25 Facts About Vilayat Khan

Ustad Vilayat Khan was an Indian classical sitar player, considered by many to be the greatest sitarist of his age.

Vilayat Khan recorded his first 78-RPM disc at the age of 8 and gave his last concert in 2004 at the age of 75.

Vilayat Khan has composed the music for several films, including Jalsaghar, The Guru, and Kadambari.

Vilayat Khan had given a chance to newcomer Kavita Krishnamurthy in Kadambari which was the first song in her career.

Vilayat Khan was born in Gouripur, Mymensingh in then East Bengal in British India and current Bangladesh.

Vilayat Khan was taught in the family style, known as the Imdadkhani gharana by his father and other relatives in the family.

However, Enayat Khan died when Vilayat was only ten, so much of his education came from the rest of his family: his uncle, sitar and surbahar maestro Wahid Khan, his maternal grandfather, singer Bande Hassan Khan, and his mother, Bashiran Begum, who had studied the practice procedure of his forefathers.

Vilayat Khan was known for improvisation with his knack for finding the different patterns in the ragas he played.

Vilayat Khan was both a traditional sitar player and a maverick innovator in his music.

Vilayat Khan invented a technique of bending a note after the sitar string was plucked, creating a sound after-effect from it.

When he died from lung cancer in 2004, Vilayat Khan had been recording for over 65 years and broadcasting on All India Radio almost as long.

Vilayat Khan had been touring outside India off and on for more than 50 years, and was probably the first Indian musician to play in England in 1951 after independence.

Vilayat Khan composed the music for a little-known documentary film in Bengali produced by Barin Roy, entitled Jalsaghar; he won a silver medal for composing this film at the 1st Moscow International Film Festival in 1959.

Vilayat Khan himself composed many bandishes using the pen name, Nath Piya.

Vilayat Khan was survived by his younger brother, Imrat Khan.

Vilayat's nephews Rais Khan, Nishat Khan, and Irshad Khan are sitar players.

Vilayat Khan took few disciples other than his sons; among the best-known are Kashinath Mukherjee, Arvind Parikh, and Hasu Patel.

Vilayat Khan gave sitar lessons to Big Jim Sullivan, the famous English session musician.

Vilayat Khan trained his daughter, Zila, in sitar and vocal music and made her a formal student in a ceremony in 1991.

Vilayat Khan made the United States his second home and had a residence in Princeton, New Jersey besides Dehradun and Kolkata, India.

Vilayat Khan alleged that the Sangeet Natak Akademi had been influenced by lobbying, politics and favouritism while deciding the awardees.

Vilayat Khan was awarded the 1995 Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship, the highest honour conferred by Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy for Music.

Vilayat Khan died on 13 March 2004 at Mumbai, India at age 75.

The Press Trust of India reported that Vilayat Khan had lung cancer, diabetes and hypertension.

In September 2014, a postage stamp featuring Vilayat Khan was released by India Post commemorating his contributions.