| Wazir Khan | |
| Pseudonym: | Wazir (Urdu poetry), Gauhar Piya (Hindi poetry) |
| Birth Name: | Mohammad Wazir Khan |
| Birth Date: | 1860 |
| Birth Place: | Rampur, Rampur State, British India |
| Death Date: | 1926 (aged 66) |
| Death Place: | Rampur, Rampur State, British India |
| Occupation: | Musician Playwright Poet Musicologist |
| Nationality: | Indian |
| Period: | 1860 1926 |
| Genre: | Hindustani Classical Music Musical Theatre |
| Notableworks: | Vilayati Chakkar (Urdu Novel) Risala mousibi |
Ustad Mohammad Wazir Khan (1860–1926) served as the head of Arbab-e-Nishat (Music Department of Rampur State) during the period of Nawab Hamid Ali Khan of Rampur.[1] He was also an excellent playwright who established the Rampur theatre in the building of club Ghar in Rampur.
Wazir Khan was born in 1860 in the former Rampur State to Ameer Khan Beenkar.[2] He was the descendant of Naubat Khan and Hussaini (Tansen's daughter).[1] Besides music, Wazir Khan's interests spanned many fields and areas. He was also a professional playwright, poet, published author, painter, passionate photographer, and a well-practiced calligrapher. Primarily he used to do calligraphy in Arabic and Persian.He used to conduct magic shows once in a year and went for a country tour annually. In poetry, he was the student of the noted poet Daagh Dehlvi. As a musicologist, he wrote the Risala Mausibi. In addition, Wazir Khan was proficient in many languages, such as Arabic, Persian, Urdu, Hindi, Bangla, Marathi and Gujarati.
All the Naubat Khanis were fond of good food. They were able to develop their own cuisine. Rice preparations were included in their meals and Kabab featured regularly. Rakabdars from the court of Awadh were employed in their kitchens.Both Nawab Hamid Ali Khan of Rampur and Ustad Muhammad Wazir Khan travelled together to Mumbai, Mussorie and other places regularly. Both the Nawab and Ustad Wazir Khan used to took their Rakabdars with them to these destinations. They used to throw banquet for each other and other dignitaries. Lavish meals were served and there were copious amounts of food of all kinds.
It was said that if anyone from this family doesn't take dessert after each meal then he is not a Naubat Khani.
The preparation at their kitchens was so rich in ingredients that once Nawab Hamid Ali Khan said that if this family was not fond of such good food, they could have houses made of gold and silver.[3]
Ustad Mohammad Wazir Khan along with his brother Tehsildar Mohammad Fida Ali Khan held a jagir of 4 villages. Two villages Dhanari Sharkhi(big village) and Naya Gaon(small village) in present day Rampur and one more village in present day Uttarakhand and fourth village near district Shahjahanpur. Ustad Muhammad Wazir Khan's family members held jagirs in Tekari Raj in Bihar with an annual revenue of Rs 20,000, jagir in Banda, Banaras and jagir in Nepal.[4] Ustad Muhammad Wazir Khan held great relationship with the Maharaja of Banaras, Maharaja of Darbhanga Raj, Maharaja of Gwalior, Maharaja of Maihar, Maharaja of Jammu & Kashmir, Maharaja of Tripura and many more heads of the princely states.Maharaja of Kishangarh State and Maharaja of Indore State personally visited the place of Ustad Muhammad Wazir Khan in Rampur.
In addition to family weapons including Khanda which the family of Naubat Khan possessed and was redesigned on the design of Hazrat Ali's Zulfiqar, the Nawab of Rampur Hamid Ali Khan issued at least 4 guns in the name of Ustad Mohammad Wazir Khan.The details of which are given in the PhD thesis: Ustad Mohammad Wazir Khan and his prominent disciples by Rati Rastogi, RohilKhand University.Each gun was recognised by a Number assigned by the State armoury. Tehsildar Mohammad Fida Ali Khan, the younger brother of Ustad Muhammad Wazir Khan owned a licensed branded Revolver till his death in December 1947.[5]
Ustad Muhammad Wazir Khan travelled a lot after his departure from Rampur and visited Delhi where he met the grandsons of Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar who gave him a Qasida praising Ustad Muhammad Wazir Khan.He visited Banaras and met the Maharaja of Banaras who owed Rs 12,500 to his father Ameer Khan Beenkar. Maharaja of Banaras asked Wazir Khan to take the amount of Rs 12,500 with a condition to join the Banaras court.Ustad Muhammad Wazir Khan denied this offer and left the amount with the Maharaja of Banaras.[5] He stayed in Bhopal State but did not pursued Nawab Shah Jahan Begum of Bhopal for a career in Music as she was a lady.From there he travelled to Hyderabad on the invitation of Daagh Dehlvi as he was his father's s close friend.He also joined briefly as the Head of the Indore Music department, where he taught music to the Maharaja of Indore.He was also invited to Darbhanga Raj, Madras and remained there for sometime.He then travelled to Calcutta and stayed there for almost 8 years. In Bengal Raja of Panchetgarh, Raja of Gobardang, Raja Dunisheel, Zamindar Taraprasad and Maharaja Bahadur Sir Jatindramohan Tagore were his great devotees and admirers.Tagore's father Hara Kumar Tagore was the disciple of Ustad Basit Khan who was the grandfather of Ustad Muhammad Wazir Khan.Raja of Gauripur Birendra Kishore Roy Chaudhary wrote the book Hindustani Sangeet mein Tansen ka Sthan and dedicated it to his music teachers Ustad Muhammad Wazir Khan and his Uncle Ali Muhammad Khan, the Rajguru of Banaras who stayed with the Maharaja of Banaras in Ramnagar Fort. Ustad Muhammad Wazir Khan was again invited with great respect to Rampur by Nawab Hamid Ali Khan.In Rampur he taught music to Nawab Hamid Ali Khan of Rampur,[6] Allauddin Khan,[7] Hafiz Ali Khan,[8] and Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande. Alauddin Khan went on to establish the modern Maihar Gharana, with disciples such as Ali Akbar Khan (son), Annapurna Devi (daughter), Pandit Ravi Shankar (son-in-law), Nikhil Banerjee, Vasant Rai, Pannalal Ghosh, Bahadur Khan, and Sharan Rani.[3]
Wazir Khan lived like a prince and it was not easy for a commoner to approach the musician directly. Alauddin was quite desperate to become his disciple and it is said that one day he threw himself in front of the Nawab's vehicle.[9] The Nawab of Rampur was pleased with Alauddin's perseverance so he sent the vehicle to fetch Wazir Khan and Alauddin was made the disciple of Wazir Khan. Wazir Khan taught Alauddin nothing for two years and only began to teach him when he came to know about the hardships Alauddin's wife was facing at home.[10]