01 The Story of the Shamchaurasi Gharana - USTAD LATAFAT ALI KHAN Q&A

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Dear friends, ladies and gentlemen. As-salamu alaykum (”Peace be with you”). I am Ustad Latafat Ali Khan. I am of the Shamchaurasi Gharana (“musical lineage/tradition”). Which originated from East of Punjab, India (before partition). That is really the birthplace of our musical tradition. Which originated from East of Punjab, India (before partition). I am the second son of Late Ustad Salamat Ali Khan. With Allah’s grace I am also in the field of music and am a representative of our Gharana. Thanks to Allah our Gharana has existed for more than 500 years. Our forefathers, Miah Chand Khan and Miah Suraj Khan were singers in the Court of Mughal Emperor Akbar, and that is where our Gharana began. Before this, our forefathers were humble farmers of the Rajput caste and our transition into music was truly the result of an elder’s prayer. Allah was merciful and our forefathers became singers, serving the Emperor’s court. So that’s the origins of our Gharana. Shamchaurasi Gharana of East Punjab, as I stated earlier. And now a Gharana known all over the world. Our Gharana has produced some big singers of fame. But Ustad Salamat Ali Khan (Father) and Ustad Nazakat Ali Khan (Uncle) were most influential. They took our Gharana’s name to all corners of the world. We have also had greats like Miah Maan Khan, Miah Bachhatar Khan, Shamus Khan, Tabriz Khan, then there’s Miah Miran Bakhsh Khan, Miah Karim Bakhsh Khan. Miah Karim Bakhsh‘s mausoleum is in Shamchaurasi (the village) and he was a singer in the state of Jammu , under the then King of Jammu and Kashmir. He was a marvellous singer. Dhrupad (musical tradition) is the foundation of our Gharana which is arguably the oldest of vocal traditions in Classical music. Nowadays Dhrupad is quite rare. Learning and understanding it is a skill in itself. As time passed our elders made their name in the Khyal (”imagination”) genre of singing. Here they experimented with many shades of Dhrupad and made a name for themselves. Many of our Gharana’s singers now excel in Khyal. Now we have our fourteenth generation of singers and musicians, with my younger brother Ustad Shafqat Ali Khan making quite a name for himself around the globe, on the Classical music scene. My other younger brother Ustad Sakawat Ali Khan resides in San Francisco, California. He is very much active in the Classical music scene there. I reside here in London. Wherever we are, we are representing our Gharana. But it’s the result of our forefathers’ prayers and blessings that this tradition is still alive. It is a blessing that we are in this field, thanks be to Allah. Now my nephews Shujat Ali Khan, Faizan Ali Khan, Nadir Ali Khan, Aris Ali Khan and many of the Gharana’s students such as Nasir Ahmed Faridi, Madhar Shah Sahab in Germany and Rauf Sahab in London are doing well in music. We have Aslam Khan in America, and in Bath (United Kingdom) we have Roshael, Romael, and we have many other students such as Dawood and Sher Jaan, in the Gharana who are learning about Classical music. It is important to pass on this knowledge to keep this Gharana’s style and traditions alive and as our students spread this knowledge the Gharana is blessed further. The viewers and listeners of this, keep us in your prayers and wish us well so this musical tradition continues.