught them free “in order to keep this heritage alive”, the paper says.
Next Generation
Mushtaq Ahmad Saznawaz, born in 1962, specialises in the Saaz e Kashmir. He earned grade A in 2000. He has performed for Doordarshan Kendra Srinagar and All India Radio. He has produced five episodes of musical programmes for Doordarshan. He also appears on the CD “Vijdan”.
Shabir Ahmad Saznawaz earned grade A from All India Radio in 1995. He recently received the Sangeet Natak Akademi’s Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar. Mohammad Rafiq Saznawaz plays tabla and santoor. He has been approved by the music audition board in New Delhi.
Raina concludes that the Saznawaz Gharana is “safeguarding Kashmiri Sufyana music”. Kashmir, he notes, is among the few Indian regions with a distinct regional classical tradition. The music is taught orally and passed from one generation to the next.
