RAS Pre 2021, held on 27 October 2021. Question text as printed in RPSC's booklet; answer as per RPSC's final answer key.

Match list-I with list-II and choose the correct answer from the code given below - List–I (Folk Musical Instrument) (A) Bhapang (B) Nad (C) Algoza (D) Khartal List–II (Famous Music Artist) (i) Sadiq Khan (ii) Zahoor Khan (iii) Karna Bheel (iv) Ramnath Choudhary Code -

Q: What is the answer to RAS Pre 2021 Q22?

(1). Correct — option (1), A-(ii), B-(iii), C-(iv), D-(i). Two pairs can be checked in print, and together they fix the code. A-(ii), Bhapang–Zahoor Khan. Raj Narayan Vyas's Lok Rang Lok Roop, written in Rajasthani, names Zahoor Khan and Gafruddin as the well-known artists of the bhapang. B-(iii), Nad–Karna Bheel. Neuman, Chaudhuri and Kothari's Bards, Ballads and Boundaries (2006) calls Karna Bheel the legendary narh player whose name is always associated with the instrument. A French LP, Flûtes du Rajasthan, carries three airs for narh flute by Karna Ram Bhil, recorded at Jodhpur. Only option (1) has both A-(ii) and B-(iii): option (4) pairs the Nad with Sadiq Khan, and options (2) and (3) give the bhapang to someone else. The other two pairs of option (1), Algoza–Ramnath Choudhary and Khartal–Sadiq Khan, rest on RPSC's key alone; no published source for them could be checked. The idea to remember: Bhapang–Zahoor Khan and Nad–Karna Bheel, both checked in print, are enough to pick option (1).

(1)A-(ii), B-(iii), C-(iv), D-(i)
(2)A-(iv), B-(iii), C-(ii), D-(i)
(3)A-(i), B-(ii), C-(iii), D-(iv)
(4)A-(ii), B-(i), C-(iii), D-(iv)

Answer

(1)

Why

Correct — option (1), A-(ii), B-(iii), C-(iv), D-(i).

Two pairs can be checked in print, and together they fix the code.

A-(ii), Bhapang–Zahoor Khan. Raj Narayan Vyas's Lok Rang Lok Roop, written in Rajasthani, names Zahoor Khan and Gafruddin as the well-known artists of the bhapang.

B-(iii), Nad–Karna Bheel. Neuman, Chaudhuri and Kothari's Bards, Ballads and Boundaries (2006) calls Karna Bheel the legendary narh player whose name is always associated with the instrument. A French LP, Flûtes du Rajasthan, carries three airs for narh flute by Karna Ram Bhil, recorded at Jodhpur.

Only option (1) has both A-(ii) and B-(iii): option (4) pairs the Nad with Sadiq Khan, and options (2) and (3) give the bhapang to someone else.

The other two pairs of option (1), Algoza–Ramnath Choudhary and Khartal–Sadiq Khan, rest on RPSC's key alone; no published source for them could be checked.

The idea to remember: Bhapang–Zahoor Khan and Nad–Karna Bheel, both checked in print, are enough to pick option (1).

Why the others are wrong

(2)
A-(iv), B-(iii), C-(ii), D-(i) — This code has Nad–Karna Bheel right, and its Khartal–Sadiq Khan pair is the key's too, but it swaps the other two artists.
It gives the bhapang to Ramnath Choudhary and the algoza to Zahoor Khan. Lok Rang Lok Roop names Zahoor Khan as a well-known bhapang artist, so A-(iv) fails.
(3)
A-(i), B-(ii), C-(iii), D-(iv) — This code simply pairs the lists in printed order, and none of its pairs is the key's.
It gives the bhapang to Sadiq Khan and the Nad to Zahoor Khan. Lok Rang Lok Roop names Zahoor Khan for the bhapang, and Bards, Ballads and Boundaries calls Karna Bheel the legendary narh (Nad) player.
(4)
A-(ii), B-(i), C-(iii), D-(iv) — This code gets Bhapang–Zahoor Khan right but goes wrong from B onwards.
It gives the Nad to Sadiq Khan and the algoza to Karna Bheel. Karna Bheel's instrument was the narh: Bards, Ballads and Boundaries calls him its legendary player, and the Flûtes du Rajasthan LP records him on it.

Concept

The four instruments are made and played differently. K. S. Kothari's Indian Folk Musical Instruments (Sangeet Natak Akademi, 1968) describes the Nad (narh) of Rajasthan as an end-blown flute of kangore wood, open at both ends, with four finger holes.

Kothari says the narh's blowing adds a throated throw of voice that gives its drone, and that shepherds of the western desert play it.

