Nathu Khan (1920 1971; sometimes spelled as Nathoo), was a Pakistani

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 known for introducing solo sarangi playing tradition with difficult phrases. He was associated with

Radio Pakistan The Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation (); also known as ''Radio Pakistan'', serves as the national public broadcaster for radio in Pakistan. Although some local stations predate its founding, it is the oldest existing broadcasting network in P ...

and

Pakistan Television Corporation Pakistan Television Corporation (; reporting name: PTV); also known as ''Pakistan Television'', is the Pakistani state-owned broadcaster founded by the Government of Pakistan, operating under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. I ...

. He was also associated with

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 ...

before emigrating from India. He has the distinction of having playback singer

Ahmed Rushdi Ahmed Rushdi (; 24 April 1934 – 11 April 1983) was a versatile Pakistani playback singer and was "an important contributor to the Cinema of Pakistan#The Golden Era (1959–1977), golden age of Pakistani film music". Regarded as one of the gr ...

as his informal disciple in classical music from 1944 to 1948.

Biography

Nathoo Khan was born in

Amritsar Amritsar, also known as Ambarsar, is the second-List of cities in Punjab, India by population, largest city in the India, Indian state of Punjab, India, Punjab, after Ludhiana. Located in the Majha region, it is a major cultural, transportatio ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

. His father Baba Balle was a

tabla A ''tabla'' is a pair of hand drums from the Indian subcontinent. Since the 18th century, it has been the principal percussion instrument in Hindustani classical music, where it may be played solo, as an accompaniment with other instruments a ...

player. Nathoo Khan considered Ustad Ahmadi Khan, Ustad Allah Diya and Bhai Lal Muhammad as his mentors while he was training in music. Following the

partition of India The partition of India in 1947 was the division of British India into two independent dominion states, the Dominion of India, Union of India and Dominion of Pakistan. The Union of India is today the Republic of India, and the Dominion of Paki ...

, he migrated to Pakistan where he became a staff artist at Radio Pakistan,

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 ...

, Pakistan. His uncle Feroze Din was one of his sarangi teachers. He first appearance in a sarangi playing performance was at Kaliyar Sharif where he played Raag Shudh Sarang, a

Hindustani classical music Hindustani classical music is the Indian classical music, classical music of the Indian subcontinent's northern regions. It may also be called North Indian classical music or ''Uttar Bhartiya shastriya sangeet''. The term ''shastriya sangeet'' ...

raag. He was introduced to

by its then Managing Director Zulfiqar Ali Bukhari. He later worked at the 'Pakistan International Airlines Arts Academy'. During his career at Radio Pakistan, he composed music for a few films and radio plays. According to a major newspaper of Pakistan: "He was also a great accompanist and accompanied almost all the great vocalists of his time like Ustad Ashiq Ali Khan,

Bade Ghulam Ali Khan Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan (2 April 1902 – 23 April 1968) was a Pakistani vocalist, from the Kasur Patiala Gharana.

, Salamat Ali Nazakat Ali,

Roshan Ara Begum Roshan Ara Begum () (1917 – 6 December 1982) was a vocalist belonging to the Kirana gharana (singing style) of Hindustani classical music. She is also known by her honorific title ''Malika-e-Mauseeqi'' (The Queen of Music) and ''The Que ...

. According to Ustad

Salamat Ali Khan Salamat Ali Khan (12 December 1934 11 July 2001) was a Pakistani vocalist and touring artist known for his contribution to the Hindustani classical music. Widely regarded as one of the greatest classical singers of the Indian subcontinent, ...

, he was the best accompanist he ever sang with; Ram Narayan being the second best".

Awards

Nathoo Khan was posthumously awarded the

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 in 2016 by the

government of Pakistan The Government of Pakistan () (abbreviated as GoP), constitutionally known as the Federal Government, commonly known as the Centre, is the national authority of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, a federal republic located in South Asia, con ...

in recognition of his contribution to

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

and

Sindhi music Sindhi folk music () is traditional folk music and singing from Sindh, which is sung and generally performed in 5 genres that originated in Sindh, the first genre "Bait" styles. The Bait style is vocal music in Sanhoon (low voice) and Graham (high ...

Death

Nathoo Khan died in 1971 after a short illness while on a tour of Europe.

References

External links

List of Nathu Khan's classical music ragas on sarangi.info website - Archived
{{DEFAULTSORT:Khan, Nathu 1920 births 1971 deaths Pakistani male composers Muhajir people Sarangi players Recipients of the Pride of Performance Pakistani radio personalities Pakistani television people All India Radio people Musicians from Amritsar

Biography

Awards

Death

Further reading

References

External links