The grave of Ustad Mir Baksh ‘Tanras’ Khan, the court musician of the last Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar II and a stalwart of Hindustani Classical Music, lies in a dilapidated state, away from the public eye in the Nampally area of Hyderabad. Known for his swift and effervescent ‘taans’, this luminary of the Delhi gharana had left the capital city for Gwalior following the Sepoy mutiny and exile of the emperor before finally settling in the Nizam’s court in Hyderabad. However, today the final resting place of this maestro near Khamosh Shah Dargah in Nampally area lies in complete neglect and inaccessible to the common man and musicians. Music connoisseurs and musicians have urged Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy to restore the grave and hold an annual music festival in his name to commemorate his legacy.

Ustad Mir Qutub Baksh ‘Tanras’ Khan was a khayal singer of the nineteenth century. The last Mughal Emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar II ,who himself was a poet and a devout Sufi, had awarded him with the title of ‘Tanras.’ He was not only the chief musician of the royal court but also the music teacher of the emperor. He excelled in both Qawwali and Hindustani Classical music and was considered to be one of the icons of the famous Qawwal Bacchon ka Gharana founded by none other than Amir Khusrau. He composed many khayals, bandishes and taranas, still sung by the musicians of the Indian subcontinent. “Ab mori naiyya paar karo” in raag Todi is a popular and noted composition of Tanras.

Advertisement

Hyderabad is also the final resting place of another musical giant Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan of Patiala gharana. Incidentally, the founder of Patiala gharana Mian Kallu received his musical training from Mir Qutub Baksh ‘Tanras’ Khan. However, people are not even aware of his tomb near Khamosh Shah Dargah in Nampally. Musician and founder of Parichay Arts Foundation Jaywant Naidu went looking for the tomb of the great maestro during the pandemic and could locate it only after a long search. A simple marble plaque marked his grave, apparently put up by Qawwals Najmuddin and Saifuddin, the sons of Qawwal Bahauddin Khan from Pakistan and descendants of Tanras Khan during a visit to Hyderabad. A branch of his descendants went away to Pakistan and continued his musical legacy while the rest chose to stay back.

I(n view of this, Naidu has sought Chief Minister’s to restore it to its former glory. “This is an appeal to the Chief Minister of Telangana, Sri Revanth Reddy, for bringing back lost glory of this tall personality in Classical music by providing a proper resting place and access to the ‘Tomb’ to the common public.” A festival of Classical and Sufi music in commemoration of Ustad Mir Qutub Baksh Tanras Khan should be annually organized on a grand scale to bring out his contribution in the field of art and culture, he added .