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{{Use Indian English|date=July 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}
{{Infobox person
|name= Imrat Khan
|birth_date = 17 November 1935
|birth_place = [[Calcutta]], [[British India]]
|death_date = {{death date and age |df=yes|2018|11|22|1935|11|17}}
|death_place = [[St. Louis]], [[Missouri]], United States
|nationality = Indian
|occupation = [[Classical music]]ian<br/>[[Sitar]] and [[Surbahar]] player
|known for = An expert in playing [[surbahar]]
|years active =
|awards = [[Sangeet Natak Akademi Award]] (1988)<br/>[[Padma Shri]] Award (2017)
}}

'''Imrat Khan''' (17 November 1935 – 22 November 2018) was an [[India]]n [[sitar]] and [[surbahar]] player and composer. He was the younger brother of sitar maestro [[Vilayat Khan|Ustad Vilayat Khan]].<ref name=outlook/><ref name=Webster/><ref name = "Grove">Farrell, Gerry (2001). [http://oxfordindex.oup.com/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.48683 "Khan, Imrat"]. ''[[Grove Music Online]]''. (subscription required for full text).</ref>

==Training and early career==
Imrat Khan was born in [[Calcutta]] on 17 November 1935 into a family of musicians tracing its roots back for several generations, to the court musicians of the [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]] rulers. The training in music traditionally has been passed down from father to son for nearly 400 years.<ref name=outlook>{{cite journal|url=https://www.outlookindia.com/website/story/indian-classical-musician-ustad-imrat-khan-passes-away-due-to-stroke-at-age-83/320632 |date=23 November 2018|journal= Outlook (magazine)|title=Indian Classical Musician Ustad Imrat Khan Passes Away Due To Stroke at Age 83|accessdate=15 July 2020}}</ref> He belonged to [[Etawah gharana]] also known as [[Imdadkhani gharana]] of classical musicians.<ref name=IndianExpress/> Imrat Khan's father was [[Enayat Khan]] (1895–1938), recognised as a leading sitar and surbahar player of his time, as had been his grandfather, [[Imdad Khan]] (1848–1920), before him.<ref name = "Grove" /> Imrat Khan's father died when Imrat was a child, so he was raised by his mother, Bashiran Begum and her father, singer Bande Hassan Khan. In 1944, the family moved with [[Vilayat Khan]], Imrat's older brother, to [[Bombay]] where both the brothers learned sitar-playing extensively from their uncle [[Wahid Khan]]. In 1952, Vilayat and Imrat moved in together in [[Calcutta]]. They performed together for many years. The two brothers were part of the first cultural delegation to the [[Soviet Union]] and Eastern Europe in 1956.<ref name=outlook/><ref name = "AM" />

==Solo career and legacy==
From 1961 onwards, Imrat Khan performed and recorded solo, playing both sitar and surbahar.<ref name=outlook/><ref name = "AM">{{cite web|author=Craig Harris|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/imrat-khan-mn0000303990/biography |title=Biography: Imrat Khan |website=Allmusic.com website|accessdate=15 July 2020}}</ref><ref name=Webster/>

For decades, Imrat Khan recorded extensively on both his instruments. His full performance practice started with a surbahar alap in [[dhrupad]] ''ang'' (embellished with more romantic touches), followed by a shorter alap on the sitar leading into ''gat'' in traditional Imdadkhani style. (Sitar players such as [[Ravi Shankar]] and [[Nikhil Banerjee]] added bass strings to their sitars to achieve at least some of the surbahar's lower range on a single instrument).

Imrat Khan performed in [[Europe]], the [[United States]], the [[United Kingdom]], [[Germany]], [[China]] and Southeast Asia. He also performed at the [[Cannes Film Festival]] in 1970. He spent a portion of each year teaching classical Indian music and instructing sitar students at [[Washington University in Saint Louis]].<ref name=Webster/>

Imrat Khan's music has been featured in films made by noted filmmakers like [[Satyajit Ray]] and [[James Ivory]].<ref name=Webster/><ref name = "AM" />

"In 1971, he made musical history as the first Indian musician to play at London's Royal Albert Hall for the first ever all night performance of Indian classical music in the BBC Promenade Concert Series"... says the [[Webster University]], [[Missouri]] website.<ref name=Webster/><ref name = "AM" />

Imrat Khan was the senior performer of the [[Imdadkhani gharana]], the school of sitar and surbahar performance named after his grandfather [[Imdad Khan]].<ref name=SadlerHamilton /><ref name=Webster/>

==Death and legacy==
Imrat Khan died on 22 November 2018 at age 83 due to a stroke in [[St. Louis]], [[Missouri]], United States where he had been residing for over two decades prior to his death. He had been ill for some time before his death.<ref name=outlook/>
Imrat Khan had five sons, [[Nishat Khan]] (sitar player), [[Irshad Khan]] (sitar player), [[Wajahat Khan]] (sarod player) and [[Shafaatullah Khan]] (tabla player), and Azmat Ali Khan, who were all trained by him, and are all talented musicians themselves.<ref name = "AM" /><ref name=Webster/>

==Awards and recognition==
In 1988, Imrat Khan received a [[Sangeet Natak Akademi Award]] from the [[President of India]].<ref name=Webster>{{cite web|url=http://www.webster.edu/community-music-school/explore-music/explore-music-india.html|title=Explore Music! India (profile of Imrat Khan)|website=Webster University (USA website)|date=16 May 2014|accessdate=14 July 2020}}</ref><ref name = "AM" />

In 2017, he was awarded the [[Padma Shri]]; however, he refused to accept the award stating "It is too little and came little too late"; which also sparked pandemonium among his students and members of the fraternity.<ref>[https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/padma-shri-too-little-too-late/articleshow/56942824.cms Padma Shri too little too late] Times of India (newspaper), Published 3 February 2017, Retrieved 14 July 2020</ref><ref name=IndianExpress>{{cite news|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/government-must-honour-practitioners-of-classicial-art-forms-in-their-prime-4499661/ |title=When you are old and grey: Government must honour practitioners of classical art forms in their prime|author=Gopalakrishnan|date=31 January 2017|newspaper=The Indian Express (newspaper)|accessdate=14 July 2020}}</ref><ref name=outlook/>

According to ''[[Outlook (Indian magazine)|Outlook]]'' of India, "The noted musician was disappointed that the Indian government never recognized his contributions, even as several of his juniors and those who trained under him were presented with Padma awards".<ref name=outlook/>

==References==
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name=SadlerHamilton>{{cite book
|title=Sitar Music in Calcutta: An Ethnomusicological Study
|page=171
|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass
|date=1994
|author=James Sadler Hamilton
|isbn=9788120812109
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JP5Wzqq7I80C
}}</ref>
}}

==External links==
*[http://www.kavitachhibber.com/2004/03/19/ustad-imrat-khan/ An interview with Imrat Khan]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Khan, Imrat}}
[[Category:1935 births]]
[[Category:2018 deaths]]
[[Category:Etawah gharana]]
[[Category:Hindustani instrumentalists]]
[[Category:Surbahar players]]
[[Category:Sitar players]]
[[Category:Indian multi-instrumentalists]]
[[Category:Indian music educators]]
[[Category:Indian Muslims]]
[[Category:Washington University in St. Louis faculty]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award]]
[[Category:Deaths from cerebrovascular disease]]

Imrat Khan - Revision history

->BattyBot at 06:31, 13 November 2021