Ustad Allauddin Khan

Some musicians play an instrument. And then there are those who redefine it. Ustad Allauddin Khan was the second kind.

Born in Delhi, this man took the Esraj – already a rare instrument of India – and gave it a whole new life. Multiple lives, actually. Classical. Ghazal. Folk. Qawwali. Commercial. International. Over a career spanning 60 years, he proved that the Esraj belonged everywhere.

The Instrument He Made His Own

Ustad Allauddin Khan didn’t just play Esraj. He created something new – what he called the “Dilruba Esraj.” A fusion of both instruments, styled and modified according to his own vision of what the sound should be.

And that sound? Completely unique. Nobody sounded like him. Nobody could.

Here’s what made it special: he learned from Ustad Mohammad Ahmed Banne, and from that training he developed a style that gave the Esraj a distinct Sarangi touch – that deep, emotional, vocal quality that makes Sarangi so expressive.

But then he took it further. He added gayaki ang – a vocal style of playing where the instrument essentially sings. Every phrase, every ornament, every moment of the bow on the string felt like a human voice expressing something words couldn’t say.

And layered on top of all that? His Delhi Gharana training. The precision of taankari, the structure of bandishes, the depth of alaap. All of it woven into a style that was recognizably, unmistakably his.

The Man Who Put Esraj in Ghazal

Before Ustad Allauddin Khan, Esraj and ghazal didn’t really exist in the same sentence. Ghazal had its instruments – harmonium, tabla, sometimes Sarangi. But nobody had thought to bring Esraj into that world.

He changed that. Single-handedly.

And he didn’t just experiment quietly in a practice room. He went straight to the top – accompanying some of the greatest ghazal voices who ever lived: