USTAD IMRAT KHAN

About:

• Imrat Khan (1935 – 2018) was an Indian sitar and surbahar player and composer. He is credited for keeping the art of playing surbahar alive.
  
  
• Family:
  • He was the younger brother of sitar maestro Ustad Vilayat Khan.
    
    
  • His father Enayat Khan and grandfather Imdad Khan were recognised as a leading sitar and surbahar player of their time.
    
    
  
  
  
• Awards and Honours:
  • In 1988 he received Sangeet Natak Akademi Award.
    
    
  • In 2017, he was conferred with the Padma Shri, however he refused to accept the award stating it came too late.
    
    
  
  
  

Surbahar:

• Surbahar, sometimes known as bass sitar, is a plucked string instrument used in the Hindustani classical music
  
  
• It is closely related to the sitar, but has a lower tone.
  
  
• History: The surbahar was developed around 1825 by Ghulam Mohammed, a sitar player from the Awadh principality to combine the handling convenience of the sitar with the melodic potential and acoustic richness of the rudra veena.
  
  

Imdadkhani gharana (Etawah gharana):

• Ustad Imrat Khan belonged to the ‘Imdadkhani gharana’, the school of sitar and surbahar performance named after his grandfather Imdad Khan.
  
  
• It is also known as the ‘Etawah gharana’, after a small town close to Agra where Imdad Khan lived.
  
  
• The gharana's achievements includes –
  • the development of the Surbahar,
    
    
  • major structural changes to both the sitar and surbahar and
    
    
  • the creation of the instrumental style known as the gayaki ang (vocal style performed on sitar) by Vilayat Khan. This style of sitar is now known as the Vilayatkhani sitar.