{{short description|Indian musician (1881–1972)}} {{Use Indian English|date=August 2014}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2022}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Allauddin Khan | image = Allaudin_Khan.jpg | birth_date = {{birth date|1881|10|06|df=y}} | birth_place = Shibpur, Bengal Presidency, British India (now Shibpur, Brahmanbaria, Bangladesh) | death_date = {{Death date and age|1972|9|6|1881|10|8|df=y}} | genre = Hindustani classical music | occupation = Composer, sarodiya | instrument = Sursringar, Sarod, Pakhawaj, Violin | module = {{infobox person|embed=yes | children = Ali Akbar Khan, Annapurna Devi | father = Sabdar Hossain Khan | relatives = {{ubl|Fakir Aftabuddin Khan (brother)|Ayet Ali Khan (brother)}} | signature = AlauddinKhan.jpg }} }} Ustad '''Allauddin Khan''' ({{IPA|bn|alaudːin kʰã}}; 8 October 1881 – 6 September 1972)<ref name="NewGrove">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Clayton |first=Martin |editor=Sadie, Stanley |encyclopedia=The New Grove dictionary of music and musicians |title=Khan, Allauddin |edition=2nd |year=2001 |publisher=Macmillan Publishers |volume=13 |location=London |isbn=978-0-333-60800-5 |page=563 |quote=He is believed by some to have lived to the age of 110, although the conjectural birth date of 1881 is more likely}}</ref> was an Indian sarod player and multi-instrumentalist, composer and one of the most notable music teachers of the 20th century in Indian classical music. He was also the founder of Maihar gharana school of Hindustani classical music.<ref>{{cite book |last=Lavezzoli |first=Peter |date=2006 |title=The Dawn of Indian Music in the West |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OSZKCXtx-wEC&pg=PA69 |publisher=A&C Black |pages=67–70 |isbn=978-0-8264-1815-9}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |date=2000 |editor-last=Arnold |editor-first=Alison |title=The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music: South Asia : the Indian subcontinent |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZOlNv8MAXIEC&pg=RA2-PA204 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |pages=203–204 |isbn=978-0-8240-4946-1}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |date=2000 |editor1-last=Broughton |editor1-first=Simon |editor2-last=Ellingham |editor2-first=Mark |editor3-last=McConnachie |editor3-first=James |editor4-last=Duane |editor4-first=Orla |title=World Music: The Rough Guide |volume=2: Latin and North America, Caribbean, India, Asia and Pacific |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QzX8THIgRjUC&pg=PA77 |publisher=Rough Guides |page=77 |isbn=978-1-85828-636-5}}</ref> For a generation many of his students, across different instruments like sitar and violin, dominated Hindustani classical music and became one of the most famous exponents of the form ever, including his son Ali Akbar Khan.

==Early life== Khan was born to a Bengali Muslim family in Shibpur village in Brahmanbaria, British India. His father, Sabdar Hossain Khan, was a musician. Khan took his first music lessons from his elder brother, Fakir Aftabuddin Khan.<ref name=bpedia>{{cite Banglapedia|title=Khan, Ustad Alauddin}}</ref> At age ten, Khan ran away from home to join a jatra party where he was exposed to a variety of folk genres: jari, sari, baul, bhatiyali, kirtan, and panchali.<ref name=bpedia/>

Khan went to Kolkata, where he met a physician named Kedarnath, who helped him to become a disciple of Gopal Krishna Bhattacharya (also known as Nulo Gopal), a notable musician of Kolkata in 1877.<ref name=bpedia/><ref name=mockingbird>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thedailystar.net/op-ed/burn-mockingbird-205753|title=To burn a mockingbird|date=23 January 2016|work=The Daily Star|access-date=11 July 2018|author=Adnan R Amin}}</ref> Khan practiced sargam for twelve years under his guidance.<ref name=bpedia/> After the death of Nulo Gopal, Khan turned to instrumental music. He learned to play many indigenous and foreign musical instruments like sitar, flute, piccolo, mandolin, banjo, etc., from Amritalal Dutt, a cousin of Swami Vivekananda and the music director of the Star Theatre. He learnt to play sanai, naquara, tiquara and jagajhampa from Hazari Ustad and pakhawaj, mridang and tabla from Nandababu.<ref name=bpedia/>

Ali Ahmed referred Allauddin to veena player Wazir Khan.<ref name=mockingbird/><ref name=reg>{{cite book |last1=Massey |first1=Reginald |last2=Massey |first2=Jamila |author2-link=Jamila Massey |date=1996 |title=The Music of India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yySNDP9XVggC&pg=PA142 |publisher=Abhinav Publications |pages=142–143 |isbn=978-81-7017-332-8}}</ref><ref name=ritwik_movie>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1alFUQfe1Dw |title=Ritwik Ghatak's Documentary ~ Ustad Alauddin Khan (1963) | medium=Documentary | location=India | people=Ritwik Ghatak (Director) |access-date=2024-09-25 |via=YouTube}}</ref>

