Remembering Ustad Bismillah Khan on his 11th death anniversary.
2 min readAug 21, 2017
Ustad Bismillah Khan (21 March 1916–21 August 2006) (born as Amiruddin Khan), often referred to by the honorific title Ustad, was a musician credited with popularizing the shehnai, a subcontinental wind instrument of the oboe class. While the shehnai had long held importance as a folk instrument played primarily during traditional ceremonies, Khan is credited with elevating its status and bringing it to the concert stage.
He was awarded India’s highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna, in 2001, becoming the third classical musician after M. S. Subbulakshmi and Ravi Shankar to be accorded this distinction