The algoza, in Kothari's account, is a whistle-blown double flute: two wooden tubes of equal length, about 48 cm, with six finger holes each, blown together. For the Meos of Alwar district, he says, it is an accompanying instrument.

The khartal (kartal) is a pair of wooden clappers with brass jingles, held in one hand. Lok Rang Lok Roop describes the bhapang as a gourd with leather stretched over it and a single gut string, whose pitch rises and falls as a wooden knob on the string is pulled and slackened.

RPSC's syllabus lists, under History, Art, Culture, Literature, Tradition & Heritage of Rajasthan, "Performing Art: Classical Music and Classical Dance; Folk Music & Instruments; Folk Dances & Drama."

Folk instruments are tied to communities and performers. Kothari links the narh to desert shepherds and the algoza to the Meos of Alwar, and Lok Rang Lok Roop lists the algoza, narh and poongi among Rajasthan's wind instruments.

Performers carry these traditions. The Sangeet Natak Akademi Award list for 2018 includes Gazi Khan Barna of Rajasthan for folk music on the khartal.

Karna Bheel was also known beyond music: a note in Bards, Ballads and Boundaries says he held the Guinness record for the world's longest moustache.

Key facts

Lok Rang Lok Roop (Raj Narayan Vyas) names Zahoor Khan and Gafruddin as well-known artists of the bhapang.
Bards, Ballads and Boundaries (2006) calls Karna Bheel the legendary narh player whose name is always associated with the instrument.
Kothari (1968): the Rajasthani narh is an end-blown flute of kangore wood with four finger holes, open at both ends.
Kothari (1968): the Rajasthani algoza is a whistle-blown double flute of two 48 cm wooden tubes with six finger holes each.
Kothari (1968): the kartal of Rajasthan is a pair of wooden clappers with brass jingles, played in one hand.

Instrument, type and the artist in the key

Bhapang — gourd and single gut string→Zahoor Khan (ii)

Nad (narh) — end-blown flute→Karna Bheel (iii)

Algoza — double flute→Ramnath Choudhary (iv)

Khartal — wooden clappers with jingles→Sadiq Khan (i)

The two highlighted pairs, checked in print, already select option (1); the other two follow RPSC's key. Sources: Lok Rang Lok Roop; Neuman et al. (2006); Kothari (1968).

Study next

Wind instruments of Rajasthan: narh, algoza, satara and poongiThe bhapang and the Mewati Jogi traditionKhartal in Manganiyar and Langa musicKothari's classification of folk instrumentsSangeet Natak Akademi awardees from Rajasthan

Common traps

Mixing up the two flutes. The narh is a single end-blown flute; the algoza is a double flute whose two tubes are blown together.
Taking the bhapang for a wind instrument. Lok Rang Lok Roop describes a gourd with a single gut string plucked with a plectrum; Kothari groups it with gourd-resonator instruments whose function is a rhythmic beat.
Matching by position in the lists. Option (3) pairs A with (i), B with (ii) and so on; the two pairs checked in print, A-(ii) and B-(iii), both rule it out.

A question can match folk instruments to the artists known for them, as here.

A question can also name an artist and ask for the instrument, or ask which instruments in a list are wind instruments.

Related PYQs

RPSC_2024_PRE_GS_Q1282024Open & attempt →

Consider the following statements about the folk instrument ‘Chautara’ and choose the correct option from below : A. It is a four stringed instrument. B. It is generally used in singing bhajans of Ramdev ji.

(1) Only A is true.
(2) Only B is true.
(3) A and B both are true.
(4) A and B both are false.

Answer(3)

Same area, folk instruments: that question asks whether the Chautara is four-stringed and generally used in singing bhajans of Ramdev ji (RPSC key: option (3), A and B both are true). This question matches four instruments to artists.

Practice

practice — not a real PYQ
According to K. S. Kothari's Indian Folk Musical Instruments (1968), which of the following is an end-blown flute of Rajasthan with four finger holes?
- (a)Algoza
- (b)Narh
- (c)Khartal
- (d)Bhapang
Answer(2) — Kothari describes the narh as end-blown, of kangore wood, with four finger holes. The algoza (1) is a double flute with six holes in each tube, the khartal (3) a pair of wooden clappers, and the bhapang (4) a gourd instrument with a gut string.
practice — not a real PYQ
Karna Bheel of Rajasthan is known as a player of which folk instrument?
- (a)Nad (narh)
- (b)Ravanhatha
- (c)Bhapang
- (d)Morchang
Answer(1) — Bards, Ballads and Boundaries (2006) calls Karna Bheel the legendary narh player, and the Flûtes du Rajasthan LP records him on the narh. The bhapang (3) is the instrument Lok Rang Lok Roop links to Zahoor Khan; the ravanhatha (2) and morchang (4) are not the instrument these sources give for him.