Vilayat Khan on the cover of his raga Shree CD for India Archive Music (cover photo: Lyle Wachowsky)

Vilayat Khan (Bangla: বিলায়েত খাঁ Bilaeet Khã) (August 8, 1928 ^[1]–March 13, 2004) was one of India's well known sitar maestros, born in Gauripur in Mymensingh, Bengal (now in Bangladesh). Rāga ( Sanskrit, lit "colour" or "mood" or rāgam in Carnatic music) refers to melodic modes used Year 1928 ( MCMXXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country Mymensingh (ময়মনসিংহ is one of the districts of Dhaka division, Bangladesh, and is bordered on the north by Meghalaya state of Etymology and ethnology The exact origin of the word Bangla or Bengal is unknown though it is believed to be derived from the Dravidian-speaking tribe Bang ( Bengali: বাংলাদেশ inc-Latn Bangladesh) officially He recorded his first 78-RPM disc at the age of 8, and gave his last concert in 2004 at the age of 75.

Background, music, career

Vilayat Khan was born into a family of musicians tracing its pedigree generations back to the court musicians of the Mughal rulers. His father was Enayat Khan (1895–1938), recognised as a leading sitar and surbahar (bass sitar) player of his time, as had been the grandfather, Imdad Khan (1848–1920), before him. Enayat Khan (1895–1938 was one of India 's most influential Sitar and Surbahar players in the first decades of the 20th Century The Surbahar ( Hindi: सुर बहार also known as bass sitar) is a Plucked string instrument used in the Hindustani classical music Ustad Imdad Khan (1848–1920 was one of the greatest Sitar and Surbahar players of all time Vilayat was taught in the family style, known as the Imdadkhani Gharana (school), or Etawah Gharana, after a village outside Agra where Imdad lived. The Imdadkhani Gharana is a North Indian school of Sitar and Surbahar music stemming from the very ancient Gwalior Gharana. The Imdadkhani Gharana is a North Indian school of Sitar and Surbahar music stemming from the very ancient Gwalior Gharana. Agra ( pronounced) (आगरा آگرا is a city on the banks of the Yamuna River in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh,

However, Enayat Khan died when Vilayat was only nine, so much of his education came from the rest of his family: his uncle, sitar and surbahar maestro Wahid Khan, his maternal grandfather, singer Bande Hassan Khan, and his mother, Bashiran Begum, who had studied the practice procedure of Imdad, Enayat and Wahid. Lineage Ustad Wahid Khan the great Surbahar and Sitar player was born in a small town near Agra called Etawah in UP Vilayat's uncle Zinde Hassan looked after his riyaz (practice). As a boy, Vilayat wanted to be a singer; but his mother, herself from a family of vocalists, felt he had a strong responsibility to bear the family torch as a sitar maestro. ^[2]

Vilayat Khan omitted one of the two thick bronze alloy bass strings from the sitar. The Etawah gharana sitar is designed for long sustaining of meend (pulling the string along curved frets) and produces a clearer, more resonant tone with less buzz than the traditional sitars. In the 1950s, Vilayat Khan worked closely with instrument makers, especially the famous sitar-makers Kanailal & Hiren Roy, to further develop the instrument. Also, he liked to perform without a tanpura drone, filling out the silence with strokes to his chikari strings. The tambura ( Hindi: तानपूरा is a type of Stringed instrument found in different versions in different places around the world most are plucked

Some ragas he would somewhat re-interpret (Bhankar, Jaijaivanti), others he invented himself (Enayatkhani Kanada, Sanjh Saravali), but he was first and foremost a traditional interpreter of grand, basic ragas such as Yaman, Shree, Todi and Bhairavi. Rāga ( Sanskrit, lit "colour" or "mood" or rāgam in Carnatic music) refers to melodic modes used

When he died from lung cancer in 2004, Vilayat Khan had been recording for over 65 years, broadcasting on All-India Radio since almost as far back and been seen as a master (ustad) for 60. All India Radio (abbreviated as AIR) officially known as Akashvani ( Devanagari: आकाशवाणी ākāshavānī ( Urdu: اکاشوانی He had been touring outside India off and on for more than 50 years, and was probably the first Indian musician to play in England after independence (1951). England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland In the 1990s, his recording career reached a climax of sorts with a series of ambitious CDs for India Archive Music in New York, some traditional, some controversial, some eccentric. Towards the end of his life, he also performed and recorded sporadically on the surbahar.

