Abdul Rashid Khan

GHARANA

Gwalior

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Ustad Abdul Rashid Khan (1910-2016), who wrote under the pen name Rasan Piya, was a Hindustani classical vocalist rooted in the Gwalior gayaki. He was born into the family of the musician Ustad Behram Khan, who had left his native Gwalior and settled in Kasba Salon, near Rae Barelli. As a child he trained under his 'Bade Baba', Ustad Bade Yusuf Khan, and later continued under elders who had absorbed the Gwalior gayaki. He developed this style according to his own artistic sensibility while retaining its native Gwalior character. Besides khayal, he sang dhrupad, dhamar and thumri with equal ease, and he was noted for his extensive use of breath control and the Gwalior patterns of layakari. His ability to strike a pure, perfect note late in life was remarkable. In a career spanning nearly nine decades, he performed at innumerable music conferences and witnessed almost a century of the evolution of Hindustani classical music. His honours include awards from the Uttar Pradesh Sangeet Natak Akademi and Banaras Hindu University, the ITC Award (1994), the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (2009), the 35th All India Bhuwalka Award (2010) and the Padma Bhushan (2013). A prolific writer and poet, he wrote more than two thousand compositions as Rasan Piya, and many of the bandishes he sang were his own. He was a guru at the ITC Sangeet Research Academy, where he trained a number of students, and he passed away there on 18 February 2016.