Translated from Hindustani Sangeet Padhati Kramik Pustak Maalika – 4 Pt. V.N.Bhatkhande ‘Khayal’ is a word from the Persian Language. The meaning of which is imaginative thought. Some also feel it could self-thought. In olden days, Khayal dint have a very high place in society. Great maestros used to sing dhrupads in civilized society. It is said that the Jaunpur sultan Hussain Sharki brought it to a respectable position and popularized it. The Mughal badshah Muhammad Shah had (1719 – 40) two very proficient stalwarts in his court – namely Sadarang and Adarang who composed thousands of khayals and taught their disciples.

Today in India, it is found that most people sing their khayals,but here there is one surprising  thing – Sadarang and Adarang  composed and taught thousands of khayals to their disciples but never taught even one in the younger generations of their bloodline; neither allowed them to sing those khayals. Rampur’s Wazir Khan was of the same lineage of Sadarang (Niyamat Khan) – he only sang Dhrupads and never Khayal.
Muhammad Ali Khan from Rampur (who hailed from the lineage of the second Tansen) also used to sing Dhrupad. It is believed that the propagation of Khayal in the last 100-150 years has been primarily due to the disciples and their musical lineage. Gwalior’s Haddu Khan, Hassu Khan and Nathu Khan, their ancestor Nathan Pirbaksh also trace roots to Sadarang-Adarang. In the last 200-300 years, there were other Khayal singers whose Khayals are also popular.
Qawwal-vani Khayal singers trace their traditional roots to Hazrat Amir Khusrau. It is believed that the ‘drut laya’ which is popular today was mainly popularized by Qawwals. Because of the lack of a script to write the notation, just like there is quite a bit of confusion in Dhrupad, the same seems to apply to Khayal. Today society considers singing Dhrupad and Khayal as respectable. Shrungar rasa (romantic flavour) is used predominantly. The somberness, lyrical specialty and purity is lesser.
Khayal usually has Sthayi and Antara.. Khayal singers  largely use Dheema trital, tilwada (vilambit tritaal), ektaal, Jhumra and Ada chartaal. The commonly used 12 taal’s matras, Taali, bol are given in Kramik Pustak part 3. In Khayal, drut taan, Gitkadi etc type of varieties are used and enhance it.