Personal life

Vilayat Khan spent much of his life living in Calcutta. He was married twice, his first marriage ending in divorce; he had two daughters, Sufi singer [Zila Khan] (http://www.zilakhan.in ) and Yaman (named after ragas), and two sons, Shujaat (b. Shujaat Husain Khan is a noted Indian musician and Sitar player belonging to the Imdadkhani gharana and is the son of Ustad Vilayat Khan. 1960) and Hidayat (b. Hidayat Khan (born 1975 is an Indian Sitar player the youngest son of classical great Vilayat Khan (1928–2004 1975), who both play the sitar. He was survived also by his younger brother, Imrat Khan, the post-war star of the surbahar field. Imrat Khan (born November 17, 1935) is a leading Sitar and Surbahar player The brothers played celebrated duets in their youth, but had a severe falling-out and for years were not on speaking terms. Vilayat took few disciples other than his sons; among the best-known are Kasinath Mukherjee, Arvind Parikh and Kalyani Roy.

Away from the sitar he enjoyed horse-riding, pool playing, swimming and ballroom dancing. His successes made him rich, and though he grew more pious late in life, he used to drive sports cars and dress in haute couture, and also collected such various items as firearms, smoking pipes, antique European crockery, cut glass and chandeliers. Haute couture ( French for "high sewing" or "high dressmaking" oːt kuˈtyʁ refers to the creation of exclusive custom-fitted fashions

Controversy

Fans and media alike liked to play up Vilayat Khan's rivalry with and animosity towards Ravi Shankar . Pandit Ravi Shankar ( রবি শংকর Devanagari: रविशंकर "Pandit" ( Sanskrit, "learned" is honorific born April However, in calmer moments Vilayat would admit there was not much to it. His animosity for the politics and institutions of India's cultural life was another matter. In 1964 and 1968, respectively, he was awarded the Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan awards – India's fourth and third highest civilian honours for service to the nation – but refused to accept them, declaring the committee musically incompetent to judge him. Padma Shri (also spelt Padma Shree, Padmashree, Padma Sree and Padma Sri) is an award given by the Government of India generally The Padma Bhushan award is an Indian civilian decoration established on January 2, 1954 by the President of India.

In January 2000, when he was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civilian award, he again refused, going so far as to call it "an insult". The Padma Vibhushan is India 's second highest civilian honour This time, his criticism had a slightly different twist: he would not accept any award that other sitar players, his juniors and in his opinion less deserving, had been given before him. "If there is any award for sitar in India, I must get it first", he said, adding that "there has always been a story of wrong time, wrong person and wrong award in this country". ^[3]

Among other honours he turned down was the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award. Sangeet Natak Akademi ( Devanāgarī: संगीत नाटक अकादेमी or The National Academy for Music Dance and Drama in For a while, he also boycotted All-India Radio. The only titles he accepted were the special decorations of "Bharat Sitar Samrat" by the Artistes Association of India and "Aftab-e-Sitar" (Sun of the Sitar) from President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed.

Footnotes

^ Vilayat Khan's year of birth is a matter of some debate, some saying 1924, 1926 or 1927 – personally, he maintained he was born in 1928.

^ He kept his childhood interest in vocal music all his life, often singing in concerts, and composed khyal bandishes using the pen name Nath Piya. Khyal (or Khayal: Hindi: ख़्याल Urdu: خیال is the modern genre of classical singing in North India.

^ Sitar Maestro Vilayat Khan Refuses Padma Bhushan, The Hindu, February 7 2000. The Hindu is a single-edition English-language Indian newspaper

Further reading

• The Autobiography of Ustad Vilayat Khan: Komal Gandhar, written with Sankarlal Bhattacharjee. Published by Sahityam. Kolkata.