Rashid Khan
A Hindustani vocalist of the Rampur-Sahaswan gharana, honoured with the Padma Bhushan in 2022. He died in 2024.
Rashid Khan was a Hindustani classical singer of the Rampur-Sahaswan gharana and a great-grandson of its founder, Inayat Hussain Khan. He was named for the Padma Bhushan in 2022 in the field of art, from Uttar Pradesh [1].
A reluctant prodigy
Khan was born on 1 July 1966 in Sahaswan, Badaun district, and was a nephew of Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan [2]. As a child he had little interest in music, but trained mainly under his maternal grand-uncle, Ustad Nissar Hussain Khan, and gave his first concert in Delhi at eleven [2]. In April 1980 he moved with his teacher to the ITC Sangeet Research Academy in Calcutta, and by 1989 he was known as a musician around the world [2].
His style
He was known for his mastery of sargam and sargam taans, for the tarana, and for the emotional depth of his khayal singing [2]. He also sang jugalbandis with musicians of other genres and lent his voice to films [2]. Pandit Bhimsen Joshi called him the assurance for the future of Indian vocal music [2].
He set up a music academy in Kolkata in 2000 and another in Agartala in 2010 [2]. His recordings include The Song of Shiva, Khyal and A Tribute to a Living Legend [2]. He received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award [2].
Khan died in a Kolkata hospital on 9 January 2024, after treatment for prostate cancer [3].
Sources
- [1] Padma Awards 2022: list of awardees — Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. Accessed 24 October 2026.
- [2] Padma Awards 2022: citation for Rashid Khan — Padma Awards, Government of India. Accessed 24 October 2026.
- [3] Ustad Rashid Khan passes away — Deccan Chronicle. Accessed 24 October 2026.
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