Bismillah Khan Part 2 - a great Indian Shehnai Badak

1. Bismillah Khan
For the Afghan General, see Bismillah Khan Moham-
madi.
Bismillah Khan (Urdu: ‫ن‬ ‫اﷲ‬ ‫د‬ ‫ا‬; 21 March
1913 – 21 August 2006), often referred to by the hon-
orific title Ustad, was an Indian musician credited with
popularising the shehnai, a subcontinental wind instru-
ment of the oboe class. While the shehnai had long held
importance as a folk instrument played primarily during
traditional ceremonies, Khan is credited with elevating its
status and bringing it to the concert stage.[1][2]
He was awarded India’s highest civilian honour, the
Bharat Ratna, in 2001, becoming the Third classical mu-
sician after M. S. Subbulakshmi and Ravi Shankar to be
accorded this distinction.[2]
He was awarded the Padma
Vibhushan also .
1 Early life
Bismillah Khan was born on 21 March 1913 in Dumraon,
Bihar in northern India. He was the second son of
Bachaie Khan and Mitthan.[3]
His parents had initially
named him Qamaruddin to rhyme with their first-born
son Shamshuddin. However, his grandfather, Rasool Bux
Khan, the shehnai master of the court of Bhojpur, ex-
claimed “Bismillah!" (“In the name of Allah!") at the
sight of him and thereafter he came to be known by this
name.[1]
His ancestors were court musicians and used to play in
Naqqar khana in the princely states of Bhojpur, now in
Bihar. His father was a shehnai player in the court of
Maharaja Keshav Prasad Singh of Dumraon Estate, Bi-
har.
At the age of six, he moved to Varanasi.[2]
He received
his training under his uncle, the late Ali Baksh 'Vilayatu',
a shehnai player attached to Varanasi's Vishwanath Tem-
ple.[4]
Bihar Government has proposed setting up of a mu-
seum, a town hall-cum-library and installation of a life-
size statue at his birthplce in Dumraon.[5]
1.1 Religious beliefs
Though a pious Shi'ite Muslim, he was also, like many
Indian musicians, regardless of religion, a devotee of
Saraswati, the Hindu Goddess of wisdom and arts,[6]
and often played at Hindu temples, including the famous
Vishwanath Temple in Varanasi, on the banks of the river
Ganga.[7]
He also performed for spiritual master Prem
Rawat.[8]
2 Career
Ustad Bismillah Khan.
Bismillah Khan was perhaps single-handedly responsible
for making the shehnai a famous classical instrument. He
brought the shehnai to the center stage of Indian music
with his concert in the Calcutta All India Music Con-
ference in 1937. He was credited with having almost
monopoly over the instrument as he and the shehnai are
almost synonyms.
Khan is one of the finest musicians in post-independent
Indian classical music and one of the best examples of
Hindu-Muslim unity in India. He played the shehnai to
audiences across the world. He was known to be so de-
voted to his art form that he referred to shehnai as his
begum (wife in Urdu) after his wife died. On his death,
1

2. 2 7 AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS
as an honour, his shehnai was buried with him. He was
known for his vision of spreading peace and love through
music.
2.1 Performances at Red Fort
Khan had the rare honor of performing at Delhi’s Red
Fort on the eve of India’s Independence in 1947. He also
performed raga Kafi from the Red Fort on the eve of In-
dia’s first Republic Day ceremony, on 26 January 1950.
His recital had become a cultural part of India’s Indepen-
dence Day celebrations, telecast on Doordarshan every
year on 15 August. After the prime minister’s speech
from Lal Qila (the Red Fort,) in Old Delhi, Doordarshan
would broadcast a live performance by the shehnai mae-
stro. This tradition dated from the days of Pandit Nehru.
3 Popular culture
Khan had a brief association with movies. He played the
shehnai for Rajkumar's role of Appanna in the Kannada
movie Sanaadi Appanna. He acted in Jalsaghar, a movie
by Satyajit Ray and provided sound of shehnai in Goonj
Uthi Shehnai (1959). Noted director Goutam Ghose di-
rected Sange Meel Se Mulaqat, a documentary about the
life of Khan.[4]
In the 1967 film The Graduate, there is a
poster advertising “Bismillah Khan and the seven musi-
cians” on a busy street of Berkeley, California.
4 Students
Khan with his son Nazim Hussain on the tabla.
Khan seldom accepted students. He thought that if he
would be able to share his knowledge it wouldn't be useful
as it would only give his students a little knowledge. Some
of his followers include S. Ballesh,[9]
as well as Khan’s
own sons, Nazim Hussain and Nayyar Hussain.[10]
5 Personal life
On 17 August 2006, Khan was taken ill and admitted to
the Heritage Hospital, Varanasi for treatment.[11]
He died
after four days on 21 August 2006 due to a cardiac ar-
rest. He is survived by five daughters, three sons and a
large number of grandchildren and great-grandchildren,
and his adopted daughter Dr Soma Ghosh (famous Hin-
dustani shastriya sangeet exponent)[12]
The Government of India declared a day of national
mourning on his death. His body along with a
Shehnai was buried at Fatemain burial ground of
old Varanasi under a neem tree with 21-gun salute
from Indian Army.[13]
Famous culture critic Vee-
jay Sai wrote a moving personal obituary in The
Hindu Sunday Review magazine http://www.thehindu.
com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-sundaymagazine/
memories-of-the-maestro/article3232520.ece .
6 Legacy
Sangeet Natak Akademi, New Delhi, instituted the 'Ustad
Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar' in 2007, in his honour. It
is given to young artists in the field of music, theatre and
dance.[14]
7 Awards and recognitions
7.1 Awards
• Bharat Ratna (2001)
• Fellow of Sangeet Natak Akademi (1994).
• Talar Mausiquee from Republic of Iran (1992).
• Padma Vibhushan (1980)[15]
• Padma Bhushan (1968)[15]
• Padma Shri (1961)[15]
• Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (1956)
• Tansen Award by Govt. of Madhya Pradesh.
• Three medals in All India Music Conference,
Calcutta (1937)
• “Best Performer” in All India Music Conference,
Allahabad (1930)
7.2 Recognitions
Bismillah Khan had honorary doctorates from
• Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi

3. 3
• Visva Bharati University, Santiniketan
Others include[16]
• Was invited by the then Prime Minister of India
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru to play shehnai on the first
Independence Day (15 August 1947) in Delhi's Red
Fort.
• Participated in World Exposition in Montreal
• Participated in Cannes Art Festival
• Participated in Osaka Trade Fair
• His 80th birthday was celebrated by World Music
Institute in New York
8 Discography
Albums
• Sanaadi Appanna – Played shehnai for Rajkumar's
role in the movie.
• Goonj Uthi Shehnai (1959) – shehnai recitals
throughout the movie for Rajendra Kumar's role.
• Maestro’s Choice (February 1994)
• Megh Malhar, Vol. 4 (the other piece in the album
is by Kishori Amonkar) (September 1994)
• Live at the Queen Elizabeth Hall (September 2000)
• Live in London, Vol. 2 (September 2000)
Contributing artist
• The Rough Guide to the Music of India and Pakistan
(1996, World Music Network)
9 Biographies
• Bismillah Khan: the shehnai maestro, by Neeraja
Poddar. Rupa & Co., 2004. ISBN 81-291-0351-
6.
• Monograph on Shehnai maestro Bismillah Khan, by
Amar jyoti, Shivnath Jha, Alok Jain, Anjali Sinha.
Pub. Neena Jha & Shivnath Jha, 2005. ISBN
8175256400.
• Bismillah Khan and Benaras: the seat of shehnai, by
Rita Ganguly. Siddhi Books, 1994.
• Shahnai Vadak Ustad Bismillah Khan, by Murli
Manohar Shrivastava. Prabhat Prakashan, 2009.
ISBN 9788173157356.
• Bismillah Khan: The Maestro from Benaras, by Juhi
Sinha. Niyogi Books, 2011. ISBN 978-81-89738-
91-4.
10 References
[1] “Virtuoso musician who introduced the shehnai to a global
audience”. The Independent. 22 August 2006. Retrieved
8 January 2013.
[2] “Indian music’s soulful maestro”. BBC News. 21 August
2006. Retrieved 2010-01-01.
[3] “Bismillah Khan”. The Telegraph. 22 August 2006. Re-
trieved 10 January 2013.
[4] Bismillah Khan: The Shehnai Maestro by Neeraja Poddar,
Rupa & Co., New Delhi, 2004.
[5] “Ustad Bismillah Khan’s Birthplace in Bihar faces wrath
of negligence”. IANS. news.biharprabha.com. Retrieved
15 April 2014.
[6] “Rediff Slides on Ustad Bismillah Khan”. Retrieved
2006-08-21.
[7] “BBC on Ustad Bismillah Khan”. BBC News. 21 August
2006. Retrieved 2006-08-21.
[8] Bismillah Khan Performs Music For Guru Maharaji Prem
Rawat on YouTube
[9] Lalithaa Krishnan (20 August 2009). “Clear and
sparkling”. The Hindu. Retrieved 2014-01-14.
[10] “Ustad’s son chosen to carry on his legacy”. The Times of
India. 23 August 2006. Retrieved 11 January 2014.
[11] “Ustad Bismillah Khan hospitalised”. Times of India. 17
August 2006. Retrieved 2007-03-13.
[12] “Bismillah Khan”. Personalities. webindia123.com. Re-
trieved 2007-03-13.
[13] “India mourns legendary musician”. BBC. 21 August
2006. Retrieved 2007-03-13.
[14] Sangeet Natak Akademi, Youth Awards, Feb 2007
[15] “Padma Awards” (PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs, Gov-
ernment of India. 2015. Retrieved July 21, 2015.
[16] “Standard IX Textbook – Step to English, Chapter 13:
Shehnai Maestro Bismillah Khan” (PDF). National Coun-
cil for Education Research and Training. Archived from
the original (PDF) on 27 September 2006. Retrieved
2006-09-21.
• ^ Life history of Bismillah Khan, the Legend of
Varanasi
• Meeting a Milestone: Ustad Bismillah Khan. A Doc-
umentary by Goutam Ghose, 1989

4. 4 11 EXTERNAL LINKS
11 External links
• Times of India: National mourning for Ustad Bis-
millah Khan
• http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/
tp-features/tp-fridayreview/clear-and-sparkling/
article659558.ece
• http://www.artists-india.com/instrumentalists/
S-Ballesh
• http://www.thehindu.com/features/friday-review/
music/clear-and-sparkling/article6079.ece
• http://www.indianstage.in/EventDetails.do?
eventId=5566#.UtJ13NncbN0
• Ustad Bismillah Khan at the Internet Movie
Database

5. 5
12 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses
12.1 Text
• Bismillah Khan Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bismillah_Khan?oldid=686178000 Contributors: Kingturtle, Jay, Nv8200pa, Joy,
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12.2 Images
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