You might think that stand up comedy is a new career path in India. But that's not true. Humour has been a career path in India for a very long time. Not just that, there were categories of humourists in India.
India has a long and abiding history of humour as a profession. Here are some that I know of, and researched:
मसखरे: The maskharas were not professionals. They were people who went about cracking jokes just because it was in their nature. Some people rewarded them with food, but most rewarded them with laughter and some amount of disdain. The maskhara was not an aspirational social or economic status.
However, in Persia, they have been known to be a special group of people who danced in ecstasy and also gave the world the word "masquerade" as they dressed in animal costumes and the like.
The Persian glory, by the time it reached India, had become a word that meant little more than a person who cracks jokes at the expense of others.
They were found all the way from Persia to UP and Bihar.
बेहरुपीये: The Behrupiyas have long been inspired awe and disdain. They used to go from village to village, performing as folk artists do in India, instinctively and sporadically, collecting whatever they could, and living on that. Like the नट, they were folk performers. The most famous narrative of a Behrupiya is in the discovery of Raja Birbal. Apparently, a Behrupiya was dressed like an ox. Everyone applauded the performance and left. When everyone had gone, a young lad picked up a small stone and hit the "ox" with it to observe its reaction. And then, the young man applauded. Intrigued, a noble approached the young boy and asked why he applauded after everyone. The young man replied, "When I threw the stone, it caught the performer unawares. But he shook his skin as a real ox would. That was splendid. So I applauded."
This young boy was Mahesh Das, and that day, he was discovered as Raja Birbal.
I found this nice writeup about Behrupiyas.
But here is the thing abt Behrupiyas. They were also expressly used as spies. Unlike the others, who were all performers, the skill of the Behrupiyas was valuable to the espionage network.
The Behrupiyas are documented all over the country, at least upto the Vindhyas and Satpuras.
भांड: Who doesn't know the Bhand? The custodian of all things humour, and the performer who fears none and is shy of nothing?
The Bhaand was a person who relied heavily on bawdy humour and used that to tickle the funny bones of the audience. The word भौंडा (Indecent) comes from भांड।
The Bhaands were less skilled than the Bahrupiya in the art of disguise, and did not have the folk tales to support them (except in Kashmir). They usually drew their humour from bawdy stories that they made up, or sometimes, like Maskharas, from their immediate environment.
The most famour Bhaand we know is Gopal Bhaand of Bengal.
Here is the Wiki article on Bhaands: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhand
And here is a traditional Bhaand performance from Punjab.
स्वांग: Swaang literally means "Being what one is not" . As a performace art, it is famous all over North India, at least upto the Vindhyas.
Unlike the others, where the performer is important, in Swaang, the performance is important, and it requires very little training. In fact, at Punjabi weddings, teh Swaang is an essential ritual and it is usually done by a female relative during the Sangeet.
This is an academic paper on Swaang, but Swaang is essentially a people's art form with a lot of humour.
And here is Swaang in Haryana.
जमूरा-उस्ताद: Unlike other forms, this one rarely travelled beyond the Hindoostan - the Doab region, where it was reported, and where it remained. The crowd laughs at the Jamoora, and the Ustad choreographs the humour sequence through actions, props, costumes, but most of all, through a well-modulated voice, and brief yet witty dialogues.
विदूषक: Many of you may have heard that the Vidooshak is the Court Jester. BUT the word Vidooshak comes from wisdom - Vidya. Vidooshak literally means the one who does vidya (the performer of wisdom). So the Vidooshak was not, strictly speaking, a jester. The Vidooshak was expected to be witty AND wise. Which are the two names that come to mind? Birbal and Tenalirama. Spot On.
This post is limited to the humour professionals found from the Punjab to the Doab, upto the Vindhyas. The humour professionals of the south are not included here, simply bcs i am not familiar with them. If you know of any more humour traditions from India, please mention them in the comments.
India has a long and abiding history of humour as a profession. Here are some that I know of, and researched:
मसखरे: The maskharas were not professionals. They were people who went about cracking jokes just because it was in their nature. Some people rewarded them with food, but most rewarded them with laughter and some amount of disdain. The maskhara was not an aspirational social or economic status.
However, in Persia, they have been known to be a special group of people who danced in ecstasy and also gave the world the word "masquerade" as they dressed in animal costumes and the like.
The Persian glory, by the time it reached India, had become a word that meant little more than a person who cracks jokes at the expense of others.
They were found all the way from Persia to UP and Bihar.
बेहरुपीये: The Behrupiyas have long been inspired awe and disdain. They used to go from village to village, performing as folk artists do in India, instinctively and sporadically, collecting whatever they could, and living on that. Like the नट, they were folk performers. The most famous narrative of a Behrupiya is in the discovery of Raja Birbal. Apparently, a Behrupiya was dressed like an ox. Everyone applauded the performance and left. When everyone had gone, a young lad picked up a small stone and hit the "ox" with it to observe its reaction. And then, the young man applauded. Intrigued, a noble approached the young boy and asked why he applauded after everyone. The young man replied, "When I threw the stone, it caught the performer unawares. But he shook his skin as a real ox would. That was splendid. So I applauded."
This young boy was Mahesh Das, and that day, he was discovered as Raja Birbal.
I found this nice writeup about Behrupiyas.
But here is the thing abt Behrupiyas. They were also expressly used as spies. Unlike the others, who were all performers, the skill of the Behrupiyas was valuable to the espionage network.
The Behrupiyas are documented all over the country, at least upto the Vindhyas and Satpuras.
भांड: Who doesn't know the Bhand? The custodian of all things humour, and the performer who fears none and is shy of nothing?
The Bhaand was a person who relied heavily on bawdy humour and used that to tickle the funny bones of the audience. The word भौंडा (Indecent) comes from भांड।
The Bhaands were less skilled than the Bahrupiya in the art of disguise, and did not have the folk tales to support them (except in Kashmir). They usually drew their humour from bawdy stories that they made up, or sometimes, like Maskharas, from their immediate environment.
The most famour Bhaand we know is Gopal Bhaand of Bengal.
Here is the Wiki article on Bhaands: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhand
And here is a traditional Bhaand performance from Punjab.
स्वांग: Swaang literally means "Being what one is not" . As a performace art, it is famous all over North India, at least upto the Vindhyas.
Unlike the others, where the performer is important, in Swaang, the performance is important, and it requires very little training. In fact, at Punjabi weddings, teh Swaang is an essential ritual and it is usually done by a female relative during the Sangeet.
This is an academic paper on Swaang, but Swaang is essentially a people's art form with a lot of humour.
And here is Swaang in Haryana.
जमूरा-उस्ताद: Unlike other forms, this one rarely travelled beyond the Hindoostan - the Doab region, where it was reported, and where it remained. The crowd laughs at the Jamoora, and the Ustad choreographs the humour sequence through actions, props, costumes, but most of all, through a well-modulated voice, and brief yet witty dialogues.
विदूषक: Many of you may have heard that the Vidooshak is the Court Jester. BUT the word Vidooshak comes from wisdom - Vidya. Vidooshak literally means the one who does vidya (the performer of wisdom). So the Vidooshak was not, strictly speaking, a jester. The Vidooshak was expected to be witty AND wise. Which are the two names that come to mind? Birbal and Tenalirama. Spot On.
This post is limited to the humour professionals found from the Punjab to the Doab, upto the Vindhyas. The humour professionals of the south are not included here, simply bcs i am not familiar with them. If you know of any more humour traditions from India, please mention them in the comments.
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