INDIAN classical music took a new turn in the thirteenth century when Amir Khusro, a courtier of Delhi, gave shape to a number of instruments, and created new styles of singing that were to become the means of the exposition of Indian classical music. Among the instruments that owe their existence to the Amir, the tabla and sitar can be mentioned. The Amir is also credited with the creation of seventeen talas (patterns of rhythm) including such prevalent talas as teen tal, Jhoomra and Ara Chautala, and a number of raags including Yaman Kalyan, Sazgiri and Sarparda. The Amir gave shape to the Qawwali Khyal, which later assumed the name of Chhota Khyal, and to the Tarana style of singing. I shall endeavor to give an account of the Tarana as a style of singing.
It is generally believed that Tarana is a composition of meaningless syllables followed sometimes by the bols (words coined to denote the various sounds of instruments) of the tabla and sometimes by Persian poetry. This view is not true. As a matter of fact at the time of the Amir, the texts of the songs used to be in the languages of South India, which were not easily understood by the people of the North. The court language was Persian, which was evidently the language of the contemporary intelligentsia. The Amir naturally thought of composing the texts of songs in the language understood by the intelligentsia. Thus the Tarana was born. The various words used are Dartanaa, Dar Tan Aa, Yala an abbreviation for Ya Allah. Yali for Ya Ali, Dar Aa etc., which when translated would mean:
Tanan Dar Aa : Enter my body.
O Dani : He knows
Tu Dani : You know.
Na Dir Dani : You are the Complete Wisdom.
Tom : I am yours, I belong to you.
My composition of these words follows a Persian couplet in the Taranas of Amir Khusro. Special care is taken in the selection of these couplets. The poetry is always representative of the mystic school of poets. According to the mystic symbolism, the beloved is the almighty and the devotee is his lover. Thus the poetry of Tarana while maintaining a romantic flavour is strictly spiritual in substance. The Amir, himself a devotee of Khwaja Hazrat Nizam-ud-din Aulia, knew that music in India cannot be divorced from its spiritual import. Music is representative of the aspiration of a people and the music of a people whose values are spiritual must be used as a means to communicate with Divine Spirit, and not merely to please the masses. An Antara, and a complete Tarana, may perhaps be given as an illustration of the use of these symbols:
It means:
and other Tarana:
which means:
Another feature of Tarana as sung by many in India is the repetition of certain words at a great speed. The justification for this type is also not to be sought., It is not merely an exhibition of speed or virtuosity at pronouncing words, but the idea is that while in prayer a person goes into a trance, and that in that state of mind he just continuos to repeat one word or one set of words.
I have attempted to show that Tarana as a form of singing is meaningful aesthetically as well as linguistically.
(Abstracted from MUSIC EAST & WEST, Indian Council for Cultural Relations, Bhatkal Books Int'l, Bombay 1966)