The courtesan and the memsahib: Khanum Jan meets Sophia Plowden at the 18C court of Lucknow

TY - GEN

T1 - The courtesan and the memsahib

T2 - Khanum Jan meets Sophia Plowden at the 18C court of Lucknow

AU - Schofield, Katherine Ruth

PY - 2018/6/28

Y1 - 2018/6/28

N2 - Khanum Jan was a celebrity courtesan in the cantonment of Kanpur and the court of Asafuddaula of Lucknow in 1780s North India. Famed for her virtuosic singing, dancing, and speaking eyes, Khanum became famous again in the twentieth century because of her close musical interactions with a remarkable Englishwoman, Sophia Plowden. Through Plowden’s papers and extraordinary collection of Khanum’s repertoire, it is possible to reconstruct songs from the Lucknow court as they may have been performed 200 years ago, in both Indian and European versions. In this event, I will be joined in conversation with the harpsichordist Jane Chapman to discuss her recent recording of Khanum’s “Hindustani Airs”, and perform some of Khanum’s songs on harpsichord and voice. We will show that using Indian sources of the time to read between the lines of European papers and collections gives us a much richer view of this sadly short-lived moment of intercultural accord in late Mughal India.

AB - Khanum Jan was a celebrity courtesan in the cantonment of Kanpur and the court of Asafuddaula of Lucknow in 1780s North India. Famed for her virtuosic singing, dancing, and speaking eyes, Khanum became famous again in the twentieth century because of her close musical interactions with a remarkable Englishwoman, Sophia Plowden. Through Plowden’s papers and extraordinary collection of Khanum’s repertoire, it is possible to reconstruct songs from the Lucknow court as they may have been performed 200 years ago, in both Indian and European versions. In this event, I will be joined in conversation with the harpsichordist Jane Chapman to discuss her recent recording of Khanum’s “Hindustani Airs”, and perform some of Khanum’s songs on harpsichord and voice. We will show that using Indian sources of the time to read between the lines of European papers and collections gives us a much richer view of this sadly short-lived moment of intercultural accord in late Mughal India.

KW - ethnomusicology

KW - Mughal India

KW - Indian music

KW - Indian history

KW - colonialism

UR - https://soundcloud.com/user-513302522/the-courtesan-and-the-memsahib-khanum-jan-meets-sophia-plowden-at-the-18c-court-of-lucknow

UR - http://blogs.bl.uk/asian-and-african/2018/06/sophia-plowden-khanum-jan-and-hindustani-airs.html

M3 - Other contribution

ER -