Biography of Ram Sabai

(1780-1820)

Banaras Gharana is one of the five Gharanas of Tabla and the founder of it was Pandit Ram Sahai. The feature of this Gharana is that its player can play the Baaz independently as well as along with DhrupadDhamar, Khayaal, Thumari-Tappa instruments at a time.

Ram Sahai was born in 1780. His ancestors were originally, the native of Gopalpur of Uttar Pradesh. During his childhood he used to beat his uncle's Tabla and learnt his first lesson in Tabla. At the age of five, he became a disciple of his uncle and at the age of twenty-one, he became the greatest player of Tabla in Banaras.

Sahai became a disciple of Ustad Madu Khan and remained with him for almost 12 years. On the advice of Madu Khan, he was called to the court of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah to participate in a musical conference. There he played Tabla for seven days continuously. During these days he never played one tune twice. After the death of his father and uncle, he became a saint and taught Tabla to his disciples. He died in 1820.