Sastriya Sangita and Music Culture of Bengal Through the Ages (Set of 2 Volumes)

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Bengal is a land of music-a culture that has thrived from ancient times, manifesting itself in various styles.
This book is a detailed study of the development of Sastriya Sangita in Bengal from the distant ages to the present day, covering Pracina, Madhya and Adhunika Yugas, together with their historic backgrounds. It also deals with various trends of music that came into Bengal through her business ties with other lands, and occupation by different races who settled down there bringing with them their distinctive styles of music influenced by their religious and social practices.
The book brings to light the ancient styles, such as-Nathagiti, Caryagiti, etc.; medieval styles, such as-Mangalagiti, Pacāli, Krishna-Kirtana, Kirtana, etc.; and more recent styles, such as-Kavigána, Akhadai, Half-akhdai, Brahma-Sangita, Rabindra-Sangita, Kavya-Sangita, Räga-pradhana, along with Dhrupada, Khayal, Tappa, Thumri, etc. and instrumental music. These styles have been enumerated with notated examples wherever possible.
Included in this book are biographical sketches of important musicians and also various gharanãs with their maestros who influenced the music of Bengal. A special chapter on 'Evolution of Notation System' has been added. The concluding chapter which includes a list of books and treatises, gives an idea about the amount of study and research that were carried out on music in Bengal through the ages.

Gifted with inborn musical talent, Smt. Chhaya Chatterjee had her initial training in Patna, where she had music as a special subject in her Matriculation Examination. At the age of sixteen, she became a radio artist and later, passed Sangita Prabhākara from Delhi with distinction. She was engaged in research work in music for nearly ten years in Sangit Mahabharati at Bombay. She was awarded Senior Fellowship by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (Department of Culture), for undertaking a study in music, and she submitted her thesis in 1992. Publishing of this book is an outcome of her continued study of various aspects of classical music, with special reference to Bengal.

I am happy to write the preface of a shortly to be published script Basically, there are Two advantages One being able to give vent to one's feelings for a new theme, secondly, knowing the author, the prospect of a fairer deal.
In this particular case, the Authoress, Smt. Chhaya Chatterjice has dealt with at subject, which has not yet had an analytical bold exposure. There are few books on the subject: "Shastriya Sangita and Musical Culture of Bengal through the Ages Of those. which are available, not only are these have not been minutely covered but the different approaches have not been dealt with either. This aspect alone makes a lot of difference and makes the book valuable.
This volume, should be a treasure for Post Graduate students. She has not only covered history, music culture, musical style, biographies and other published literature, in detail, but historically, too, these have been well projected and that alone makes it quite an achievement.
Thanks to Dr. Bimal Ray, not only hers, but mentor of many, which includes the writer, I do not have to present here the Chapters in minute detail. Being privileged to read the thesis, I was happy to come across the minutest of details, which have eluded the previous researchers Not only has she discovered these details but each detail has been presented with background history, One of the most important Chapters, in my view, is that of the Notation System: its history and evolution. It is wellknown that, but for the Notation System, much of our music that is available today, would have been completely lost. The importance of it can never be under-estimated. Indebted to Bhatkhande, as we are, for the Notation System, that he has evolved, yet it leaves much room for improvement. Notation, therefore, is of immense importance.
The Conclusion is well drawn out. The footnotes, alone, are a proof of the researcher's indepth study of the whole subject. Of late, I find magazines, seminars, Doordarshan and Akashvani are giving a lot of importance to the "Musical Culture of Bengal, through the ages". For them, particularly the thesis, when published will be of help of great magnitude. Further, the language is lucid and intelligible which is a point not to be neglected.

The belief stands that Bengal is the land of a mixed race composed of a number of primitive ethnic groups such as Australoid, Negreto, etc. uning a dialect not comprehensible to Aryans who met them in later Vedic age. The belief is deep-rooted, because it has been implanted by Western masters and faithfully nurtured by their Indian counterparts.
It is high time to lay aside the hypothetical and conjectural belief and start our research to ascertain facts from information available in Vedas, Smrtis, Pauránikas and Tantrika texts. The Vadas describe two types of inhabitants: (1) Vedic and (2) Disas and Darya The Vedic inhabitants are found divided into Devas and Manujas-the latter including Ris, Rijarns, Madhyadeiryas and Aryas.
From Manu-amiti we further come to know that the land inhabited by the Vedic people was divided into four different regions, eg. (1) Brahmävarta, lying between Sarasvati and Drádvati rivers-the area for the Ric, (2) Brahmarsideia including Kuruksetra, Matsya, Pancala and Surasena, lying adjacent to Brahmavarta-the area for the Rajanis and wise teachers of impeccable character, (3) Madhyadeia, lying between Himavat in the north, Vindhya in the south, Sarasvati in the west, and Prayaga in the east-the area for the elite who controlled the socio economic condition, ant and literature, and lastly (4) Aryavarta, lying between Prayagaand the sea eastwards the area for the well bred gentlemen class and the commoners who used to follow Vedic rites as a matter of routine.
Beyond the above mentioned land area and around, lay the regions known collectively as the land of the Allecchas the distinct group of various tribes (Manu 2/ 17-27) Later recension of Manu samhitämentions the Mlecchas as Samkimajatisi.e low caste Aryans They were Nişadas or Parşavas, Mágadhas, Candalas, Pukkasas, etc. Manusmytialso mentions people such as Margava or Dasa (Boat man), Bahya or Dasyus who were users of Mleccha and Aryan dialects and were opposed to Vedic rites. Some of them were of war-like nature That Mlecchasinhabited the borderland of Vedic area is corroborated by the information contained about these clans in Adi, Sabha, Drona, Kama and Salya Parvar of the Mahabharata. Some of these tribes were highly cultured, while some belonged to the lowest level of culture. The Westerly were extraordinarily advanced in various fields like arts and crafts, architecture, maritime trade, commerce, metallurgy and others. They were known to Sumerians as Malukkha which stands for Mleccha. Thus Harappa, Mohenjodaro and Lothal inhabitants were actually Mlecchas who were engaged in trade transactions with the Sumerians. Sumerian legend says that Sumerians originally migrated from the mountainous region of an castern country-their original abode-to Sumeria. The authenticity is corroborated by a statement in the Yaginitantra saying that in old days, there was a region situated at the foot of the Himalayas named the land of Saumäras just to the cast of Karatoä river of the northernmost part of Bengal Amarakaya defines Mlecchas as a general nomenclature for Payantadeiyo-meaning inhabitants of Surrounding areas of Vedic Land.