Ustad Abdul Wahid Khan (1871–1949) was an Indian subcontinental singer from the Kirana gharana. He died in 1949 in

Saharanpur Saharanpur is a city and a municipal corporation in Uttar Pradesh, India. It is also the administrative headquarters of Saharanpur district. Saharanpur city's name was given after the Saint Shah Haroon Chishti. Saharanpur is declared a ...

, India.Profile of Ustad Abdul Wahid Khan on parrikar.org website
Retrieved 12 January 2022

Early life and background

Ustad Abdul Wahid Khan was born in Kirana, Uttar Pradesh in 1871.Treasures from the Past – Abdul Wahid Khan (Profile of Abdul Wahid Khan on ITC Sangeet Research Academy website)
Retrieved 12 January 2022 The town of Kirana was home to many families of musicians from the Mughal court, who migrated from Delhi after the

Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...

fell in 1857. Kirana gharana's three disciplines are rudraveena,

sarangi The sārangī is a bowed, short-necked string instrument played in traditional music from South Asia – Punjabi folk music, Rajasthani folk music, and Boro folk music (there known as the ''serja'') – in Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. It is ...

and vocals. Ustad Abdul Wahid Khan initially learned vocal and sarangi from his father, Ustad Abdul Majid Khan. Around age 12, he moved to Kolhapur to learn from Ustad Langde Haider Baksh Khan, a disciple of Mian Bande Ali Khan, a famous master of

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 ...

and vocal music. Ustad Abdul Wahid Khan founded the Kirana gharana musical family with his cousin

Ustad Abdul Karim Khan Ustad Abdul Karim Khan (Devanagari: उस्ताद अब्दुल करीम ख़ान, Persian: ) (11 November 1872 – 27 October 1937)Sarangi The sārangī is a bowed, short-necked string instrument played in traditional music from South Asia – Punjabi folk music, Rajasthani folk music, and Boro folk music (there known as the ''serja'') – in Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. It is ...

player.

Singing career

Ustad Abdul Wahid Khan forbade recordings of his performances to avoid imitation by other singers. Only three of his performances survived, recordings of the ragas Patdip, Multani, and

Darbari Kanada Darbari Kanada, or simply Raga Darbari, (pronounced darbāri kānada), is a raga in the Kanada family, which is thought to have originated in Carnatic music and brought into Hindustani classical music by Miyan Tansen, the legendary 16th-ce ...

, accompanied by

Chatur Lal Chatur Lal (16 April 1925 – 14 October 1965) was an Indian tabla player. Career Chatur Lal was born on 16 April 1925 in Udaipur, Rajasthan. He toured with Ravi Shankar, Nikhil Banerjee, Baba Allauddin Khan, Sharan Rani and Ali Akbar Khan i ...

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� ...

. They were preserved by music producer Jivan Lal Mattoo, who secretly recorded a radio broadcast in 1947, 2 years before his death, to document Khan's style.

"Although a youthful prodigy of the Kolhapur court, remaining unchallenged after his public debut there at age 18, Ustad Abdul Wahid Khan had no inclination to spend time singing in the courts. Instead he lived a devout, reclusive life, singing in the presence of holy men and at the tombs of Sufi saints and only occasionally sang in public."

Death and legacy

Ustad Abdul Wahid Khan died as an Indian national in 1949 in

. Ustad Abdul Wahid Khan's students included Pandit Jaichand Bhatt (Khyal Singer),

Sureshbabu Mane Sureshbabu Mane (1902– 15 February 1953) was a prominent Hindustani classical music singer of Kirānā Gharānā in India. He was the son of a doyen of Kirana Gharana, Ustad Abdul Karim Khan. Early life and training Sureshbabu was born as ...

Hirabai Barodekar Hirābai Barodekar (1905 – 1989) was an Indian Hindustāni classical music singer, of Kirana gharana. She was disciple of Ustād Abdul Wahid Khān. Early life and background Hirabai was born as Champākali to Kirānā Gharānā master Us ...

Begum Akhtar Akhtari Bai Faizabadi (7 October 1914 – 30 October 1974), also known as Begum Akhtar, was an Indian singer and actress. Dubbed "Mallika-e-Ghazal" (Queen of Ghazals), she is regarded as one of the greatest singers of ghazal, dadra, and thu ...

, Saraswatibai Rane, Pran Nath, Sukhdev Prasad,

Ram Narayan Ram Narayan (; born 25 December 1927), often referred to with the title Pandit, is an Indian musician who popularised the bowed instrument ''sarangi'' as a solo concert instrument in Hindustani classical music and became the first internation ...

, and

Mohammed Rafi Mohammed Rafi (24 December 1924 – 31 July 1980) was an Indian playback singer and musician. He is considered to have been one of the greatest and most influential singers of the Indian subcontinent. Rafi was notable for his versatility and ...

. Ustad Abdul Wahid Khan's greatest contribution was his influence on Amir Khan of

Indore gharana Indore gharana is one of the vocal gharanas of Indian classical music. It was founded by Amir Khan, who studied the styles of Abdul Wahid Khan, Aman Ali Khan, Rajab Ali Khan and Abdul Karim Khan and amalgamated their style. Amir Khan grew up in ...

, although he was not one of his formal disciples. Ustad Abdul Wahid Khan and Ustad Abdul Karim Khan had started evolving the ''vilambit khyal'' and their work inspired Amir Khan to develop his trademark ''ati vilambit'' singing. Ustad Abdul Wahid Khan evolved the classical Hindustani music by extending recitals of a raga from approximately 20 minutes to up to an hour. Ustad Abdul Wahid Khan was one of the greatest icons of the Kirana gharana.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Khan, Abdul Wahid 1871 births 1949 deaths Hindustani singers 19th-century Indian Muslims 19th-century Indian male classical singers Muhajir people Kirana gharana Vocal gharanas 20th-century Indian male classical singers People from Muzaffarnagar Singers from Uttar Pradesh 20th-century Khyal singers