Which Nawab of Awadh, writing under the pen name Akhtarpiya, composed thumris and devised the Rahas dance drama?
- A.Asaf-ud-Daula
- B.Shuja-ud-Daula
- C.Wajid Ali Shah
- D.Saadat Ali Khan
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is C, Wajid Ali Shah. The last Nawab of Awadh was a trained dancer and a prolific writer who composed thumris under the pen name Akhtarpiya, among them the celebrated Babul mora naihar chhuto hi jaye, and who devised the Rahas, a court dance drama on the Krishna theme that drew on Raslila. His patronage made Lucknow the seat of a Kathak gharana and of the thumri style that bears the city's name.
Option A, Asaf-ud-Daula, is remembered for shifting the capital to Lucknow and for building the Bara Imambara during the famine, a work of relief rather than of music. Option B, Shuja-ud-Daula, is remembered for the battle of Buxar in 1764. Option D, Saadat Ali Khan, was the Nawab placed on the throne by the British after Asaf-ud-Daula. All four are Nawabs of Awadh, but only Wajid Ali Shah belongs to the history of Kathak and thumri.
Read the full article: Folk Music, Dance and Theatre of Uttar Pradesh: Kathak to Nautanki
Practice Questions
View allWhich gharana of Kathak developed in the court of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah of Awadh?
- A.Jaipur gharana
- B.Lucknow gharana
- C.Banaras gharana
- D.Raigarh gharana
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The Lucknow gharana of Kathak took shape in the court of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah of Awadh, who was himself a dancer and a composer of thumris under the pen name Akhtarpiya.
Read the full explanation →Which instrument dominates a Nautanki performance?
- A.Tabla
- B.Nagada or nakkara
- C.Sarangi
- D.Pakhawaj
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Nautanki is played on an open platform to an audience of hundreds, often through the whole night, so it needs an instrument that carries.
Read the full explanation →The Charkula dance belongs to which region of Uttar Pradesh?
- A.Bundelkhand
- B.Braj
- C.Purvanchal
- D.Rohilkhand
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Charkula is danced in the Braj country around Mathura, where a woman balances a tiered wooden pyramid hung with rows of lighted earthen lamps, traditionally counted as one hundred and eight, on her head and moves to Rasiya songs of Krishna.
Read the full explanation →Ramlila, the traditional performance of the Ramayana, was placed by UNESCO on which list?
- A.World Heritage List
- B.Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity
- C.Memory of the World Register
- D.List of Creative Cities
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Ramlila is a living performance tradition rather than a building or a document, so it was inscribed in 2008 on the list that UNESCO maintains for intangible heritage, the same list that carries Kutiyattam, Vedic chanting and Ramman from India.
Read the full explanation →Which pair of towns are the two main centres and styles of Nautanki?
- A.Hathras and Kanpur
- B.Mathura and Agra
- C.Varanasi and Jaunpur
- D.Lucknow and Faizabad
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Nautanki grew into two recognised styles, the Hathras style in which the sung music and the verse metres dominate and the audience comes for the singing, and the Kanpur style in which dialogue, acting and stagecraft carry more of the play.
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