Ustad Faiyaz Khan (alternative spelling Fiyaz Khan) (1934 – 12 November 2014) was 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� ...

player of international repute.

Biography

Faiyaz Khan was born in 1934 in Sikar,

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern si ...

, into a family of musicians. Nazir Khan, his father, was a sarangi and

player at the court of the

Maharaja Mahārāja (; also spelled Maharajah, Maharaj) is a Sanskrit title for a "great ruler", "great king" or " high king". A few ruled states informally called empires, including ruler raja Sri Gupta, founder of the ancient Indian Gupta Empire, an ...

of Karauli. His elder brother, Munir Khan, was a well-known sarangi player. He was first taught sarangi and vocal music. His initial

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� ...

training was under Ustad Hidayat Khan. He also learned from the late Ustad Inam Ali Khan of the Delhi gharana of

. Ustad Faiyaz Khan also studied south Indian rhythms from a master of the barrel drum

mridangam The mridangam is a percussion instrument of ancient origin. It is the primary rhythmic accompaniment in a Carnatic music ensemble. In Dhrupad, a modified version, the pakhawaj, is the primary percussion instrument. A related instrument is the ...

, Ramnad Ishwaran. He began his career as a staff artist of

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 a ...

Jaipur Jaipur (; Hindi Language, Hindi: ''Jayapura''), formerly Jeypore, is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Rajasthan. , the city had a pop ...

in 1955. In 1958, he moved to

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

to join

there. He retired from regular radio service in 1993. Ustad Faiyaz Khan regularly accompanied many great stalwarts and frequently performed as a soloist as well. He also travelled the world extensively, from giving performances at the festival of

Shiraz Shiraz (; fa, شیراز, Širâz ) is the List of largest cities of Iran, fifth-most-populous city of Iran and the capital of Fars province, Fars Province, which has been historically known as Pars (Sasanian province), Pars () and Persis. As o ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

to a solo recital at

Queen Elizabeth Hall The Queen Elizabeth Hall (QEH) is a music venue on the South Bank in London, England, that hosts classical, jazz, and avant-garde music, talks and dance performances. It was opened in 1967, with a concert conducted by Benjamin Britten. The ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

in 1971, and numerous performances in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

.Ustad Faiyyaz KHAN, Tabla player
wardhan.com website, Retrieved 4 January 2022 Faiyaz Khan had the rare opportunity of accompanying three generations of well-known musicians: from the great masters of yesteryear, such as Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Amir Khan,

Hafiz Ali Khan Hafiz Ali Khan (1888–1972) was an Indian sarod player.Brick, mortar & false notes
Dawn (newspaper), Published 29 Ap ...

, Begum Akhtar, Gangubai Hangal,

Pannalal Ghosh Pandit Pannalal Ghosh ( bn, পান্নালাল ঘোষ; 24 July 1911 – 20 April 1960), also known as Amal Jyoti Ghosh, was an Indian flute ( bansuri) player and composer. He was a disciple of Allauddin Khan, and is credited with pop ...

, Siddheshwari Devi, Mallikarjun Mansur,

Abdul Rashid Khan Ustad Abdul Rashid Khan (19 August 1908 – 18 February 2016) was an Indian vocalist of Hindustani music. Apart from khayal, he performed dhrupad, Dhamar (music), dhamar and thumri. , he is the oldest person to have been conferred a Orders ...

, the generation of artists like Pandit Ravi Shankar, Ali Akbar Khan,

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 ...

Kishori Amonkar Kishori Amonkar (10 April 1932 – 3 April 2017) was a leading Indian classical vocalist, belonging to the Jaipur ''gharana'', or a community of musicians sharing a distinctive musical style. She was a performer of the classical genre '' ...

Vilayat Khan Ustad Vilayat Khan (28 August 1928 – 13 March 2004) was an Indian classical sitar player.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 ...

, Parween Sultana, Amjad Ali Khan,

Hariprasad Chaurasia Hariprasad Chaurasia (born 1 July 1938) is an Indian music director and classical flautist, who plays the bansuri, in the Hindustani classical tradition. Early life Chaurasia was born in Allahabad (1938) (officially called Prayagraj) in the ...

Debu Chaudhuri Pandit Devabrata (Debu) Chaudhuri (( bn, পণ্ডিত দেবব্রত চৌধুরী); 30 May 1935 – 1 May 2021) was an Indian sitarist and teacher. He was conferred the Padmabhushan and Padma Shri awards. He was the writer of ...

Bhimsen Joshi Pandit Bhimsen Gururaj Joshi BR (; ; 4 February 1922 – 24 January 2011), also known by the honorific prefix Pandit, was one of the greatest Indian vocalists from Karnataka, in the Hindustani classical tradition. He is known for the '' khaya ...

Pandit Jasraj Pandit Jasraj (28 January 1930 – 17 August 2020) was an Indian classical vocalist, belonging to the '' Mewati gharana'' (musical apprenticeship lineage). His musical career spanned 75 years resulting in national and international fame ...

Pandit Shivkumar Sharma A Pandit ( sa, पण्डित, paṇḍit; hi, पंडित; also spelled Pundit, pronounced ; abbreviated Pt.) is a man with specialised knowledge or a teacher of any field of knowledge whether it is shashtra (Holy Books) or shastra (Wea ...

Rajshekhar Mansur Rajshekhar Mansur (born 16 December 1942 death 1 May 2022) was an Indian classical vocalist of the Jaipur-Atrauli gharana. He was the son and disciple of vocalist Mallikarjun Mansur. Early life and education Mansur was born to singer Mallikarjun ...

Ajoy Chakraborty Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty (born 25 December 1952) is an Hindustani classical vocalist, composer, lyricist and an exponent of the Patiala-Kasur gharana. He was given Padma Bhushan Award, the third highest civilian award in India in 2020. Early li ...

etc., to younger artists much his junior in age. He taught for a year in 1985 at the Washington University and, since 1992, taught at the

Rotterdam Conservatory Codarts University for the Arts ( nl, Codarts hogeschool voor de kunsten) is a Dutch vocational university in Rotterdam that teaches music, dance and circus. It was established in its present location in 2000. History Codarts can trace its origin ...

regularly. Further regular teaching for a period of 20 years after his retirement took place at

Gandharva Mahavidyalaya Gandharva Mahavidyalaya New Delhi is an institution established in 1939 to popularize Indian classical music and dance. The Mahavidyalaya (school) came into being to perpetuate the memory of Pandit Vishnu Digambar Paluskar, the great reviver of H ...

, India. His disciples are his son, Rais Khan, his grandsons – and Gyan Singh, Shahbaz Hussain (UK), Udit Pankhania (UK), Heiko Dijker and Ted De Jong (Holland).

Death and legacy

He died on 12 November 2014 in

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

, at the age of 80 due to meningitis. Among the survivors were two sons and five daughters.

Awards and recognition

*''Taal Samrat'' Award by the Ustad Ashique Ali Khan memorial society in 2010Bhajan Sopori and Faiyaz Khan honoured
Zee News website, Published 26 February 2010, Retrieved 4 January 2022

References

Khan, Faiyaz 2014 deaths Khan, Faiyaz Khan, Faiyaz Khan, Faiyaz Indian Muslims People from Sikar district Indian percussionists {{India-musician-stub