Khayal Sangeet

The highly evolved complex Khayal Sangeet is one of the most romantic, loosely structured and improvised forms of music till date. The gradual evolution of texts from Sanskrit to the dialects of Hindi like Brij, Avadhi, and Bhojpuri were initiated in the 16th cent by Raja Mansingh Tomar of Gwalior in the era of Akbar. Emperor Akbar's court musician Tansen, the brightest star in the firmament of Hindustani Music, sang these Drupad Dhamar texts. In 1743, in the court of Mohammad Shah Rangile, composers Sadarang and Adarang were credited with the innovative style of Khayal singing.

'Khayal', the romantic, grandiose classical form gradually evolved from Drupad Dhamar and is sung in texts composed in the languages Brij, Avadhi and other Hindi dialects. This sophisticated form has various styles or schools such as those established in Gwalior , Delhi , Agra , Jaipur etc.Khayal as the name suggests originated from the Persian word which means imagination, thus becoming a sublime yet colourful form of music. Persian and Arabic influences creeped in during the patronage of the Khilji and Tuglak regimes, during Emporer Akbar's rule in the Mughal era and much later during the period of Wajid Ali Shah during British governance.