Imdad Khan

have all upheld his musical tradition, musical luminaries themselves.

Ustad Imdad Khan was born in Agra, as the fourth generation of what was to become the Imdadkhani Gharana (school) or Etawah gharana, named after the village outside Agra where the family soon moved. He was taught by his father, Sahabdad Khan, a trained vocalist and self-taught sitar player, but Imdad came to greatly develop and define the family style and techniques. Imdad Khan was also trained by the legendary beenkar Bande Ali Khan (disciple and son-in-law of Ustad Haddu Khan). In the 19th Century, the instrumental classical music of North India was dominated by the "Senia" style, passed down through the musical dynasty of Miyan Tansen's descendants, who played in the dhrupad "ang". Imdad instead evolved a style based on the newer, more popular khyal singing. It is said that in his youth at Etawah, Imdad practiced on the sitar in a state of chilla (isolation) for some twelve years. When he moved with his family to Kolkata, the house in which they lived was named "Riyaz" (practice).

Imdad attained great fame in his lifetime: he played for Queen Victoria in Delhi; he served as a court musician in Mysore and Indore, and he was the first sitar player ever to be recorded. Some of these recordings have been released on CD, on the "Great Gharanas: Imdadkhani" compilation in RPG/EMI's "Chairman's Choice" series.

He taught the sitar and surbahar to his two sons, Enayat and Wahid Khan, whom he used to refer to as his two hands. Although both of them played the sitar and the surbahar, Enayat Khan specialized on the sitar and Wahid Khan on the surbahar.ref|book

Foot Note

"Hamare Sangit Ratna" a treatise on great Ustads of India