Asad Ali Khan | |
|---|---|
 Asad Ali Khan performs in 2009 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | (1937-12-01)1 December 1937 Alwar,Indian Empire |
| Died | 14 June 2011(2011-06-14) (aged 73) New Delhi,India |
| Genres | Hindustani classical music |
| Instrument | rudra veena |
Asad Ali Khan (1 December 1937 – 14 June 2011) was an Indian musician who played the plucked string instrumentrudra veena. Khan performed in the styledhrupad and was described as the best livingrudra veena player in India byThe Hindu.[citation needed] He was awarded the Indian civilian honorPadma Bhushan in 2008.[1]
Khan was born 1937 inAlwar in the seventh generation ofrudra veena players in his family.[2][3] His ancestors were royal musicians in the courts ofRampur,Uttar Pradesh, andJaipur,Rajasthan in the 18th century.[4][5] His great-grandfatherRajab Ali Khan was head of the court musicians in Jaipur and owned a village land holding.[5][6] His grandfather Musharraf Khan (died 1909) was court musician in Alwar, and performed in London in 1886.[5][7] Khan's father Sadiq Ali Khan worked as a musician for the Alwar court and for theNawab ofRampur for 35 years.[7][8] Khan grew up in a musical surrounding and was taught the Beenkargharana (stylistic school ofrudra veena playing) of Jaipur and vocals for fifteen years.[3][5][7]
Khan was one of a few active musicians who played therudra veena and the last surviving master of one of the four schools ofdhrupad, the Khandar school.[4][5][9] He performed in many countries, includingAustralia, theUnited States,Afghanistan, andItaly and several otherEuropean countries, and conducted music courses in the United States.[9][10] Khan worked atAll India Radio, taught thesitar in the Faculty of Music and Fine Arts at theUniversity of Delhi for 17 years, and continued to train students privately after his retirement.[8][9][11] Students of Khan who perform include his son Zaki Haidar,Carsten Wicke, Bikramjeet Das ofKolkata,Jyoti Hegde, and the vocalist, Madhumita Ray.[12][13] Dr. Keshav Sharma from Shimla, India was also his disciple for many years who learnt Sitar and Dhrupad. Khan criticized the lack of willingness among Indians to study therudra veena and had more foreign than Indian students.[10] He was involved in preserving the playing of the instrument, which he believed to be created by the deityShiva, and performed forSPIC MACAY, promoting Indian classical music to young Indians.[3][5][9] Khan was aShi'a Muslim.[14]
Khan received several national awards, including theSangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1977 and the civilian honorPadma Bhushan in 2008, which was awarded byIndian PresidentPratibha Patil.[4][15][16] He was described as the best livingrudra veena player in India byThe Hindu and lived inDelhi.[7][17]
Khan died on 14 June 2011 in theAll India Institute of Medical Sciences inNew Delhi.[12]
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