My Analysis of Gaya and Esraj: A Revolution in Indian Classical Music (Part 1)

During the 19th century, Calcutta (modern day Kolkata), in eastern India, was the second city in the British Empire. The colonial period brought prosperity to the city, into which the social elites of the city and neighboring regions dug their hands. Even many nuevo riche made their fortunes. These upper classes became the patrons of many artists, especially musicians. Musicians migrated from various parts of the subcontinent in search of a better life. Gaya is a city in eastern India located near Gaya. During the 19th century, the artistic wave which took Kolkata by storm, brought its influence to Gaya as well. This was a city of great religious significance and veneration to the Hindus for many centuries. Gayawals, or the priests of Gaya, were and have always been central to the city. They were the Brahmin priests who controlled the conduction of religious rites and rituals in Gaya, the very fact that had given Gaya its basic identity. This is where the practice of esraj as a classical musical instrument took its present form. In his paper Music and Society in Late Colonial India: A Study of Esraj in Gaya, Tirthankar Roy explores how the esraj became a unique musical instrument, forging its own niche as a classical musical instrument for solo performances with particularly defining characteristics involving its gharana, and how it became a symbol of Gaya in the artistic consciousness of the masses. The musical culture of Gaya owed its patronage of the elites of eastern India who came to Gaya for its religious role, but invested in the city, building residences and providing remuneration for performances. Pre-independence Gaya boasted of dormitories maintained by gayawals. They became the resident economic elites of the city. But in the post-independent period of India, Gaya’s musical scene withered away mostly, thanks to the dissolution of zamindaris, estates, and the partition of Bengal.