Sharan Rani Backliwal | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Sharan Rani in Tehran | |
| Background information | |
| Born | Sharan Rani Mathur (1929-04-09)9 April 1929 |
| Died | 8 April 2008(2008-04-08) (aged 78) Delhi |
| Genres | Indian classical music |
| Occupation(s) | instrumentalist, music scholar |
| Instrument | sarod |
Sharan Rani (also known asSharan Rani Backliwal,néeMathur) (9 April 1929 – 8 April 2008) was anIndian classicalsarod player and music scholar.[1][2]
Her private collection of 379 musical instruments ranging from the 15th to the 19th century is now part of the "Sharan Rani Backliwal Gallery of Musical Instruments" at theNational Museum, New Delhi.[3]
She was born Sharan Rani Mathur in the walled city ofOld Delhi to a conservative Hindu family of well-known businessmen and educationists.[3] As a young girl, she learned to play the sarod from the master musiciansAllauddin Khan and his sonAli Akbar Khan. She began her musical career in the face of immense familial opposition; during this period in Indian history, a career as a musician was seen as something forgharanas (families where music was a hereditary profession) or typical ofnautch girls orbaijis, not something appropriate for the daughter of a respectable, non-musician family. She also learned theKathak form ofclassical Indian dance from Achhan Maharaj andManipuri dance from Nabha Kumar Sinha.[4] In 1953, she did her M.A fromDelhi University, and studied atIndraprastha College for Women.
From the late 1930s, Sharan Rani presented her sarod recitals on the concert stage in India for over seven decades. She was one of the first to record forUNESCO and to release musical recordings with major record companies in the United States, Britain and France. According toJawaharlal Nehru, she was the "Cultural Ambassador of India"[5]Dr. Zakir Husain said about her, "Sharan Rani has achieved perfection in music. She will therefore get the love of the entire world”. Noted MusicianYehudi Menuhin said about her : "I hasten to add my voice to the many admiring and grateful ones which would try to express the love and respect we feel for this great artiste”[6]
Concerned that the rich Dhrupad tradition was fading away, some of her solo recitals were accompanied by both Tabla and Pakhawaj.
Rani was one of the earliest artists ofAll India Radio andDoordarshan. She was popularly known as 'Sarod Rani' (The Queen of Sarod). Sharan Rani was the first woman Instrumentalist of India who achieved international acclaim.[7][8]
Backliwal also wrote a history of the sarod, titledThe Divine Sarod: Its Origin, Antiquity and Development,[9] which was released in 1992, byK. R. Narayanan, the then Vice President of India.[3] A second edition ofThe Divine Sarod was released in 2008 byI. K. Gujral, former Prime Minister of India. She also wrote a number of articles on music.
Backliwal taught music through theGuru–shishya tradition and never took any fees from her students. Many students also lived in her house as her resident-disciples for several years, free of charge.
Backliwal donated to theNational Museum, New Delhi varieties of instruments from different States of India, from different 'Gharanas' of music, covering different time periods, allowing for a methodical comparative and developmental study. These were donated in three linked donations in 1980, 1982 and 2002. These instruments are housed in a permanent gallery, called the 'Sharan Rani Backliwal Gallery of Musical Instruments', in the National Museum, New Delhi, inaugurated and dedicated to the nation in 1980 by the then Prime Minister,Indira Gandhi, who called it a 'collection of rare musical instruments of national importance.'[citation needed]
The collection includes instruments that represent various gharanas and regions spanning from the 15th to the 19th century. These are as follows:[10]
In 1960, she married Sultan Singh Backliwal who belonged to a prominent Digamber Jain business family of Delhi. In 1974, they had a daughter, Radhika Narain.[3] After battling cancer for a few years, she died on 8 April 2008, a day before her 79th birthday.
In 2004, the government of India honoured select artists by conferring upon them the title of 'National Artiste'. Sharan Rani was the only woman instrumentalist to receive this title.
Other awards and honours she received include:
Sharan Rani : The Legendary Queen of Sarod (Music today) (2008)[14]
The Great Sarod Virtuoso (1967)
Musique Classique Indienne (1967)[15]
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