Amir Khan Biography 
Amir Khan was a well-known Indian classical vocalist who founded the Indore Gharana. He is considered one of the most influential figures in Hindustani classical music in the 20th century. He married thrice. He was first married was to Zeenat, sister of the sitar player, Ustad Vilayat Khan which resulted in a separation. He married Munni Bai second and his third marriage was to Raisa Begum, daughter of the thumri singer, Mushtari Begum of Agra. Actor Shahbaz Khan (Haider Amir) of Doordarshan Serial Chandrakanta fame who has also worked in a few Bollywood movies, is the son of Amir Khan and Mushtari Begum. Khansahib died a premature death in a car accident in Kolkata.
He was born in a family of musicians in Indore on August 15, 1912. His father, Shahmir Khan was a sarangi and veena player of the Bhendibazaar gharana who served at the court of the Holkars of Indore. His grandfather, Change Khan, was a court singer of Bahadurshah Zafar. His younger brother, Bashir, became a sarangi player at the Indore station of All India Radio. He lost his mother at a younger age. He received initial training in sarangi from his father. However, seeing his interest in vocal music, Shahmir Khan focused on giving vocal training to Amir in Merukhand technique and was exposed to different styles of singing at a younger age. He performed regularly at mehafils and also learnt tabla.
He moved to Mumbai in 1934 and cut about half a dozen 78-rpm records. He also performed at many concerts though he didn’t receive appreciation initially. In 1936 he joined the services of Maharaj Chakradhar Singh of Raigadh Sansthan in Madhya Pradesh. Following his father’s death he lived in Mumbai and Delhi for some period and moved back to Kolkata. He then developed his own singing style, taking inspirations from Abdul Waheed Khan, Rajab Ali Khan and Aman Ali Khan and gave birth to Indore Gharana. Amir Khan was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1967 and the Padma Bhushan in 1971. He has also sung some classical base songs for Hindi movies like Baiju Bawra, Goonj Uthi Shehnai and Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baje.
Published: N/A
Updated: February 03, 2014
