Bundu Khan

He was born in Delhi, before Partition, into a family of musicians; he received his early sarangi training from his father, Ali Jan Khan, from the age of eight, and later from his uncle Mamman Khan, a veteran sarangi and sursagar player of the Patiala gharana.¹ The Urdu account adds that he then became a disciple of the malang Mian Ahmad Shah, who taught him his knowledge with great affection.²

Khan played the sarangi on All India Radio's Delhi station when broadcasting first started in 1935, and served the princely court of Indore for 27 years as a court musician.¹ He studied Sanskrit to gain access to the classical music of ancient India, had mastered over 500 ragas, and introduced the technique known as Meendh Soot Ki Sargam; he played a sarangi smaller than the standard size, with some metal strings in place of gut, for a different sound.¹ His book on music, Jauhar-i-Mausiqi in Urdu, also known as Sangeet Vivek Darpan in Hindi, was published simultaneously in both languages in June 1934.¹

After the Partition of India in 1947 Khan migrated to Pakistan and lived in Karachi, continuing to play the sarangi on all the radio stations of Pakistan until his death on 13 January 1955; he is buried in Karachi.¹² He had two sons, Umrao Bundu Khan and Bulund Iqbal Khan, who continued his musical tradition.¹ He was honoured posthumously with the Pride of Performance; the English article dates the award to 1985, the Urdu article to 1959 — the record states the split rather than choosing between them.¹²

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