Jarigan Muslim Epic Songs of Bangladesh

by Mary Frances Dunham

This book is the only work in English devoted to jarigan, a major genre of Islamic bardic song in South Asia. The themes of the songs originally concerned heroic episodes from a seventh-century battle between Muslims, a battle which is commemorated annually by Shia Muslims in their Muharram Festival. The compositional form of jarigan songs now serves for a wide range of themes, including Arabian Nights style of romances and songs about topical issues. The book provides a history of the repertory, descriptions of the soloist-cum-chorus performances, and explanations of the poetic and musical structures of the songs. As well as Chapter Notes, the book contains a Glossary, Bibliography, Index, photoprints in color and in black-and-white, maps, transcriptions of song texts in Bengali, translations in English, musical notations, and a list of jarigan recordings. The book comes with an audio cassette.

256 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1997