Ustad Hafiz Ali Khan

Hafiz Ali Khan was born in Gwalior around 1888. His father, Nanhe Khan, was a court musician there, and the family, originally from Afghanistan, is credited with reshaping the rabab into the sarod in the time of his grandfather Ghulam Ali Khan. He learned first from his father and then from his uncle Murad Ali Khan, and later from his cousin Abdulla Khan and nephew Mohammad Amir Khan.

Looking for older, purer music, he went to Vrindavan to learn dhrupad from Pandit Chukkhelal and Pandit Ganeshilal, from the family tradition of Swami Haridas. He then studied with Wazir Khan of Rampur, a beenkar descended from Tansen's daughter's line, who pressed on him the importance of raga purity. He also learned thumri from the harmonium player Bhaiya Ganpat Rao of Gwalior.

As a Gwalior court musician he travelled often to Bengal, playing at festivals and teaching; the patrons Raychand Boral and Manmatha Ghosh studied with him. After independence and the end of the princely states, he moved to Delhi in the early 1950s at the invitation of the Bharatiya Kala Kendra. In 1948 he was photographed among the leading musicians at the first music conference after independence.

He guarded his music, recorded very little for All India Radio or record companies, and taught few students. His youngest son, Amjad Ali Khan, became his principal disciple and has described him as a strict teacher who saw music as prayer. He received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1953 and the Padma Bhushan in 1960, as well as a doctorate from Khairagarh University. He died in December 1972. India Post issued a stamp in his memory in 2000.

Concise and powerful: a sparing chikari in alap, the four-taan alap framework, crisp lar-lapet strokes, varied jhalas drawn from the been, elaborate Senia gats with hidden rhythmic twists, and pakhawaj accompaniment in jor. He also played lyrical thumris, which some critics felt coloured his raga music.