Allauddin Khan, also known as Baba Allauddin Khan ( – 6 September 1972)
was an Indian
sarod
The sarod is a stringed instrument, used in Hindustani music on the Indian subcontinent. Along with the sitar, it is among the most popular and prominent instruments. It is known for a deep, weighty, introspective sound, in contrast with the sweet ...
player and multi-instrumentalist, composer and one of the most notable music teachers of the 20th century in
Indian classical music. For a generation many of his students, across different instruments like sitar and violin, dominated Hindustani classical and became some of the most famous exponents of the form ever, including
Ravi Shankar
Ravi Shankar (; born Robindro Shaunkor Chowdhury, sometimes spelled as Rabindra Shankar Chowdhury; 7 April 1920 – 11 December 2012) was an Indian sitarist and composer. A sitar virtuoso, he became the world's best-known export of North In ...
and
Ali Akbar Khan
Ali Akbar Khan (14 April 192218 June 2009) was a Indian Hindustani classical musician of the Maihar gharana, known for his virtuosity in playing the sarod. Trained as a classical musician and instrumentalist by his father, Allauddin Khan, he a ...
.
Early life
Khan was born in Shibpur village in
Brahmanbaria
Brahmanbaria ( bn, ব্রাহ্মণবাড়িয়া, Brāhmaṇabāṛiẏā) is a city of Bangladesh and the capital of Brahmanbaria Sadar Upazila as well as Brahmanbaria District. It is the second largest city after Cumilla i ...
(in present-day
Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
). His father, Sabdar Hossain Khan, was a musician. Khan took his first music lessons from his elder brother,
Fakir Aftabuddin Khan.
At age ten, Khan ran away from home to join a
jatra party where he was exposed to a variety of folk genres: jari, sari, baul, bhatiyali, kirtan, and panchali.
[
Khan went to Kolkata, where he met a physician named Kedarnath, who helped him to become a disciple of Gopal Krishna Bhattacharya (also known as Nulo Gopal), a notable musician of Kolkata in 1877.] Khan practiced sargam for twelve years under his guidance.[ After the death of Nulo Gopal, Khan turned to instrumental music. He learned to play many indigenous and foreign musical instruments like sitar, flute, piccolo, mandolin, banjo, etc., from Amritalal Dutt, a cousin of Swami Vivekananda and the music director of the Star Theatre. He learnt to play sanai, naquara, tiquara and jagajhampa from Hazari Ustad and ]pakhawaj
The pakhavaj is a barrel-shaped, two-headed drum, originating from the Indian subcontinent, the oldest version of double sided drums and its descendants are mridangam of Southern India and kendang of Maritime Southeast Asia and other South As ...
, mridang and tabla
A tabla, bn, তবলা, prs, طبلا, gu, તબલા, hi, तबला, kn, ತಬಲಾ, ml, തബല, mr, तबला, ne, तबला, or, ତବଲା, ps, طبله, pa, ਤਬਲਾ, ta, தபலா, te, తబల ...
from Nandababu.[
Ali Ahmed referred Allauddin to ]veena
The ''veena'', also spelled ''vina'' ( sa, वीणा IAST: vīṇā), comprises various chordophone instruments from the Indian subcontinent. Ancient musical instruments evolved into many variations, such as lutes, zithers and arched harps ...
player Wazir Khan.
Career
Khan became court musician for the Maharaja of Maihar
Maihar is a tehsil in Satna, Madhya Pradesh, India. Maihar is known for the temple of the revered mother goddess Sharda situated on Trikuta hill.
Origin of the name
It is said that when lord Shiva was carrying the body of the dead mother go ...
.[ Here he laid the foundation of a modern ]Maihar gharana
The Maihar Gharana or Maihar-Senia Gharana is a gharana or school of Hindustani classical music, a style of Indian classical music originating in the northern parts of the Indian subcontinent. The school was formed by Allaudin Khan in the princ ...
by developing a number of ragas
A ''raga'' or ''raag'' (; also ''raaga'' or ''ragam''; ) is a melodic framework for improvisation in Indian classical music akin to a melodic mode. The ''rāga'' is a unique and central feature of the classical Indian music tradition, and as a ...
