Alladiya Khan (10 August 1855 – 16 March 1946) was an Indian

Hindustani classical Hindustani classical music is the classical music of northern regions of the Indian subcontinent. It may also be called North Indian classical music or, in Hindustani, ''shastriya sangeet'' (). It is played in instruments like the violin, sita ...

singer who founded the

Jaipur-Atrauli gharana The Jaipur-Atrauli Gharana (also known as Jaipur Gharana, Atrauli-Jaipur Gharana, and Alladiyakhani Gayaki) is an Hindustani music apprenticeship fraternity (''gharana''), founded by Alladiya Khan in the late-19th century. Evolved from the dhrup ...

, also referred as just Jaipur Gharana. He is recognized for his revival, reinterpretation, and creations of many rare

raags A ''raga'' or ''raag'' (; also ''raaga'' or ''ragam''; ) is a melodic framework for improvisation in Indian classical music akin to a melodic mode. The ''rāga'' is a unique and central feature of the classical Indian music tradition, and as a ...

compositions Composition or Compositions may refer to: Arts and literature * Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography * Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include ...

, and techniques and for producing disciples like Bhaskarbuwa Bakhale,

Kesarbai Kerkar Kesarbai Kerkar (13 July 1892 – 16 September 1977) was an Indian classical vocalist of the Jaipur-Atrauli gharana. A protege of Ustad Alladiya Khan (1855–1946), the founder of the gharana, from age sixteen, she went on to become one of th ...

, and

Mogubai Kurdikar Mogubai Kurdikar (15 July 1904 – 10 February 2001) was a renowned Indian classical vocalist of the Jaipur-Atrauli gharana. Early years and background Mogubai was born in the village of Kurdi in Portuguese-ruled Goa. Little is known of her ...

. Updated 20 July 2011.

Background

Alladiya Khan was born on August 10, 1855, at Uniara, a small village in Tonk, Rajasthan, (then under the

Jaipur State Jaipur State was a princely state in India during East India Company rule and thereafter under the British Raj. It signed a treaty creating a subsidiary alliance with the Company in 1818, after the Third Anglo-Maratha War. It acced ...

) to a

Shia Muslim Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, most ...

family of musicians.

Ancestry

Khan claims ancestry from Nath Vishwambhar, an ancestor of

Swami Haridas Swami Haridas (1480—1573) was a spiritual poet and classical musician. Credited with a large body of devotional compositions, especially in the Dhrupad style, he is also the founder of the Haridasi school of mysticism, still found today ...

. Having converted to Islam during the

Mughal era The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...

, Khan's family traces its history to the Adya Gaud Brahmins of

Shandilya Shandilya ( IAST: Śāṇḍilya) is a Brahmin gotra, named after the Rishi Shandilya, specifying that individuals of the gotra have Shandilya as one of their patrilineal ancestors. Shandilya Rishi and was the progenitor of the Śāṇḍilya g ...

gotra In Hindu culture, the term gotra (Sanskrit: गोत्र) is considered to be equivalent to lineage. It broadly refers to people who are descendants in an unbroken male line from a common male ancestor or patriline. Generally, the gotra ...

Musical Training

Though his father Ahmed Khan died early in his life, Khan's uncle, Jehangir (of Jaipur), taught him

dhrupad Dhrupad is a genre in Hindustani classical music from the Indian subcontinent. It is the oldest known style of major vocal styles associated with Hindustani classical music, Haveli Sangeet of Pushtimarg Sampraday and also related to the South I ...

for 5 years and then

khyal Khyal or Khayal (ख़याल / خیال) is a major form of Hindustani classical music in the Indian subcontinent. Its name comes from a Persian/Arabic word meaning "imagination". Khyal is associated with romantic poetry, and allows the perfo ...

for another 8 years. Khan would practice palta exercises for six hours daily well into his 50s.

Career

Alladiya Khan served in the court of various kings of Rajasthan, including that of Amlata.

Setback

Due to overextension of the voice at the request of his patron, Khan lost his voice in his late-30s for nearly two years. His recuperated voice is said to have not regained the quality and sensitivity he had employed earlier. These limitations resulted in the conception of what would become the Jaipur gayaki.

Touring

Khan traveled to

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West ...

Patna Patna ( ), historically known as Pataliputra, is the capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Patna had a population of 2.35 million, making it the 19th largest city in India. ...

Allahabad Allahabad (), officially known as Prayagraj, also known as Ilahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi (Benares). It is the admin ...

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is ma ...

, and

Baroda Vadodara (), also known as Baroda, is the second largest city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Vadodara district and is situated on the banks of the Vishwamitri River, from the state capi ...

for some years in the early part of his life to perform for kings.

Kolhapur (1895-1922)

Later, Khan settled down in

Kolhapur Kolhapur () is a city on the banks of the Panchganga River in the southern part of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the administrative headquarter of the Kolhapur district. In, around 2 C.E. Kolapur's name was 'Kuntal'. Kolhapur is k ...

with his family as the court musician of

Shahu Maharaj Shahu (also known as Chhatrapati Rajarshi Shahu, Shahu IV, Rajarshi Shahu Maharaj, Kolhapur's Shahu) (26 June 1874 – 6 May 1922) of the Bhonsle dynasty of Marathas was a Raja (reign. 1894 – 1900) and the first Maharaja (1900–1922) o ...

