Google celebrates birth anniversary of Gauhar Jaan with doodle

Google on Tuesday commemorated the 145th birth anniversary of legendary singer and dancer Gauhar Jaan with a doodle.

Born on June 26 in 1873, Gauhar was among the first performers to record music on 78 rpm records in India and it was released by the Gramophone Company of India.

Born to an Armenian engineer William Robert Yeoward and his wife Victoria Hemmings, her birth name was Angelina Yeoward.

She was born in Azamgarh district of Uttar Pradesh and her mother Victoria - an Indian by birth- was a trained dancer and singer.

After divorce, Victoria entered into a relationship with a Muslim nobleman and moved to Banaras. She adopted Islam and changed her name to Malka Jaan and Angelina's name was changed to Gauhar Jaan.

Malka became a noted singer and Kathak dancer and Gauhar trained in Hindustani classical music.

Two years later, they moved to Calcutta and started performing in the courts of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah.

Gauhar started her training in Kirtan and Rabindra Sangeet, among other musical forms.

Gauhar's first performance was at the courts, today's Bihar, in 1887 and was soon appointed court musician.

In 1896, she started performing in Calcutta and developed a huge following and was given the title of 'first dancing girl' in her records.

Soon, she started travelling across India for performances and was even invited to perform at King George V's coronation in Delhi.

Apart from bhajan performances, Gauhar is best known for songs like 'Mora Nahak Laye gavanava', 'Jabse Gaye mori sur huna live', 'Ras ke Bhare Tore Nain mere Dard-e-jigar'.

Later, she went to Mysore on the invitation of Krishna Raja Wadiyar IV and became the palace musician there. However, she survived only 18 months there and died on January 17, 1930 at the age of 56.