Bande Ali Khan

Ustad Bande Ali Khan was a legendary Been (Rudra Veena) player in the 19th century. Bande Ali has been called the greatest beenkar (veena) player of modern times. Born in c.1826 in Kirana, he first lived in Gwalior, then Indore and died in Pune in 1890. His father, Ustad Sadiq Ali Khan, was a Been-player and his maternal uncle, Behram Khan, was a prominent Dhrupad singer of Alwar and Jaipur. He was son-in-law of Ustad Haddu Khan and was married to his daughter in Udaipur. Later on Bande Ali Khan gave both his daughters in marriage to Dhrupad singers Zakiruddin Khan (1855-1922) and Allahbande Khan, both grandsons of Behram Khan, the ancestor of the Dagar dynasty. He is considered to be the founder of Kirana gharana. He was a disciple of Nirmal Shah of Benares and Ustad Umrao Khan. Bande was a practicing Sufi and stories tell of unusual powers that he possessed. Although primarily known as a beenkar, he is associated with khayal and sarangi as well. Bande Ali added elements of khayal to his Been playing without compromising the Been idiom. He was a court musician of Indore from 1860's. He was also in the court of Jaipur, Udaipur and also performed in various princely states in Maharashtra. He finally settled in Pune (Maharashtra) at the end of his life, with his second wife and disciple Chunnabai. He died in Pune and his tomb is a place of worship for musicians. He spread his music through numerable disciples - a galaxy of artists in India. His disciples include Beenkar Wahid Khan, Gairat Khan, Jamaluddin Kham (father of Abid Hussain Khan and Sajjad Hussain Khan Beenkar – Abid Hussain Khan was Guru of Bimal Mukherji, father of Budhaditya Mukherji), Manglu Khan, Babu Khan Beenkar, Jaffer Khan (father of Abdul Halim Jaffer Khan), Hyder Buksh Sarangi player, sarangi nawaz, Haider Baksh of Chrapoli, Krishnarao Ashtiwale, Imdad Khan of Itawa, Abdul Aziz Khan, Bhaiya Ganpatrao Shinde, etc. He also trained some vocalists such as Bhaskarbua Bakhale, Johrabai, Rajab Ali Khan, Chunnabai, etc.