INTERVIEW

Known as the “Sarod Samrat,” Amjad Ali Khan is a legendary figure in the history of Indian classical music. A distinguished maestro, he is the sixth generation Sarod player in his family. Born to the illustrious Bangash lineage, and rooted in the Senia Bangash School of music, Khan has beautifully carried his legacy forward, which has now been inherited by his sons. Q. Your family has been playing the sarod for six generations now. Please enlighten us about the history of this instrument. A. “Sarod” is a Persian word. The actual pronunciation is “sarood” which means music or melody. Our sarod is made of teak wood. It is hollow from the inside, the belly is covered with the skin and the finger board is made of steel. The bridge on the skin carries nineteen strings. Eleven sympathetic strings are underneath the bridge and ten strings are over the bridge. Our forefathers came from Afghanistan and settled in Reva and Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh. They used to play the Afghani instrument “rabab,” which looks like sarod and my forefathers, especially Ghulam Bandegi Khan Bangash and his son Ghulam Ali Khan, modified and invented the sarod from the rabab. Bangash is our family surname. Q. You are one of the greatest sarod players India has ever seen or, perhaps, will ever see. How do you view the future of sarod playing in India? A. I am very glad that the sarod today has become a universally known Indian instrument. Even in the West, the sarod is a much loved instrument. My family is on a collective mission to make this beautiful instrument as popular as the guitar. Since my childhood, I always wanted my instrument, the sarod, to be able to express an entire range of human emotions. It has been a long journey so far and by the benevolence of the heavens, the sarod has become far more expressive than it was 40 years ago.