History of Indian Dance and the Kathak Gharanas
What this domain tests
History items reward precise identification: which text, which author, which gharana, which exponent. Expect one-line identifications plus one short comparative answer on style or lineage.
Core rules
- Natyashastra, attributed to Bharata (roughly 200 BCE–200 CE, 36 chapters), is the foundational treatise covering rasa, karanas, angaharas and vrittis.
- Abhinaya Darpan of Nandikeshvara is the source for the 28 asamyuta and 24 samyuta hastas used in the practical paper.
- Kathak grew from the kathakars, storytellers who narrated and illustrated episodes; the line katha kahe so kathak is regularly quoted. Radha–Krishna bhakti and Mughal court patronage shaped the form.
- Gharanas are stylistic lineages, not different tala systems. Lucknow (Ishwari Prasad, Bindadin Maharaj, the Kalka–Bindadin line, Achchan, Lacchu and Shambhu Maharaj, Birju Maharaj) stresses thaat, gat-bhav and bhava; Jaipur (Bhanuji's line, Harihar Prasad, Narayan Prasad) stresses pure nritta, forceful tatkar and upaj; Banaras (Janki Prasad, Gopi Krishna, Sitara Devi) is known for brisk, robust footwork; Raigarh (Raja Chakradhar Singh) for ashtapadi-based bhava compositions.
- The Sangeet Natak Akademi recognises eight classical forms: Bharatanatyam, Kathak, Kuchipudi, Odissi, Kathakali, Mohiniyattam, Manipuri and Sattriya.
Worked example
'Why are Lucknow and Jaipur treated as different gharanas when both dance teental?' Reasoning: the difference lies in emphasis, bols and body idiom - thaat, amad, gat-bhav and abhinaya in Lucknow; tode, paran and driving tatkar in Jaipur. Both share the same tala framework, so tala cannot be the distinguishing marker.
Traps
Naming Nandikeshvara as author of the Natyashastra; calling Kathak a folk form; placing Birju Maharaj in the Jaipur gharana; assuming gharanas use separate tala systems; inventing gurus for a gharana you half-remember.