Eminent sitar and surbahar player Imrat Khan was born on this day in Kolkata. He was the younger brother of sitar player Vilayat Khan. Imrat was born in a family of musicians who traced their roots to the Mughal era. He belonged to the Etawah gharana or the Imdadkhani gharana. Imrat’s father was leading sitar and surbahar player Enayat Khan.
Imrat and Vilayat had lived in Kolkata and performed together for many years. Imrat began his solo performances from the 60s. He had a distinctive style, starting with a dhrupad alap on surbahar and moving on to sitar. He performed all over the world. He collaborated with Satyajit Ray for the film Jalsaghar.
All his sons, Nishat Khan (sitar), Irshad Khan (sitar and surbahar), Wajahat Khan (sarod), Shafaatullah Khan (tabla and surbahar) and Azmat Ali Khan, are talented musicians.