==Career== [[Image:Abbasuddin Alauddin Motahar at Bordhoman House 1955.png|thumb|left|Khan (middle) with Abbasuddin Ahmed and Qazi Motahar Hossain (1955)]] Khan became court musician for the Maharaja of Maihar.<ref name="mockingbird" /> Here he laid the foundation of a modern Maihar gharana by developing a number of ragas, combining the bass sitar and bass sarod with more traditional instruments and setting up an orchestra.<ref name="mockingbird" /> Before becoming a court musician, he had come to Maihar and met one Suraj Sahai Saxena in a penniless state. Taking pity on him Suraj Sahai took him in his shelter where lived for two odd years and practiced music with Shehnai. When Suraj Sahai used to visit Sharda Devi temple in Maihar climbing all the 552 steps, Allauddin Khan used to accompany him and practice Shehnai outside temple precincts. Suraj Sahai had a cousin named Chimmanlal Saxena who was diwan of Maharaja of Maihar. In 1907, Allauddin Khan established the Maihar Band, an orchestral group that taught music to orphaned children.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Atre |first1=Vandana |title=मैहर बँड |url=https://www.lokmat.com/manthan/maihar-band-a296/ |access-date=30 May 2021 |work=Lokmat |date=9 May 2021 |language=mr-IN}}</ref> On recommendation of Chimmanlal, he was appointed as court musician of Maharaja of Maihar. In 1935, he toured Europe, along with Uday Shankar's ballet troupe, and later also worked at his institute, Uday Shankar India Culture Centre at Almora for a while.<ref name="reg" /> In 1955, Khan established a college of music in Maihar.<ref name="mockingbird" /> Some of his recordings were made at the All India Radio in 1959–60.<ref name="reg" />

==Awards== thumb|Khan on a 1999 stamp of India Khan was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1958 and the Padma Vibhushan in 1971, India's third and second highest civilian honours,<ref name="Padma Awards">{{cite web|url=http://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/LST-PDAWD-2013.pdf |title=Padma Awards |publisher=Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India |date=2015 |access-date=21 July 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151015193758/http://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/LST-PDAWD-2013.pdf |archive-date=15 October 2015 }}</ref> and prior to that in 1954, the Sangeet Natak Akademi awarded him with its highest honour, the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship for lifetime contribution to Indian music.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sangeetnatak.gov.in/sna/fellowslist.htm|title=List of Akademi Fellows|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304023617/http://sangeetnatak.gov.in/sna/fellowslist.htm|archive-date=4 March 2016|publisher=sangeetnatak.gov.in}}</ref>

==Legacy==

[[File:Aliakbar.webp|thumb|Khan with his son Ali Akbar Khan, 1933]] thumb|Khan's residence in Maihar, Madhya Pradesh, now preserved as his memorial. Khan's son Ali Akbar Khan, daughter Annapurna Devi, nephew Raja Hossain Khan and grandson Aashish Khan went on to become musicians. His other disciples include Ravi Shankar, Nikhil Banerjee, V.G. Jog, Vasant Rai, Shripad Bandopdhyay, Pannalal Ghosh, Bahadur Khan, Rabin Ghosh, Sharan Rani, Nalin Mazumdar, Jotin Bhattacharya, Rajesh Chandra Moitra, David Podiappuhami aka Siyambalapitiyage Don David Podiappuhami<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYLfYl0n6Oc|title="The God of Music" - Documentary Film of Sri Lankan Musician USTAD David Podiappuhami|date=April 29, 2021|via=YouTube}}</ref> and W. D. Amaradeva.

Khan's house Madina Bhavan was in Maihar. This house has been restored by Rajesh Ali Khan Son of Ali Akbar Khan as part of a development that includes an artists and a writers retreat nearby.<ref name=better>{{Cite web|date=8 March 2018|title=Judge, Doctor, Scholar, Conservationist: 10 Women Honored at Rashtrapati Bhavan|url=https://www.thebetterindia.com/133733/judge-doctor-scholar-conservationist-10-women-honored-rashtrapati-bhavan/|access-date=14 January 2021|website=The Better India|language=en-US}}</ref>

