The Scattered Court: Hindustani Music in Colonial Bengal

The book explores the impact of colonialism on northern Indian music, focusing on the two courts of Wajid Ali Shah in Lucknow and Matiyaburj. It demonstrates the movement of musicians and dancers between the two courts, as well as the transregional circulation of intellectual traditions and musical genres. The exile period in Calcutta was crucial for the rise of Hindustani classical music, as artists and their patrons navigated political ruptures and social transformations. The book argues that colonialism has led to a neglect of the aesthetic subtleties, historical continuities, and emotional dimensions of nineteenth-century music.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 272 pages
Publication date: 25 April 2023
Publisher: The University of Chicago Press

How far did colonialism transform north Indian music? In the period between the Mughal empire and the British Raj, how did the political landscape bleed into aesthetics, music, dance, and poetry? Examining musical culture through a diverse and multilingual archive, primarily using sources in Urdu, Bengali, and Hindi that have not been translated or critically examined before, The Scattered Court challenges our assumptions about the period. Richard David Williams presents a long history of interactions between northern India and Bengal, with a core focus on the two courts of Wajid Ali Shah (1822–1887), the last ruler of the kingdom of Awadh. He charts the movement of musicians and dancers between the two courts in Lucknow and Matiyaburj, as well as the transregional circulation of intellectual traditions and musical genres, and demonstrates the importance of the exile period for the rise of Calcutta as a celebrated center of Hindustani classical music. Since Lucknow is associated with late Mughal or Nawabi society and Calcutta with colonial modernity, examining the relationship between the two cities sheds light on forms of continuity and transition over the nineteenth century, as artists and their patrons navigated political ruptures and social transformations.

The Scattered Court challenges the existing historiography of Hindustani music and Indian culture under colonialism by arguing that our focus on Anglophone sources and modernizing impulses has directed us away from the aesthetic subtleties, historical continuities, and emotional dimensions of nineteenth-century music. By examining musical culture through a diverse and multilingual archive, primarily using sources in Urdu, Bengali, and Hindi that have not been translated or critically examined before, The Scattered Court offers a new perspective on the period that challenges our assumptions about the relationship between music, politics, and cultural identity in nineteenth-century India.

Weight: 406g
Dimension: 150 x 230 x 22 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780226825458