Zia Mohiuddin Dagar or Z.M. Dagar, was a renowned Hindustani classical musician, famous for being a master of the rudra veena, a large plucked string instrument used in Hindustani classical music, and essentially reviving it as a solo concert instrument. Z.M. Dagar is well known in the Hindustani music world for modifying and redesigning the rudra veena by incorporating effective components in the instrument. As a result of his modifications, the rudra veena produced a soft and deep sound when plucked, vastly improving the overall quality of the Hindustani classical music instrument.

Dagar was born in the town of Udaipur, Rajasthan in 1929. As a child, he began his studies in music with his father, Ustad Ziauddin Khan Dagar, a court musician for the Maharaja of Udaipur. Z.M. Dagar received training in both vocals and in the rudra veena. Interestingly enough, the rudra veena, an instrument designed to be used by vocalists to practice melodies, was traditionally not played in public. However, a young Dagar adopted the rudra veena as his primary instrument and even delivered his first recital at the age of 16. Dagar’s father discouraged his son from experimenting with the structure of the rudra vina however, after his father passed away, Dagar transformed the instrument to better equip it for solo performances by modifying it into a large bass instrument (often referred to as a “Dagar vina”) and various other tweaks such as enlarging the “tumbas” or gourds and the “dhandhi” or hollow neck, that resulted in having the rudra vina create greater resonance and allowing the notes to be sustained longer so that the instrument was more effective in reproducing the techniques used by the vocalists.

As stated in an article about Dagar on the IndianNetZone website, “Most of (Z.M. Dagar’s) live performances have not been recorded, and the present audience is missing much of him. He has however, left behind him a constellation of performers to carry on in his line of legacy.” With his phenomenal ability to craft the early rudra veena into the remarkable instrument it is today and inspire a plethora of musical artists after him, it is certainly true that Dagar has left an indelible & profound impact on the world of Hindustani classical music. Innovator, musical genius, pioneer, grandmaster...certainly all of the above...