Khyal Theatre of Rajasthan
The same group of Braj Bhasha dramas also contain the word khyal referring to drama. The word khyal is polysemous within the context of the performance arts of North India. At least three discrete fields are now designated by the term: the classical Hindustani vocal genre, in vogue since the seventeenth century;[20] the folk theatre of Rajasthan and its texts, written in Marwari and other dialects; and the Hindustani folk poetry composed extempore and sung in the genre lavani . At an earlier time, these fields perhaps overlapped: the khyal poetic style possibly became associated with a type of singing that in turn influenced the classical musical form (or vice versa); the folk theatres may have adopted khyal poetry, or the poetry may have come to be dramatically performed. The issue is complicated by the several etymologies available for the word. Derived from Arabic Khayal
Leaving aside the Khyal form of classical music, let us look further at the Khyal theatre and khyal folk poetry. Somnath Chaturvedi in Madhava vinoda was perhaps the first to use the term khyal in reference to his play.[22] Another early use of the term is in Dhonkal Mishra's Prabodha chandrodaya , dated 1799.[23] The term khyal thus appears to have been in circulation in the eighteenth century among poet-playwrights writing in Braj Bhasha. This usage connects these plays to a larger group of dramatic texts called khyal , performed by folk troupes in Rajasthan and elsewhere in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
The earliest description of this Khyal folk theatre was published by John Robson in 1866.
In the principal cities and towns of that country, during the weeks following the Holi crowds assemble night after night around elevated spots of ground or chabutras , which supply a ready-made stage, and on which rude attempts at scenery are erected, and the players continue acting and singing accompanied by an orchestra of tom toms, on till late at night, or early in the morning, and for weeks and months afterwards, the favourite refrains and passages may be heard sung in the streets and markets.[24]
Robson reproduces five short plays in the Devanagari script with information on their history and performance.[25] He collected the manuscripts from actors' handwritten scripts, supplemented by transcrip-
tions from commissioned recitation. Citing the local view that the khyals are "not ... literature at all," he asserts, "Yet there can be no doubt that, for good or for evil, they do constitute a literature, the most popular in Rajputana at the present day." Further, "[these khyals ] show us an indigenous drama, in the course of formation, rude and imperfect, but original and containing all the elements of growth."[26]
Perceptively linking this drama with the martial and romantic ballads of Rajputana, Robson refers to an anecdote regarding its origin.
The brave and accomplished, but unfortunate, Ram Singh, King of Jodhpur for a short time in the middle of the last century, had a great fancy for hearing the recitals of the bards and other poets at his court. Among them was a Pokurn Brahman, called Jasu Lal, who was especially distinguished for the spirit of his compositions. One day, when reciting one of his pieces, he dressed in the character which he described and accompanied his declamation with appropriate action. This pleased the prince greatly, and he desired that it should be repeated. On the next occasion Jasu appeared in one character and a companion of his in another; and between them they recited and acted a dialogue. To listen to this became a favorite amusement with Ram Singh, though not with his nobles, who often found themselves the butt of Jasu's pleasantry and of the King's laughter; and, if we may believe tradition, this had not a little to do in estranging them and causing them to transfer their allegiance to Bhakta.[27]
This passage implies that the Khyal began in Rajasthan around 1750, and another reference to "hundreds" of khyals that had been previously composed suggests a tradition with substantial development behind it by the middle of the nineteenth century.[28] According to Robson, the "ballad parentage" remains visible in the style of dialogue and singing. Most of the singing was done by one individual or by a pair who alternated stanzas.[29] This structure is congruent with the question-answer format of the Turra-Kalagi tradition prevalent at the same time.
Robson's collection contains the first record of a folk theatre based in rural Rajasthan dating to the mideighteenth century. Other authors confirm these suppositions about the age of Khyal.[30] Soon after Robson's handpenned manuscript was published in 1866, Khyal librettos started being printed by local Indian presses. Numerous Khyals in Devanagari type dating from the 1870s are contained in the British Library and India Office Library.[31] These documents illustrate the further development of the Khyal theatre. Published from Bombay, Poona, Delhi, Banaras, and especially Calcutta, the Khyal texts appear to have followed movements of theatrical personnel across western and northern India.[32] The titles, however, indicate Rajasthani origins for most of the plays, being primarily based on local romances (Dhola maru, Panna
biramde , and Sadabrachh salangya ) as well as martial (i.e., Rajput) stories (Rana ratan simh, Dungar simh ). Some titles are synonymous with nineteenth-century Svang themes: Gopichand bharatari, Benazir badr-e-munir, Puranmal , and Harishchandra .
The Khyal tradition of folk theatre continues to the present. Now a regional form distinguished by the use of Marwari and other Rajasthani dialects, particular meters, distinctive costuming, and specific story material, it possesses several subvarieties. Nanulal Rana of Chidava (1858-1900), the most prolific playwright in the British library collections, originated the Shekhawati style. His contemporaries in the same school in eastern Rajasthan included Prahlad Ray Purohit, Ujiram Teli, Jhaliram Nirmal, and Bhan Kavi. Lachhiram of Kuchaman (1867-1937) established the Kuchaman style based near Jodhpur.[33] One of the most knowledgeable researchers of Khyal reports that two hundred printed dramas have come to light, and the oldest is purported to go back three hundred or four hundred years.[34]Khyals performed in the area neighboring the Braj region share certain characteristics of Svang and Nautanki: playing of the nagara drum and meters such. as chaubola, bahr-e-tavil , and lavani .[35]
Some scholars suggest that the Agra-Bharatpur region, on the border between Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, was the original home of Khyal theatre, and that Khyal spread throughout the north in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, undergoing linguistic changes in the respective regions it entered.[36] According to this diffusionist hypothesis, as the commercial structure of the folk theatres developed and the cultural and linguistic identity of each region solidified, the separate character of the theatres evolved to the point where the Khyal of Rajasthan, the Nautanki of Uttar Pradesh, the Sang of Haryana, and the Mach of Madhya Pradesh are now considered discrete genres. This argument requires modification, however, when we incorporate the evidence of the poetic tradition, also called khyal , which came to inhabit the same territory in roughly the same period. Although the Khyal theatre based in Rajasthan set the stage for the emergence of Svang to the east, traditions from the south had been at work too, strengthening the foundations of folk expression.