Ustad Abdul Wahid Khan

Ustād Abdul Wahid Khān was a prominent Hindustāni classical music singer of Kirānā Gharānā in India in the 20th century.

Early life and training

Abdul Wahid Khan belonged to the Kirana Gharana musical family which traced its roots to musician brothers Ghulām Ali and Ghulām Maulā. Ustad Abdul Karim Khān also belonged to the same family, and had married Wahid Khan's sister, Gafooran Bibi. The relationship between Abdul Wahid Khan and Abdul Karim Khan later soured when the latter neglected Gafooran Bibi and married his student, Tarābāi Māne.

Abdul Wahid Khan's hearing was in fact deficient; as such, he was sometimes referred to as Behre Wahid Khan (Deaf Wahid Khan).

tudents

A large number of Wahid Khan's students became renowned musicians. They included Sureshbābu Māne, Hirābāi Badodekar, Ghazal Queen Begum Akhtār, Saraswatibāi Rāne, Prān Nāth, Sārangi Maestro Rām Nārāyan, and playback singer Mohammed Rafi.

Wahid Khan had an important influence on Ustad Amir Khān. Wahid Khan and Karim Khan had started evolving the "Vilambit Khyāl", and their work had inspired Amir Khan to develop his trade mark "Ati Vilambit" singing.

Legacy

Wahid Khan and Karim Khan popularized the Kirana Gharana style of classical music in India.

Wahid Khan's son Hafizullāh Khān was born in 1946, and Wahid Khan died four years later. Hafizullah's uncles trained him in music, and he became an accomplished Sārangi player.

(78 rpm recordings of Ustad Wahid Khan have been re-released on cassettes by RPG in their Classical Gold series. Longer recordings are also available on LPs.)