Ustad Nissar Hussain Khan (1906 – 16 July 1993) was an Indian classical vocalist from the Rampur-Sahaswan gharana. He was a disciple and son of Fida Hussain Khan and after a long and illustrious career was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1971. [1]
He was the court musician of Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III at Baroda and was featured extensively on All India Radio. He was a specialist in Tarana. His most famous disciples are his cousin Ghulam Mustafa Khan and Rashid Khan. [2]
Nisar Hussain Khan gave his first performance at age 11 which was considered phenominal at that time. [2] Then he went on to receive a scholarship from the Maharaja of Baroda who also appointed his father as a court musician to further help train his young son Nisar Hussain Khan. By the age of 18, he had gained much more confidence as a singer in Maharaja's court and then Nisar, too, was appointed as a court musician. He remained in that position for nearly three decades. [2]
By the 1940s, Nisar Hussain had become a well-known performer on the concert circuit of India and he also was broadcasting for All India Radio. [2]
Khansahib inherited a vast repertoire of well-known and obscure melodies from his forebears. His rich, resonant voice was cultivated through decades of training. He embellishes the modal form of the ragas with flashes of gamaks, bol-taans and sargams. As an exponent of the khyal style, he renders taranas with distinction. [2] [3]
Khan's most famous disciple was his grandnephew Rashid Khan. He trained Rashid in the traditional master-apprentice manner, first at his own residence at Badaun, Uttar Pradesh, and subsequently at the ITC Sangeet Research Academy in Calcutta, where he spent the last years of his life. [2]
Khansahib's gharana, the Rampur-Sahaswan gharana, owes its existence to the Senia traditions and has a revered lineage of classical vocalists such as Bahadur Hussain Khan, Inayat Hussain Khan, Fida Hussain Khan and Mushtaq Hussain Khan. [2]