Tansen is considered a synonym of music. He was one of the nine gems (Nava Ratna) in the court of Akbar.
Tansen was born in 1506 at Bahat in Gwalior . His father, Makrand, was a very good singer. During his childhood, Tansen was not inclined to learn singing but had the ability to imitate the sound of various animals. Later on he came in contact with Swami Haridas and went to Vrindavan. Very soon, the hidden talent of Tansen came to surface and he became an incomparable singer. He analysed about four thousand raga- ragani and selected four from it . Besides this he alos created some new ragas. All these ragas gave different aspects of music.
Recognising the high merit of Tansen as a musician. Akbar honoured him by giving him a place in his court. Tansen begancomposing new ragas based on the India classical music in the court. He also used to sing The Bhajans of Tulsidas. A contemporary of Akbar. Apart from it, Tansen was alos a good poet. He died in 1589 and was buried at Bahat.