Childhood and training

When Wahid Khan was still quite young, Imdad Khan moved into Kolkata from Etawah with his family. There they used to stay at the house of noted connoisseur Sri. Taraprasad Ghosh, where Imdad Khan rigorously trained his two talented sons Enayat Khan

Enayat Khan

Enayat Khan was one of India's most influential sitar and surbahar players in the first decades of the 20th Century. He was the father of Vilayat Khan, one of the topmost sitariyas of the postwar period....

 and Wahid Khan. Wahid Khan, at a very young age, was first initiated into Dhrupad, Khayal and Thumri. After which he was trained extensively on the Sitar and Surbahar by his father Imdad Khan over many years. Under the able guidance and supervision of his father, Wahid Khan put in many years of very rigorous riyaz and mastered both the Sitar and Surbahar. The later generations will regard him as the greatest Surbahar-player of his generation, however he was also one of the greatest sitar-players of his generation. His available disc recordings of Khamaj (Vilambit Gat-Toda) and Piloo (Drut) both on the Sitar offer a glimpse of his virtuosity on the instrument. In Kolkata, Wahid Khan used to accompany his father in many of the latter's concerts on the Sitar and the Surbahar and received huge appreciation and critical acclaim everywhere.

Achievements

Imdad Khan, later, moved out of Kolkata to settle in Indore as the Court-musician of the Maharaja Holkar of Indore. His sons Enayat Khan and Wahid Khan accompanied him to Indore. There Imdad Khan breathed his last. Following which Enayat Khan left Indore and went back to Kolkata, while Wahid Khan was appointed the Court-musician of the Indore Darbar where he remained for the next 18 years on a very high salary. Wahid Khan also served the Patiala Darbar for 3 years as their Court-musician. He was also the Court-musician of the Nizam of Hyderabad. Wahid Khan was a regular performer at the All India Radio. He also performed all over India and received numerous awards and medals from the famous institutions of Tikamgarh, Rewa, Baroda, Mysore, Dhaulpur, etc.. Wahid Khan was also felicited by the Governor of Bombay for his tremendous contribution to music with a prestigious award and certificate. His life-long service and contribution was awarded when he became one of the very first instrumentalists to receive the coveted "President's Award" (now known as the Sangeet Natak Academi Award the highest musical honour in India from the then President of India. Ustad Wahid Khan also appeared in legendary filmmaker Satyajit Ray’s international award winning film Jalsaghar

Jalsaghar

Jalsaghar is the fourth feature film directed by Satyajit Ray. Jalsaghar is a narration of the end days of a Zamindar in Bengal. The landlord, Roy , is a just but other-worldly man who loves to spend time listening to music and putting up spectacles rather than managing his fields ravaged by...

(The Music Room, 1958) where he performs on the surbahar in one of the scenes.
One of the greatest musicians in the canon of Indian Classical Music, Ustad Wahid Khan is a very important figure in the history of Etawah Gharana. An acclaimed musician on both the sitar and surbahar, Ustad Wahid Khan’s life’s purpose was to be a herald for Indian Classical Music; he devoted his life to spreading his music everywhere.

Recordings

Released 78rpm recordings ---

Khamaj (Vilambit Gat-toda)on the Sitar

Pilu (Drut Gat)on the Sitar

Bhimpalasi (Alap, Jod-Jhala) on the Surbahar