استاد عاشق علی خان

Ustad Ashiq Ali Khan was born to Ustad Fateh Ali, the co-founder of the Patiala Gharana in the later part of the 19th Century. It is said that Ustad Fateh Ali Khan was a very surila gawaiya. He died much before Ustad Ali Bakhsh Khan, the other cofounder of the gharana. Growing up without the supervision of a father, Ashiq Ali Khan became an enfant terrible. He would just not subject himself to the discipline that his inheritance demanded. It is said that he ran away from home and went to his maternal uncle Amir Ali Khan in the Multan area. According to another account, he just loafed around at shrines and places of amusement. He was finally rescued by the shagirds of his father – Mian Maharbaan and Sardar Bai. Sardar Bai took him to her home. He was properly coached by both of them enabling him to become a gawaiya of great stature in an era of many front rank artistes.

He was also credited with singing the kaafi in the classical ang. It is said that Ali Bakhsh Khan, the father of Baray Ghulam Ali Khan and Barkat Ali Khan was a great kaafi singer. He may have influenced Ashiq Ali Khan. He may also have picked some of it in his interaction with the Punjab gawayas, some from his own family, who had settled in Sindh, where besides many other experiments and bandishes in Sindhi they sang the Sindhi kaafi in the classical style. This may have given him the cue by showing the possibility of developing the ang of Sindhi and Punjabi kaafi in his own imitable style. That caught on and was later sung by many others including some of the masters of the Patiala Gharana including Baray Ghulam Ali Khan, Barkat Ali Khan and Ustad Salamat Ali Khan of Sham Chaurasi.

Usad Ashiq Ali Khan too was a gawaiya trained and schooled in the tradition where the final make-or-break point was a live performance before a discerning audience. To the many who saw and heard him perform, it was a treat and as he was truly indomitable. His performance was always a class act in which he used to great advantage the stronger part of his gaiki. The strong point was mushkilaat that he was taken in by because unlike some of his famous contemporaries he did not have a naturally attractive voice. He had to develop other musical strengths to counter the dominance of the more naturally gifted vocalists. Besides the very intricate, complicated and forceful taans his laikari was much appreciated and applauded. Ustad Ashiq Ali Khan’s death anniversary falls on March 10.