In our era, the Langas still have the Sindhi Sipahi for Jajmans. They are a modest caste of Muslim farmers. Their stringed instrument, the sindhi sarangi (in reference to the Pakistani Sind Valley which prolongs this cultural air) and the gujrati sarangi (which refers to a region in the southern part of Rajasthan, the Gujarat) are the domain of Saran giya Langa (the players of sarangi and satara, the double flute of pastoral origin) while the Suraniya Langa reserve for themselves wind instruments such as the shahnai (oboe) and the murli (clarinet). In the past, the tradition linked to certain religious orders of Islam prevented the Langa from using percussion. Those times seem faraway, for today almost all of the Langa play the dho!ak in accompaniment in the same way that the Man ghaniyar do. Even the karthal of the Manghaniyar can be found pounding in the Langa hands today. The fraying of tradition and modification of social structures has a tendency to create a phenomena of uniformity. Nevertheless, the Manghaniyar still do not use the sarangi of the Langa, but continue to prefer the kamaica, a heavy string sculpted from the wood of the mango tree with a round wooden resonating case (tabli).
The Manghaniyar who inhabit the villages at the edge of the Thar Desert play mostly for castes who are Hindu, which explains the difference between their repertory and that of the Langa. Like the Lautauri gypsies of Rumania and the griots of Mauritania or elsewhere, the musicians of Rajasthan disperse themselves geographically in relation to the residences of their Jajmans. In contemporary society, where points of reference change very quickly, the ancestral contract still exists between the Manghaniyar and the Rajput, who assimilated into the ancient and mythic Ksatri, the ancient warrior caste. But they no longer necessarily have the allure and wealth of ancient Rajahs. Given that certain professions such as commerce and artisanal labour are considered impure and forbidden to them, the Rajput of today may be simple farmers or taxi drivers whose limited means only permit them to symbolically support the musicians through small contributions and gifts. This explains why everyone is no longer a musician in the Man ghaniyar community. The particular speciality of the Manghaniyar are the mota git (long songs) as opposed to chota git, "shorter" and more ritualistic songs. Often in Rajasthan, these songs are given raga names, such as sorath, maru, sindhi bhairavi.
these names, which sometimes designate certain sites, do not correspond to classical hindustani rage of the same name. After a slow poetic vocal introduction without rhythm (duha), the Manghaniyar stretch out the mota git, whose richness of depth and complexity as can be remarked in these recordings. Anwar Khan's vocal work precisely brings to light the ornamentation which undeniably sends us back to the very origins of certain classical singing.