Mumbai

In 1922, he moved to

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the secon ...

after the king died. He taught many disciples and sang in many

mehfil Mehfil (also spelled ''mahfil'') is a formal venue where indoor recreational activities such as poetry (mushaira), singing, music, and dance are entertained in parts of the Indian subcontinent. It is part of Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb culture. His ...

s in

. There, he grew fond of

natya sangeet ''Sangeet Natak'' in Marathi language literally means Musical Drama. As the name suggests, this form of drama combines prose as well as poetry in form of songs to convey the story. In a manner, they are very much similar to Musicals. ''Sangeet ...

singers like Balgandharva and continued to teach his students until his death. Alladiya Khan died in Bombay on 16 March 1946. His autobiography, as narrated to his grandson Azizzudin Khan Sahab, is available in English translation, as ''My Life'', with an introduction by Amlan Dasgupta and Urmila Bhirdikar, published by Thema, Kolkata, 2000.Profile of Alladiya Khan on The Hindu newspaper
Published 20 March 2000, Retrieved 22 April 2017

Musicianship

Repertoire

Alladiya Khan was acknowledged for his creation and resurrection of many complex Raags such as ''Nat Kamod'', ''Bhoop Nat'', ''Kaunsi Kanada'', ''Sampoorna Malkauns'', ''Basanti Kedar'', ''Shuddha Nat'', ''Malavi'', ''Savani Kalyan'', ''DhavalaShree''. Many of these Raags were sung in the

Havelis A ''haveli'' is a traditional townhouse, mansion, manor house, in the Indian subcontinent, usually one with historical and architectural significance, and located in a town or city. The word ''haveli'' is derived from Arabic ''hawali'', meani ...

in northern

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern s ...

, where Khansahab grew up. From ''Haveli Sangeet'' tradition, Khansahab brought many of the Raags in the realm of live concerts and also created Raags and

Bandish Bandish, cheez or gat is a fixed, melodic composition in Hindustani vocal or instrumental music. It is set in a specific raga, performed with rhythmic accompaniment by a tabla or pakhawaj, a steady drone, and melodic accompaniment by a sarangi, v ...

es rooted in them. One of the Raags he resurrected was ''Raag Basanti Kanada''. Few of the many Haveli sangeet dhrupads which he made into bandishes were the famous ''Raag Nayaki Kanada''

"Mero Piya Rasiya" and Bihagda

"Ae Pyaari pag hole". "Khan Saheb had never allowed his voice to be recorded."

Students

Khansahab's major disciples were Azmat Hussain Khan, his own younger brother Haider Khan (also spelled Hyder Khan), his own sons, Manji Khan and Bhurji Khan, and his grandson Azizuddin Khansahab. Apart from the members of his family, Khansahab's initial disciples were Tanibai Ghorpade, Bhaskarbuwa Bakhale,

, Govindrao Shaligram, and

Gulubhai Jasdanwalla Gulubhai Jasdanwalla was a Hindustani Classical vocalist of the Jaipur-Atrauli Gharana and one of the foremost disciples of Gharana founder Utd. Alladiya Khan. Background From a entrepreneurial family, Gulubhai Jasdanwalla was a race horse ...

Extension of legacy

Alladiya Khan's students played a major part in extending the influence of Jaipur Gharana. Alladiya Khan's eldest son, Nasiruddin "Badeji" Khan (1886-1966), could not pursue singing as a profession because of health reasons, so Manji Khan and Bhurji Khan took forward the tradition. Manji Khan, Alladiya Khan's second son, had started teaching

Mallikarjun Mansur Pandit Mallikarjun Bheemaraayappa Mansur (Kannada: ಮಲ್ಲಿಕಾರ್ಜುನ ಮನ್ಸೂರ), (31 December 1910 – 12 September 1992) was an Indian classical singer from Karnataka, an excellent vocalist in the khyal style in th ...

in 1935, but Manji Khan died in 1937 (around March 1937); so it was Bhurji Khan, the youngest son, who passed on the gayaki of his father.

and Dhondutai Kulkarni are among the noted disciples of Bhurji Khan. Gajanan-buwa Joshi of Agra Gharana also received guidance from Bhurji Khan. Haider Khan's disciples included Mogubai Kurdikar, Laxmibai Jadhav, and his son Naththan Khan. Noted musicologist Vamanrao Deshpande was Naththan Khan's student. But Naththan Khan died in 1946, just a few weeks after Alladiya Khan's death. Mogibai Kurdikar's students include famous names like her daughter

Kishori Amonkar Kishori Amonkar (10 April 1932 – 3 April 2017) was a leading Indian classical vocalist, belonging to the Jaipur ''gharana'', or a community of musicians sharing a distinctive musical style. She was a performer of the classical genre ' ...

, musicologist Vamanrao Deshpande, Kausalya Manjeshwar,

Padma Talwalkar Padma Talwalkar (born 28 February 1949) is an Indian classical vocalist Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers per ...

Legacy

The ''Annual Ustad Alladiya Khan Music Festival'' is celebrated in Mumbai and Dharwad each year, where several singers and musicians perform, giving homage to Alladiya Khan.

Recordings

Khan was adamant about not having his voice and style recorded for fear of copyright. Though, there have been suspicions that ambiguous recordings may belong to Khan or his kin. A recording of a thumri is alleged to be featuring Khan singing.

In popular culture

In 2007, the story of Dhondutai Kulkarni, disciple of the legendary Bhurji Khan, was the subject of Namita Devidayal's debut novel, ''The Music Room''.

References

External links

Official Website: Alladiya Khan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Khan, Alladiya 1855 births 1946 deaths Hindustani singers People from Aligarh district 19th-century Indian male classical singers Indian music educators 20th-century Indian male classical singers Singers from Rajasthan Vocal gharanas Jaipur gharana 20th-century Khyal singers