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The Earliest Bengali Songs
By kausik | November 8, 2008
The Earliest Bengali Songs
Harmonium - essential component of Bengali Music
The history of Bengali music is started almost 1000 years ago with the “Charjapad”. The Charjapad is the earliest specimen ever found in Bengali literature. Though, the history of Bengal goes back to 1000 years before the birth of Christ, the nation has obtained its distinctive identity only in 8th century A.D. , that is when the Pal Dynasty came to the throne. It was in this period when the earliest Bengali, rather a proto-Bengali vernacular, evolved from Apabhransha- Abahatta. But there was still a gestation period of almost three centuries, till it gifted us with its earliest literary evidence, the “Charjapad”.
It might fell a little bit skeptical to find that we tried to explore the history of Bengali songs, but have been discussing the earliest evidence of Bengali literature. Evidence shows that the Charjapad, also called the Charjageeti, consists of poetries and were sung in different ragas and in various taals, and hardly ever recited. So in the context of Bengali music, verses from the Charjageeti were the earliest Bengali songs ever been sung. In the history of almost all languages, verses have been created long before prose, evidently for its own survival in the ancient and medieval times when means for writing and publication were scarce. Bengali is not an exception. The Charjapad written between 8th century AD and 10th century AD, the Vaisnav Padavali written between 13th century AD and 17th AD, even Sanskrit slokas were all verses that were sung either in solo or is chorus, till the 18th century.
Since, the Charjapad is the earliest evidence of Bengali literature, let us explore a little bit more about it. Mahamahopodhyay Haraprasad Shastri bought an old manuscript from the Nepal Durbar Library in 1907 which he later compiled and published as “Hajar Bochhorer Purano Banglabhashay Boudhho Gaan O Dohaa”. The contents were categorized in two parts:
- The Charjaacharhobinischoy
- The Dohaa.
The previous contained religious instructions and the later contained ‘doha’s. The manuscript found by Shree Shastri contained 46 complete and one incomplete verses. Later Dr. Probodh Chandra Bagchi found a Tibetian translation of the same manuscript in Nepal which contained 51 verses. A Sanskrit commentary was also found in Nepal. These two added a great deal of authenticity to the manuscript found by Haraprasad Shastri. In 1926, Dr. Suniti Kumar Chatterjee proved that the language of the Charjapad is Bengali and there should be no doubt about it.
The Charjapad mainly relate to the Mahayana cult of Buddhism and Tantric practices, though it can be inferred that composers of the verses had a subtle poetic sense. In the 21st century, even when the Tantrism in the Charjapad does not have much appeal left to a lot of the modern readers, the verses rich in their poetic values are still bound to impress anyone with a poetic insight.
The Charjaapad had not been written by any single poet, but by many composers, who were Buddhist Siddhachaarjas or religious leaders, well educated both in Hinduism and Buddhism. It is worth mentioning that these composers were primarily religious leaders belonging mainly to the Sahajiya Cult, and secondarily poets. The language they used has been termed the “twilight” language, as they used allegories to protect their religious practices from other religious institutions. Hence the verses often had more than one meaning, and the language is “partly lighted, partly dark”. An obvious meaning referred to the poetic usage of the language, but it was often accompanied by a deeper religious meaning. The Charjapad stood against the orthodoxy of Hinduism, protesting against Castism, power of the Brahamanas and the social hierarchy. The Siddhaachaarajas involved the complex practice of sex and religion, which is contrary to the traditional Hinduism. The Charjapad no doubt had left an influence in the Bengali literature of the later period, specially in the Vaishnav Padaavalis.
The composers of the Charjaapad are namely
- Kaanhapaada or Krishnaacharja (composed 13 songs),
- Bhusukupaada (composed 8 songs),
- Sarahapaada (composed 4 songs),
- Kukkuripaada (composed 3 songs),
- Luipaada (composed 2 songs),
- Santipaada (composed 2 songs),
- Sabarapaada (composed 2 songs),
- Aarjadeva (composed 1 song),
- Kankanapaada (composed 1 song),
- Kambalambara (composed 1 song),
- Guddaripaada (composed 1 song),
- Catilapaada (composed 1 song),
- Jayanandi (composed 1 song),
- Dombipaada (composed 1 song),
- Dhendhanapaada (composed 1 song),
- Tantripaada (composed 1 song),
- Taarakapaada (composed 1 song),
- Daarikapaada (composed 1 song),
- Dhaamapaada (composed 1 song),
- Gunjaripaada (composed 1 song),
- Viruvapada (composed 1 song),
- Vinaapaada (composed 1 song),
- Vadrapaada (composed 1 song),and
- Mahidharaapaada (composed 1 song).
The composers mentioned the raaga at the beginning of each song in which it has to be sung. The total number of the raagas mentioned in the Charjaapad are 16, including Malhaar, Maalasi, Patamanjari, Dhaanashi, Baangali, Gabra, and Kamod. Among these raagas, some have been identified or known, while the others are lost in the realms of time. The origin of these raagas has not yet been traced, though some of them have been related to the Hindustani Classical Music. The raaga Patamanjari have been used in 12 songs. The raaga Gabura have been used in some songs, though the raaga Gabura has no reference in the Indian Classical music. The raaga Dhaanashi sounds like raaga Dhaaneshri. But researchers say, that the styles with which these songs were sung resembles the styles of Kirtan and Baul songs of the later period.
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- Sachin Dev Barman – Modern Bengali Songs
- Ramkumar Chattopadhyay-Bengali Tappa
- V. Balsara – Shades of Tagore Songs
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Topics: Bengali Music | 1 Comment »
May 30th, 2009 at 2:50 pm
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