Lesser known facts about Ustad Allah Rakha

Ustad Allah Rakha, born as Allah Rakha Qureshi, was born in Jammu and Kashmir. He was an Indian tabla player, who popularised the art of tabla playing all over the world. Allah Rakha was born to a soldier, who later returned from the army and worked as a farmer after that to earn his bread and butter. Being the eldest of seven sons, his father did not expect him to learn music and opposed his idea of learning classical music.

Ustad Allah Rakha, as a young boy of 12 years, found the instrument fascinating while visiting his uncle in Gurdaspur. His inclination towards Indian classical music and the Performing Arts made him run away to Lahore for further learning, as he found little scope of learning the art-form in his home-town. Allah Rakha studied at the Punjab school of classical music (gharana) where he became a student of Ustad Mian Khadarbaksh Pakhawaji (Mian Quader Bakshi). He was trained to be a singer under Ustad Ashiq Ali Khan for ten years. But his love for the instrument since teenage years made him grew up to be a tabla player.

Allah Rakha was also associated to theater as he lived in Pathanko for sometime and worked for a theater company. In 1930, Allah Rakha worked at a radio station in Lahore. According to reports, he moved to Delhi after six years, in 1936, to work with All India Radio. In 1940, he moved to Bombay and worked with Pandit Ravi Shankar and again on All India Radio. He was the station's first ever tabla solo player then. After which he even composed music for some Hindi films from 1943 to 1948.

Ustad Allah Rakha had married twice. He was first married to Bavi Begum and had three sons, Zakir Hussain, Fazal Qureshi and Taufiq Qureshi and two daughters Khurshid Aulia née Qureshi and Razia. Razia served him in his later years and was like a constant companion to her father. She died after a routine cataract surgery and Allah Rakha could not cope with the shock of her death and immediately slipped into a coma and passed away within 24 hours. Zakir Hussain is one of the most renowned tabla players of the country. He was married to a Pakistani lady and had a daughter Roohi Bano and son Sabir from the marriage. Roohi Bano was a popular TV actress of the 1980s, but now has been living a secluded life and is not in an appropriate mental state.

Allah Rakha's son Zakir Hussain grew up to be another legend in the country. Zakir Hussain has also been honoured with the Padma Shri in 1988 and the Padma Bhushan in 2002, by the Government of India. The honour that was bestowed upon his father by the Sangeet Natak Akademi came to him as well in 1990. Hussain has been working in films and on albums in India as well as abroad. Hussain owes his career to his father, who had made sure that he remained focused on the art-form.

Ustad Allah Rakha had established the Alla Rakha Institute of Music in Bombay in 1986 and imparted his knowledge of the instrument to all his disciples in the institute. Allah Rakha and sitar maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar brought classical Hindustani music to Western audiences as well. He was honoured with the Padma Shri Award by the Government of India in 1977 for his contributions to elevate the reach of tabla playing as an art form across the globe. Later on, Sangeet Natak Akademi also honoured him with an award in 1982.
Picture courtesy: Midday

Ustad Allah Rakha and sitar maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar brought classical Hindustani music to Western audiences as well. Their partnership reached legendary heights with performances at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967 and the Woodstock Festival in 1969. The two performed together in a lot many festivals and elevated the respect and popularity of tabla playing as an art form. Other than Pandit Ravi Shankar, he also worked with renowned Kathak dancers like Sitara Devi and Birju Maharaj.

Ustad Allah Rakha found fans not only in India but abroad as well. Reportedly, American percussionist, the Grateful Dead's Mickey Hart, was his huge fan. Hart always tried to learn from him even from single visits that Ustad used to make to his country. Hart was also quoted saying, "Alla Rakha is the Einstein, the Picasso; he is the highest form of rhythmic development on this planet."

Other than the Grateful Dead drummer, Mickey Hart, Ustad Allah Rakha inspired George Harrison from The Beatles as well. Both of them performed together for a Concert for Bangladesh in 1971. Mickey Hart also collaborated with him for Rolling Thunder in 1972. The picture we have here is of Hell's Angels member Terry The Tramp with tabla player Ustad Alla Rakha as they were set to perform together at the Monterey International Pop Festival, June 17th, 1967. He had collaborated with many prominent rock and roll artists of the 1960s and the 1970s.
Picture courtesy: Reddit.com

While Ustad used to generally team up with Pandit Ravi Shankar for his performances, he once collaborated with jazz drummer Buddy Rich for an album, Rich à la Rakha in 1968. Some of his greatest works have been in the form of albums Improvisations, West Meets East, Album 3 (with Ravi Shankar, Yehudi Menuhin, Jean Pierre Rampel, Martine Gelliot), Angel (1976), Master Drummers with Zakir Hussain (1991), Tabla Duet, Chhanda Dhara (1994), Ultimate in Taal-vidya, Magnasound/OMI (1996), Magical Moments of Rhythm with Zakir Hussain and Eternal Music (1997).