Zakir Azad, Cumilla

Alauddin Khan. A name, a wonder, a history. He is the world famous music emperor. He is one of the few people who is better known as Brahmanbaria, the cultural capital of Bangladesh.

He is the proverbial ‘Khan Saheb’ of the aristocratic family of the ever-traditional Shibpur village of Nabinagar upazila of Brahmanbaria district. He was the first Bengali to introduce and spread ragas in the Indian subcontinent in the West and around the world. Today is September 6, the day of Mr. Khan's great love or death. I humbly remember the creator of this melody.

One and a half hundred years ago today, Alauddin Khan was born in 1882 AD to make the prosperous village of Shibpur in Nabinagar of the district even more blessed. Whose nickname was Alam. His father Sabdar Hossain Khan alias Sadu Khan himself was a prominent musician. Tina's mother's name is Sundari Begum. Fakir Aftab Uddin Khan, the elder Fakir, had a crush on his music as a child. The search for melody seems to be his innate nature. That's why many of them run away from home at a very young age and go from village to village with the procession. At that time he became known for his songs like Jari, Sari, Baul, Bhatiali, Kirtan, Panchali etc.

He left home at the age of 10 after learning music. One night he escaped from his village home and walked for about 15 kilometers on a long river from Maniknagar in Nabinagar upazila to Narayanganj by river steamer. From there he reached Kolkata by train. After several days of starvation and starvation for several months, under the light post on the verandah of the house, he got close to Ustad Nulo Gopal. He trained with him for seven years. At that time he also received training from Ustad Gangaram Tagore in the national anthem.

After the death of Ustad Nulo Gopal, he was trained by Ustad Habu Dutt in playing many instruments including violin and clarinet. He learned about the addition and execution of instruments from Ustad Habu Dutt. He learned Western music from Mr. Lobo, the band master at the Garden of Eden, and learned to play the piano from Mr. Lobo's wife. Sanai and Nakara learned from Ustad Hazari. After three years of training as a disciple of Ustad Ahmad Ali Khan, he became a disciple of Ustad Wazir Khan, a descendant of Tansen, at the mercy of Nawab Hamid Ali Khan of Rampur.

While in contact with him, he also learned a lot from famous musicians like Band Master Duli Khan, Mohammad Hossain Khan and Karim Khan.
Ustad Wazir Khan trained for a total of 33 years, including 20 years of sleeplessness (from seven in the evening to five in the morning). After completing his education, he was appointed as the guru of Raja Brajendra Singh Roy of Maihar state in Uttar Pradesh, India in 1918. Ustad Alauddin Khan could play two hundred types of musical instruments. In 1935, he traveled to various European countries with the famous dancer Uday Shankar. He formed an orchestral style instrument with the combination of local and foreign musical instruments and named it 'Rampur String Band'. The British government awarded Alauddin the title of 'Khan Saheb'.
Hemant-Bhairab, Hemant Hem Behag, Madan-Manjuri, Majh-Khambaj, Gandhi, Shubhavati, Durgeshwari, Prabhakari, Dhablashree, Madhabagiri, Bhabhaviri Bilwal, Muhammad and Madhuri. Notable titles received by Ustad Alauddin Khan are: Bharatka Gaurab, Aftab-e-Hindu, Sangeetacharya (Bharatkhand Vidyalaya 1944 AD), Sangeet Nayak (Maihar Raja), Desikottam (Shanti Niketan 1974 AD), Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (1952). Academy Fellow (1954), Padma Vibhushan (1958 and 1961), Dhaka University awarded him a doctorate in 1954 and Dhaka Salimullah Muslim Hall awarded him a lifetime membership. He also served as an invited professor at Visva-Bharati in Santiniketan at the invitation of Rabindranath Tagore. He was conferred the title of Doctor of Laws by the University of Delhi, India in 1981.

Ustad Alauddin Khan excelled in Sarod. With his innate talent, he made his own style of playing sarod and by applying the style of playing sarod in setar, he also brought a radical change in the playing of setar. In this way he introduced a new genre in the world of music, which is well known as 'Alauddin Gharana' or 'Maihar Gharana'. A few new musical instruments were invented on the advice and instructions of Ustad Alauddin Khan.
Shibpur village in Nabinagar upazila of Brahmanbaria. Even today there is the home of this world famous musician. This dwelling place of Alauddin is a place of pilgrimage for the devotees of Sur. There is a college named after him next to Bastavita. Next to it is a beautiful mosque built by his own hands. Many of his memoirs are wrapped around it. Moreover, he established a music school in his house in Brahmanbaria district town. At present it is known as 'Sur Samrat Di Alauddin Sangeetangan'. The demand for the establishment of Alauddin Museum here and in Janmavita Shibpur is long standing. Sur Samrat Ustad Alauddin Khan is carrying everything as a monument of tradition.

The world famous music emperor Ustad Alauddin Khan never took money from any student for teaching him. Didn't even accept any gift items. He died on September 7, 1982, at the age of 110 in the Indian state of Maihar.

He left this world, but he is still alive in the memory of the world. Today I remember Mr. Khan with humble reverence, I pray to God for the forgiveness of his soul.