Intimacy is spoken through the language of the heart. In the company of those distant from the heart, One suffers the pain of a captive.

~ Rumi

The synthesis of two great cultures, India and Persia, took place thousands of years ago. Their common roots – the Indo-Persian language, the oldest Persian religion – Mithraism and their related myths, plus many aspects of their social and spiritual lives – have inextricably bound these two cultures together.

At the turn of 13th century a number of Sufi scholars, among them the Persian poet, historian and musician, Amir Khusrau, had a profound influence on classical music of North India. From Amir Khusaru’s time until well into the Mughal period foreign music, particularly Persian, was commonly heard at the Indian courts. Khusrau was a great innovator and is popularly credited with the introduction of a number of Persian elements into Indian music, including vocal forms (qawwali and tarana), ragas and talas, and musical instruments such as the sitar and tabla.

The most important advances in Indian music were made between the 14th and 18th centuries. During this period, Hindustani music came into contact with Persian music and assimilated it through the Pathan and Mongol invasions. At the same time, Persian music experienced a great transformation from the Maqam to the Dastgah system. Although there exist common features of Hindustani Raga and Persian Dastgah, the two can be clearly delineated from one another. In this respect, the Dastgah and the Raga must be considered as two different systems, which have been formed by the social and cultural aspects of their people. These two independent musical fields represent the Indic tradition with their Raga system, and the Near and Middle Eastern world with their Maqam and Dastgah systems.

A Dastgah is a collection of melodic forms (Gushehs), which create the repertory of Iranian classical music or Radif. The Radif is organized into 12 modes, 7 primary and 5 secondary, which are named after the principal and primary melodic phrase called Darmand. The intervallic structure within a Dastgah, and sometimes even within a Gusheh, is varied. The Dastgah and its constituent Gushehs provide a framework for creative improvisation and composition. The Radif includes more than four hundred Gushehs. The number of Gushehs in a Dastgah varies between fifteen and forty or more. Traditionally a performer may choose some six to ten Gushehs in one performance. In comparison to Hindustani music, where modulation doesn’t occur, changing modes is feasible within the boundary of a Dastgah.

The Raga forms the backbone of Indian classic music. A Raga is a melodic structure with a basic scale of seven notes with five basic accidentals and up to twenty-two microtonal forms. Every Raga must have at least five notes and can have up to twelve. Ragas using the same basic scale may be differentiated by different vadi (dominant note) or samvadi (sub dominant note), which are emphasized in the development of the Raga. Melodic ornamentation is complex and essential, and also employs microtonal fluctuations on selected pitches. Hundreds of Raga exist today, sometimes in different forms and different traditions (gharanas).

Both Indian and Persian classical music is characterized by its microtonal and monophonic structure and by its dependence on improvisation. In each of these traditions, a master musician uses a primary melodic form as a base for improvising. There are many factors involved in a musicians’ understanding of and approach to music. Each musician’s schooling (the Indian gharana and Iranian maktab), personal style, technical ability and vision have great impact on their approach to developing their musical ideas. This makes every performance, even of the same Raga or Dastgah, exciting, fresh and unpredictable every time it is performed.

From the liner notes of Ghazal – Lost Songs of The Silk Road, Indian and Persian Improvisations, featuring Kayhan Kalhor on Kamancheh (Iranian spike fiddle), Sujaat Hussian Khan on Sitar (Indian long necked fretted lute), Swapan Chaudhuri on Tabla (Indian hand drums).