MusicalNirvana - Sufi Inayat Khan

Sufi Inayat Khan (1882-1927)

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Inayat Khan Rahmat Khan Pathan was born in Baroda on 5th July, 1882. He was the grandson of Prof. Moula Bux, the eminent founder of the Academy of Indian Music established in Baroda under the patronage of Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad of Baroda.

The death of his dear grandfather Moula Bux in 1896 at the age of 63 was the first blow in young Inayat Khan's life. When he lost his gentle, pious mother in 1902, he decided to spend his time wandering all over this vast sub-continent. From 1900 to 191O, Inayat Khan made an extensive tour of the length and breadth of India. These wanderings and early religious teachings made him into a sufi saint.

From 1910 to 1926, Inayat Khan's life was a saga of constant touring all-over Europe, UK and repeated trips to U.S.A. Everywhere he gave an incredibly large number of lectures on Indian philosophy, mysticism, and sufism, and lecture-demonstrations on Indian music. He was the first Indian musician to tour Europe and US and introduce them to Indian music and mysticism.

By 1927 he was tired and exhausted with overwork. He contracted pneumonia and died in Delhi in 1927 in the Tilak Lodge on the banks of the river Yamuna. Thus ended the busy life of Sufi Inayat Khan who did pioneering work in the West in his mission of propagating Indian music and Sufism all over the West. With his varied accomplishments, his rare qualities of head and heart, and his noble manners, Inayat Khan was one of the best "Cultural Ambassadors" that India has had. But since he spent the best part of his life from the age of 28 till the last year of his life abroad, very little is known about him in his own country. What he achieved in the West in the short span of 45 years is really amazing. His devoted wife Sharada Ameena Begum died in Paris in 1949.

Discography

I've come across only one cd release of Sufi Inayat Khan.