Born : 21st March, 1916 at Dumraon (Bihar)

Ustad Bismillah Khan is a legendary shehnai maestro, a man of tenderness, a man who believes in remaining private and who believes that musicians are supposed to be heard and not seen.

He was born on 21 March 1916. The ancestors of Bismillah Khan were court musicians in the princely state of Dumraon in Bihar and he was trained under his uncle, the late Ali Bux 'Vilayatu’. Ali Bux was a shehnai player attached to Varanasi’s Vishwanath Temple.

Ustad Bismillah Khan Sahib poured his heart out into Raga Kafi from Red Fort on the eve of India’s first Republic Day ceremony.

Bismillah Khan sees only a divine unity between his music and his religion. Music, sur, namaaz is the same thing. His namaaz is the seven shuddh and five komal surs. Even as a devout Shia, Khan Sahib is also a staunch devotee of Saraswati, the Hindu goddess of music.

His honorary doctorate from the Benares Hindu University and Shantiniketan bespeaks of his fame. He has been bequeathed with the Sangeet Natak Academi Award, the Tansen Award of the Madhya Pradesh government and also the prestigious Padma Vibhushan.

He has played in Afghanistan, Europe, Iran, Iraq, Canada, West Africa, USA, USSR, Japan, Hong Kong and almost every capital city across the world. His music is an ocean and he feels that he has barely reached the shore after 84 years of his life and his search is still incomplete.