Naat and manqabatUrdu
Praise of the Prophet and of saints, sung solo or in chorus. Bareilly's role in the Barelvi tradition makes this the region's most widely heard sung form.
Sung at: Milad gatherings and the urs season.
Rohilkhand & Katehar · Upper Indus–Gangetic Plain
Folk songs
Barka Nach cycleTharu
A Tharu retelling of Mahabharata episodes, sung and danced by men through the night with drum and cymbal.
Sung at: Winter nights, over several sessions.
Tharu jhumra and mangal geetTharu
Marriage, harvest and forest life, sung antiphonally by women in the terai villages.
Sung at: Weddings, harvest, Holi.
Kajri and jhoolaKatehari Hindi
Monsoon separation songs, sung on swings, in the shared repertoire of the whole plain.
Sung at: Sawan.
Sohar and vivah geetKatehari Hindi
Household life-cycle songs, with a well-developed gaari repertoire of ritual abuse at weddings.
Sung at: Births and weddings.
Holi phag and Laat Sahab songsHindi and Urdu
Satire and mock-abuse directed at authority, sung during the Laat Sahab procession — a licensed insult tradition with a colonial target and a much older form.
Sung at: Holi, particularly at Shahjahanpur.
AlhaKatehari and Bundeli
The Alha-Udal ballad, sung in the southern districts of the region.
Sung at: The monsoon.
The folk songs of Rohilkhand & Katehar — what they are about, who sings them and when. (7)