THIS IS A RARE AND USED ITEM. IT IS NOT MANUFACTURED ANYMORE. NO RETURNS WILL BE ACCEPTED

Has anyone witnessed the roar of a lion, the lightning and thunder of Shravana clouds and the floods in the mighty rivers of the North transforming themselves into Music? Can imagination perform the miracle of fusing the terrific with the beautiful? No or Yes, it was so with Ustad Rajab Ali Khan of Dewas. Unfortunately what we have of the great master today is recording of his very advanced age – say from his 80th to 84thyears and that too of his vocal music alone. He was great at Jaltarang, Sitar and Been as well.

Ustad Rajab Ali Khan was born on September 3, 1874 at Narsingarh (M. P.). He received his training in Music from his father Mughal Khan in the tradition of Bade Mohammad Khan and his illustrious progeny and disciple. Mubarak Ali Khan, the fountain-head of Jaipur Gharana. Ustad Rajab Ali Khan moved to Dewas and then to Kolhapur along with his family. He became a disciple of Ustad Bande Ali Khan Beenkar at Pune. Bande Ali Khan is the fountain-head of Kirana Gharana.

Ustad Rajab Ali Khan returned to Dewas as a disciplined, trained and accomplished musician in the early years of XXth century and remained there ever since. He stormed the country with his vigorous and beautiful music, travelling widely. Rampur, Jaipur, Gwalior, Rewa, Raigarh, Darbhanga, Baroda, Mysore, Hyderabad, Lahore, Karachi, Varanasi, Allahabad, Kanpur, Lucknow, Jhansi, Indore, Bombay, Calcutta, Kolhapur-Miraj-Sangli, Pune, Nagpur are a few places where he performed. He was in Nepal for two years. Maharaja of Mysore gave him the title of Sangeet Ratna Bhushan in 1909, Musical Art Society of Bombay declared him “Sangeet Samrat” in 1931 and finally President Dr. Rajendra Prasad awarded him Sanad, Shawl and Shrinkal on behalf of Sangeet Natak Academy in 1954.

The list of his eminent disciples includes names of Ganpat Rao Dewaskar, Amanat Khan (Guru of Lata Mangeshkar), Ganesh Ramachandra Beherbuwa, Jyotirama (brother of Motirama), Shankar Rao Sarnik, Krishna Shankar Shukla, Krishna Rao Mujumdar, Raja Bhau Deo, Yasin Khan (Sarangi-Sehore-Baroda), Alladiya Khan (Sarangi-Jaora-Indore maternal uncle of Ustad Amir Khan), Muhammed Ahmed (Tabla – Bombay). Ustad Rais Khan, the famous Sitarist is the son of his nephew Chhote Muhammed Khan Beenkar. Ustad Murad Khan Beenkar, Ustad Imdad Khan (grandfather of Ustad Vilayat Khan) and Ustad Abdul Aziz Khan (Vichitra Veena) weere his Guru-bhai. In him the peculiarity of Khayal gayaki and Beenkari as well as those of Gwalior-Jaipur-Kirana Gharanas were beautifully fused.

He breathed his last on January 8, 1959 at Dewas at the age of 85 by Solar and 87 by Lunar reckoning, still expressing powerful will and desire to sing on.