Bihari Lal Yadav

Bihari Lal Yadav
BornBihari Lal Yadav
1857
Aunrihar, Ghazipur, North-Western Provinces, British India (present-day Ghazipur District, Uttar Pradesh, India)
Died1926
Occupation
  • Poet
  • Singer
  • composer
Language
NationalityIndian
PeriodBritish Raj
Notable works
  • Founded Biraha Folk Genre
  • Invented a version of Khartal

Bihari Lal Yadav (1857–1926), also referred to as Guru Bihari, was a Bhojpuri writer, poet and singer. He is also known as the founder of the modern Biraha folk genre, this older genre is called Khari Birha.[1][2] He is also credited to invent a musical instrument, which was a version of Khartal and introducing it in Bihaha.[3] He wrote Biraha and popularized it in the cities like Benaras and also taught it to his disciples.

  1. ^ Asian Music: Journal of the Society for Asian Music, Volumes 25-2. Society for Asian Music. 1994. p. 145.
  2. ^ The Concise Garland Encyclopedia of World Music. Routledge. 2013. p. 1027. ISBN 9781136095948.
  3. ^ Freitag, Sandria B. (1992). Culture and Power in Banaras: Community, Performance, and Environment, 1800-1980. University of California. pp. 95–96. ISBN 9780520080942.