Alladiya Khan

As told to his grandson Shri Azizuddin Khan
Translated with an Introduction by Urmila Bhirdikar and Amlan Das Gupta
Published by Thema, Calcutta, 2000
Khansahab Alladiya Khan (1855-1946) is widely regarded as one of the greatest North Indian classical vocalists of the modern period. He achieved great renown as a singer in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and the Jaipur Atrauli style that he established continues to be among the most influential idioms of Hindustani music in the country today. He narrated this account of his life to his grandson Shri Azizuddin Khan in the last years of his life and this rare manuscript is now translated with an introduction for the modern reader. In it he talks about his early life, his travels, his career as a court singer and of his encounters with other great musicians of his time. This account throws light on the profession of the singer in the golden age of classical music in India, and will be of great interest to musicologists and musicians, cultural historians and sociologists as well as the general reader.

Alladiya Khan: My Life is the first volume in the MUSIC THEMA series. The focus of this series is on the history and theory of music.

AMLAN DAS GUPTA teaches English at Jadavpur University, Calcutta, and has written on the history of Hindustani classical music.

URMILA BHIRDIKAR teaches English at H.V.Desai College and learns music from Pandit Rajashekhar Mansur.

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