The word "Kathak" is used in Brahma Mahapuran for dancers, actors and singers. In Mahabharata and Natyashastra one can find the word "Kathak" too. In Pali language "kathako" means "lecture". In Nepalese language the word "kathiko" is available which means 'who explains' or 'teacher'.
In excavation of Mohanjodro and Harappa, which are one of the most ancient civilizations in the world, people found some sculptures, which represent a sort of dance poses. Their hand gestures and body poses are quite similar to the existing kathak dance forms.
The most ancient known Indian book on art is "Natyashastra" which was written by Saint Bharat about 500 BC. After that "Sangeet Ratnakar" - basically music oriented book - which was written by Sharang Dev in 13th century, is the next strongest support to Kathak word. In its Nrityadhyay (chapter of Dance) it is written:
Kathaka Bandinshchatra Vidyavantah Priyamvadah Prashansakushlashchaanye Chatura Sarvamatushu
It means: "who explains the characters and educated and sweet and soft speaking person, who is expert in explaining and is from good descent (i.e. Brahman), clever in making poems and explaining them is Kathak".
Long long ago when nat, bharat or kushilav people were explaining religious and mythological stories in the temple premises with the help of dance and music they had good position in the society. Later on some immoral practices became the cause of their degradation and they were expelled from the society. With time they came back again with a new face where they sang, danced and explained the religious stories and also had share in the religious ceremonies. Most of them were Brahman and they lived very strict and religious life. Again they retained name, position and money. Some technical words of Kathak dance like 'Tatkar', 'Gat' are used in ancient dance and music books like Sangeet Darpan, Sangeet Makrand and Kohal Rahasya.
Muslim invasion in Kathak
Muslim king came to India and ruled more than 800 years. All Muslim kings brought dancers, poets, musician and other artist form Persia and Arab countries. To adapt their art to India and to establish its form in India they used many tactics. They are the following:
Indian music and dance was connected with Hindu religion very deeply so that they destroyed Hindu temples, the books about art were also destroyed.
Some Indian instruments were changed, for example tabla was made by cutting the pakhawaj in two pieces and each was played with entirely different technique so that experts in playing pakhawaj could not compete with new artists, whom was given preference at the king's court.
They stopped supporting Hindu artists, forced them to change religion and name and demoralized among persian artists.
Good teachers and dancers were forced to dance for the king and not for the God. Spiritual values of dance were ignored and only materialistic values were approved. The dancers were asked to dance with glass of wine in hands and offer it to the king. If during dance wine fell on the ground dancer and teacher were punished, beaten and tortured. If dancer danced successfully, he was lifted up with prizes and intimacy with the king. As a result dance become game of foot rather then the whole body work. Love events or the dance in which there was description of love between Krishna and Radha, were remaining as it is because that satisfied the dirty thoughts of the king and courtiers. On the other hand dance included many gestures from Arab dances and work of wrist, Ghungru and facial expression were added a lot to dance.
It was difficult for the king to speak Hindi words, that is why all the vocabulary of dance was supplanted by Urdu words; Urdu and Persian literature was introduced in Kathak dancing. Gazal, rubai, tarana are some of the compositions which were added to Kathak that time continue to be an important feature till today.
Dance and music at king's court was performed alongside with some circus, magic show or other lower forms of art. For example one can see the pictures painted in 14th to 19th century showing courtiers enjoying circus and dance at the same time.
Here start the different schools and traditions, which are now famous as gharana. Different Hindu and Muslim kings and nawab of different states gave support to different artists and there dance changed its shape in accordance with the condition and the mood of the sponsor. Mainly in three places dancers were concentrated and after these places the three main gharana of Kathak are named.
In Jaipur City Hindu kings supported Kathak and taandav oriented Kathak dance was cultivated and called 'Jaipur Gharana'.
In Avadh, which later on was named Lucknow, Nawab Wajid Ali Shah, who himself was a good dancer, invited many Kathak artists and teachers. Lasya oriented Kathak dance was established in this tradition. Influence of Muslim culture was clearly visible in it. Softness and elegance was the specialty of this Gharana. This Gharana was named as 'Lucknow Gharana'. In Banarus third Gharana was established.
Benares Gharana
The Benares Gharana was developed by Janakiprasad. It is characterized by the exclusive use of the natwari or dance bols, which are different from the tabla and the pakhawaj bols. There are differences in the thaat and tatkaar, and chakkars are kept at a minimum but are often taken from both the right- and the left-hand sides with equal confidence. There is also a greater use of the floor, for example, in the taking of sam.'parans' are also done effectively in this gharana on the 'mrudunga'
Raigarh Gharana
This was established by the Maharaja Chakradhar Singh in the princely state of Raigarh in Chhatisgarh in the early 20th century. The Maharaja invited many luminaries of Kathak (as well as famous percussionists) to his court, including Kalka Prasad (the father of Acchan, Lacchu and Shambhu Maharaj) and his sons, and Pandit Jailal from Jaipur gharana. The confluence of different styles and artists created a unique environment for the development of new Kathak and tabla compositions drawn from various backgrounds.Some of renowned dancers of this gharana are Late Pt.Kartik Ram,Late Pt.Phirtu Maharaj,Late Pt.Kalyaandas Mahant,Late Pt.Barmanlak,Pt.Ramlal,Alpana Vajpeyi,Suchitra Harmalkar,Mohini Moghe,Bhagwaandas Manik,Bhupendra Bareth,Vaasanti Vaishnav etc.
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