Shehnai’s Call Through History
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Born in 1916 in Dumraon (present-day Bihar), Bismillah Khan (birth name: Qamaruddin Khan) is often referred to as only Ustad.
He is credited to have introduced shehnai, a woodwind instrument, as a concert mainstay. From a family of lower-caste Muslim hereditary musicians, Ustad always had an intimate relationship with melodies. His father was court musician for Dumraon Estate. His uncle,who he apprenticed with, was a shehnai player for Banaras’s famous Kashi Vishwanath Temple.
He has played an important part in historic moments in the world of Hindustani music. All India Music Conference, which coincidentally held its first meeting the year Ustad was born, invited him to perform in Calcutta in 1937. In 1938, he performed at the inauguration of All India Radio’s Lucknow station. August 15th , 1947, Ustad played shehnai as Nehru unfurled the Indian flag at Red Fort. He also mentored the only woman shehnai player in the country, Bageshwari Qamar.
His popularity rose so much that in 1959 a Hindi film based on the life of a shehnai player, Goonj Uthi Shehnai, became the 5 th highest grossing Hindi movie. Ustad recorded the film’s shehnai portions.
His records, concerts, and collaborations with artists like Ustad Vilayat Khan, Ravi Shankar, Amjad Ali Khan and his adopted daughter Soma Ghosh, remain the primary archive of his excellence.
Eric Clapton revealed in an interview that he was deeply influenced by Ustad’s shehnai techniques. Yet, he was not protected from a lack of institutional support. In 2003, he made numerous appeals to the government for financial help. What does it say about the state of music that a man who inspired so many had to face the dangers of penury in his last days?
Before passing away in 2006, Ustad was seen doing riyaz on the banks of Ganga River. Even in the later days of his career, he preferred travelling around Banaras by cycle.
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