, combining the bass sitar and bass sarod with more traditional instruments and setting up an orchestra.[ Before becoming court musician he had come to Maihar and met one Suraj Sahai Saxena in a penniless state. Taking pity on him Suraj Sahai took him in his shelter where lived two odd years and practised music with Shehnai . When Suraj Sahai used to visit Sharda Devi temple in Maihar climbing all the 552 steps, Allauddin Khan used to accompany him and practice Shehnai outside temple precincts . Suraj Sahai had a cousin named Chimmanlal Saxena who was diwan of Maharaja of Maihar. In 1907, Allauddin khan established the Maihar Band, an orchestral group that was taught music to orphaned children. On recommendation of Chimmanlal , he was appointed as court musician of Maharaja of Maihar . In 1935, he toured Europe, along with ]Uday Shankar
Uday Shankar (8 December 1900 – 26 September 1977) was an Indian dancer and choreographer, best known for creating a fusion style of dance, adapting European theatrical techniques to Indian classical dance, imbued with elements of Indian cl ...
's ballet troupe, and later also worked at his institute, Uday Shankar India Culture Centre at Almora
Almora ( Kumaoni: ''Almāḍ'') is a municipal board and a cantonment town in the state of Uttarakhand, India. It is the administrative headquarters of Almora district. Almora is located on a ridge at the southern edge of the Kumaon Hills of th ...
for a while.[ In 1955, Khan established a college of music in Maihar.][ Some of his recordings are made at the ]All India Radio
All or ALL may refer to:
Language
* All, an indefinite pronoun in English
* All, one of the English determiners
* Allar language (ISO 639-3 code)
* Allative case (abbreviated ALL)
Music
* All (band), an American punk rock band
* ''All'' (All ...
in 1959–60.[
]
Awards
Khan was awarded the Padma Bhushan
The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...
in 1958 and the Padma Vibhushan
The Padma Vibhushan ("Lotus Decoration") is the second-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "exceptional and distinguished service". All persons without ...
in 1971, India's third and second highest civilian honours, and prior to that in 1954, the Sangeet Natak Akademi
Sangeet Natak Akademi (The National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama in English) is the national level academy for performing arts set up by the Government of India.
History
It was set up by the Indian education ministry on 31 May 1952 and ...
awarded him with its highest honour, the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship for lifetime contribution to Indian music
Owing to India's vastness and diversity, Indian music encompasses numerous genres in multiple varieties and forms which include classical music, folk (Bollywood), rock, and pop. It has a history spanning several millennia and developed ove ...
.
Legacy
Khan's son Ali Akbar Khan
Ali Akbar Khan (14 April 192218 June 2009) was a Indian Hindustani classical musician of the Maihar gharana, known for his virtuosity in playing the sarod. Trained as a classical musician and instrumentalist by his father, Allauddin Khan, he a ...
, daughter Annapurna Devi
(1927 – 13 October 2018) was an Indian surbahar (bass sitar) player of Hindustani classical music. She was given the name 'Annapurna' by former Maharaja Brijnath Singh of the former Maihar Estate (M.P.), and it was by this name that she was p ...
, nephew Raja Hossain Khan and grandson Aashish Khan
Aashish Khan Debsharma (born 5 December 1939) is an Indian classical musician, a player of the sarod. He was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2006 in the 'Best World Music' category for his album "Golden Strings of the Sarode". He is also a reci ...
went on to become musicians. His other disciples include Ravi Shankar
Ravi Shankar (; born Robindro Shaunkor Chowdhury, sometimes spelled as Rabindra Shankar Chowdhury; 7 April 1920 – 11 December 2012) was an Indian sitarist and composer. A sitar virtuoso, he became the world's best-known export of North In ...
