Question

With which of the following musical instruments was the musician Bismillah Khan associated?
1. Harmonium
2. Shehnai
3. Sitar
4. Bansuri

Answer 1

Correct Answer - Option 2 : Shehnai

The correct answer is Shehnai.

• Ustad Bismillah Khan was associated with the Shehnai which is a subcontinental wind instrument in India.
  • This instrument is played in special ceremonies such as receptions, marriages and festivals.
  • At the age of six, he moved to Varanasi in the state of Uttar Pradesh to teach his maternal uncle Ali Baks Vilayatu Khan, a shehnai player associated with the Kashi Vishwanath temple.
  • At the age of 14, Bismillah accompanied his uncle to the Allahabad Sangeet Sammelan.
  • In 1932, at the age of 16, he entered into an arranged marriage with a cousin.
  • He died of cardiac arrest on 21 August 2006.

• String instruments and Indian musicians who play them:
  • Santoor: Pt Shiv Kumar Sharma, Bhajan Sopori
  • Sarod: Allauddin Khan, Ali Akbar Khan, Amjad Ali Khan, Buddhadev Dasgupta, Bahadur Khan, Sharan Rani, Zarin S Sharma
  • Sitar: Pt Ravi Shankar, Shahid Parvez Khan, Budhaditya Mukherjee, Anushka Shankar, Hara Shankar Bhattacharya, Nikhil Banerjee, Vilayat Khan, Mushtaq Ali Khan
  • Surbahar: Annapurna Devi, Sajjad Hussain
  • Been: Asad Ali Khan, Zia Moin-ud-din Khan
  • Veena: Zia Mohiuddin Dagar, Ayyagari Syamasundaram, Doraiswamy Iyengar, Chittibabu, Emani Sankara Shastri, Dhanammal, KR Kumaraswamy, Sundaram Balachandrer
  • Rudra Veena: Asad Ali Khan