Bismillah Khan
Ustad Bismillah Khan Sahib(born March 21, 1916 at Bhirung Raut Ki Gali, in Dumraon of Bihar, India) was the second son of Paigambar Khan and Mitthan and named Qamaruddin. He came to be called Bismillah Khan after Rasool Baksh Khan, his grandfather, uttered ‘Bismillah’ on seeing the newborn. Born to a family with a tradition of music, his ancestors played in Naqqar Khana in the princely state of Bhojpur, now in Bihar, as court musicians. His father played shehnai in the court of Maharaja Keshav Prasad Singh of Dumraon Estate, Bihar. The ‘Ustad’ got appended as a title meaning ‘Master or Guru’, a term common in the Indian classical music tradition, when he got be recognized as the shehnai maestro.
A pious Shi'ite Muslim, he was a devotee of the Hindu goddess Saraswati of wisdom and the arts, played at Hindu temples such as Vishwanath Temple in Varanasi located on the banks of the river Ganga. Prem Rawat was his spiritual master. He died of cardiac arrest at a ripe old age of ninety on August 21, 2006 at Heritage Hospital, Varanasi. A one day national mourning was declared by the Government of India. He was given a farewell 21-gun salute by the Indian Army when he was buried under a neem tree at Fatemain burial ground of old Varanasi. He has five sons and three daughters with a large number of grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
One of the finest Indian classical musician that the country has ever produced, Khan was completely devoted to shehnai. He would refer to his shehnai as his begum or wife after the demise of his wife. His shehnai was buried with him.
Education and Musical Career
Ustad Bismillah Khan Sahib was trained by Ali Baksh 'Vilayatu', his uncle and a shehnai player who was attached to Vishwanath Temple of Varanasi. He was the greatest shehnai player that was ever there, giving this musical instrument a proud place beginning with the All India Music Conference at Kolkatta in 1937. In fact, shehnai and the Ustad became synonymous with each other. He traveled widely and played in almost all capital cities of the world in all the continents.
He rarely accepted students. When he was with Satguru Jagjit Singh Ji, the present master of Namdhari Sikhs, with whom there existed a great mutual respect; he spotted Baljit Singh Namdhari, a young boy playing tarshenai. The boy became his first disciple. This was in 1985. Later in 1999, Ustad Bismillah Khan accepted two more Gurbaksh Singh and Kirpal Singh who too played Namdhari tarshenai as his students.
The 'Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar' was instituted in his honour in 2007 by Sangeet Natak Academy of New Delhi which is given to young artistes in the field of music, dance and theatre.
Important works
Ustad Bismilla Khan played the shehnai for Dr.Rajkumar's role as Appanna in the movie Sanaadi Appanna. He acted in Satyajit Ray’s film Jalsaghar providing sound of shehnai in Goonj Uthi Shehnai. Sange Meel Se Mulaqat, a documentary on the life of Ustad Khan was made by the famous director Goutam Ghose.
Awards / Achievement
Bismillah Khan received the Bharat Ratna in 2001, the highest civilian award of India and the third musician so to receive the title. He was earlier awarded the Sangeet Natak Academy Award (1956), Padma Shri (1961), Padma Bhushan (1968), Padma Vibhushan (1980), the Tansen Award by Govt. of Madhya Pradesh. Bismillah Khan was awarded honorary doctorates by Banaras Hindu University, Visva Bharati University and Santiniketan.
He played shehnai at the Red Fort, Delhi, on August 15, 1947, the first Independence Day, at the invitation of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the then Prime Minister of India. He also participated in a number of international music festivals such as World Exposition in Montreal, Cannes Art Festival and Osaka Trade Fair. The World Music Institute in New York celebrated his 80th birthday.
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