==Personal life== Anecdotes about Khan range from throwing a tabla tuning hammer at the Maharaja himself to taking care of disabled beggars. Nikhil Banerjee said that the tough image was "deliberately projected in order not to allow any liberty to the disciple. He was always worried that soft treatment on his part would only spoil them".<ref name=raga>{{Cite web|url=http://www.raga.com/cds/211/211text.html|title=My Maestro As I Saw Him|publisher=raga.com|access-date=11 July 2018|author=Nikhil Banerjee|date=1992}}</ref>

==Films== * ''Ustad Alauddin Khan'' (1963), a documentary directed by Ritwik Ghatak.<ref name=ritwik_movie /> * ''Baba Alauddin Khan'' (1965), a documentary by Indian film director Harisadhan Dasgupta.<ref name="RajadhyakshaWillemen1999">{{cite book|last1=Rajadhyaksha|first1=Ashish|last2=Willemen|first2=Paul|title=Encyclopaedia of Indian cinema|url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopaediaofi0000raja|url-access=registration|access-date=12 August 2012|year=1999|publisher=British Film Institute|isbn=9780851706696 }}</ref> * '' Raga'' (1971), directed by Howard Worth. Remastered version released in 2010 by East Meets West Music.<ref name="Raga (2010 Remaster)">{{cite web|title=Raga (2010 Remaster)|url=http://eastmeetswestmusic.com/discography/raga/|website=East Meets West Music|access-date=25 October 2016|archive-date=26 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161026014931/http://eastmeetswestmusic.com/discography/raga/|url-status=dead}}</ref> * ''Maihar Raag'' (1993), directed by Sunil Shanbag. A look at Allauddin Khan's crumbling heritage in Maihar, which won the National Film Award for Best Non-Feature Film in 1994.<ref>{{cite news |title=Graphiti &#124; Breaking new ground |url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080727/jsp/graphiti/story_9600426.jsp |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120918085214/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080727/jsp/graphiti/story_9600426.jsp |url-status=dead |archive-date=18 September 2012 |newspaper=The Telegraph |location=Calcutta, India |date=27 July 2008 |access-date=16 October 2011}}</ref> {{clear}}

==References== {{Reflist}}

==Further reading== * {{cite book |last=Bhattacharya |first=Jotin |author-link=Jotin Bhattacharya |date=1979 |title=Ustad Allauddin Khan and his music |location=Ahmedabad |publisher=B. S. Shah Prakashan |oclc=6015389}} * {{cite book |last=Ghosh |first=Anuradha |date=1990 |title=Ustad Allauddin Khan: the legend of music |location=New Delhi |publisher=Publications Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Govt. of India |oclc=31815419}} * {{cite book |last=Khokar |first=Ashish |date=1996 |title=Baba Allauddin Khan |location=New Delhi |publisher=Roli Books |isbn=978-81-7436-021-2}} * {{cite book |last=Shankar |first=Rajendra |title=Ustad Allauddin Khan |location=Bombay |publisher=Kinnara School of Music |oclc=41971650}} * {{cite book |last=McKenzie-McHarg |first=Sarita |date=2013 |title=The Great Master of Hindustani Classical Music: Dr (Baba) Allauddin Khan (1881–1972) |url=http://pothi.com/pothi/book/dr-sarita-mckenzie-mcharg-dr-baba-allauddin-khan-1881%E2%80%931972 |location=Bangalore |publisher=Pothi.com |oclc=868824639}} * {{cite book |last=Shankar |first=Ravi |orig-year=1968|year= 2007 |title=My Music, My Life |location=San Rafael, CA |publisher=Mandala Publishing}}

==External links== * {{Commons category-inline}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20090505042553/http://music.calarts.edu/~bansuri/pages/allaudin.html Ustad Baba Allaudin Khan, Detailed Biography and images] at California Institute of the Arts * [http://eastmeetswestmusic.com/discography/raga/ ''Raga'' (2010 Remaster) at East Meets West Music] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161026014931/http://eastmeetswestmusic.com/discography/raga/ |date=26 October 2016 }} * {{Discogs artist|Allauddin Khan}}

{{Padma Vibhushan Awards}} {{PadmaBhushanAwardRecipients 1954–59}} {{Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship}} {{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Khan, Allauddin}} Category:1860s births Category:1972 deaths Category:People from Nabinagar Upazila Category:Indian sitar players Category:Veena players Category:19th-century Indian composers Category:20th-century Indian composers Category:Bengali musicians Category:Hindustani composers Category:Hindustani musicians Category:Indian classical composers Category:Indian male composers Category:Indian music educators Category:Indian multi-instrumentalists Category:Maihar gharana Category:Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in arts Category:Recipients of the Padma Vibhushan in arts Category:Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Category:Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship Category:Date of birth missing Category:20th-century Indian male musicians Category:19th-century Indian male musicians Category:Musicians from British India Category:People from the Bengal Presidency Category:Shankar family