Lakha Khan

Lakha Khan Manganiar is a master of the Sindhi sarangi, the 27-string bowed instrument of the Rajasthani and Multani folk and Sufi traditions, and one of its last great players. He was named for the Padma Shri in 2021 in the field of art, from Rajasthan ^[1].

The Multan school

Lakha Khan was born on 12 November 1949 in Raneri village, Jodhpur district, into a family of hereditary Manganiyar musicians ^[2]. He was trained young in the songs of the Multan school of Manganiyars ^[2].

His repertoire crosses the line between classical and folk, and between faiths: Hindu bhajans, Sufi kalaams and the old stories and oral histories of the western subcontinent ^[2]. He sings in more than six languages, including Hindi, Marwari, Sindhi, Punjabi and Multani, accompanying his strong voice on the pyaledar, or Sindhi sarangi ^[2].

Around the world

He began performing in public in the late 1960s and 1970s, and with the ethnomusicologist Komal Kothari toured Europe, Russia and Japan in the 1980s and 1990s ^[2]. In 2013 Amarrass Records organised his first tour across the United States, and since then he has toured Denmark, Sweden, the Czech Republic, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Finland and the US again ^[2].

Of his three albums for Amarrass, At Home was named one of the five best Rajasthani albums ever by fRoots magazine, and Live in Nashville (2016) received four stars from Songlines ^[2]. He has received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, and was a showcase artist at WOMEX 2019 in Tampere, Finland ^[2].