Allauddin Khan | |
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Background information | |
Born | ca. 1862 Shibpur, Nabinagar, Brahmanbaria, Bengal Presidency, British India |
Died | 6 September 1972 | (aged 109–110)
Genres | Hindustani classical music |
Occupation(s) | Composer, sarodiya |
Instruments | Shehnai, sarod, sitar |
Allauddin Khan, also known as Baba Allauddin Khan (c. 1862 – 6 September 1972) was a Bengali shorodi and multi-instrumentalist, composer and one of the most renowned music teachers of the 20th century in Indian classical music.
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. During his lifetime, he composed several ragas and laid the foundation of a modern Maihar gharana. Amongst his recordings which are rare, the most important ones are those he recorded with the All India Radio in 1959–60.
He was the father of sarod maestro Ali Akbar Khan and Annapurna Devi, and the uncle of Raja Hossain Khan, as well as the guru of Ravi Shankar, Nikhil Banerjee, Vasant Rai, Pannalal Ghosh, Bahadur Khan, Rabin Ghosh, Sharan Rani, Jotin Bhattacharya, W.D. Amaradeva, and other influential musicians. He himself was a disciple of many great musicians, including Gopal Chandra Banerjee, Lobo, Munne Khan, and most importantly after a lot of struggle managed to become a shagird (disciple) of the legendary Veena player, Wazir Khan.
He was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1958 and the Padma Vibhushan in 1971, India's third and second highest civilian honours, 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.