Amanat Khan

♫ Raga Nat Kamod

♫ Raga Kedar

 

About Amanat Khan

Amanat Khan (1901-1948?) – was the son of Jamal Khan and nephew of the great musician Rajab Ali Khan of Dewas. He underwent strenuous training in music under Rajab Ali. After falling out with his mentor, he went to Indore and worked as a tonga driver for some years. There he had a chance encounter with Nasiruddin Khan Dagar who referred him to musicians in Mumbai.

Amanat Khan then moved to Mumbai and had a very successful run. He and Amir Khan lived together, practised together and became very close friends. Amanat Ali had a talent for imitating other singers along with their nuances. He was also a good jala-tarang player. He died of heart failure in his native Dewas.

Among Amanat Ali’s students were Vamanrao Deshpande, Lata Mangeshkar, the film actress Nargis and her brother Anwar Hussain.

This sketch has been compiled from pages from Ameeq Hanafee’s biography of Rajab Ali that was made available to me by Jyoti Swarup Pande.