Enayat Khan

Ustad Enayat Khan (Urdu: عنایت خان ‎) (1894–1938) also known as Nath Singh 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 (sitar players) of the postwar period.[1]

Ustad Enayat Khan
Born1894
Uttar Pradesh
Died1938 (aged 43)
Calcutta
OccupationSitar player

Early life

Enayat Khan was born in Uttar Pradesh into a family of musicians. His father was the great sitar maestro Imdad Khan, who taught him the sitar and surbahar (bass sitar) in the family style, known as the Imdadkhani Gharana or Etawah Gharana (school),[2] named after a small village near Agra called Etawah. He married Basiran Bibi, daughter of khyal singer Bande Hussain.[3]

Performing career

He settled with his family in Calcutta, where, though he only lived to 43, he did much pioneering work on the sitar. For example, he standardised its physical dimensions and added the upper resonator gourd, which is very popular with today's players (though his own descendants have not been using it).

"True, Vilayat Khan did not play the rapid-fire multi-stroke 'taan-toda' in which his father (Enayat Khan) excelled; but it can be conjectured with a fair amount of certainty that this was because he did not want to enter an area already developed to the hilt by Ustad Enayat Khan."[1]

In a place rapidly developing into an important North Indian centre of the arts, at a time where interest in national culture was strong fuelled by the struggle for independence, he brought sitar music out from its narrow connoisseur circles to new mass audiences. Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore was a musical collaborator and personal friend. Some of Enayat Khan's recordings have been released on CD, on the Great Gharanas: Imdadkhani compilation in RPG/EMI's Chairman's Choice series.[3]

Death

Enayat Khan died young, with four children. His two sons, Vilayat Khan[4] and Imrat,[5] were trained in the Imdadkhani gharana style by other members of his extended family. Vilayat learned the sitar and Imrat the surbahar; both were to become very famous classical musicians later.[3]

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References
  1. Nilaksha Gupta (15 March 2004). "Master of technique, creator of own style & sitar (obituary and profile of Vilayat Khan plus info on his teacher/father Enayat Khan)". The Telegraph (UK newspaper). Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  2. Amrita Dasgupta (1 July 2010). "Seven strings to the rainbow". The Hindu (newspaper). Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  3. Profile of Enayat Khan on SwarGanga Music Foundation Retrieved 3 January 2019
  4. "The master of sitar is no more". Rediff News. 15 March 2004. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  5. Sitar-playing Imdadkhani gharana on ITC Sangeet Research Academy website Retrieved 3 January 2019
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