Swami Haridas (, also spelt SvÃÂmë HaridÃÂs) was an Indian spiritual poet and classical musician. He was a Court musician of Raja Man Singh Tomar of Gwalior and is credited with a large body of devotional compositions, especially in the Dhrupad style. He is also the founder of the Haridasi school of mysticism which is still found today in North India. His work influenced both the classical music and the Bhakti movements of North India, especially those devoted to Krishna's consort Radha.
There are rival versions of the biography of HaridÃÂs, since his following was divided in the 1600s among the hereditary householder gosvÃÂmës and ascetic sÃÂdhus. Modern scholars state that he lived in the 1500s. The gosvÃÂmës claim he was born in HaridÃÂspur and that his father was from MultÃÂn, but the sÃÂdhus claim he was born in RÃÂjpur next to VrÃÂ¥ndÃÂvan. The gosvÃÂmës claim that his father was Aà Âudhir, a SÃÂrasvat Brahmin, but the sÃÂdhus claim that HaridÃÂs was a Sanathya Brahmin and that HaridÃÂs was only the pupil of Aà Âudhir, not his son. The gosvÃÂmës claim that HaridÃÂs was once a married man but later became a sÃÂdhu in the Viá¹£á¹ÂusvÃÂmë sampradÃÂya, but the sÃÂdhus claim that HaridÃÂs was never married and that he was a member of the NimbÃÂrka sampradÃÂya. Modern scholars state that HaridÃÂs was likely not initiated into any sect and that he followed his own independent devotional path of sakhëbhÃÂva in Nidhiban, although he might have been influenced by the two sects. It is in Nidhiban that he discovered the deity BÃÂá¹ ke BihÃÂrë, whose worship was later managed by a priest named JagannÃÂth. The gosvÃÂmës and sÃÂdhus agree that the gosvÃÂmis are the descendants of JagannÃÂth, who the gosvÃÂmës claim was the younger brother of HaridÃÂs, but the sÃÂdhus claim was merely a Sarasvat priest who attended HaridÃÂs' Kråṣá¹Âa idol. His most prominent ascetic follower was Viá¹Âá¹Âhal Vipul.
HaridÃÂs composed Braj Bhasha poetry, collected in two works called Aá¹£á¹Âadaà  SiddhÃÂnta and the KelimÃÂl. HaridÃÂs sung in the dhrupad style, and the content of his work solely consisted of describing and praising the forest lëlÃÂs of Kråṣá¹Âa-KuñjbihÃÂrë and RÃÂdhÃÂ-à ÂyÃÂmÃÂ.
According to popular tradition HaridÃÂs was the teacher of MiyÃÂn TÃÂnsen, who sang at the court of Akbar, however scholars consider this to be unlikely.