Bundu Khan (1880 – 1955) was a Pakistani musical instrument
sarangi
The sārangī is a bowed, short-necked three-stringed instrument played in traditional music from South Asia – Punjabi folk music, Rajasthani folk music, Sindhi folk music, Haryanvi folk music, Braj folk music, and Boro folk music (the ...
player.
Early life and career
Bundu Khan was born in
Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...
before partition in a family of musicians. He received his early training in
sarangi
The sārangī is a bowed, short-necked three-stringed instrument played in traditional music from South Asia – Punjabi folk music, Rajasthani folk music, Sindhi folk music, Haryanvi folk music, Braj folk music, and Boro folk music (the ...
from his father Ali Jan Khan starting at 8 years of age, and later from his uncle Mamman Khan, a veteran Sarangi and Sursagar player who belonged to the Patiala gharana (House of Patiala) of classical musicians.
Bundu Khan played the sarangi from
All India Radio
All India Radio (AIR), also known as Akashvani (), is India's state-owned public broadcasting, public radio broadcaster. Founded in 1936, it operates under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India), Ministry of Information and Broa ...
,
Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...
Station, when it first started broadcasting in 1935. He served the princely court of
Indore
Indore (; ISO 15919, ISO: , ) is the largest and most populous Cities in India, city in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. The commercial capital of the state, it has been declared as the List of cleanest cities in India, cleanest city of In ...
for 27 years as a court-musician. He studied
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...
in order to have access to the classical music of ancient India. He introduced what is known as ''Meendh Soot Ki Sargam'' in which the musician, in the midst of recurring melody, shifts from one note to another. He had mastered more than 500
Raga
A raga ( ; , ; ) is a melodic framework for improvisation in Indian classical music akin to a musical mode, melodic mode. It is central to classical Indian music. Each raga consists of an array of melodic structures with musical motifs; and, fro ...
s. "He had great mastery over Raga system, Taan-palta, various traditional compositions – especially Ragas such as ''Malkauns'', Malhar, Bhairav."Profile of Bundu Khan on SwarGanga Music Foundation website Retrieved 2 January 2022
"Bundu Khan's sarangi was smaller in size than the usual one, with some metal strings instead of gut strings and so it sounded much different."
Bundu Khan was also a musical theorist or a musicologist. His book on music, ''Jauhar-i-Mausiqi'' in Urdu, known as ''Sangeet Vivek Darpan'' in Hindi, was published simultaneously in Urdu and Hindi in June 1934.
Death and legacy
After partition he migrated to Pakistan and lived in
Karachi
Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...
until his death on 13 January 1955. "After migrating to Pakistan after the independence of Pakistan in 1947, Khan continued to play the sarangi from all the radio stations of Pakistan until his death in 1955. His sons Umrao Bundu Khan and Bulund Iqbal Khan have continued his musical tradition.
Awards and recognition
Pride of Performance
The Pride of Performance (), officially known as the Presidential Pride of Performance, is an award bestowed by the Pakistan, Islamic Republic of Pakistan to recognize people with "notable achievements in the field of art, science, literature, sp ...
Award by the
President of Pakistan
The president of Pakistan () is the head of state of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The president is the nominal head of the executive and the supreme commander of the Pakistan Armed Forces.