[4] Born into a Hindu Gaur Brahmin family in Gwalior,[5] he learnt and perfected his art in the northwest region of modern Madhya Pradesh.

He got his first break as musician and composer in the court of Raja Man Singh Tomar of Gwalior and spent most of his adult life in the court and patronage of the Hindu king of Rewa, Raja Ramchandra Singh (r. 1555–1592), where Tānsen's musical abilities and studies gained widespread fame.

[7] Akbar considered him one of the Navaratnas Nine Ministers (the nine jewels) and gave him the title Mian, an honorific, meaning learned man.

[8] Tānsen was a composer, musician and vocalist, to whom many compositions have been attributed in northern regions of the Indian subcontinent.

[9][10] Tānsen is remembered for his epic Dhrupad compositions, creating several new rāgs, as well as for writing two classic books on music, Sri Ganesh Stotra and Sangita Sara.

Tansen initially refused to go and sought to retire instead into solitude, but Raja Ramchandra Singh sent him to Akbar's court.

At some point, he was discipled to Swami Haridas, for a brief period, the legendary composer from Vrindavan and part of the stellar Gwalior court of Raja Man Singh Tomar (1486–1516 AD), specialising in the Dhrupad style of singing.

This was the time when the Bhakti tradition was fomenting a shift from Sanskrit to the local idiom (Brajbhasa and Hindi), and Tansen's compositions also highlighted this trend.

During some point of his apprenticeship, Tansen's father died, and he returned home, where it is said that he used to sing at a local Shiva temple in Gwalior.

[18] The presence of musicians like Tansen in Akbar's court was an attempt to accept and integrate the Hindu and Muslim traditions within the Mughal Empire.

Most of these were derived from the Hindu Puranas, composed in Braj Bhasha, and written in praise of gods and goddesses such as Ganesha, Saraswati, Surya, Shiva, Vishnu (Narayana and Krishna avatar).

According to one version, written by Islamic historians, Tansen died in 1586 in Delhi, and that Akbar and much of his court attended the funeral procession which was completed according to Muslim customs in Gwalior.

[27] Tansen's remains were buried in the mausoleum complex of his Sufi master Shaikh Muhammad Ghaus in Gwalior.

Tansen is also a central character, though remaining mostly in the backdrop, in the historical musical Baiju Bawra (1952), based on the life of his eponymous contemporary.

[citation needed]A national music festival known as 'Tansen Samaroh' is held every year in December, near the tomb of Tansen at Hazira, Gwalior as a mark of respect to his memory.

Today, this tank, called Anup Talao, can be seen near the public audience hall Diwan-i-Aam – a central platform reachable via four footbridges.

The bulk of Tansen's biography as found in Akbar court historians' accounts and gharana literature consists of inconsistent and miraculous legends.