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Kirvani / Keerawani etymology? is it from Persian کاروان Caravan? GENERAL DISCUSSIONS
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Senior Member 488 posts chrisitar Senior Member 488 posts
chrisitar
Im curious how the scale known as Kirwani got its name, in Arabic it is called Nahawand which refers to a Persian city, and in Iran its called Isfahan, same as the Persian city, and many Chinese songs in this scale make reference to the Silk Road (Dance along old Silk Road, Camel Bells of the Silk Road..) where mainly Persianate people were traveling and trading, so I was thinking that since this scale is so much associated with Persian history maybe Kirwani is a cognate of the word Caravan. Thoughts? or does the original Carnatic/Dravidian word actually mean something else?
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Tristan von Neumann Member 80 posts
Tristan von Neumann
According to google translate,

Kirwani/Kirvani means:

Telugu: "composing"
Kannada: "Good News"

Kurdish and Sindhi (both Indoeuropean): "done!"
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David Russell Watson Senior Member 362 posts
David Russell Watson
It's originally Sanskrit, and means "parrot voice". 

See https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Keeravani .

David
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chrisitar Senior Member 488 posts
chrisitar
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E0%A4%95%E0%A5%80%E0%A4%B0#Sanskrit

Looks like the Sanskrit word 'Kira' not only means "parrot" but also "the people and land of Kashmir", which would explain the Persian influence with this raga. Kirwani = "Voice of Kashmir" in Sanskrit? That would make sense than "parrot" to me. So many other pieces of music that use the set of notes as Sa Re Komal Ga Ma Pa Komal Dha Ni Sa are associated with the Middle East/Central Asia
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