Sitar Players from the Delhi Gharana

He felt like a child in a candy-store. Everything was enticing. His father sat quietly to one side and started talking to the deferential shop keeper; it was not every day that Ustad Ahmadi Khan, the finest sarangi player from the venerable Dehli gharana walked into his shop. The young boy thought for a while, and, going against tradition and all he had been taught, picked out a beautiful carved sitar as his instrument of choice. A normal father might have tried to dissuade his son from his choice, encouraging him instead to pick the tabla or the sarangi, for which the Delhi gharana he belonged to was famed. But Ustad Ahmadi Khan, despite being steeped in centuries of tradition, was deeply modern at heart. He encouraged his son to learn the instrument of his choice, and this young boy grew up to be Ustad Imdad Hussain Khan, who laid the foundation of the Dehli gharana of sitar music.

His son, Ikhlaque Hussain Khan, and his grand-son, Turrab Khan, have followed in his footsteps, with Ikhlaque Khan learning not only from his father, but also from the Senia sitar player, Ustad Kabir Khan, and even the legendary Ravi Shankar!

Playing Style

These sitar players mainly base their playing style on the semi-classical genre of khayal, but even though the khayal genre is largely vocal, with the singer being the main performer, they instead chose to render khayal solely on the sitar. In fact, unlike the Imdadkhani or Indore gharana, they do not sing at all during their performances, preferring to keep the focus on the sitar itself. Check out a demonstration below!

The Dehli Gharana’s Survival

Turrab Khan was only 25 when his grandfather Ustad Imdad Hussain Khan passed away. However, he had learnt enough from him and his uncle Ustad Ikhlaq Hussain to continue the tradition of the gharana in Pakistan, and is currently musically active.