Ustad,ustadh orustaz (abbreviated as Ust., Ut. or Ud.; fromPersianاستادustād) is anhonorific title used inWest Asia,North Africa,Central Asia,South Asia andSoutheast Asia.[1] It is used in various languages, including Persian,Arabic (asأستاذ’ustāḏ),Azerbaijani,Urdu,Hindi,Bengali,Marathi,Dhivehi,Punjabi,Pashto,Turkish,Kazakh,Uzbek,Indonesian,Malay andKurdish.
ThePersian wordاستاد (ustād) is fromMiddle Persian𐫀𐫇𐫏𐫘𐫤𐫀𐫅 (awestād, 'master, craftsman').[2]
The title precedes the name and was historically usually used for well-regarded teachers andartists. It can be used for any sort of master of an art or occupation; for example, an acknowledged master motorcycle mechanic would be addressed asustad.[3] The term is also used by an apprentice (shagird) for their teacher.
InPersian and in theArabic-speaking world, it also refers to auniversity professor. Ustad is only used for qualifiedIslamic scholars inBrunei,Indonesia,Malaysia, thePhilippines,Singapore, SouthernThailand where it is a direct equivalent of terms such asshaykh in theArab world, andmawlānā in theIndian Subcontinent. In theMaldives, the titleal-usthaadh (އަލްއުސްތާޛު)[4] or its abbreviationUz. is used by people who are licensed to practice law.
Ustad (abbreviated as Ust. or Ut. or Ud. and fromPersianاستاد) is anhonorific title for an expert person in Indian classical singing and instrumental playing, used for a Muslim musician. It is used inHindustani classical music to recognize master performers. It is used as a music title. An expert other than a Hindu musician is given the title of ustad. The title is awarded to musicians by their teachers, prominent individuals, or members of theirgharana in recognition of their expertise.[5] It is used in various languages includingHindi,Bengali, andPunjabi. A Muslim woman who is an expert in Indian classical music is given the title ofbegum; some examples includeBegum Akhtar andBegum Parveen Sultana.Pandit is the equivalent title for a Hindu man, andVidushi, Pandita, or Panditain for a Hindu woman.
The title ofustad (andpandit) is prepended informally to the names of classical singers and players by their admirers, individuals or institutions once they have reached eminence in their performing art, especially in public performances. As they are informal titles, mentioning the names of eminent singers without those appendages is acceptable, unlike prefixes likedoctor awarded formally by educational institutions.[6]
The titleustad referring to a classical musician and the titleustad which is given to a knowledgeable person are different.
There are manyustads inHindustani classical music, for example,Ustad Ahmed Jan Thirakwa,Ustad Alla Rakha,Ustad Zakir Hussain,Ustad Amjad Ali Khan,Ustad Vilayat Khan,Ustad Shahid Parvez,Ustad Rashid Khan,Ustad Bismillah Khan, etc.
