Meet Gauhar Jaan India's first recording superstar to bring Indian classical music to the pinnacle

 

The path of life is not so easy, the identity is made of the one who believes in facing the struggles firmly. Time passes, and some leave their mark with this time, while some remain in their own turmoil.

There is a complete history of exploitation on caste, religion, high-low, and women society for centuries, but there are many voices raised against exploitation, due to which many changes have taken place in society and many are yet to come.

Gauhar Jaan's story of women's exploitation, fraud struggle, and making India proud. Gauhar Jaan was one of those great personalities of India, who not only took Indian music to new heights but also made the country proud all over the world.

She was the first singer to get her songs recorded and that is why she is known as India's first recording superstar.

Vikram Sampath put the story of Gauhar Jaan in front of everyone through the book 'My name is Gauhar Jaan' after years of research.

Gauhar Jaan was born on 26 June 1873 in the Azamgarh district of Uttar Pradesh. She was born into a Christian family. Earlier her name was Angelina Yeoward. Gauhar's grandfather was British while her grandmother was Hindu. Her father's name was William Yeoward, he was an engineer and her mother's name was Victoria, she was a trained dancer and singer.

But her parents' marriage did not last and they got divorced in 1879, when Angelina was only 6 years old, after which she moved to Banaras. After this, her mother married a man named Malak Jaan living in Calcutta, and converted to Islam. After which her mother changed her name to Malka Jaan and her daughter Angelina to Gauhar Jaan.

At that time Malka Jaan had become an established singer and dancer. People knew her by the name of 'Badi Malka Jaan'. In 1883, Malka Jan was appointed to the court of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah in Calcutta. Then within three years she bought her own house at 24 Chitpore Road, Calcutta. This is where Gauhar Jaan's training started.

Gauhar Jaan learned Hindustani singing from Kale Khan aka 'Kalu Ustad' of Patiala, Ustad Wazir Khan of Rampur, and Ustad Ali Baksh Jarnail, the founder of the Patiala Gharana. Apart from this, she learned Kathak from the great Kathak Guru Brinddin Maharaj, Dhrupad from Srijan Bai, and Bengali Kirtan from Charan Das. Soon she started writing ghazals under the pen name 'Humdum'. Not only this, but she had also mastered Rabindra Sangeet.

Gauhar was raped at the age of 13. Recovering from this shock, Gauhar managed to establish her coin in the world of music.

Gauhar Jaan showed her talent in the royal court of Darbhanga Raj in 1887 and was appointed as a musician. After this, she started giving performances in Calcutta in 1896. In December 1911, she was invited to attend a function organized in honor of King George V at the Delhi Durbar, where she sang along with Janki Bai of Allahabad.

Her clout was such that it was a matter of prestige to invite her to princely states and music gatherings. Whenever a Nawab would send an invitation to Gauhar Jaan to organize a party at her place, she used to send a whole convoy to bring her because she used to travel with great fanfare.

Gauhar Jaan was the most expensive singer in the 19th century. It is said that only after taking one hundred and one guineas of gold, she used to go to any gathering and used to sing there. Gauhar was a very rich woman in the initial days. Her clothes and jewelry used to beat even the queens of that time.

Between 1902 and 1920, The Gramophone Company of India recorded 600 songs of Gauhar Jaan's Hindustani, Bengali, Gujarati, Marathi, Tamil, Arabic, Persian, Pashto, English, and French songs. She was the first singer in South Asia whose songs were recorded by the Gramophone Company and she was paid around Rs 3000 for singing. Gauhar Jaan had become very famous because of her talent and used to live very lavishly. Gauahar used to wear new clothes and jewelry for each of her recordings. She became a millionaire in the early days of her singing and recording industry.

Gauhar Jaan spread Hindustani classical music far and wide through Thumri, Dadra, Kajri, Chaiti, Bhajan, and Tarana in 20 languages.

In adulthood, Gauhar married a Pathan half her age, but it did not last. The matter reached the court in which Gauhar had to sell her property. After some time Gauhar Jan went to Mysore at the invitation of Krishna Raja Wadiyar IV, the Maharaja of Mysore. However, after 18 months, on 17 January 1930, he died in Mysore.

Gauhar Jaan was the first singer from South Asia whose songs were recorded by the Gramophone Company. It was because of her songs that the gramophone gained popularity in India.