structural:expansion, quality:corruption
Rāmtanu Pāndey, popularly referred to as Mian Tānsen, or Sangeet Samrāt, was a Hindustani classical musician. Born into a Hindu Gaur Brahmin family, he learnt and perfected his art in the northwest region of modern Madhya Pradesh. He began his career and spent most of his adult life in the court and patronage of the Hindu king of Rewa, Raja Ramchandra Singh, where Tānsen's musical abilities and studies gained widespread fame. This reputation brought him to the attention of the Mughal Emperor Akbar, who sent messengers to Raja Ramchandra Singh, requesting Tānsen to join the musicians at the Mughal court. Tansen did not want to go, but Rāja Ramchandra Singh encouraged him to gain a wider audience and sent him along with gifts for Akbar. In 1562, at about the age of 60, the Vaishnav musician Tānsen joined Akbar's court, and his performances became the subject of many court historians. Numerous legends have been written about Tānsen, mixing facts and fiction, and the historicity of these stories is doubtful. Akbar considered him one of the Navaratnas Nine Ministers and gave him the title Mian, an honorific, meaning learned man. Tānsen was a composer, musician and vocalist, to whom many compositions have been attributed in northern regions of the Indian subcontinent. He was also an instrumentalist who popularized and improved musical instruments. He is among the most influential personalities in the North Indian tradition of Indian classical music, called Hindustani. His 16th-century studies in music and compositions inspired many, and he is considered by numerous North Indian gharana to be their lineage founder. Tānsen is remembered for his epic Dhrupad compositions, creating several new rāgs, as well as for writing two classic books on music, Sri Ganesh Stotra and Sangita Sara.