Ustad Mohammad Ameer Khan (1873-1934) was one of the leading players of the Indian
sarod in the late ninteenth century and early twentieth centuries. A descendant of the
rabab players of Afghanistan, Ameer Khan sahib was known for the clarity of his sarod baaj
and his knowledge of a vast array of sitar and sarod gats.
 

The son of Ustad Abdullah Khan, Ameer Khan sahib was the leading sarod player of
his time and also the torchbearer of the Shahjahanpur Gharana of sarod, founded by his
grandfather, Ustad Murad Ali Khan. In this way, Amer Khan saheb was related to
Ustad Hafiz Ali Khan and the lineage of pathan rabab players who migrated to present-day
India in the mid-seventeenth century.
 

In his later years, Ustad Mohammad Ameer Khan was commisioned by Sri Lalit Mohan Maitra,
a wealthy landowner from Bengal, who was also an able pakhawaj player. There, the Ustad's
job was to accompany Lalit Mohan Maitra on sarod. Mohammad Ameer Khan was about 65
at the time when Radhika Mohan Maitreya was born, and was already an established
member of the Maitra household. When Radhu Babu was about five, the Ustad started imparting
musical knowledge to him in the form of daily taleem. Although he passed away twelve
years later, he had shaped Radhika Mohan's musicality in an unmistable form.
 

Khan Sahib had cut quite a few wax and vinyl discs in his time, but age and far-sighted motivation
on part of some other people have led to their near-total ouster from the market. The Gharana lived
on, through Radhu Babu, Pandit Buddhadev Dasgupta and his disciples.

Amir Khan Sahib specialized in old bandishi gats which are not played by artists today who
concentrate more on the marketable aspects of their music such as fast taans and simple, easy-to-
catch gats. Amir Khan sahib is said to have taught a wide range of sarod players including Timir
Baran and Birendrakishore Roychoudhuri.
 

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