About Ustad Bismillah Khan Biography & Life History | Great Shehnai Player | Birthday Special
About Ustad Bismillah Khan
Ustad Bismillah Khan (21 March 1916 – 21 August 2006) (born as Qamaruddin Khan) was a great Shehnai player from India, often referred to by the honorific title Ustad. His name was and will forever be associated with shehnai, the musical instrument that he made famous with his talent and deliberation in the post independent India. Bismillah Khan was born in Bhirung Raut Ki Gali at Dumrao, Bihar, in 1913 to Paigambar Khan and Mitthan into the family of musicians.
Khan was born a family of traditional Muslim musicians. He was the second son of the Paigambar Khan and Mitthan, named as Qamaruddin in order to rhyme with his brother Shamsuddin. While named Qamruddin at birth his grandfather Rasool Baksh Khan exclaimed “Bismillah” and thereafter he came to be known by this name. His father was a court musician employed in the Dumrao palace by the Raja of Bhojpur. His great grandfather Ustad Salar Hussain Khan and grandfather Rasool Baksh Khan were also musicians in the Dumrao palace.
He was awarded India’s highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna, in 2001, becoming the third classical musician after M. S. Subbulakshmi and Ravi Shankar to be accorded this distinction.
Filmy history
Bismillah Khan had a brief history in the Indian movies. He has played his shehnai for the role of Rajkumar in the Kannada movie Sanaadi Appanna. He acted in Jalsaghar (a movie by Satyajit Ray) and played shehnai in Goonj Uthi Shehnai in 1959. Film director the Goutam Ghose has directed the Sange Meel Se Mulaqat upon the life of Bismillah Khan.
Legacy
Ustad Bismillah Khan got the Yuva Puraskar (for young artists in the field of music, theatre and dance) in the year 2007 in his honour.
Awards and Recognitions
- Awarded with the Bharat Ratna in 2001.
- Become fellow of Sangeet Natak Akademi in 1994.
- Got Talar Mausiquee from Republic of Iran in 1992.
- Awarded with the Padma Vibhushan in 1980.
- Awarded with the Padma Bhushan in 1968.
- Awarded with the Padma Shri in 1961.
- Got Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1956.
- Got Tansen Award by the Government of Madhya Pradesh.
- Got three medals in the All India Music Conference in Calcutta in 1937.
- Got the Honour of Best Performer in All India Music Conference in the Allahabad in 1930.
- Bismillah Khan had honorary doctorates from Banaras Hindu University, Visva Bharati University and Santiniketan.
- He was requested to come to play shehnai at the first Independence on 15th August, 1947 in Delhi Red Fort by the Indian Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.
- He had participated in the World exhibition in Montreal.
- He had participated in the Cannes Art Festival.
- He had participated in Osaka Trade Fair.
- He got his 80th birthday celebrated by the World Music Institute in the New York.
Personal Details :
- Date of Birth: 21 March, 1916
- Place of Birth: Dumraon, Buxar, Bihar
- Birth Name: Qamaruddin Khan
- Date of Death: 21 August, 2006
- Place of Death: Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh
- Profession: Musician
- Children: Zamin Hussain, Nazim Hussain, Nayyar Hussain, Kazim Hussain, Mehtab Hussain, Soma Ghosh (adopted daughter)
- Father: Paigambar Baksh Khan
- Mother: Mitthan
- Awards: Bharat Ratna, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan, Padma Shri
