Rajab Ali Khan

Rajab Ali Khan (1874-1959), born in Narsingarh, Madhyam Pradesh, learnt music from his father Manglu Khan, Amritsen (Senee) and Bade Mohammad Khan (Gwalior). He was a court musician of Dewas and Kolhapur. In his day, Rajab Ali Khan was known as much for his tremendous musical acumen as for his picaresque ways. A master vocalist, he was also proficient on the Rudra Veena, Sitar and Jala-Tarang. Several musicians of high standing learnt from him, among them his nephew Aman Ali Khan of the Bhendibazar Gharana (and through Aman Ali the influence extended to Amir Khan), Nivruttibuwa Sarnaik, Ganpatrao Dewaskar and others. Lata Mangeshkar, too, briefly took Taleem from Rajab Ali during her stint under Aman Ali. In 1909, he was conferred the title of Sangeet Ratna Bhushan by the Maharaha of Mysore. His last big musical programme was held in 1957, in Bombay.