A Tribute to Baba Allauddin Khan (1862 – 1972)
"Baba" (literally 'father') Ustad Allaudin Khan is known to us as the great teacher with famous disciples like Ravi Shankar and Baba's son Ali Akbar Khan. Annapoorna Devi, his daughter (and Ravi Shankar's first wife) was also a great Sitar player and the guru of Pr Hariprasad Chaurasia and Nikhil Banerjee. Baba Allaudin Khan was himself an Indian Sarod player, multi-instrumentalist and one of the greatest music teachers of the 20th Century. He was the father of Ali Akbar Khan and Annapurna Devi, and guru to Ravi Shankar, Nikhil Banerjee, Vasant Rai, Indranil Bhattacharya, Pannalal Ghosh, Rabin Ghosh and other influential musicians. He himself was a disciple of many great musicians, most importantly the legendary Wazir Khan.
When many people hear the name Allaudin Khan, they think of a grumpy old man ( he lived to 110) with a hot temper but a heart of gold. Anecdotes about him range from throwing a tabla tuning hammer at the Maharaja himself, to taking care of disabled beggars. (Nikhil Banerjee said that the tough image was "deliberately projected in order not to allow any liberty to the disciple. He always had the tension that soft treatment on his part would only spoil them".)
Ravi Shankar wrote:
"Baba has always been a strict disciplinarian with his students, but he had imposed upon himself an even stricter code of conduct when he was a young man, often practicing sixteen to twenty hours a day, doing with very little sleep, and getting along with a minimum of material things. Sometimes, when he practiced, he tied up his long hair with heavy cord and attached an end of the cord to a ring in the ceiling. Then, if he happened to doze while he practiced, as soon as his head nodded, a jerk on the cord would pull his hair and awaken him. From early childhood, Baba was ready and determined to make any sacrifice for music. Indeed, his entire life has been devoted to music."
Early Life
Allaudin Khan's year of birth is not documented, but he was was born in Shibpur village in Brahmanbaria probably around 1870, the son of Sabdar Hossain Khan, who used to play the sitar for the family and for his own pleasure. Alluadin's elder brother, Fakir Aftabuddin, first taught him tabla and violin:
At the age of ten, Allaudin ran away from home to join a jatra band, a traditional Bengali form of theater. This experience exposed him to the rich folk tradition of Bengal. After some time, he went to Kolkata, and was accepted as a student by singer Gopal Krishna Bhattacharya, alias Nulo Gopal.
Ravi Shankar wrote:
"Nulo Gopal saw the tremendous ardor and talent for singing this boy had, but he warned Baba that he himself had learned music in a very old, traditional style and said that he would teach Baba only if Baba had the patience to learn in the same way. That is, Baba would have to learn and practice nothing other than the sargams, palta, and murchhana (solfeggio, scales, and exercises) for twelve full years. Only then would Nulo Gopal start teaching all the traditional compositions. This, he said, would not take a very long time, because Baba would already have a firm background! Baba did agree to the arrangement, and arduously devoted himself to his study, but unfortunately, after only seven years or so, Nulo Gopal died. Baba was so grieved by his death that, out of respect to his teacher, he took an oath never to take up singing as his profession. According to Baba, the excellent training he received from this guru in those seven years caused his musical sensitivity to grow to such a degree that he could notate in his mind as well as on paper any music he heard. This ability was to prove very helpful to him later."
Khan then became a disciple of Amritalal Dutt, a close relative of Swami Vivekananda and music director at Kolkata's Star Theatre, with the goal of becoming an instrumentalist. At this time, he also took lessons in European classical violin from a Mr Lobo, a bandmaster from Goa.
Ravi Shankar wrote:
"[Baba] boasted that he could play any instrument available in the palace. So, all the instruments were brought out and, to the astonishment of everyone present, he did just that - one by one, he played them all, and quite deftly, too!"
Maihar Gharana
During his time as a court musician, Allaudin Khan completely reshaped the Maihar gharana of Indian classical music. The Maihar gharana was established in the 19th Century, but Khan's contribution was so fundamental that he is often thought to be its creator. This was a period of rapid change for Hindustani instrumental music, thanks not least to Allaudin Khan, who infused the beenbaj and dhrupad ang, previously known from the been, surbahar (bass sitar) and sur-sringar (bass sarod), into the playing of many classical instruments. For though he gave concerts on the sarod, Allaudin played many instruments, something that shaped his pedagogy. He put together an orchestra with Indian instruments, the String Band now known as Maihar Band, and while his son, Ali Akbar Khan, was taught the sarod, his daughter Annapurna Devi learned the surbahar, students such as Ravi Shankar and Nikhil Banerjee played the sitar Rabin Ghosh on violin and Pannalal Ghosh the bansuri bamboo flute. Of course Ravi and Ali Akbar Khan were to be very famous and spread this gharana over the world – something that Allaudin himself had started when, in 1935–1936, he went on an international tour with Uday Shankar's dance troupe.
Allaudin stayed at Maihar from 1918 to his death. In 1955, he established a Maihar College of Music. He was given the Sangeet Natak Academy Award in 1952, and the Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan – India's third and second highest civilian decorations – in 1958 and 1971, respectively.
Personal life
Allaudin was a very religious man, and though Muslim by name, was strongly devoted to the goddess Saraswati, in the form of Sarada Devi, to whom there stands an old and famous temple atop a hill in Maihar. This is why Allaudin, despite more lucrative offers from other courts, never left Maihar, refusing to move away even for hospital treatment – he would rather die near Sarada Devi than live someplace else. A few years before the turn of the century, he married Madanmanjari Devi (1888–?). He had one son and sarod heir, Ali Akbar Khan, and three daughters, Sharija, Jehanara and Annapurna Devi. After Sharija got married, and her jealous mother-in-law burnt her tanpura, Allaudin decided not to train his other daughters, but Annapurna proved so talented he changed his mind. She later married and divorced Ravi Shankar. Baba never left Maihar. From the window of his room he had a clear view of the hillock where temple of goddess Sharada is situated. His son and disciples often visit the town to pay homage.
Ragas created by Allaudin Khan
Allaudin Khan was fond of sankeerna (compound) ragas, and created many ragas of his own, including Arjun, Bhagabati, Bhim, Bhuvaneshvari, Chandika, Dhabalashri, Dhankosh, Dipika, Durgeshvari, Gandhi, Gandhi Bilawal, Haimanti, Hem-Behag, Hemant, Hemant Bhairav, Imni Manjh, Jaunpuri Todi, Kedar Manjh, Komal Bhimpalasi, Komal Marwa, Madanmanjari, Madhabsri, Madhavgiri, Malaya, Manjh Khamaj, Meghbahar, Muhammed, Nat-Khamaj, Prabhakali, Raj Bijoy, Rajeshri, Shobhavati, Subhabati, Sugandha and Surasati. Many of these have not become common Maihar repertoire; Manjh Khamaj is perhaps the best known. Some of Allauddin's recordings have been released on CD, on the Great Garanas: Maihar compilation in RPG/EMI's Chairman's Choice series.