This article discusses the literary production attributed to Mīyān Tānsen of Gwalior, who became first court musician of Mughal emperor Akbar in 1562, until his death in 1589. The very diverse literary patronage, which the famous poet-composer-interpreter enjoyed, ARCHIV ORIENTÁLNÍ 86, 2018 explains the thematic wealth of the lyrical poems called dhrupad in Madhyadeśīya and Braj chanted in a poetic and musical genre, that emerged in Gujarat and in the Gwalior region at the end of the 15th century. Relying on oral transmission, the manuscript, lithographic and printed anthologies containing dhrupads attributed to Tānsen include a number of poems inspired by Hindu and Sufi devotional traditions. A large part of those poems was later transmitted by singers of the imperial court to Gujarat and Bengal, as the anthologies published from the middle of the 19th century show. Others were appropriated by sectarian Krishnaite movements, which included them in their liturgical repertoire. This article discusses a selection of the lyrical poems addressed to Hindu gods (Gaṇeśa, Sarasvatī, Śiva, Hari, Viṣṇu Nārāyaṇa and especially Kṛṣṇa) but also to Allah and great Sufi masters, all characterized by strong devotional sentiments, and underlines the impact of the theme, patronage and performance on the choice of language and vocabulary. Amongst the most remarkable examples of the fluidity of the genre, poems of a bhakti nature with Arabo-Persian vocabulary and devotional Sanskritized dhrupads inspired by Puranic traditions addressed to Akbar will be considered.