Sakar Khan Biography 
Sakar Khan was an Indian musician from Rajasthan, best known as an exponent of Kamayacha (or Kamaicha), a bowed stringed instrument, a Rajasthani version of the Persian musical instrument of the same name. This instrument is quite popular among the Manganiar community, mostly seen in desert regions of India. Padma Shri award, Tulsi Samman and Sangeet Natak Akademi Award are some of the major awards received by Khan. He lived during the period, 1938–2013. Khan is also addressed as Sakar Khan Manganiar, adding his community name along with his real name. This musician has worked with Shankar, Menuhin and Harrison and many doyens of music, in Indian and international scene. He has performed with George Harrison, the Beatle, and Sultan Khan in London.
Sakar Khan Manganiar was born in Hamira, Rajasthan on 9 August 1938. He belonged to Jaisalmer district. His father, Chunar Singh, was a renowned kamayacha musician, who introduced Sakar to this string instrument. Later Sakar established himself as a leading artist of Kamayacha (or Kamaicha) over the years. He performed aside Yehudi Menuhin and Pandit Ravi Shankar, for the show titled From the Sitar to the Guitar, at a concert at the Cirque Royal Auditorium, organized by the International Yehudi Menuhin Foundation. US, France, Japan and USSR are among the countries in which he has performed.
Sakar Khan is credited to popularizing this string instrument outside Rajasthan as well as outside India. He has also done a few renovations to this music instrument. His renditions of Bhairavi raga and Kalyani raga are stored in the ethnomusicology archives of Smithsonian Folkways. He gave his last public appearance at Delhi, where he performed The Manganiyar Seduction at Purana Qila. Throughout his life he never released any individual albums, though he has performed with artists of international standard.
Published: October 16, 2018
Updated: October 16, 2018
