Amjad Ali Khan (born 9 October 1945) is an India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

n classical musician who plays the sarod

Sarod

The sarod is a stringed musical instrument, used mainly in Indian classical music. Along with the sitar, it is the most popular and prominent instrument in the classical music of Hindustan...

. Khan was born into a musical family and has performed internationally since the 1960s. He was awarded India's second highest civilian honor, the Padma Vibhushan

Padma Vibhushan

The Padma Vibhushan is the second highest civilian award in the Republic of India. It consists of a medal and a citation and is awarded by the President of India. It was established on 2 January 1954. It ranks behind the Bharat Ratna and comes before the Padma Bhushan...

, in 2001.

Early life and career

Khan was born in Gwalior on 9 October 1945 as Masoom Ali Khan, the youngest of six children, to Gwalior court musician Hafiz Ali Khan

Hafiz Ali Khan

Hafiz Ali Khan was an Indian Sarod player. He was a tall figure in twentieth-century sarod music. A fifth-generation descendant of the famous Bangash Gharana of sarod players, Hafiz Ali was known for the lyrical beauty of his music and the crystal-clear tone of his strokes...

 and Rahat Jahan. His family is part of the Bangash

Bangash

Bangash is the name of a Pashtun clan. The Bangash clan inhabit regions within the Federally Administered Tribal Areas , the Kurram Agency, the Miranzai Valley bordering the Samana Range, Naryab, Tirah, Kohat and Peshawar within the Sarhad province...

 lineage and Khan is in the sixth generation of musicians; his family claims to have invented the sarod

Sarod

The sarod is a stringed musical instrument, used mainly in Indian classical music. Along with the sitar, it is the most popular and prominent instrument in the classical music of Hindustan...

. His personal name was changed by a sadhu

Sadhu

In Hinduism, sādhu denotes an ascetic, wandering monk. Although the vast majority of sādhus are yogīs, not all yogīs are sādhus. The sādhu is solely dedicated to achieving mokṣa , the fourth and final aśrama , through meditation and contemplation of brahman...

 to Amjad. Khan received homeschooling

Homeschooling

Homeschooling or homeschool is the education of children at home, typically by parents but sometimes by tutors, rather than in other formal settings of public or private school...

 and studied music under his father. His family moved frequently and Khan performed on the sarod from a young age.

Khan first performed in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 in 1963 and continued into the 2000s, with his sons. He has experimented with modifications to his instrument throughout his career. Khan played with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra

Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra

The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra , is the largest symphony orchestra in Hong Kong. First established in 1895 as an amateur orchestra, under the name Sino-British Orchestra, it was renamed the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra in 1957, and became a professional orchestra in 1974 under the funding...

 and worked as a visiting professor at the University of New Mexico

University of New Mexico

The University of New Mexico at Albuquerque is a public research university located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in the United States. It is the state's flagship research institution...

.

Recognition

Khan was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award

Sangeet Natak Akademi Award

Sangeet Natak Akademi Puraskar is an award given by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy of Music, Dance & Drama. It is the highest Indian recognition given to practicing artists. The award consists since 2003 of Rs. 50,000, a citation, an angavastram , and a tamrapatra...

 in 1989, and received the Padma Shri

Padma Shri

Padma Shri is the fourth highest civilian award in the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan...

 in 1975, the Padma Bhushan

Padma Bhushan

The Padma Bhushan is the third highest civilian award in the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan, but comes before the Padma Shri. It is awarded by the Government of India.-History:...

 in 1991, and the Padma Vibhushan

Padma Vibhushan

The Padma Vibhushan is the second highest civilian award in the Republic of India. It consists of a medal and a citation and is awarded by the President of India. It was established on 2 January 1954. It ranks behind the Bharat Ratna and comes before the Padma Bhushan...

 in 2001. He was awarded the Fukuoka Asian Culture Prize

Fukuoka Asian Culture Prize

The is an award established by Fukuoka City and the Yokatopia Foundation to honor the outstanding work of individuals or organizations in preserving or creating Asian culture...

 in 2004. The U.S. state of Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

 proclaimed April 20 as Amjad Ali Khan Day in 1984. Khan was made an honorary citizen of Houston, Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

, and Nashville

Nashville, Tennessee

Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...

, Tennessee

Tennessee

Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...

, in 1997, and of Tulsa

Tulsa, Oklahoma

Tulsa is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 46th-largest city in the United States. With a population of 391,906 as of the 2010 census, it is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with 937,478 residents in the MSA and 988,454 in the CSA. Tulsa's...

, Oklahoma

Oklahoma

Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...

, in 2007. He received the Banga-Vibhushan

Banga-Vibhushan

Banga-Vibhushan is a title instituted by the West Bengal Government to honour the services of personalities in various fields. This award is apparently instituted on the lines of Padma Vibhushan title awarded nationally....

 in 2011.

Family and personal life

Khan cared for his diabetic

Diabetes mellitus

Diabetes mellitus, often simply referred to as diabetes, is a group of metabolic diseases in which a person has high blood sugar, either because the body does not produce enough insulin, or because cells do not respond to the insulin that is produced...

 father until he died in 1972. His family arranged a marriage, which failed, and Khan was married a second time, to Bharatanatyam

Bharatanatyam

Bharata Natyam or Chadhir Attam, is a classical dance form from the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, practiced predominantly in modern times by women. The dance is usually accompanied by classical Carnatic music...

 dancer Subhalakshmi, on September 25, 1976. Subhalakshmi Barua Khan is a native of Assam

Assam

Assam , also, rarely, Assam Valley and formerly the Assam Province , is a northeastern state of India and is one of the most culturally and geographically distinct regions of the country...

 and has stopped performing. They have two sons, Amaan

Amaan Ali Khan

Amaan Ali Khan is an Indian classical musician who plays the sarod. Khan is the son of Amjad Ali Khan and often performs with his younger brother Ayaan Ali Khan, with whom he hosted the music talent show Sa Re Ga Ma.-External links:...

, and Ayaan

Ayaan Ali Khan

Ayaan Ali Khan is an Indian classical musician who plays the sarod. Khan is the son of Amjad Ali Khan and often performs with his older brother Amaan Ali Khan, with whom he hosted the music talent show Sa Re Ga Ma...

, who were taught music by their father. Khan is a Muslim

Muslim

A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...

 and his wife is a Hindu

Hindu

Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...

. Their family home in Gwalior was made into a musical center and they live in New Delhi

New Delhi

New Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...

.

External links