SSC
Annapurna Devi, the daughter of Ustad Allauddin Khan, was known to practise which instrument?
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Answer: Option D — Surbahar
Detailed Solution
Explanation
Annapurna Devi (1927-2018) was one of the greatest musicians of the 20th century, a master of the surbahar (a bass sitar) and a legendary teacher. She was the daughter of Ustad Allauddin Khan, the founder of the Maihar gharana, and the sister of the sarod maestro Ustad Ali Akbar Khan.
Annapurna Devi was born as Roshanara Khan in Maihar, Madhya Pradesh. The Maharaja of Maihar is said to have given her the name Annapurna. Her father taught her music from childhood, and she became a master of the surbahar, a larger, deeper version of the sitar, with a heavier sound, which is especially suited to the slow, meditative alap of a raga. She also played the sitar. In 1941, she married Pandit Ravi Shankar, who was also her father's student, and the couple performed together. However, after their separation, she stopped performing in public and lived a very private life in Mumbai for the rest of her life. Though she performed very rarely, she was regarded as one of the most gifted musicians of her generation. She devoted herself to teaching, and her students include some of the greatest musicians of India, such as Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia (flute), Pandit Nikhil Banerjee (sitar), Nityanand Haldipur (flute) and Basant Kabra (sarod). She received the Padma Bhushan (1977) and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (1991). She died in Mumbai on 13 October 2018.
The surbahar was developed in the 19th century. It has a larger body and longer neck than the sitar, thicker strings and a deeper, richer sound. Famous surbahar players include Ustad Imrat Khan and Annapurna Devi.
Why not the other options?
- ✗Sarod is linked with her father Allauddin Khan and her brother Ali Akbar Khan.
- ✗Shehnai is linked with Bismillah Khan.
- ✗Santoor is linked with Shivkumar Sharma.
💡 Exam tip
Link Annapurna Devi with the surbahar, Maihar, her father Allauddin Khan, her marriage to Ravi Shankar and her students, such as Hariprasad Chaurasia.💬 Discussions on this question
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Music & Musical Instruments — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Music & Musical Instruments, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers Indian classical music, its two main traditions (Hindustani and Carnatic), gharanas, ragas and talas, folk music styles, and the musical instruments of India along with the artists who are famous for playing them. It also includes the four classes of instruments: string (tata), wind (sushira), percussion (avanaddha) and solid (ghana). Exam questions usually pair an instrument with its maestro, such as the sitar with Pandit Ravi Shankar, the shehnai with Ustad Bismillah Khan or the santoor with Pandit Shivkumar Sharma. Other common questions ask about the origin of a gharana, the instrument a folk style uses, or the class an instrument belongs to. Making a two-column list of instruments and artists is the quickest way to revise. Practise the music and musical instruments questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.