Malka Jan – P.4591 – (Condition 90-95%) – 78 RPM | |
Gauhar Jaan(Malka Jan) was born as Angelina Yeoward on 26 June 1873 in Azamgarh, of Armenian descent. Her father, William Robert Yeoward, worked as an engineer in a dry ice factory, and married her mother, Victoria Hemmings, in 1872. Victoria, an Indian by birth, had been trained in music and dance. In 1879 the marriage ended, causing hardships to both mother and daughter, who later migrated to Banaras in 1881, with a Muslim nobleman, ‘Khursheed’, who appreciated Victoria’s music more than her husband. Later, Victoria, converted to Islam and changed Angelina’s name to ‘Gauhar Jaan’ and hers to ‘Malka Jaan’.
Career- In time, Victoria (now ‘Malka Jaan’) became an accomplished singer, Kathak dancer and a courtesan in Banaras, and made a name for herself, as Badi Malka Jan; she was called Badi (elder) because at that time three other Malka Jans were famous: Malka Jan of Agra, Malka Jan of Mulk Pukhraj and Malka Jan of Chulbuli, and she was the eldest among them. Finally, Malka Jaan moved back to Calcutta in 1883, and established herself in the courts of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah, who had settled at Matiaburj (Garden Reach), near Kolkata and within three years purchased a building at 24 Chitpore Road (now Rabindra Sarani), for Rs. 40,000. It is here that young Gauhar started her training, she learnt pure and light classical Hindustani vocal music from, Kale Khan of Patiala, ‘Kalu Ustad’, Ustad Vazir Khan of Rampur, and Ustad Ali Baksh (founding members of Patiala Gharana) and Kathak from legendary Brindadin Maharaj (granduncle of Birju Maharaj), Dhrupad dhamar from Srijanbai, and Bengali Keertan from Charan Das. Soon she also started writing and composing ghazals under the pen-name ‘Hamdam’ and became proficient in Rabindra Sangeet India’s first-ever record – India’s first disc had Gauhar Jaan, singing a khayal in Raag Jogiya, recorded on 2  November 1902, by Fred Gaisberg, an assistant to Emile Berliner, the father of Gramophone record, who left America to become the first recording engineer with the Gramophone Company, London. The recording was done in a makeshift recording studio in two large rooms of a hotel in Kolkata, and at the end of the trial recording Gauhar Jaan announced – “My name is Gauhar Jaan”. Gauhar Jaan agreed to do the recording session for a princely sum of 3,000 rupees. By 1903, her records started appearing in Indian markets and were in great demand. |
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Record Details | |
Title | Malka Jan – P.4591 |
Singer | Malka Jan |
Genre | Private Songs |
Language | Hindi |
Label | HMV |
Made In | India |
Manufacture | The Gramophone Company Ltd. |
Serial No | P.4591 |
Side One | |
·         Pee Ki Boli Na Bol Papeehara | Malka Jan |
Side Two | |
·         Mori Jauwana Pe aai Bahaar | Malka Jan |
Specification | |
Size | 10 Inches |
Speed | 78 RPM |
Record Condition | 90-95% |
Cover Condition | Excellent |
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