On 14th April 1526, after having defeated Ibrahim Lodi in battle, Babur, an Uzbek commander and a descendant of Timur and Genghis Khan, established his rule over the Delhi Sultanate. Babur and his descendants would go on to rule vast parts of the subcontinent for almost three and a half centuries. During this time, there would be a great amount of interaction between South Asia, Persia, Central Asia, and other cultures, making Mughal India a melting pot of different cultures and traditions.

Perhaps the most revered and deified Hindustani singer of all time, Tansen was born as Ramtanu Sen in Gwalior sometime between the end of the 15th century and the beginning of the 16th century. The son of a priest, Tansen is said to have shown singing prowess first at the age of six, following which his parents sent him to Vrindavan to train under Swami Haridas, a bhakti poet and an immensely skilled musician who according to some traditions was a direct descendant of Purandara Das who is often hailed as the father of Carnatic Music. Under the tutelage of Swami Haridas, Tansen perfected his style of dhrupad – an ancient style of singing ragas. Inspired by Haridas’ Bhakti leanings, Tansen also developed an interest in Brajbhasha, the local language around Vrindavan, and began using it more and more in his compositions rather than using Sanskrit. Tansen’s apprenticeship with Haridas ended when he received the news of his father’s death, following which he returned to Gwalior and began singing at a local Shiva Temple there.

The 15th and 16th centuries were a time when both the Bhakti and Sufi movements were gaining immense ground in the subcontinent. People were rejecting elaborate, orthodox, and often discriminatory religious practices and rituals for simplistic and egalitarian movements that spoke about establishing a direct link with the almighty. Tansen is said to have interacted with and been influenced by both movements while developing his skill as a musician. While Haridas greatly influenced his Bhakti ideas, a Sufi saint named Muhammad Ghaus is said to have played a big role in shaping Tansen’s Sufi thought and philosophy. When Tansen died, he was buried in Ghaus’ tomb complex, alongside the latter.

Tansen developed much of his craft in Gwalior and then began his life as a court musician for Raja Ramachandra Singh, the ruler of Rewa. It was here that his fame as a singer spread far and wide. Tansen’s reputation as a court musician at Rewa attracted the attention of the Mughal ruler Akbar, who wrote to Raja Ramachandra Singh to let him take Tansen to the Mughal court. Finally, after being persuaded by Raja Ramachandra Singh to showcase his talent to a bigger audience, Tansen joined Akbar’s court at the age of 60.

Tansen and his singing have acquired legendary status among practitioners of Hindustani Classical Music. Many regard him as the greatest singer to have ever lived. His skill was said to be so immense that he could change the weather with his singing if he wanted. A popular legend about the singer involves him being tricked by a jealous Mughal courtier to sing the Raga Deepak, a raga that if sung correctly could light up lamps of fire. The courtier, legend says, had hoped that Tansen would either burn his throat by singing the raga accurately, or he would lose his reputation if he sang it inaccurately to save his voice. Tansen took on the challenge, and then secretly trained one of his daughters in the Raga Meghmalhar, a raga that could bring rain when sung properly. Thus, on the day of the challenge, Tansen performed Raga Deepak just till the lamps had begun to be lit, at which point his daughter began her rendition of Meghmalhar, relieving everyone present of the immense heat, and providing Tansen with the resting space to heal his voice.

While Tansen’s status as a legendary singer is remembered, what’s often forgotten is his work as a composer. Tansen in his lifetime composed several ragas, many of which are used to date. Ragas composed by him often include the prefix “mian ki” in their name, referring to his title Mian Tansen that was conferred upon him in Akbar’s court. Ragas composed by Tansen are still part of mainstream Hindustani classical traditions today, highlighting his remarkable and timeless compositional skills.

One other significant development that occurred during the Mughal period was the emergence of the khayal as a mainstream genre of singing in Hindustani classical music. Meaning imagination in Persian, khayal is a form of singing that involves small, usually romantic or devotional lyrics set to a raga and taal that is accompanied by other elements such as alaap and tanas. It is a form that heavily centres around the performer’s improvisation skills, with them having free rein to sing whatever they want as long as they stay within the confines of the raga and adhere to the tempo and first beat of the tala. The invention of the khayal is often attributed to Amir Khusro, but historical texts and evidence do not support this attribution.

By the 15th and 16th centuries, some form of khayal singing had started gaining prominence in some pockets of the subcontinent, but it didn’t enjoy royal patronage at that time and thus didn’t receive mainstream popularity as a genre. It was only in the 18th century, during the rule of Mughal king Muhammad Shah, that khayal became a mainstream genre of court classical music. Shah’s court had provided patronage to composer and musician Naimat Khan, and his nephew Feroze Khan. They often composed and wrote music together, under the pen-names of Sadarang-Adarang. Sadarang-Adarang were key in developing khayal in the form it is performed today, and most of their compositions remain popular among khayal singers even today, with their lyrics frequently making mention of not just the musician duo but also of Shah.

The 18th century bore witness to one more major development in the story of Hindustani Classical Music. This was the period when the tabla developed and gradually became a mainstream accompaniment instrument. The word tabla is derived from the Arabic word for drums, tabla, and some legends attribute its creation to Khusro. The legend goes that Khusro created the tabla by cutting an awaj, a two-sided hourglass-shaped drum into two, and making individual drums out of those. However, there is little historical backing or evidence of this story, and the tabla started making regular appearances only from the 18th century onwards. Murky details of its origin notwithstanding, the tabla became the primary rhythm instrument for performing Hindustani music – not only classical music but also lighter genres such as Thumri, Bhajan, and Dadra – during this period, and this remains the case even today.