Ustad Asad Ali Khan, a rudra veena player, was a master of which of the four schools (banis) of Dhrupad?

Explanation

Ustad Asad Ali Khan (1937-2011) was one of the greatest players of the rudra veena, the ancient stringed instrument used to play Dhrupad, the oldest form of Hindustani classical music. He belonged to the Khandar bani (school) of Dhrupad.

Asad Ali Khan was born in Alwar, Rajasthan, into a family of rudra veena players that traced its musical lineage back many generations, to the court musicians of the princely states of Rajasthan and Rampur. He learnt the rudra veena from his father, Ustad Sadiq Ali Khan, and his grandfather. He was known for his slow, serious and meditative style of playing, which is typical of Dhrupad, and for his deep knowledge of ragas. He taught at the Delhi University for many years and trained several students, including Zaki Haider, whom he adopted as his son. He received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (1977) and the Padma Bhushan (2008). He died in Delhi in 2011.

Dhrupad is the oldest surviving form of Hindustani classical music. It is sung (or played on instruments such as the rudra veena) in a slow, majestic style, beginning with a long, unaccompanied alap, and it is accompanied by the pakhawaj. According to tradition, there are four banis (styles) of Dhrupad, which developed from the different styles of singing in Akbar's time: Gauhar (Gaudi), Dagar, Khandar and Nauhar. The rudra veena (also called the been) is a large stringed instrument with two large gourd resonators, played by plucking the strings. It is associated with Lord Shiva (Rudra), who is believed to have created it.

Why not the other options?

• ✗Dagar bani is the style of the Dagar family, the most famous family of Dhrupad singers, linked with Ustad Zia Mohiuddin Dagar and Mohi Bahauddin Dagar (rudra veena).
• ✗Gauhar and Nauhar are the other two banis of Dhrupad.