One hot afternoon, at the peak summer in 2008, an undergraduate student from NCA, Ali Ayub was standing in the city centre of Hyderabad. For him the traffic, the noise, the jostling pedestrians, the street food vendors all seemed to merge into one another. His eyes were fixed on an ice-cream vendor and his cart. There seemed nothing atypical about this middle-aged gentleman to the casual observer. Surrounded by children, he was dexterously putting the ice-cream into cups in a measured yet surprisingly efficient way – ergo, just like any other vendor. The young undergraduate hesitated, but then decided to move forward. He had rehearsed the introduction many times: “Are you Ustad Abid Hussain Khan from the Senia gharana, the descendants of Mian Tansen, one of Akbar’s nauratans?”. When his turn came to talk to the ice-cream vendor, all Ali Ayub could muster was “Assalam alaikum. Are you Ustad Abid Hussain Khan?”. The conversation began with a nonchalant “Yes”, as the Ustad deftly put another ice-cream scoop into a paper cup.   Between dealing with his customers, Ali Ayub and Ustad Abid Hussain Khan had detailed conversations about the Masitkhani gat and other such fascinating musical details as the sun beat down upon them overhead. He frankly explained that financial reasons had driven him to stop playing the sitar and quitting Pakistan Radio as a staff artist. “Ice-cream selling is much better. Tomorrow, my son will grow this cart into an ice-cream shop”. His story is sadly no exception.

History and Family Trees

The Jaipur Senia gharana is the largest Pakistani sitar playing gharana. This gharana, whose members claim to be descendants of the legendary musician Tan Sen, migrated from Jaipur to Sindh during Partition.

The main part of the gharana’s recent history begins with Ustad Machhu Khan who was born around 1900 in Jaipur, and was initially taught the sitar by his father, Ustad Mannay Khan. Later on, he became a disciple of Kareem Sen, a direct descendent of Masit Khan, a celebrated tabla player from the Farukhabad gharana. In fact, he was so important that the celebrated Masitkhani baj is named after him!

Ustad Machhu Khan spent his youth in Jaipur as a court musician, but migrated during partition in 1947 to Karachi, where he spent the rest of his life. The musical legacy of Ustad Machhu Khan has sadly not been carried on by his family, as he did not teach the sitar to his children.  His only disciple, Javaid Allah Ditta, the son of the late tabla maestro Allah Ditta Khan Biharpuriya, quit playing the sitar after taking some initial training, and has since become a well-known composer. Unfortunately, none of Ustad Machhu Khan’s performances were recorded as Radio Pakistan broadcasted live at the time, and he has since been relegated to obscurity.

In the picture below we can see some other prominent members of the Jaipur Senia gharana, such as the two esteemed elders Ustad Ahmad Bux Khan and Ustad Muhammad Khan.

Ali Ayub acquired much of the following information from the descendants of Muhammad Khan, Ahmed Bux Khan’s adopted grandson, who still reside in Sindh. Their family tree can be seen below

In the above picture on the left is Burhan Khan, Ahmed Bux Khan’s maternal nephew, who is holding the sitar in a playing posture.  His family tree can be seen below

 Ustad Kabir Khan

Ustad Kabir Khan, Muhammad Khan’s great-great-grandson and one of his disciples, was the main exponent of the Senia gharana in Pakistan until only twenty years ago. He was born on 8th March 1924 in Jaipur and was taught the sitar by his father Amir Khan and his second cousin once-removed, Muhammad Khan. Kabir Khan migrated to Pakistan with his family during partition and settled in Karachi, where he became a staff artist at Radio Pakistan. He was awarded the Presidential Pride of Performance in 1996 due to his excellence as a sitar player, but passed away in 2002.

The Playing Style

The Senia Sitar playing style is the oldest and one of the most traditional instrumental styles, with their raags widely being considered to be the best-preserved.  Their emphasis on rhythmic variation as compared to the other gharanas, which often focus on the melodic side of compositions, sets them apart.  Their specialties are gats, a rhythmic composition where the musician is bound to follow a specific right hand plucking pattern.  The Jaipur Senia gharana is also the originator of the slow, stately and celebrated Masitkhani baj, as opposed to the faster Razakhani baj. The enclosed audio clip is a perfect example of their more sedate style of playing as opposed to the other sitar gharanas.

The Sitar Player and the Ice-cream Vendor

Thankfully the story of Ustad Abid Hussain Khan did not end with Ali Ayub’s interview. Ali Ayub and many others convinced him to train his son Shahid Hussain Khan to play the sitar, a decision which would have made Mian Tansen proud. Shahid Khan continues the practice of centuries old tradition of the Senia sitar players in Hyderabad, as do other members of this gharana all throughout Pakistan.

The atmosphere at Bagh-e-Jinnah was electric. It almost felt as though all of Lahore was out to feast on music. It was a celebration of a centuries old tradition that was dying but certainly not dead yet. Hundreds of people were attending the December 2007 All-Pakistan Music Conference. Ali Ayub, carrying a camera and laptop, followed Dr. Lowell Lybarger into the green room.  He had forgotten all about the stinging cold air and the maddening traffic that he had encountered on his motorcycle ride to the venue. His attention was riveted by a young man at the centre of a crowd in the corner who was surrounded by fans, students, and musicians.  The star was none other than Ashraf Sharif Khan, the son of Ustad Sharif Khan. 

Much like the Indore Gharana that centered around Ustad Rais Khan, the Pounch gharana centers around one of the most famous and successful Pakistani sitar players, Ustad Sharif Khan.  While this gharana may be relatively unknown, it flourished in the court of Maharaja of Pounch, who was a connoisseur of music and played the surbahar himself.

Ustad Sharif Khan’s skills and style were defined by the fact that he was not only trained in the surbahar and the sitar by his own father and uncle, but was later the disciple of the amazing sitar player, Ustad Imdad Khan (the very first sitarist to ever be recorded and founder of the Imdadkhani sitar gharana).

After getting his initial training from his father, Ustad Sharif Khan, following in his father’s footsteps, became a disciple of Imdad Khan’s son. Later, after Partition, Ustad Sharif Khan’s family migrated to Lahore, where his son would be born. Ustad Sharif Khan, or rather Ustad Sharif Khan Pounchwaley as he went on to be known as, developed his own distinct style, which came to be known as the Sharifkhani baj, and won many prestigious awards, like the Pride of Performance.

The Playing Style

Ustad Sharif Khan developed his own baj, the Sharifkhani baj, which is quite exceptional. The baj is a blend of the Imdadkhani baj and the style of the dhrupad genre, as he was born to a family of dhrupad musicians. He was also known for using a unique mixture of the veena and the surbahar’s meend (sliding between notes),showing how his playing style was an amalgamation of all of the various techniques of the surbahar, the veena and the sitar. It is also interesting to note that even though he was taught by a member of the Imdadkhani gharana, his baj is different from that of other exponents of this gharana, as his style is more like that of his teacher’s father, Ustad Imdad Khan, than that of the newer exponents of the gharana, like Ustad Vilayat Khan. As a result, his performances are much less influenced by the khyal vocal genre, and are far more austere as compared to those of the newer Imdadkhani exponents.

The Poonch Gharana in the Twenty First Century

Initially Ashraf Sharif Khan found it hard to establish his own separate identity. However, his hard work and training have led him to make his mark. He has amalgamated Ustad Vilayat Khan’s lyricism with khayal ang to carve out his own legacy. He is currently carrying on his father’s legacy by teaching the sitar at Oslo.