, Nikhil Banerjee
Pandit Nikhil Ranjan Banerjee (14 October 1931 – 27 January 1986) was an Indian classical sitarist of the Maihar Gharana. Along with Pandit Ravi Shankar and Ustad Vilayat Khan, he emerged as one of the leading exponents of the sitar. He ...
, V.G. Jog
Vishnu Govind Jog, better known as V. G. Jog (22 February 1922 – 31 January 2004), was an Indian violinist. He was the foremost exponent of the violin in the Hindustani music tradition in the 20th century, and is credited for introducing ...
, Vasant Rai, Shripad Bandopdhyay, Pannalal Ghosh, Bahadur Khan, Rabin Ghosh, Sharan Rani
Sharan Rani (also known as Sharan Rani Backliwal, ''née'' Mathur) (9 April 1929 – 8 April 2008) was an Indian classical sarod player and music scholar.
Her private collection of 379 musical instruments ranging from the 15th to the 19th ...
, Nalin Mazumdar, Jotin Bhattacharya
Jotin Bhattacharya ( hi, ज्योतिन भट्टाचार्य) was an Indian classical sarod player. Jyotin was a disciple of Allauddin Khan.
Early life and education
Bhattacharya was born in 1926 in Varanasi in a Bengali famil ...
, Rajesh Chandra Moitra, David Podiappuhami aka Siyambalapitiyage Don David Podiappuhami [] and W. D. Amaradeva.
Khan's house was in Maihar. This house has been restored by Ambica Beri as part of a development that includes an artists and a writers retreat nearby.
Personal life
Anecdotes about Khan range from throwing a tabla
A tabla, bn, তবলা, prs, طبلا, gu, તબલા, hi, तबला, kn, ತಬಲಾ, ml, തബല, mr, तबला, ne, तबला, or, ତବଲା, ps, طبله, pa, ਤਬਲਾ, ta, தபலா, te, తబల ...
tuning hammer at the Maharaja himself to taking care of disabled beggars. Nikhil Banerjee said that the tough image was "deliberately projected in order not to allow any liberty to the disciple. He was always worried that soft treatment on his part would only spoil them".
Films
* ''Ustad Alauddin Khan'' (1963), a documentary directed by Ritwik Ghatak
Ritwik Kumar Ghatak (; 4 November 19256 February 1976) was a noted Indian film director, screenwriter, and playwright. Along with prominent contemporary Bengali filmmakers Satyajit Ray, Tapan Sinha and Mrinal Sen, his cinema is primarily rememb ...
.
* ''Baba Alauddin Khan'' (1965), a documentary by Indian film director Harisadhan Dasgupta.
* '' Raga'' (1971), directed by Howard Worth. Remastered version released in 2010 by East Meets West Music.
* ''Maihar Raag'' (1993), directed by Sunil Shanbag. A look at Allauddin Khan's crumbling heritage in Maihar, which won the National Film Award for Best Non-Feature Film
The National Film Award for Best Non-Feature Film is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, the organization set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India. It is one of several awar ...
in 1994.
References
Further reading
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
*
Ustad Baba Allaudin Khan, Detailed Biography and images
at California Institute of the Arts
The California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) is a private art university in Santa Clarita, California. It was incorporated in 1961 as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the US created specifically for students of both ...
''Raga'' (2010 Remaster) at East Meets West Music
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Khan, Allauddin
1862 births
1972 deaths
People from Brahmanbaria district
Sitar players
Veena players
19th-century Indian composers
20th-century Indian composers
Hindustani composers
Hindustani instrumentalists
Indian classical composers
Indian male composers
Indian music educators
Indian multi-instrumentalists
Maihar gharana
Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in arts
Recipients of the Padma Vibhushan in arts
Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award
Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship
Date of birth missing
20th-century male musicians
19th-century male musicians